Dahab
Dahab shoreline
Dahab Location in the Sinai Peninsular
Coordinates: 28°29′35″N 34°30′17″E / 28.49306°N 34.50472°E / 28.49306; 34.50472
Country	Egypt
Governorate	South Sinai
Time zone	EST (UTC+2)

Dahab (دهب) is a small town situated on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. Formerly a Bedouin fishing village, located approximately 80 km (50 mi) northeast of Sharm el-Sheikh, Dahab is considered to be one of the Sinai's most treasured diving destinations. Following the Six Day War, the town was occupied by Israel and was known in Hebrew as Di-Zahav; named after a place mentioned in the Bible as one of the stations for the Israelites during the Exodus from Egypt. The Sinai Peninsula was restored to Egyptian rule in the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty in 1982. The arrival of international hotel chains and the establishment of other ancillary facilities has since made the town a popular destination with tourists. Dahab is served by Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport. Masbat (within Dahab) is a popular diving destination, meaning that there are many (50+) dive centers located within Dahab.

Dahab can be divided into three major parts. Masbat, which includes the bedouin village Asalah, is in the north. South of Masbat is Mashraba, which is more touristic and has considerably more hotels. In the southwest is Medina which includes the Laguna area, famous for its excellent shallow-water windsurfing.

Also Asalah is quite developed. The area is full of camps and hostels since most people who have visited Dahab in the past were backpackers interested in diving and snorkeling in the Red Sea.

Tourism[link]

Beach promenade on a winters day

Dahab enjoys large numbers of tourists. It is world-renowned for its windsurfing. Reliable winds provide superb flat-water conditions inside Dahab's sand spit. Further away from shore, wavy conditions couple with strong winds to provide formidable conditions for keen windsurfers. SCUBA diving, free-diving and snorkelling are also popular activities with many reefs immediately adjacent to waterfront hotels. The nearby Blue Hole-which is nicknamed as "The World's Most Dangerous Diving Site"- and Canyon are internationally famous dive spots. The increasing destruction of coral from reckless divers/dive centres diving is a pressing issue that is causing some worry, sparking the need to regulate dive centres more thoroughly. Land based activities include camel, horse, jeep and quad bike trips. Mount Sinai is a two hours drive, with Saint Catherine's Monastery being a popular tourist destination.

Historically, most visitors to Dahab have been backpackers travelling independently and staying in hostels in the Masbet area. In recent years, development of hotels in the Medina area has facilitated the arrival of a wider range of tourists, many of whom visit Dahab specifically to partake in the windsurfing, diving, kite surfing, sailing and other activities.

The word Dahab is Arabic for gold and is possibly a reference to the geographic locality; gold washed down from the desert mountains may have accumulated on the alluvial flood plain where the town was built. The name may also be a reference to the colour of the sands to the south of the town itself. Some locals attribute the name to the colour of the sky, just after sunset.

One local story concerning the town's name is that it stems from the floods that wash through the town every five or six years. Larger than average seasonal storms in the mountains cause a great rush of water to surge down to the sea, dragging with it great amounts of sand. During this time, the town is cut in two by the flood, and the bay is stirred up and the sands turn it a golden yellow. It typically lasts a few days, and has caused damage and loss of life in the past as people were unaware of the sudden onset and the force the water moves at. Nowadays locals are ready when they see the clouds over the mountains, and anyone lucky enough to witness it will remember it for a long time.

According to the Bedouin of the area, however the name "Dahab" has a different origin. When the Bedouin people came there they called it "waqaat thahaab" (وقت ذهب) which translates literally to "Time Goes". This name derived from the fact that when you were there, you could easily lose track of time as the days would begin to run together. The name was then shortened to "Thahaab" (ذهب) but misunderstood by travelers who thought they were saying Dahab.

Unfortunately, much of the coral in the reefs just offshore are slowly disappearing, due to inexperienced divers being taken out in big numbers. Another big problem is that in Masbat, local restaurants are dumping sand and rock in the sea to extend out into the shore, again, causing disruption to local coral reefs.

Local Bedouin children, sometimes encouraged by their family, come to beach cafes and restaurants to sell items such as woven bracelets to tourists.^[1]

The influx of female tourists on the beach, who typically dress in a more revealing fashion, introduces a culture unfamiliar to the region.^[2]

Climate[link]

Weather in summer is hot and during winter it is much milder especially during the nights. Dahab has a very dry climate and rain is rare, even during the winter months.

See also[link]

• 2006 Dahab bombings
• Red Sea Riviera

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dahab

• Dahab at the Open Directory Project

Coordinates: 28°29′35″N 34°30′17″E / 28.49306°N 34.50472°E / 28.49306; 34.50472

William Trubridge

William Trubridge

William Trubridge (born on 24 May 1980) is a world champion and double world record holding free-diver from New Zealand.^[1]

Trubridge currently holds the world record in the Free Immersion and the Constant Weight without fins disciplines, and is the first human ever to break the 100m barrier unassisted.

World Records:

• 81 m (265.74 ft) Constant Weight without fins, 9 April 2007

• 82 m (269.02 ft) Constant Weight without fins, 11 April 2007

• 84 m (275.59 ft) Constant Weight without fins, 4 April 2008

• 107 m (351.04 ft) Free Immersion, 8 April 2008

• 86 m (282.15 ft) Constant Weight without fins, 10 April 2008

• 108 m (354.33 ft) Free Immersion, 11 April 2008

• 88 m (288.71 ft) Constant Weight without fins, 10 April 2009

• 90 m (295.27 ft) Constant Weight without fins, 3 December 2009

• 92 m (301.83 ft) Constant Weight without fins, 19 April 2009

• 116 m (380.57 ft) Free Immersion, 22 April 2010

• 95 m (311.67 ft) Constant Weight without fins, 26 April 2010

• 96 m (314.96 ft) Constant Weight without fins, 10 December 2010

• 100 m (328.08 ft) Constant Weight without fins, 14 December 2010

• 101 m (331.36 ft) Constant Weight without fins, 16 December 2010

• 121 m (396.98 ft) Free Immersion, 10 April 2011

Though Trubridge's passion lies in the depth disciplines, he accumulated the highest total number of points for an individual at the 2010 Freediving Team's World Championships held in Okinawa, Japan.

On 18 January 2011, Trubridge won the World's Absolute Freediver Award (WAFA) naming him best all around freediver, with the highest combined score in six freediving disciplines: static apnea, dynamic apnea with fins, dynamic apnea without fins (pool disciplines), constant weight apnea with fins, constant weight without fins, and free immersion (depth disciplines).

Trubridge is an Apnea Academy instructor and he currently operates a freediving school and annual competition both called Vertical Blue at Dean's Blue Hole in Long Island, Bahamas from September-May. During the summer he teaches courses in Europe and trains at Tenerife Top Training Center.

Trubridge is also sponsored by Suunto and Orca.

His website is www.verticalblue.net

References[link]

External links[link]

• Vertical Blue Freediving homepage
• Current Freediving World Records
• Deeperblue.net Free-diving forum
• Apnea Academy - A global teaching organisation for underwater apnea - presided over by Umberto Pelizzari
• AIDA New Zealand website