The first diving trip for persons with disabilities to explore sunken archaeological monuments off the shore of Alexandria has been organised by the Egyptian General Authority for Tourism Activation (EGATA) jointly with the Central Department of Sunken Antiquities in Egypt.
The trip was conducted for one person with a physical disability as a model, and the organisers said that more trips would follow for larger groups in the upcoming days.
Alexandria is famous for its an underwater open museum that includes sunken antiquities from various ancient eras. It would be a great opportunity for persons with disabilities to discover that beauty, said Amal al-Aragawi, General Manager of the Antiquities Ministry’s Tourism Offices in Alexandria.
Dr Aragawi said that diving trips for persons with disabilities comes to initialise of the Egyptian Tourism Authority’s celebration of World Tourism Day on /7 September.
Engineer Muhammad Hafez, a young maritime engineer with physical disability, expressed his happiness and pride to have completed his first diving trip. He was guided by Hani Ezz-Eldeen, one of the top researchers in the Central Department of Sunken Antiquities in Egypt.
Mr Hafez had an accident while at his work eight years ago, leaving him with a spinal cord injury that caused disability. Yet it did no dissuade him from pursuing his life-long love of adventure.. He went on a diving trip to Sharm al-Sheikh where he was able to dive to depths of 8 to 12 metres. His success spurred him to take the diving trip to Alexandria’s majestic sunken antiquities.
Watani International
19 September 2023