Cant make mind up

[1nfinite]

Hi, im itching to jump on a liveaboard this month, but cant decide if to do Hurghada wrecks & reefs or further south, Big & Little Brother..St Johns etc..

I done El Guano a few years back day boats which was great diving & not sure im a big wreck diver, more into the beautiful reefs & fishes.
Still would be nice to do a few wrecks.

Any opinion on best diving in Egypt.

Sharm North Sinai is off limits as no flights from UK.

I have been pondering on MY Sea Wolf dominator - North Wrecks & SS Turkia, but hoping this would have plenty reef & big fish dives too.
Otherwise is a 4 hour drive to Marsa Ghalib port.

Cheers.

 

[Christian]

If you haven’t you should do Brothers/Deadalus/Elphinstone. There are a few wrecks on Big Brother, not like the Thistlegorm, but not many are?. Still nice. Summer brings better chances for some big fish.
Some like St Johns, which is also nice. Not as much big fish as BDE though. Fury Shoal has a few interesting reefs too inmo.

 

[Christian]

It is worth the 4 hr schlep to Ghaleb from Hurghada. But don’t you have direct flights to Marsa Alam from London?

 

[1nfinite]

It is worth the 4 hr schlep to Ghaleb from Hurghada. But don’t you have direct flights to Marsa Alam from London?

Hi Christian,

We do but they only run on certain days & is a lot more expensive..better to get a taxi I think.

 

[rayaa3]

The BDE route is really pretty. You will get a chance to see a fair number of big fish (multiple species sharks, napolean wrass, barracuda). The walls of the reef themselves are quite beautiful with both hard and soft corals. I'm a reef lover and I enjoyed them very much. There are indeed 2 wrecks on big brother - at least one has the opportunity for penetration. It is deep, but within recreational limits. If you take a BDE route, it may be the only wreck dive you get all week. We did the "simply the best" route out of hurghada which was was BDE plus some local dives in Hurghada on the Saturday departure, and on the Thursday return. There is a element of sealife that you get on the shallow reef dives that you don't see at those remote walls at big/little brother and daedelus. On the other hand, you don't see as many big fish on those shallow reef dives. Have fun. If you did look at diving out of Hurghada - blue o two runs 2 boats out of there - Red Sea Adventurer (which I was on for the week) and Blue Melody (which was next to us at port). Blue Melody is larger and has some nicer sun deck areas. However, it looked to me like it had more divers on it. RSA normally carries up to 22, can technically carry 24 guests (there are 'single' cabins that have a secondary bunk - which I don't think they sell unless a group gets the whole boat and wants them). When I was on it, it had 20, and felt like the limit of a comfortable capacity. Blue Melody would seem to have a capacity of 26. However, Blue Melody seems to have larger outdoor communal areas - so those extra bodies may not feel quite so crowded. Then again, this concern of being crowded may simply be a north american mindset...we are accustom to having a lot of personal space

At any rate - just wanted to give my thoughts about the BDE routes - lots of big fish, very pretty walls - the remote sites do lack some of the sea life you will see at the shallow patch reef sites near shore (but your itinerary may include a day or two of those).

 

[1nfinite]

Thanks Ray give me much to think over..will check out the Red Sea Adventurer, see if they have any single cabins.

 

[Christian]

I’ve been on Blue Melody once, not sure it was completely full though, might have been 24. But it worked out ok with dive logistics and space. It is a pretty nice standard on everything onboard. Food ok but not great. Plentiful and good variety though. Guides are top class.