Crazy Waves Diving Club — Local services in Red Sea

Appalling and Dishonest Service – A Deeply Disappointing Introduction to Diving

What was meant to be an exciting first step into the world of scuba diving became an infuriating and disheartening ordeal, thanks to the shockingly unprofessional conduct of this dive centre.

My wife and I paid €260 (€130 each) for what was advertised as a full-day “Discover Scuba Diver” programme, booked through Charlotte Persson. The course was clearly stated to include a preliminary dive in a pool or lagoon to learn basic skills, followed by an open water dive to a maximum depth of 12 meters.

We arrived promptly at 10am, as instructed, only to wait 30 minutes for an instructor who seemed completely uninformed about our booking. Without any proper briefing or explanation, he hastily told us to put on wetsuits and follow him to the end of the pier. What followed was a laughable two-minute explanation about how to breathe through a mask, then, incredibly, we were expected to leap straight into the open sea.

I expressed concern, reminding him we had paid for a programme that included training in a pool or lagoon, an essential step for beginners. He ignored this entirely and continued insisting we get in the water. As someone who had never dived before and was understandably nervous, this cavalier approach was utterly unacceptable. I declined to continue and removed my gear.

My wife, who had one previous diving experience, went ahead. She was underwater for all of 15 minutes. After that, we were simply led back to the dive centre. That was the entirety of our so-called “discover scuba experience” a rushed, disorganised, 40-minute session, rather than the full-day course we paid for.

Upon further investigation, it became clear that my wife had actually received the basic “1 Dive Daily Diver” experience, which is listed at just €40. In the end, we paid €195 for that alone.

When I asked for a refund, I was told I would receive only 50% back, as I “did not complete the experience” - an experience that was never properly offered to begin with. I followed up with emails seeking clarification and compensation. Charlotte initially responded, then went silent, ignoring my follow-up messages entirely.

The whole experience reeks of deceit, apathy, and incompetence. Not only was it a waste of time and money, it’s effectively extinguished any desire I had to pursue diving further.

I cannot overstate this: Avoid this company at all costs. There are plenty of reputable dive schools in Hurghada. Choose literally any of them instead. This one preys on tourists, pockets their money, and delivers nothing close to what...

Initially a guy named Kareem stopped by us on the beach advertising excursions. He talked about how good the packages are they are offering. We agreed to purchase a day trip on a boat, then we went to the dive center office where we were confronted by a rude Swedish lady named Shems who said that the service they offer is a 7 star service and thats why the prices are much higher than all other agencies (which I have never heard before of a 7 star service? Really?) So we paid her and we showed up on time to go on our trip but they said we can't leave until we complete (14) - 4 page safety forms because our group was 14 people, this wasted a good 30 minutes of our boat time while standing in the hot sun! Then we took a microbus to the boat, we got dropped off a kilometer away from the boat and we had to walk with older people we have and young children! Any-how they gave us the oldest boat in the fleet they had out of all the other boats, even though we were promised the best boat. I was upset and immediately disagreed to board such a boat in disrepair and I was told I can call the office to ask to get the different one. I called serval times but no one answered the dive office. Eventually we went on the old boat, because we never got ahold of anyone. The staff on the boat was smoking despite the fact we warned them from the beginning at the dive office this would be unacceptable. We didn't need anyone smoking because we have a few people with sensitivies & allergies to tobacco but no one cared, so we asked them to stop smoking, but they never did. Smoking occurred the duration of the boat trip. Also we were contracted and paid for 2 snorkeling stops in the Red Sea, we only got 1 short stop! The tour guide overcharged us on the photo packages, it was way overpriced! Shams said it’s a 7 star service!! Really Shams? It’s not even a 1 star service!! This review is to warn everyone of the over promised and under delivered services they promise you that you never receive! I recommend getting everything in writing from the dive center regarding services. Be careful! I already notified the hotel (dive center is located on hotel grounds) and they are aware, also the hotel has really a good service and not involved in their...

Don’t buy any trips from them. Booked trip for our group , 10 adult and 6 kids. Worst experience ever in Egypt. We paid more than a regular trip to the Paradise Island with the promise of a nice boat with glass bottom, private transport , drinks on board. Private transport meant you get a seat or 1/2 seat on a shuttle car, with luggage in our arms. Nice boat meant a big bus , full of people, not enough seats even for our family to sit together. Drinks on board meant only water as everything dried out in 5 minutes. Toilets were clogged. Kids couldn’t go to toilet while on the boat. Snorkeling was very poor. All the people on this bus called boat, clammed together on just 1 ladder . Had to jump from the boat in the water to avoid 10minutes of queue. While the adults were snorkeling, kids were not allowed to go on the glass bottom. This area was open for a short time on the way to paradise island.

We knowingly paid 2-3 times the normal price for a normal trip like this, hoping for a more relaxed, kids friendly experience. Instead we got worse worse than a normal trip like this, as I have done the same one year before with a different travel agency...