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"Careers" is a new section on Dive Global in which we highlight
an interesting career within the dive industry and talk to different
professionals around the globe.
Said Khader & Tanis Newman
Said Kadher and Tanis Newman are the owners of dive center and desert
safari company "Desert Divers" in Dahab, Egypt. Together they
show hundreds of divers the beauty of the Red Sea each year.
Charlotte talks to Said & Tanis about Dahab, the diving and why
you should come out to this exotic part of the world and dive with them!
Dahab is a place with its own special energy – a little piece of
paradise. It’s hard to describe what makes Dahab so special to
so many people from all over the world. But Said will try…
Said
just before a dive
Charlotte: Said, can you tell us a little about
yourself and how you first came to Dahab?
Said: The first time I came to Dahab, I
came with my father. It was 1983, and for me Dahab was nothing less
than Heaven. A palm tree oasis with shining gold sand (this is what
Dahab means, 'Gold') - and the Sea. This was my first time to see and
feel the Sea. It’s a feeling that I cannot describe, except to
say that it stayed with me for a long time. Back home in the desert,
I would close my eyes and see the amazing colours of the coral reef,
and the blue water stretching all the way to the Saudi Arabian mountains
on the other side. It was no surprise that when I finished school I
returned to Dahab.
By the time I returned, Dahab had started to make its mark on the travelers’
map. Anyone who came for a day ended up staying for a week... or a month.
And when they went home, they couldn’t stop talking about Dahab
(Dahab has always had this way of making a permanent home in your heart).
In these days, Dahab was even more easy going – full of party nights
and losing your day on the beach enjoying the breeze. Enjoy today, tomorrow
will look after itself!
Divers on the ocean strip |
Charlotte:
How did you get into scuba diving?
Said: I was asking myself, "
what work would I do in this beautiful place? It was normal for
a Bedouin to work in one of the beach cafes or as a taxi driver,
but when you look around you at the mountains and the sea…
when you hear the wind and see the stars… it’s hard
to do a city job. I wanted to do more enjoyable work connected
with nature.
A friend taught me to windsurf and later I visited the other world
– the diving world. Then alongside diving, I started to practice
Yoga and Freediving, and to return to the desert to learn more
about the traditional Bedouin medicines and herbs (this was an
amazing experience – even for a Bedouin). And during all
this time, I concentrated on learning the tourists’ languages,
especially English and Hebrew, so that I could introduce them
to all the wonderful things in Dahab and the Sinai.
Charlotte: Has Dahab changed over the years?
Said: Today, Dahab has grown up a little.
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It has seen many generations
of travelers – the Bedouin fishermen, the hippies of the 80s and
backpackers of the 90s. And throughout this time, the Israeli visitors
have made Dahab their home in the summer months.
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Today, there is a beautiful mix of all these people in Dahab.
They live, work and holiday alongside the divers and adventure
seekers that have discovered Dahab in the last 5 years.
Charlotte: Are there a lot of foreigners in Dahab?
Said: There are people here who came as travelers with
nothing, and now have their own places in Dahab and families that
are
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Famous Blue Hole |
growing up here. Once you’re in Dahab, it’s hard to leave. You
live near the sea... you hear Dahab's famous wind. One friend of mine
said that he would leave Dahab if they built a MacDonalds. Well, in 1999
they started to build a MacDonalds, and my friend Flo left Dahab. Then,
half way through construction, the flood come through the wadi and took
MacDonalds to the Sea – and Flo came back to Dahab!! So everyone
was very happy to see Flo, and also very happy to say goodbye to MacDonalds.
Desert Divers Dive Center |
The nice thing about living
in Dahab is that you get to meet people from all over the world.
People from so many different cultures, but who share the same independent
spirit and open mind. You can share experiences, learn new things
and end up with close friends from distant countries.
After 14 years of living in Dahab, I am still in touch with friends
living all over the world. From time to time they return to Dahab,
and we pick up where we left off – as close friends always
do. So, you could say that there is a good world connection in Dahab,
and this is a |
very important thing these days.
Charlotte: Is it safe for visitors to Dahab?
Tanis: I've travelled quite a bit, mostly
on my own, and I've never felt as safe as I do in Dahab… or in
any part of Egypt. People make a lot of time for one another here -
they look after one another. Even in Cairo, with 20 million people,
you feel safe and welcome. Tourists are common, and everyone is friendly.
Sometimes this can feel a little over the top to a westerner (they want
you to meet their brother… cousin… wife & children!!!).
All you have to do is open your mind, and your heart, and you will meet
wonderful people that you won't forget. This is especially true of the
Bedouin people in the Sinai desert, renown for their hospitality.
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Charlotte: What about the diving in Dahab?
Said: All of my diving is in the
Red Sea, so it's hard for me to compare to other countries, but
I can say this - I have more than 4800 dives in the Red Sea, and
it's never become boring! Friends come and go from Thailand and
other parts of the world, and every time they return they tell
us that there is nowhere better than the Red Sea.
Dahab diving has a different style. We dive from shore,with a
cup of
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Desert Divers |
Bedouin tea on the beach and nice chat around the fire. I shouldn’t
forget our famous Blue Hole or Canyon. Many Dahab divers will tell you
that their favourite dive is a sunrise dive at the Blue Hole, or a Full
Moon dive at the Canyon. Full Moon at the Canyon is a very peaceful dive,
followed by Bedouin Dinner in the Wadi and watching the stars.
We have about 20 dive sites on our doorstep, plus the safaris to get us
further afield. The sites combine coral garden, arches, canyons and caves
with a huge diversity of reef fish and invertebrates.
Charlotte: What kind of marine life is there to explore?
Said: More than 20% of our fauna, and 50%
of our butterflyfish, are found nowhere else in the world. The diversity
of reef fish and invertebrates is incredible - even in a single site.
There are turtles, Rays, Moray Eels, octopus and larger fish including
Napoleon Wrasse, Barracuda, small sharks and dolphins. The area immediately
in front of Desert Divers is a nursery - home to many baby and juvenile
fish, plus smaller species like the ghost pipefish and seahorses. These
are a real treat. My personal favourite is the nudibranch - any nudibranch,
but especially the Spanish Dancer.
 Charlotte:
We read about the marine environment being destroyed in so many places
around the world. How is the situation in the Dahabian Red Sea currently?
Said: Perhaps the other thing we bring
to the world is our care for the environment. When you have experienced
virgin Dahab – covered in palm trees, surrounded with pristine
coral reefs and full of fish – you work hard to keep these things
and to prevent less caring people from taking them away.
According to Reef Check, the Red Sea coral reef is amongst the healthiest
in the world. This doesn't mean we take it for granted - we work hard
with environmental organisations like Reef Check and Moonwrasse, and
with locals, to keep it that way.
Charlotte: How did you and Tanis start your dive
operation?
Tanis: Five years ago, Said left
what was then Dahab's biggest dive club to focus on the safaris - especially
the Camel Diving Safaris. He came up with the name, "Desert Divers",
and bought our url, www.desert-divers.com. After less than a year, his
old club convinced him to come back and manage it for them. This was
ok for a while, but eventually he wanted his own thing. In particular,
he wanted to put the safari experience at the heart of a dive club.
There is a lot of supermarket diving these days (5 days, 10 dives, thank
you very much), and we both felt that this takes away the spirit of
adventure. We wanted to put adventure back at the heart of the diving
holiday.
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