Polish Firm seeks representative / translator/s who are fluent in the Polish language. The special individual/s will escort Polish clients around a variety of developments in and around Hurghada.

Polska Firma szuka w Hurghadzie do pracy osoby mowiace po Polsku i Arabsku lub Polsku i Angielsku. email info@egypt-property.eu

Generous Hourly rate of pay

Contact: info@egypt-property.eu

It is with great sadness that HEPCA releases this statement concerning the loss of Abd El Megeed El Cherif, popularly known as Guido, one of the true pioneers of Red Sea diving and one of our industry’s most beloved faces.

Guido was a very special man, an unbelievable character who brought joy to every situation he encountered, and every room he entered. A businessman, Guido was a dedicated diving enthusiast and instructor, who ultimately left his everyday work behind to embrace his overwhelming passion for the sea.

Guido Cherif was the founder and original owner of the famous liveaboard M.Y. Coral Queen, a boat almost as legendary as the man himself.

M.Y. Coral Queen stood out in its class, a beautifully designed 24m motor cruiser, built in 1996, that was especially popular with British divers until her sad demise at Sha’ab Sataya in 2005. With the Coral Queen, Guido established a real landmark liveaboard in the Red Sea, with a unique atmosphere.

M.Y. Coral Queen was not notable for its size or luxury compared to the ’skyscraper boats’ that exist now, but through this boat Guido showed to the entire industry the true warmth of Egyptian hospitality.

Guido was committed to giving back to his local community and over the years many of the crew came from local tribes for training onboard. The fact that this relatively small and unassuming boat won ‘best liveboard in the world’ twice is testament to the very special kind of diving that Guido introduced to his guests.

So many people spoke highly of Guido, a real ‘Last of the Mohicans’ for the diving industry in the Red Sea.

Hossam Helmy, fellow diving pioneer in the Southern Red Sea, and owner of Red Sea Diving Safari had this to say yesterday about his close friend Guido:

“He was a real friend, a true gentleman and a genuine person. He helped me a lot and introduced me to diving at Fury Shoals, and perhaps even introduced this area as we know it now to the whole world. We spent together there many months diving and exploring sites, and he helped me personally with setting up our speedboat fleet that serves all the Red Sea Diving Safari bases throughout the South. God bless him. We will miss him.”

Our condolences and the heartfelt sympathies of the HEPCA team rest with the family and friends of Guido.

BleachWatch Egypt seeks volunteers for reef monitoring program

What is BleachWatch Egypt?

BleachWatch Egypt is a community based coral reef monitoring program that acts as an early warning system for potential coral bleaching events. Trained volunteers report back on the health of their local reefs and the information is used to track bleaching events and other environmental damage.

BleachWatch Egypt is part of the Climate Change and Coral Reefs Project – a unique partnership between HEPCA, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and leading travel and tour operator Kuoni Travel Ltd.

What’s the point? Coral reef bleaching is irreversible – right?

Wrong! Well… bleaching is technically reversible but corals can potentially suffer mass mortality following bleaching events.

You see… corals live in symbiosis with a single celled algae called zooxanthellae. Bleaching is a natural response to environmental stress (most often unusually high water temperature as a direct result of climate change). The coral polyps expel their colourful zooxanthellae and as a result lose their colour and turn transparent and what can be seen is the white calcium carbonate skeleton of the animal. When corals are stressed and expel their zooxanthellae they can lose more than 90% of their food supply. If the zooxanthellae are not regained the coral will starve and die.

Even though coral bleaching events may be caused by increases in temperature and UV radiation that are difficult to control locally, other manmade threats increase the probability that corals bleach and die. Such threats include pollution, freshwater runoff, sedimentation and disease. By monitoring coral reefs we can try to better understand the patterns of coral bleaching, help find out what makes some corals survive, and minimise, where possible, local threats that exacerbate the situation.

Where is the monitoring program happening?

BleachWatch Egypt is being launched this month at the Red Sea Diving Safari in Marsa Shagra, and will be introduced soon after to El Quesir, Lahami, St Johns and Wadi El Gimal.

A team of volunteers recently received BleachWatch training as part of Climate Change workshops in Hurghada and Marsa Alam, but we need more volunteers! We aim to cover all of the Egyptian Red Sea and so all diving operations and resorts that are interested should contact us.

Who can volunteer?

Everyone! That is everyone who regularly visits our coral reefs and is in a position to receive a short informal training and fill in an occasional simple report. The training will give you insight into marine and coral ecology and will be an invaluable way to contribute and support the health of your favourite dive sites.

We welcome applications from individuals who are divers, snorkelers or regular water users, as well as dive centres and other organisations who are interested in passing on their knowledge of the program. BleachWatch makes a great interactive educational tool for diving and snorkelling guests.

Great! How do I get involved?

Simple. Just send an email to bleachwatch@hepca.com to register your interest and we’ll get in touch with you soon with more information and to arrange your training.

You can also find out more about Bleachwatch and the Climate Change and Coral Reefs project at www.hepca.com/projects and www.iucn.org/marine

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