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New Green Fins trainers for Egypt
Egypt’s Chamber of Diving and Watersports is celebrating the first Green Fins trainers to complete the “Train the Trainer” programme in Africa and the Middle East Region
The Reef-World Foundation—the international coordinator of UN Environment Programme’s Green Fins initiative—has successfully trained and certified three new Green Fins trainers from the Green Fins Egypt national team. They are now qualified to train new Green Fins assessors in the country, building capacity for the initiative’s continued expansion in the country.
Due to the increasing demand for the Green Fins programme by dive and snorkel operators in Egypt, the Green Fins Egypt team has undergone the Green Fins “Train the Trainer” programme in October 2022. Reef-World developed the “Train the Trainer” programme to assist the national teams in becoming more independent and sustainable. Following the week of training, Egypt now has a national Green Fins team comprised of three fully certified Green Fins trainers and nine Green Fins assessors from the Chamber of Diving & Watersports (CDWS).
Chloe Harvey, Director at The Reef-World Foundation, said: “The team behind Green Fins in Egypt are such a unique mix of individuals with decades of diving experience and more than 100,000 dives between them. The team is constantly breaking down barriers and thinking really innovatively to work with the industry to overcome some systemic patterns of behaviour. By building their capacity to now train new assessors, they are more sustainable as a national team and can plan ahead to ensure they have the right people in the right places to continue to drive change within the marine tourism industry. I’m really hopeful that as the Green Fins network in Egypt grows, we can engage the right government agencies in further supporting the future sustainability of the Egyptian diving and snorkelling industry.”
Green Fins Egypt was launched in September 2019. The programme was piloted in the South Sinai Governorate with the CDWS leading all Green Fins activities in the country. The plan is to strengthen sustainability within the marine tourism sector across Egypt by guiding operators towards a more sustainable operating model. Training and encouraging the adoption of the Green Fins management approach to reduce their impact on the marine environment.
Mostafa Hefny, Chairman of the Chamber of Diving & Watersports, said: “Green Fins is raising awareness of the diving industry on the importance of sustainability and providing useful solutions to our problems. Egypt is leading the way in sustainable diving in the Middle East and African region.”
Building on the successful pilot, Green Fins was then expanded to be available to all dive and snorkel operators across Egypt in 2020. The team was lucky to complete the roll-out before the pandemic hit and travel restrictions prevented further implementation. Despite the setback, the team has continued to assess Members where possible, and there are now Green Fins certified dive and snorkel operators in all of the key destinations in the Red Sea.
Lina Challita, Environmental Manager at the Chamber of Diving & Watersports, said: “As a team, we are happy to become some of the few assessor trainers in the world. We hope to reach as many operators as possible and help with positive change in the industry.”
Green Fins provides the only internationally recognised environmental standards for the diving and snorkelling industry and has a robust assessment system to measure compliance. The initiative aims to protect and conserve coral reefs through environmentally-friendly guidelines that promote a sustainable diving and snorkelling tourism industry.
Find out more here: The Reef-World Foundation
Emperor Divers is delighted to have established a new working relationship with Seven7Seas.
The cooperation will see Emperor help to promote the Seven7Seas brand and assist in the running of this hugely-popular, Egypt-based boat.
A five-time winner of the ‘Best Liveaboard in the Red Sea’, Seven7Seas is 41 metres long and has 12 spacious cabins each with en-suite and separate shower room.
The boat’s 5-star service brings great food and facilities and is perfect for exploring the waters with its large dive deck which has individual storage space and dedicated rinse tanks.
One of the most popular aspects of Seven7Seas is the view from the barbecue lounge – where freshly-grilled food is produced – but it also has a large dining room, welcoming bar and beautiful sundeck.
Emperor Divers CEO Alex Bryant said: “We are so happy to have been able to create this cooperation with Seven7Seas.
“She is a beautiful boat and a real favourite with divers in the Red Sea.
“With the reputation and quality Seven7Seas has, coupled with the knowledge and experience possessed by Emperor Divers, we believe by working together we can continue to create special trips for the many divers who already love visiting her and, also, for those yet to find out what a superb liveaboard she is.
“We are really looking forward to developing this relationship and seeing Seven7Seas go from strength to strength.”
Anyone wanting more information on Seven7Seas can visit https://www.emperordivers.com/seven-seas-cooperation/or email reservations@emperordivers.com.
Blue O Two were recently delighted to welcome Ross Kemp on board their award-winning Red Sea liveaboard, Blue Melody. He was filming for his latest documentary series, Ross Kemp: Deep Sea Treasure Hunter, which is now on Sky History on Mondays at 9pm (UK).
The series follows Ross as he explores remnants of some of the most significant moments in British history. During his stay on Blue Melody, he uncovered some of Britain’s Imperial past in the Red Sea.
Other episodes include a visit to the site of one of the most famous shipwrecks ever discovered, the Mary Rose, to mark the 40th anniversary of the ship being raised. Ross and his team also dived abandoned D-Day and Cornish wrecks. Among others in his team, Ross was joined in the Red Sea by marine archaeologist, Mallory Hass, legendary Dive Master, Neil Brock, as well as safety diver, Mark Culwick.
Aside from his many other exploits, Ross is a recognised figure in the UK diving industry. He delighted audiences at Go Diving Show 2023, as one of the speakers.
Mel Hicks, Blue O Two’s customer representative in the Red Sea resort, gave the low down of her experience with Ross.
“I spent the day with him and the crew on Saturday as we had a bus to go around Hurghada and do some filming on land. He got recognized by some Brits on holiday while we were out and was very down to earth and chilled out about it – not like his Eastenders character at all!
I asked him if he gets recognized a lot still and does he mind it. He said not at all. When he’s out drinking, people often like to buy him drinks and have a good knees up, like Grant would do in the Old Vic pub, and only the occasional drunk ones want to try and fight with him.
The crew were constantly joking with him while we were driving around and he took it really well. News got around Hurghada that he was here and he said he would be happy to sign autographs/photos to send to people as he couldn’t make a night out due to prepping for filming.
For his departure transfer me and Teresa did sing the theme tune to Eastenders for him, which if you have ever heard me singing karaoke, it’s not a pleasant experience!”
Poor Ross! And what a lovely chap he is.
Visit www.blueotwo.com to find out more about Blue Melody and the wonders of diving in the Red Sea.
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