About
The Chamber Of Diving And Water sports

Here’s all what you need to know about us, our contribution to the diving and water sports industry and our core values. Also a chance to meet our board and team members.




We Believe That:
• Egypt’s red sea is an incredible treasure that can’t be found anywhere else in the world
• It is our duty to protect our marine life and work hard to make Egypt the best destination in the world
• The protection of our marine biodiversity is one of our core beliefs, this is achievable by introducing sustainable practices & reducing the negative impacts of our industry on our marine life especially coral reefs
• Our human resources are our most valuable assets and we should invest in their development and training to elevate the level of services in the industry.

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About The Chamber of Diving and Water Sports

The Chamber of Diving and Water Sports is a non-profit organization, founded by Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism in 2007 with a goal to improve quality, safety and standard of services in the diving and water sports industry, as well as to preserve the unique environment of the Red Sea.
CDWS is the partner of the Austrian Standards plus Ltd. for the certification system of the European Underwater Federation (EUF) in accordance with the EN 14467 / ISO 24803 for recreational diving providers and ISO 13289 for the conduct of snorkeling excursions.
CDWS is exclusively the sole inspection and auditing body in Egypt and the official representative for the diving and water sports sector on local and international levels.

Know more about the CDWS' Roles and Responsibilities, Click Here!

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The Foundation

The Chamber of Diving and Water Sports, founded by Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism in 2007 to improve quality, safety, and standard of services in the diving and water sports industry, as well as to preserve the unique environment of the Red Sea.

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2008 Best destination and ISO standards

  1. Egypt wins the 2008 diver magazine award for the destination of the year
  2. The CDWS hosts the fifth annual conference for diving and water sports tourism industry
  3. The CDWS partners with the Austrian Standards plus Ltd. for the certification system of the European Underwater Federation (EUF) in accordance with the EN 14467 / ISO 24803 for recreational diving providers

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2009 Best destination and taking actions on over-fishing

  1. Egypt wins the 2009 diver magazine awards for the destination of the year
  2. The CDWS hosts the “overfishing effect on the national resources in the South Sinai” conference
  3. Collaborating with the Ministry of Tourism to establish a mechanism for obtaining the license of the MOT

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2010 destination of the year, training, marketing, clean-ups and the 7th EUF board meeting

  1. Egypt wins the 2010 diver magazine awards for the destination of the year during the London international dive show.
  2. Funding training programs to qualify 100 diving and snorkeling instructors in the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates
  3. Developing an international marketing plan that included, advertising in 21 international magazines, advertising in airplanes, online advertisement, international media, the production of a movie and publishing the Blue magazine.
  4. Organizing dive sites clean-ups in the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates in celebration of the World Clean-up Day
  5. Hosting the 7th EUF board meeting in Egypt for the first time

For more information, check the CDWS annual report for 2010

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International shows

The CDWS represents the Egyptian destination at the international diving shows of Salon de la Plongee, Boot, EUDI, Big scuba show, Golden Dolphin, Poland dive show and Dive travel show

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Buoys installation and international shows

  1. Approving the amount of L.E. 150,000 to support the projects of installing and upgrading the buoys in the South Sinai from the Egyptian National Bank to support the environmental protection projects
  2. The CDWS represents the Egyptian destination at the international diving shows: Dive, Boot, Moscow and for the first time participated in the Warsaw show in Poland

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Installing guiding signs and actions against fishing in Ras Mohamed

  1. Instaling 25 guide boards at various diving sites in Dahab city
  2. The CDWS took action against fishing in Ras Mohamed national park
  3.  The CDWS represents the Egyptian destination at the DEMA show

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Buoys and “Tourism and Water” conference

  1. Installing 51 buoys in several locations in Sharm El-Sheikh
  2. The CDWS participated in the "Tourism and Water" conference held in Aswan, during the World Tourism Day

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2015 Best destination, breaking a Guinness record, ISO standards and actions on illegal fishing

  1. Egypt wins the 2015 best diving destination by Sport Diver
  2. The CDWS participated in the Guinness World Record event of the most participation in an underwater clean-up, achieved by Ahmed Gabr in Hurghada.
  3. Restoring the application of ISO International Standards No. 24803 for the year 2007 As a requirement for registration or renewal of the CDWS membership for dive operations.
  4. The CDWS meets the governor of South Sinai and the Ministry of Environment to issue a protocol to ban illegal fishing in South Sinai

For more information, check the CDWS annual report for 2015

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Sea turtle preservation initiative and installing buoys in South Sinai

  1. In collaboration with the Red Sea national park, the CDWS launched the Sea Turtle Preservation initiative, which included clean-ups for the beaches of the islands where the turtles’ nest.
  2. Installing 20 new buoys in Dahab city and installing and maintenance of 30 buoys in different locations in Sharm El-Sheikh.

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International shows and law no. 71

  1. The CDWS represents the Egyptian destination at the international diving shows; Salon De La Plongee, Boot, EUDI and the Birmingham dive show.
  2. Proposing the new sports law no. 71 of 2017, that preserves the rights of the CDWS members by ending the supervision of the Egyptian Diving and Life Saving Federation on any recreational diving centers or any touristic facility that falls under the supervision of the Ministry of Tourism

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3rd best scuba diving destination, online testing system and ISO for snorkeling services

  1. Egypt lands third place as the best scuba diving destination around the world in the Dive Travel Awards 2018 by Dive Magazine.
  2. The CDWS lunches the online testing and evaluation system for testing the diving and snorkeling instructors to ensure effectiveness and data accuracy
  3. Applying ISO 13289 for snorkeling excursion on all the CDWS members offering snorkeling services.

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2nd best scuba diving destination, Green Fins initiative and training classes

  1. The CDWS adopts the Green Fins Initiative to protect the coral reefs.
  2. Egypt wins the second-best destination in the 2019 dive travel awards by Dive Magazine.
  3. The CDWS delivers training for 3299 trainees working in the sector. 

For more information, check the CDWS annual report for 2019

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2nd best diving destination, digital transformation and the response to the COVID-19 crisis

  1. Egypt wins the second-best diving destination in the Dive Travels Awards 2020 by Dive Magazine 
  2. The CDWS launches the first phase of the digital transformation of its services that allows the professionals to register their profiles online, issue and renew their cards, book their online test, including applying for services via e-mail such as; applying for a visit request, issue membership letters and certificates and pay for the services online. 
  3. The positive response to the COVID-19 crisis by preparing a precautionary measure guideline to resume the diving and water sports activities, leading health and safety inspections in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Ministry of Health to deliver the needed health certificates to the operations that comply with the requirements, as well as distributing precautionary measures posters and raising awareness.
  4. Organizing 15 major clean-up events in different cities in the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates. 
  5. Launching environmental awareness courses for all the employees of the diving and water sports centers to raise their environmental awareness.
For more information visit the CDWS 2020 annual report.

Meet Our Board Members

Third Round

The third round of elections took place in November 2018, in which a new board members were elected to be in place till 2022.
All our board members are key figures in the diving and water sports industries:



Meet the CDWS Team

2024

Our most valuable assets behind the scenes are always dedicating their time and effort to support you and to advance with the CDWS.
Some of our team members have been part of our family for five and even ten years!