Egypt ranked second best diving destination in the world

Out of a pool of 108 destinations and almost 1,100 dive centres and resorts, Egypt has managed to stay in second place as a popular diving destination for both foreign and local tourists.

CAPE TOWN, November 16 (ANA) – British Dive magazine has ranked Egypt as the second best dive destination in the world, as the north African country retains its position from last year.

Out of a pool of 108 destinations and almost 1,100 dive centres and resorts, Egypt has managed to keep in second place as a popular diving destination for both foreign and local tourists.

According to Dive magazine, there were more than 11,000 nominations and 30,000 votes cast over six months, with the winners of the 2020 Dive Travel Awards announced on Friday.

Given the devastation caused by Covid-19 this year, the travel magazine said they had contemplated whether they should run this year’s travel awards. However, in the end they decided that, despite the pandemic, they wanted to celebrate the best of the best and do their bit to keep people enthusiastic about travel and scuba diving.

Dive magazine said Egypt had once again commanded a large proportion of the vote.

“With its crystal-clear blue waters, year-round sunlit, cloudless skies, vibrant coral and a good range of big to little critters to delight over, the Egyptian Red Sea is not just one of the world’s best diving destinations, but the birthplace of a great many love affairs with the underwater world,” it wrote.

Indonesia took the top spot for the fourth consecutive year and, according to voters, is the best place to scuba dive in the world.

Malaysia came in third place. Dive magazine said the nomination of one of Malaysia’s most well-known dive centres helped promote the country’s place on the leader board.

Rounding up the top 10 top diving destinations were the Philippines, Maldives, Fiji, Australia, Mexico, Thailand and Papua New Guinea.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher