Hurghada Guinness book of records mass dive attempt July 2011

Egypt to host mass-dive record attempt

Just two weeks after a British attempt was announced, an Egyptian group has said that it too will try to break the Guinness world record for the Most People Scuba Diving Simultaneously.

The Egypt Scuba Challenge aims to get 3000 divers into the water off Hurghada on 26 July 2011.

The stunt is being organised by the Egyptian Divers Syndicate in co-operation with the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA).

“We have been looking for a spot that is suitable to hold such a huge amount of divers without any detrimental effect on the environment and have agreed on the outside area of the New Marina in Hurghada,” says HEPCA.

“This location has a large sandy plateau at 12-13m depth, which is capable of holding 3000 divers. There is hardly any marine life there, but plenty of rubbish.

“For this reason we do not only want to break the world record for the largest collective dive, but also the world record for the largest underwater clean-up.”

Local dive centres and travel agents operating to the area have been asked to “support the event and actively promote it”.
The event will “help promote tourism in Egypt and, at the same time, raise environmental awareness”.

Companies interested in supporting or taking part in the event will be provided with "promotional material and ideas".

Individual divers from overseas are also invited to participate.
“If you’d like to be part of the world record attempt and are a qualified diver, start searching for flights to Egypt and we look forward to seeing you here in July,” says HEPCA.

The minimum qualification level required is PADI Open Water Diver.

Enquiries should be sent to urte@hepca.com.

The Egyptians are getting their attempt in before the British one, which takes place in Swanage in late September.

The record stands at 2486 divers, who dived off Indonesia in 2009.
Should the Egyptians surpass this mark, the British dive will need to go one better to ensure that the Egyptian record lasts for just a couple of months this summer.

The organiser of the British event has, like HEPCA, cited 3000 divers as the immersion target. For more on the British attempt, click here.
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