Last Minute Adventure

Is Egypt really the forgotten land? Adam Sims reports from his last minute get away to Dahab, Egypt

Dahab, Egypt, used to be one of the Mecca’s for windsurfing, especially freestyle, what with its consistent trade winds and glassy flat water, plus being a relatively cheap get away. However, after the recent turmoil in Egypt, the tourist industry has certainly felt the knock-on effect, with many governments now advising against travel to Egypt. Is this a necessary measure? What is Dahab really like now? And is Egypt really the forgotten land? The UK’s Adam Sims (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg / Flymount) has just returned from a last minute trip away to Dahab, so we caught up with him to find out the score…

PWA: Egypt has become somewhat of a forgotten land for windsurfers compared to how it used be... How was the vibe out there?

AS: “Yeah in short Egypt was as epic as ever, in fact I enjoyed this trip more than any before I think. I have to be honest I was pretty apprehensive about heading out there, the country, in recent years, has not exactly had its proudest moments in its history. That said the moment we touched down nothing had changed apart from the baggage handling dude trying to demand more money than ever for passing over your board bags and the all new $25 visa instead of the $15 visa I was used to. Ok there were a few more security guards and I was asked several times by the same guy why I need two windsurf board bags and not just one, as if it were something totally strange that someone may own and carry more than one board... In the end it was all quite entertaining and we got under-way to Dahab. Once there everything is just the way it always has been, tourists being hassled to buy stuff from literally every shop they pass, restaurant owners almost carrying you into their place for food despite having just walked out from a meal at the neighbouring restaurant, the only thing amiss is the people. This can't just be the situation in Egypt, it's also down to the time of the year, it's a quiet time to travel and that's why we could get such an awesome last minute deal. We literally booked our flights the evening before and were on our way to the airport at 6am.”

“In the end Dahab has never felt so safe. The locals all want you there, they are welcoming you with open arms and because of the political situation in the North of the country the security has been upped and so the almost unaffected Dahab feels even more safe than before.” 

“When it comes to windsurfing there's still plenty of windsurfers, aside from the centre staff a lot of Russians are still going, really a lot, then there was a good mix of Europeans (British, French, Slovenian, German, etc…).”

PWA: You made a last minute decision to fly out there - did you score good conditions?

AS: “Absolutely, myself and a friend of mine, Flo Ragossnig, had a 4 week window of travel and wanted to go somewhere warm, with wind, with a maximum budget of €500. We figured it's better to score a week of good wind than book ahead for a two week trip and potentially score just 2/3 days. That week of good wind is almost exactly what we got. We arrived and straight away got on the water for a lonely sunset session, it was just myself and Flo out in Baby Bay, in fact it was just the two of us on the water in the whole of Dahab. For the next two days we scored perfect 4.8 weather and must have put in about 4/5 hours windsurfing each day. We then decided on a last minute trip to Blue Lagoon, neither of us had been before so we were pretty excited about it. We had a funny trip up with some camels and then had the place to ourselves for the next two days. It was unbelievable, the centre that is up there is literally 3 metres from the water, you have your kit racked and you sleep pretty much next to it in your own room. Again we scored great conditions and all we needed was a shorty wetsuit, funny enough the locals call this 'winter' and can be seen wearing full length suits. In the end all I took with me was my Sailloft Quad 4.4, 4.8 and 5.2 and my Patrik Freestyle 93l and 101l. I used the 5.2 and 4.4 once and the 4.8 the rest of the time.” 

PWA: How does it compare to other spots for you?

AS: “For me one of the biggest differences is just the way of life there. I've always travelled on a budget to Egypt before, which has resulted in some interesting places to stay. This time was not much different in terms of the budget but we were lucky to stay in Dahab Apartments (www.dahabapartments.co.uk) and this really made the trip. Having somewhere nice to head back to when you are totally broken was just perfect and I could also keep up to speed with work on Boardseeker.com early in the morning thanks to the decent WIFI connection. I can highly recommend these apartments to anyone. Talking of WIFI, the Sailloft stocked Centre in Blue Lagoon now has exactly that, as well as electricity thanks to their own wind generator. All in all, Egypt is just an epic place to windsurf for any level, that's why I've been heading there virtually every year since I learnt to Vulcan.”

PWA: Why do you windsurf?

AS: “Ha, it's easy to answer with the usual clichés and so I asked myself the question in a lot of different ways; why don't you still sail, why don't you do triathlons, why do you windsurf instead of any other sport and I think the latter is the answer. I love sport, keeping fit and healthy and then I combine that with my history of travel and adventure (thanks to my parents) and you can probably work out the answer.

There is one other answer and I thought about this a lot when I was in Egypt and it became even more clear when I found myself standing on the point at Baby Bay with my windsurf kit and next to me I was speaking to a Russian friend, a Slovenian friend, an Austrian friend and I'd just been sending messages to an Israeli friend. Neither one of us had an urge to suddenly argue with one another because someone may have different religious views or even a different opinion on how to do a move, we just swapped tips, jumped back on the water and all improved as one.”

PWA: Why freestyle?

AS: “Because it's the best way to make the most of any patch of water you are given. Sure if it's glassy flat you can go speed sailing or if there are waves you can go riding and I love to do all of this but I make the most of what I have. In one run I can speed sail into a freestyle move that I do off a wave.”

PWA: If you had an unlimited budget for a year, what would your plan be? 

AS: “I’d be keen to open up more spots with windsurfing potential, discover places people haven't been before or don't really know anything about. The world seems a small place sometimes so to discover new windsurfing paradises would be an epic adventure.”

PWA: Anything else you’d like to add?

AS: “Just a quick thanks to the following for helping us out with our last minute trip to Egypt:

- Vetratoria (Russian Centre in Dahab) http://www.vetratoria.ru/en/page/windsurfing-classes.php

- Dahab Windsurf Centre (UK/EU centre in Dahab) https://www.facebook.com/dahabwindsurfcentre

- Blue Lagoon (A small centre stocked with Sailloft in Blue Lagoon, well worth a 2/3 day trip) - https://www.facebook.com/bluelagoonsinai.”

Dahab Apartments (www.dahabapartments.co.uk)

PWA: Thanks, Adam.