Home to one of the world’s oldest civilizations, Egypt bears testament to some of mankind’s earliest triumphs. The pyramids of Cairo are one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the nearby Museum of Egyptian Antiquities houses the legendary treasures of Tutankhamen. But Egypt is much more than ancient monuments and pyramids. It’s a cruise down the Nile, a luxury hotel and hot nightlife, it’s a vast invigorating desert and, especially for scuba divers, it’s the Red Sea. Just beyond the shore lie cool, azure waters, beautiful coves, millions of fish, fantastic visibility, sheltered reefs, towers, pinnacles, walls, coral gardens and wrecks. They all send a siren call to scuba divers and mark the Red Sea as a world-class scuba diving destination. No matter how impressive the above-water attractions, the real jewel in the Egyptian crown has to be the simply staggering diving.

A trip down the Red Sea, from Taba in the north of the Gulf of Aqaba, through Dahab and Sharm el Sheikh, to Hurghada and Safaga further south, in the south highlights the delights for divers.