If you have ever been to Sinai for a famous dive adventure or snorkeling trip, beware of the dangers. We’ve written about the fatal live aboard dive boat accident in the Red Sea this last November, and one reader reached out, a regular traveller to Sinai, about his family’s harrowing boating experience in Sinai, Egypt. Moral of the story: bring life jackets for each of your family members when traveling in countries like Egypt, Sinai, India, Thailand and South America. Don’t expect any travel company or tour operator to have you covered. Here is David’s story:
Your post made me think of what happened in Sinai in 2023. It turns out that if you live through it you have a good story, if you don’t then well… During April, 2023 the family decided to go to Sinai.
One day we visited the Blue Hole near Dahab, we snorkeled around and decided to visit Ras El Satan and further on explore this wonderful lagoon. We left the Blue Hole around 1pm with one of the local fishing boats, it was just us 8 (5 adults, my two sons 13 and 3 and a 5 year old nephew) and the skipper. I noticed there were no life vests. It’s about a 30 minute boat ride depending on the current or tide.
Snorkeling in the Blue Hole, Sinai
Once there we spent time with the locals and visited the above. Around 4pm I figured we should head back to not be on the roads at dark. When we arrived back at the pier of Ras El Satan there was a large group of visitors who wanted to get back just like us.
This time the polyester boat was stacked with people to the point where I thought, this is unsafe and we should get off, now this was the last boat of the day. I estimate there were about 50 people on this tiny boat, tourists but mostly Egyptian families who were on a day out. Kids, grannies, families.
While leaving I saw a 15-year-old kid fueling the boat with a plastic bottle of gasoline which had large black chunks floating in it. Another red flag. Nobody wore vests as there weren’t any. The waterline was just meeting the waves but once in the water the engine pulled the boat out of the water. Now we’re in the water, engine full throttle, our captain at the steering wheel.
Snorkeling in Sinai
Half way into the trip the engine goes out. Consternation. The boat slows down and waves start pouring over the side. This is where my instinct kicks in. We weren’t far from the shore, I reckoned it’s 200 meters which we could reach by swimming. There are no boats around us and the shore is nothing more than sea bashing onto rockery that climbs up to 20 meters above sea level.
I understand from the panic on the boat that most people cannot swim so I’m now talking to my family to abandon the boat as soon as a big wave goes over it, leave all the bags and just make it to the shore, first get us to safety as it’s very likely that people who can’t swim would grab onto those who would be wanting to help. Horrible. I tell my big boy to get ready to swim to the shore and not look at anyone else, he’s a good swimmer I know he can make it. I tell my wife and that I’d take the small one and my cousin would take the nephew.
Now we are waiting for disaster as the skipper tries to revive the engine. I hear how he is messing up the gear and drowning the engine with fuel. Another person is trying to call but of course there is no reach. By now it’s about 5:30pm and evening is setting in. Two other men are trying to revive the engine and miraculously the engine kicks in again. To get a few hundred meters again and then give up again. The same scenario repeats.
Eventually the engine gets us to the pier at the Blue Hole where it eventually gives up. Now it’s dark. People with flashlights on the pier are yelling, total chaos and disorder. I think we are going to capsize as the swell is rough and we’ll be smashed onto the rocks. Another boat navigates next to ours and skippers are tying our boat to theirs.
A person in full panic tries to jump into the other boat and lands in the water between the two boats, luckily he’s pulled out right away. Eventually the two boats manoeuvre onto the pier and people hurry off. This could have easily ended bad and you would have read about it in the news. N’importe qui as we say in French.
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David’s experience is not unique. Another tourist reported various safety issues on a recent boat and snorkeling trip to the Blue Hole and Ras Abu Galum:
Sinai boat ride. Image via Tuljac.
“The most convenient access to the next stop is a ten-minute boat ride. Alternatively, one can take an unpaved trail parallel to the shore on foot or by camel. Despite its popularity, the boat service was very disorganized. It was hard for me to figure out whether there was any system for boarding. Everyone crowded around the tiny boat dock, and we waited a few minutes for our turn. These boats were small and pretty crowded. Each boat carries almost two dozen passengers, and It felt a little unsafe the moment we boarded.
“Our boat’s motor blew out a few minutes into the boat ride. Waster was very choppy, and we were left in a drift for a while before another empty vessel came to the rescue. Just when we thought it was smooth sailing, the water became so choppy that our boat slammed hard against the water’s surface.
“For a moment, we thought we might capsize. All of a sudden, one big wave tossed the boat so violently that a girl in our group was knocked unconscious briefly. She banged her head into the side of the boat and started to bleed incessantly. There was blood everywhere. Everybody except the boat operator was super worried. This was officially the worst day tour we ever had. Brian told me he was getting seasick and stressed.”
