Отдых удался!)) Rest was a success!

Rested with a friend in the period from 11/11/2011 to 11/19/2011. I have been to Egypt for the second time, my friend - for the first time. Enjoyed the holiday!
Well, firstly, about the hotel itself and its territory. I liked it very much! I compared it with Sierra (I was there with my sister also in November 2009), and so the room in Sea Life is much more spacious, cozier, more comfortable and newer, and there was a balcony, not sliding windows-doors with access to the courtyard. I really liked it (our room was 1412, with a wonderful balcony overlooking a well-groomed garden and overlooking the sea).
Hotel. Territory. Staff. The hotel area is large, green, well-groomed, 1 large pool, 1 for children, not heated though. In the Sea Club, the territory may be a little larger, and the pool is heated there, but it is open until 6 pm maximum.
I will attach all photos of the hotel and the territory in a photo album.

The staff is good, polite. I liked how the room was cleaned. Towels were changed every day, sheets were changed a couple of times. Every time something unimaginable was twisted on the beds - either a crocodile with flowers, or hearts, or flowers and rose petals - in general, they made me incredibly happy)) They left tips several times, but even without them you will be pleased with something good and sweet) ) A bottle of water was brought to the room every day (although, in theory, they should have been 2, but the rules seem to say that 1 bottle is required, but this is not so critical - water could be obtained without problems in a bar on the beach or near the pool, or near the main entrance to the restaurant). We got a stunning room - overlooking the sea! . . We went out on the balcony in the evening (a wide terrace with wooden openings, a table and 2 chairs), made tea or coffee (there was a kettle and bags of tea, sugar, coffee in the room), put a plate with awesome “tits” (when we walked home from the beach, we often went to the pool - from 4 o’clock at the bar you could take cakes) and like that, in a stunning evening atmosphere, we saw off the sun and admired the play of colors of the sunset...
The hotel has a group of animators (they have 1 day off, Sunday). They offer various games and competitions on the beach from 10-11 hours (volleyball, dancing, darts, exercises), by the pool (yoga, aqua games), in the evening we went with them to a disco in Pasha, in the Taj Mahal, Dolce Vita. Since my friend and I are lovers of an active lifestyle, we participated in many competitions and did not refuse the proposals of the animation group (dances, competitions, games). A friend even shared 2nd place with a girl from Russia in the Miss Sea Life contest - it takes place every 2 weeks on the territory of the amphitheater. Do not regret the evening time, go - a good mood and humor are provided. Of course, the animation team at Sea Club seemed to me stronger and more active, but the animators from Sea Life are also trying. In general, if you want your vacation to be a success, you don’t need to sit in your room - you can just walk around the hotel in the evening or go to the nearest Sea Club - take a walk there, it’s more fun there, and almost every other day there is a disco in the hotel, there is a small club, light music normal and DJs invite good ones, I liked the music there. Mostly euro-hits are twisted, groovy and danceable. There are few people in the club, mostly girls are dancing. But a couple of times you can go to unwind))
Beach. First we rested on the Sea Club beach. But when we ran into the problem of sun loungers (almost from the very morning it was impossible to find free ones, we came to the beach by 9 o'clock - everything was busy, we had to take mattresses and lay towels on them, which, in principle, also helped out as an option), we decided to relax in our native territory and didn't regret it.
The Sea Life beach is much calmer, somehow more comfortable, the sunbeds here are wooden, they had their own charm, I even liked them more, and there were no problems with them after breakfast, before and after dinner. In addition, the Sea Life beach is located a little higher than the Sea Club, on a small hill, and the sun warms here at this time until 16:30, then it sets. At the Sea Club, the sun was already hiding until 4 o'clock, we had to move closer to the hill.

The beach is clean, there are rubbish bins. The staff is polite, when asked to help with sun loungers - they took into account your request and immediately brought free ones when someone freed them and laid mattresses and towels on them themselves, which was pleasantly pleasing.
The sea... When I read reviews overseas, honestly, I was determined that I would be able to swim a maximum of a couple of times, and I was upset, because I went to Egypt mostly because of the sea and photographs of the underwater world. And I was incredibly happy when I saw that many of the reviews were exaggerated. Yes, the sea is really restless there, it is allowed to swim only in one direction, the right one, as there is a strong tangible current. But in complete calm (and this happened only 2 times during the entire vacation), the observer on the tower allowed to swim on the left side - the current was almost imperceptible, and you could safely swim to the neighboring pontoon and return home through the beach or swim again. The yellow flag hung constantly)) The only thing was that 2 times there was a rather strong storm, and the red flag was hung out for the whole day. It was not allowed to jump from the pontoon in such weather, but from the shore - yes. At this time, the water reached approximately to the waist, and the waves are almost not noticeable, as I noticed that during the storm the waves mostly went horizontally, along the coastline, and did not roll onto the coast. Probably held back by a coral reef, but swimming from the shore in this weather was great and pretty safe.
From the Sea Life beach to the pontoon, 5-7 minutes walk, the pontoon is located near the Sea Club beach. Reliable, stable, even in a storm we were not afraid to take pictures from it, the waves did not reach the height of the boards. Photos of the sea in a storm - just bomb turned out! Incredibly beautiful and vibrant colors! I will attach a photo report a little later))
Corals and fish. There is something to compare with - Shark Bay (in Sharm, Sierra) and swimming in the sea in Taba are still more diverse in marine beauties and curiosities (bigger and larger fish, bright, colorful, varied corals), although Sea Life is quite beautiful corals, but gray and dark gray colors predominate, which is why the water even in the morning and on a clear day seems still gloomy, bright corals can be counted on the fingers. Of the fish, I once saw a lionfish, a stingray (handsome, swam out of nowhere and swam into the depths), sergeant fish, Napoleons, blue fish, yellow, a flock of black beauties, barracudas (at first I thought it was a mutated needle fish, very close swims up and funny watching you, turning slightly bulging eyes). Photos of fish and coral of this bay and the bay in Taba (we stopped there from the Jeep Safari tour, which, by the way, we really liked, but we need to talk about excursions separately).

If you are a fan of "walking" on corals - slippers are a must! Although, if you take a little to the right from the beach, there is a small “lagoon” where there is a sandy entrance to the sea, and I didn’t see hedgehogs from the shore, I swam there when the red flag was hung out. There are few fish there and quite small, but safe. In the same place, if you walk along the coastline, to a reef that can be seen and sticks out of the water a little (a rather abandoned place, locals swam there, but that reef, according to them, is inhabited by very beautiful fish and corals, a favorite place for stingrays, moray eels and rare large fish , why not a place for diving? ), you can walk to the hut-booth of an old fisherman, you can ask him to take a picture with a stuffed moray eel, a ball fish with needles, and an unusual coral. And this friendly fisherman knows a lot of stories about the Red Sea and fish. But it’s better not to go swimming there, the place is quite neglected, full of local Egyptians, a lot of garbage, but interesting corals and pebbles thrown ashore by the wave are found. I found such a beautiful coral heart! )) Unusual just…
Nutrition. A good choice in both Sea Life restaurants and Sea Club restaurants. Breakfasts - eggs, scrambled eggs, toast, bread, pastries, light salads, yoghurts, muesli, cereals, fruits, jams, tea / coffee, juices. Dinner is very plentiful and delicious. Especially the fish! They pampered with trout and all sorts of seafood delicacies. I like fish more, so I can't speak for meat. But I tried turkey fillet a couple of times - I liked how it was cooked. Often for dinner they give meat, vegetables, and grilled fish. This was very tasty!! ! Side dishes, salads, sauces, pastries - just a lot and everything was enough. Ice cream was served for dinner a day or two later. The pastry is incredible. From fruits - melon cut into slices, dates, apples, figs (it was very tasty), chopped lime, bananas, oranges, guava and others. The choice of everything, again, is excellent. Complaining about insufficient food in these hotels is generally unreasonable. Wine (white, rose, red) is quite good. From drinks - water (they bring it in a bottle with a glass, they often took it to the beach, although you can not take it - there was always bottled water in the bar near the beach), drinks like Coca-Cola, Sprite, juices from vending machines, etc. Alcohol - tonic, gin, whiskey. The rest are paid.
In the early days, we ate at our native Sea Life, and then we began to go to the Sea Club. But, to be honest, I didn’t notice a big difference in nutrition - we liked to have breakfast at our hotel, and for dinner we went to the neighboring one. We dined mainly on the beach - there is a bar and tables around. Near the Sea Club there was even a fish restaurant - Pescatore, where you could also have lunch (hot dishes, all sorts of soups and side dishes, fish, meat, salads, fruits - but in a slightly limited amount than they usually fed for breakfast, dinner). Nobody was hungry)) By the way, upon arrival at the hotel, you have the opportunity to visit 3 restaurants - to choose from (Japanese cuisine, the restaurant is located right next to the main restaurant on site, the Pescator fish restaurant (it seems there was French cuisine) and a restaurant, located not far from the main and evening entertainment - on the second floor, I just forgot what kind of cuisine is there. You can read in the hotel info. But places must be booked in advance (reservation at the Sea Club hotel, hall, 2nd floor, ask at the reception during the reception - we went 2 times, and both times we missed the appointment time, 3 times we were too lazy to go. ) Our friends who had dinner in these restaurants were most satisfied with the dinner in that restaurant on the 2nd floor (the guy ordered meat dishes, the girl ordered fish By the way, fish were praised more, there seafood was especially skillfully cooked and a side dish)
Souvenirs. Gifts. Old Town. Naama Bay. For gifts and souvenirs, it is better to go to Old Town. My friend and I took a hotel employee Kimo, a diving instructor on the beach, as our escort. A very nice young man, polite and attentive. We became friends, however, I never used diving services, I just didn’t have enough time)). I upset Kimo a little, he wanted to give us such a gift for free, but I promised that the next time I was in Egypt, I would definitely find him and dive. He works in many hotels in Sharm, seasonally, so they decided so)).

In Old Town, they bought fruit (garnets, $2 per 1 kg and mangoes, $3 per 1 kg; I bought 3 kg of pomegranate and 3 kg of mango, I thought that they would not let me in with more luggage at the airport. But I doubted in vain - at the airport let in without problems with hand luggage, I saw that many people even carried 10 kg of pomegranate each), tea (I took different ones, green mostly with various additives - mango, pomegranate, mix... upon arrival home, I distributed it to friends and acquaintances. But in order to I can’t say that a very tasty tea - I can’t, the one who loves - of course, will choose the very thing for himself. The tea came out a little expensive, I really don’t remember the price, but it’s much more expensive than fruit). So I advise you to buy fruits and spices (the choice is simply huge), they are much cheaper there than here. Mango loved it! *Elena (the same girl on this site with the nickname Greta211), thanks for the advice on choosing this fruit! * We bought large yellow fruits, with the expectation that we will eat them in a week. The seller picked these for us - not very ripe, with a hard whole peel. Just on arrival home, a couple of days later I tried mango. Preserved very well. Store only not in the refrigerator! Is it already cut - you can, it even seems tastier that way))
Pomegranate took sweet and sour (I like this more), a friend - sweet. I liked both tastes, but here it’s already an amateur, who prefers which. By the way, I tried to bargain for the price of fruit with a smile, well, a purely feminine impulsive desire arose, so the seller began to wave his arms terribly and argue. It's good that Kimo was with us, he resolved the situation positively and we just chose another seller - he had fresh fruits and he himself turned out to be a rather nice host. Everyone was satisfied with the fruit purchases, we were not weighed down *Elena, thanks again for the advice to trust, check everything that we bought! *, they helped to choose the best fruits and the rest of the evening we walked around the bazaar, and then went to Naama Bay - walked there, drank mango juice… mmm… that's SOMETHING! I highly recommend it - mango pulp and ice, and some other ingredient was added, but as we did not ask, they did not say, but the cocktail was incredibly tasty!
In general, it is advisable to go to Naama, take a walk in the evening, arrange a promenade, buy something if you like (I didn’t buy anything there, it’s expensive, and the choice is the same as in the Old Town, only more expensive). Everything is lit with colored and bright lanterns and lights, there are a lot of people, a lot of different open establishments, music and the smell of hookah are heard from all sides. We went to Aladdin - took juice and got to the evening fireworks show: the male artist swallowed swords, and danced and lay on the glass with a beat, and attracted the audience to his tricks and numbers, and what this strong man didn’t do - we everyone loved it! After the performance, Kimo introduced us to him, we shook hands with him and thanked him warmly for the pleasure of the hour-long show.
By the way, along with such a warm example, another, no less amusing incident happened to us. While our friend Kimo received a call and he left us for a couple of minutes, one man approached us (I noticed him for a long time that she stood near the entrance and watched what was happening inside) with the offer “Do you want to see exclusive souvenirs (like all sorts of pyramids, pens, magnets, etc. )? in broken English, and when I resolutely answered in English that no, we were not interested, in quite normal English he asked me directly: “Do you want to work in Cairo? I can arrange such beautiful girls for a well-paid job, ”I looked at him like that and said that if he didn’t get out now, then his souvenirs would scatter on all four sides and that our friends with whom we rest and split up for the show - I nod so naturally and affirmatively in the direction of a Russian-speaking company located nearby, they sit across a couple of sofas and see everything perfectly, so if he doesn’t get out, then he will look for work, and in a completely different status and place. This man evaporated instantly, my girlfriend and I confidently approached that company to consolidate the words and effect, exchanged a couple of phrases like rest and all that, exchanged contacts and phone numbers (just in case)) and with a calm heart began to wait for Kimo. When he came, we packed up and left. On the way home, I told him about this case, he was not surprised in principle and agreed that it was an ordinary swindler and that there are a lot of such people in Naama. And why didn't we tell him about it there. That he would figure out who approached us, he enjoys authority, because he does not mess around and does not live at someone else's expense, he has a higher education, helps his parents, works in a hotel, does his job honestly and conscientiously, and that in Naam, as in Sharma, he has many friends and acquaintances who are married to our girls, so this situation, when our girls receive such proposals, is understandable and close to him. He himself was married to a Slav, the marriage lasted 4 years. They parted without resentment and reproaches, trying to support each other. This Kimo turned out to be a good, open and kind person. We were very grateful to him for a pleasant evening and that he was there. You always remember such people with a smile and gratitude...

So, different cases happened to us during the rest (there was also one funny incident on arrival - about breakfast, but that's a completely different story))), but there were much more positive and bright moments! Yes, almost the entire rest is one positive moment))
I didn't want to go home. . .
In general, summing up, the rest were very satisfied. Of the minuses, I will single out the stormy sea, a fairly strong current, sometimes it was even difficult to sail a couple of meters from the pontoon, so as not to be blown to the left side, where swimming is prohibited; of the pluses - the excellent territory of the hotel and infrastructure (everything is comfortable, compact, convenient and spacious, affordable and beautiful), the friendliness of the staff and the animation team.
If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer : )
I will definitely attach photos of the hotel, the sea, the underwater world, from excursions and trips to interesting places, I will try until the end of the week.
I wish you all good luck, good mood, pleasant travels and a great holiday! ))