THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN GO TO DAHAB!
Colin West and his windsurf crew from the Oxford Sailing Club, saddled up; not on horses, but on EasyJet…on a mission to ride the winds of Dahab.
Armed with wetsuits, SPF 50 and a phrasebook that mostly said “my friend is paying,” they set out to conquer the lagoon at the Harry Nass centre or at least not fall in too often!
“Id nean birra men foodlug, sah bi elli ayad fa”
Roughly translated, is Egyptian for “Two beers please, my friend is paying”
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- Heading out in sunny Dahab!
COLIN WEST:
“It all started well over a year ago when I visited the Mercure Hotel in Hurghada on the way to a liveaboard dive trip with my brother. I noticed the Harry Nass wind and wing Centre there and thought ‘wow that looks good’.
When I was back home… I went straight onto the Internet, and I saw that Harry has two major centres one in Hurghada, the other one in the Dahab, an idea was forming…. so I started talking to a few of the Club windsurfers about a trip and several of them had been to Dahab many years ago and thought it was a great idea.
I like to plan and to know whether something is going to work, so I went on a three-day recce to Dahab a year or so ago, had some fun, took a few videos took some notes and then put together a tour promo video to see whether anybody would be interested in joining me in 2025
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- Apres sailing rewards!
The Recce Trip to Harry Nass
I was impressed; really impressed with the resort but more importantly the Harry Nass set up! They have two well equipped centres located in the Dahab Lagoon area, one at the North end (within the resort grounds, next to the Sunset Bar) and the other at the Southern end, and, as the prevailing winds are Northerly there is the option of their complimentary boat shuttle between the centres, or in my case the occasional up-wind taxi… Safety is important especially in open seas and they have a ‘walkie talkie’ rescue service should you get into difficultly or have an equipment failure. I’m not the best windsurfer, so I booked a couple of lessons with one of the HN instructors, great fun, confidence building and I made some real progress. Not only do Harry Nass cater for all abilities, but the lagoon geography works really well, with an inner lagoon area and the outer open sea area divided by the spit. For me and for the Club, The Harry Nass set up and the resort ticks all the boxes.
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- This place ticks the boxes!
Getting a trip together
Of course, Oxford Sailing Club is not a tour operator, so basically, I booked my own flights and (all-inclusive) accommodation and then let everybody else in the Club know when I was going, how I was getting there (Easy Jet to Sharm el Sheikh) where I was going to stay (the Dahab Lagoon resort), how I planned to get from Sharm el Sheikh to the resort and a decent idea of some of the costs involved. We have taken this, Book Yourself, approach on previous trips to Fuerteventura, Brouwersdam, Gruissan (Deffi Wind), Kos and Weymouth & Portland and it seems to work well without being onerous for an organiser.
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- Heading out!
My little promo video was on the Club YouTube channel and having been to Egypt several times I put together a simple FAQ sheet to help anybody that wants to come find out a little bit more about travelling to Egypt and the resort.
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- Enjoying a fab holiday in Dahab!
About Oxford SC
Oxford Sailing Club has well over 200 Windsurfers and wingfoiling members ranging from our Zoomer’s youth section to the Club’s elders who have been windsurfing since God was a boy, we’ve produced a couple of Olympians and hopefully have some more progressing through our pathways.
Spending a week in Egypt at a resort, renting kit and getting there and back is not inexpensive, and of course the timing isn’t perfect for everybody, but seven of us (we called ourselves the magnificent seven) managed to find the time, persuade our partners to let us go and raid the piggy bank to make the trip.
I’m fundamentally lazy and staying at the Dahab Lagoon resort was the obvious place to stay as the Harry Nass Centre is located within the resort premises, this made it simple for us to meet up for breakfast and other meals and of course for the occasional drink in the evening.
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- Wingfoiling in Dahab
Howe did it go?
How did we all get on? Ridiculously well, the resort was extremely laid-back, and we all sort of did our own thing rather than pretending to act as some giant tour group and all do the same thing at the same time. Needless to say meal times and the bar generally acted as a magnet to make sure we all got together a few times during the day; of course when it was windy we were all on the water, but when there was little or no wind we were either diving, snorkelling, paddle boarding, kayaking, sightseeing, playing padel tennis or generally just relaxing and watching the world go by.
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- The boys keeping busy on tour!
The Dahab lagoon area seems to cater for all standards so should be suited to all who might fancy joining. The Harry Nass Centre offers a huge range of kit, allowing us to mix and match boards and rigs or wings depending on our skill level and the conditions and with instructors available to help progression. Three of us tried wing foiling, one for the first time, under the care of a Harry Nass instructor. What I personally found brilliant was the ability to choose from the safety of the lagoon to the more challenging outside open seas, plus the benefit of having a walkie-talkie to call the Harry Nass Centre for help in the event of getting into difficulty.
Would we go again?
To sum up, there was an element of ‘fear of failure’ in inviting Club members to commit to a windsurfing holiday to a resort and Centre that they’ve never been to before with fellow members that generally they may have only met on the beach or on the Water at Farmoor reservoir. The reality is we all got on fantastically, had a brilliant time and all agree that another trip is a must!!!
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- We’ll be back!
Vital Statistics:
Flights: Easy Jet to Sharm el Sheikh, five or so hours.
Time-difference: + 2 hours.
Money: Dollars or Euros are best.
Language: English is well spoken in tourist areas.
Visa: Not required for the Sinai Peninsula region.
Transfer: About an hour from the airport.
Resort: The Dahab Lagoon Resort and Beach Club.
Book it via: Bookings.com
Wind, Wing & Kite: Rent it all from Harry Nass!
Downtown Dahab: Is a ten minute cycle ride or a 5 minute cheap taxi ride.
COST BREAKDOWN:
FLIGHTS: Approx: £475 (depending on the flight package and how far in advance you book (Gatwick to Sharm el Sheikh)
ROOM: Based on two sharing £450 (all inclusive)…(For two sharing a standard room, all inclusive for seven nights – dynamic pricing, so early booking is rewarded with lower prices.)
KIT HIRE: Approx: £180.60 per three days…Euro 60 for half a day, Euro 80 for a day and Euro 210 for three days – many permutations on offer!
TRANSFER: £5 with seven sharing. (Around $30 – 40 each way but shareable between occupants – we had seven in the return minibus at $30 total.)
TOTAL: £1160.60
More info on Harry Nass here:
Oxford Sailing Club: Is located at Farmoor Reservoir, Cumnor, Oxfordshire!
Check out the video here: