Отель, который запал в душу A hotel that touched the soul

We stayed at the hotel from August 25th to September 1st. I've been to various places in Egypt, but this was my first time in Dahab. I read a lot of reviews and watched videos about the hotel. But I immediately disliked the reception. It's very small, it's hot, there's no bar, and the only Wi-Fi is there. We were given room 3A1, almost at the end of the hotel. I asked for a room on the mountain side, not near the ATV road. The refrigerator in the room didn't work, there was no shampoo in the dispenser, and we had one hanger for two people. After two calls to reception, they replaced the refrigerator and replenished the shampoo. Hangers were never brought. The room and bed linen were clean.
We liked the food. However, the dishes were often oversalted.
The grounds are beautiful, green, and clean.
The beach is a short walk from our back room. There's plenty of space on the beach, a unique bar, and they even have camels and horses that offer rides.

You can swim from the pier and from the shore.
It was more convenient for me from the shore.
I went there to see the underwater world. At first, the reef didn't seem very interesting to me, with a lot of dead coral. But I always swim out to see the whole picture. If you stand facing the sea, to the left, along the palm trees on the shore, the reef is more interesting. In good light and clear water, I swam with pleasure. There were few large fish. Swimming above the reef cap is also interesting. If it was murky there, I swam to the right, toward the mountain. There's a famous spot there called "Three Pools. " I didn't go in from the shore, but swam along the islets and the reef. When the water is clear, it's interesting to swim there; it's very shallow and you can see everything perfectly. Further on, there's depth and waves, and it gets a little murky. I swam to the place where the reef dropped off; it was deep and murky, so I had to swim across to the reef wall. I felt uneasy; there are always waves there and no one swims, so I didn't swim out far. And the reef wasn't particularly beautiful. There were some beautiful isolated spots.
But that's not what captivated me about Dahab. It was the freedom. I went out to watch the sunrise, swam whenever and wherever I wanted. No one whistled. At 6:00 PM, everyone was kicked out of the sea, their towels were taken away, and we could continue swimming.
I found a lot of interesting things in the shallows. An octopus sat on a rock and looked at me very close, but he didn't want to be photographed. As soon as I raised my hand with the camera, he immediately hid in his hole. I lowered my hand, Osya crawled out, and we stared at each other for a long time. A moray eel posed 20 cm from the camera. There were so many fry, they were so cute.


And most importantly, I've been to Egypt 27 times. And only here, in Dahab, did I swim with a school of squid and interact with them. They allowed me to examine them and photograph them. But not right away. I swam behind them for a long time at a distance. They watched me, and at first, one curious squid started swimming toward me, then he brought others. Then they followed me; I saw them everywhere. I let them know I was very interested in them. It was an unforgettable experience, simply amazing! I've never experienced anything like it before.
After 12:00 PM, they cut off your wristbands. We extended our stay until 6:00 PM for $40. And they cut off our wristbands. But we were able to have dinner. We wore long-sleeved shirts.
The hotel is very basic in some ways, but very decent in others. I was hooked on this place; I'd come back again. I'd take an early morning walk down to the palm trees on the shore, go into the sea—you can go almost anywhere there—and then swim even further, to places I've never been before.