@Parlem Could it be that you are back from your trip?
How was it?
Hi!
Yes, I got back home late last night (in the wee hours of the morning, to be precise). The trip was good overall, with some highlights and a couple of low points. Such is life.
I arrived in Marsa Alam on Friday April 11 and had a chance to do a couple of dives with Emperor, who picked me up from my hotel on Sat 12. Apparently day boats weren't going out due to high seas caused by strong winds and I was told that the Friday-departing liveaboards hadn't been able to leave Port Ghalib the previous day.
Incidentally, Port Ghalib didn't seem very busy. Extra Divers have shut down their branch there and, while nominally still present in Port Ghalib, Emperor seem to operate just from their day boat, Skye, and do not seem to have an office in Port Ghalib as such anymore. I could be wrong about this, though, and I'll be happy to stand corrected.
Emperor took us to Abu Dabbab by road and I did two beach dives there. Just myself, a French diver and our Emperor guide. Saw some lovely turtles on the grassy bottom in the middle of the bay, but I am sad to report that all hard and soft coral is dead on the northern reef at Abu Dabbab. Visibility was poor due to the recent sea conditions and fish life seemed scarce. In fact, poor visibility plagued the whole trip (South and St. John's route).
That afternoon I boarded the Red Sea Aggressor IV, which is possibly the best liveaboard boat I've ever been on (only followed by MY Red Sea Explorer, which belongs to Extra Divers) in terms of facilities, service and attention to detail. The diving group was very mixed in terms of experience and age, but the fact that there were three guides on board meant that this diversity was managed fairly well. The crew-to-passenger ratio on the Red Sea Aggressor IV was excellent and they were extremely accommodating.
Check dive + dive 2 were at Marsa Shona, where we saw some large turtles. Very easy diving. Unfortunately, about 95% of the coral seemed dead. Just a barren grey mass with few fish.
During the night we sailed to Daedalus, where we dove the following day. The eastern side of Daedalus looked grey and colourless. Most coral seemed dead, even down to 30-32m. Some in my group caught a fleeting glimpse of a hammerhead down below. Alas, I didn't. Again, visibility was limited. However, the southern plateau had some nice coral and more abundant fish life. The third and last dive at Daedalus in the afternoon provided one of the trip's underwater highlights, as we drifted from the south plateau to the north and enjoyed plenty of live coral and interesting fish life. This was truly spectacular, in particular because the afternoon sun provided much needed light given the mediocre visibility.
Day 3 was spent at St. John's. A site named "Paradise", which I'm assuming was Paradise Reef according to my Diver's Atlas, was --I think-- the southernmost point we dove on this trip. There were some small caves that interested me, but about 90% of the coral looked dead and there were few fish.
The highest water temperature my computer recorded was here, at St. John's: 25C
Fury Shoals was 24C and Daedalus/Elphinstone was 23C
Incidentally, I should probably mention that I alternated between a 5mm and a 7mm wetsuit, with no hood. I was only slightly cold every now at then, particularly in the northernmost sites (beginning and end of the trip). This was mid-April.
Then we dove a site which our guides referred to as "St. John's caves" and I'm guessing it's Umm Chararim, a classic stopover of southern routes due to the small caves, tunnels and swim-throughs which are quite dramatic thanks to the sunlight shining in through the reef openings above.
Day 4 was spent at the Fury Shoals and it included a snorkelling encounter with a large school of spinner dolphins at Sataya lagoon, including many juveniles. This was fun but the dolphins clearly had to interest in us and they merely swam past you at high speed so every encounter lasted only a few seconds. There were many other boats in the area and soon I'd had enough. Previous underwater (scuba) experiences in the northern Red Sea with bottlenose dolphins had been truly special for me as you could tell the beasts were genuinely curious and kept coming back (Shaab El Erg and Abu Nuhas come to mind). This one was nice, but nothing otherworldly, in my personal opinion.
A wall dive at Sataya, with a mild current, was pleasant enough with slightly improved visibility.
Then we dove Gota Sataya (I'm guessing "Small Gota Sataya) and Shaab Claudio. Both nice sites, but hardly spectacular. Again, a lot of dead coral. However, travelling north to Abu Galawa Soraya (my book calls it Abu Galawa Soghayr) provided, in my view, the best dives of the trip to date with lots of live coral (hard and soft), extremely easy diving conditions (easy navigation, no current, shallow), dramatic topography and even a small wreck to explore. I even found the energy to do a night dive here and it was definitely worth it.
On our last diving day we did two dives at Elphinstone, where there weren't many boats. Nice! Despite poor visibility and rough seas, the south plateau in particular made for a very, very pleasant dive. Very healthy soft coral and interesting sea life, but no large animal encounters, unfortunately.
All in all, 18 dives, of which perhaps about 6 were truly spectacular. I think it'll be a while before I go back to the southern Egyptian Red Sea (though I'm tempted by Elba and the sites just north of the Sudan border, which I do not know). The encounters with large animals seem to be seasonal and/or hit-and-miss. My work/family commitments mean that I cannot travel when it'd be the most ideal for them. And, to be honest, I think I'd rather dive Tiran and Ras Mohamed for truly healthy coral reefs and decent fish life.
In short, I'm glad I went but I won't be going back soon, I don't think.
Perhaps I should add that I used a travel wing for the first time on this trip (XDeep Ghost) and it served me very well. The main benefit over my previous bulky jacket-style BCD is that I needed up to 3kg less of lead, which is always a plus.
I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have. This is a great forum that has been very useful to me in the past and I'm happy to oblige, bearing in mind that opinions are always personal and based on individual perceptions, etc, etc.
