Diving the Red Sea

[mcohen1021]

I went to Red Sea June 2018. I have been diving 30 years, this being my 1st live aboard (outside the MV Fling in Texas).

I must say, that the entire experience on the Red Sea Aggressor was simply amazing. Everything from the trip planning (air, hotel, food, diving and xfers) to the boat itself was superb. I cannot possibly express how pleased I was with it overall. If it was not 34 hrs to travel there, I;d be back again this year

Here are a few bits of my observations:

If the primary purpose of this trip is to dive, a liveaboard is the way to go. If go out on the dayboats, theres a very good chance you’ll be surrounded by other day boats and liveaboards on the tail ends of their trips (abu dabab I, II – chances to see the ‘good stuff’ is close to zero. The cost of the Red Sea Aggressor was extremely reasonable for what you were getting – under $1200 usd pp. To get 6 days of 4 dives/day out of Hurghada, you’d spend ~$500 for the diving, $500 pp for a double room, then add food, the best bang for your scuba buck is the liveaboard.

So my opinion may be biased based on the simply amazing time the staff at the Red Sea Aggressor showed us, but it’s my opinion that you have not dived Red Sea without Big Brother, Little Brother, Daedelus and the other sites inaccessible by the day boats. The aggressor staff was as good as the diving – seriously.

Look up the specials on Aggressors website and then call Darien Bacon to book it, and Lisa Stierwalt to plan the flights, hotels and transfers. BTW – the only thing I did not like was the Siva Hotel in Port Ghalib.

Here’s our trip video:

 

[leadduck]

If the primary purpose of this trip is to dive, a liveaboard is the way to go. If go out on the dayboats, theres a very good chance you’ll be surrounded by other day boats and liveaboards on the tail ends of their trips

+1 regarding the wrecks. A day boat from Hurghada to the Thistlegorm for example takes 3 hours one way. Much better on a liveaboard, easy to do an early morning dive and have the wreck for yourself before the day boats come. If you prefer a week of reef diving then some hotels are good too.

 

[whatacoolfish]

I went to Red Sea June 2018. I have been diving 30 years, this being my 1st live aboard (outside the MV Fling in Texas).

I must say, that the entire experience on the Red Sea Aggressor was simply amazing. Everything from the trip planning (air, hotel, food, diving and xfers) to the boat itself was superb. I cannot possibly express how pleased I was with it overall. If it was not 34 hrs to travel there, I;d be back again this year

Here are a few bits of my observations:

If the primary purpose of this trip is to dive, a liveaboard is the way to go. If go out on the dayboats, theres a very good chance you’ll be surrounded by other day boats and liveaboards on the tail ends of their trips (abu dabab I, II – chances to see the ‘good stuff’ is close to zero. The cost of the Red Sea Aggressor was extremely reasonable for what you were getting – under $1200 usd pp. To get 6 days of 4 dives/day out of Hurghada, you’d spend ~$500 for the diving, $500 pp for a double room, then add food, the best bang for your scuba buck is the liveaboard.

So my opinion may be biased based on the simply amazing time the staff at the Red Sea Aggressor showed us, but it’s my opinion that you have not dived Red Sea without Big Brother, Little Brother, Daedelus and the other sites inaccessible by the day boats. The aggressor staff was as good as the diving – seriously.

Look up the specials on Aggressors website and then call Darien Bacon to book it, and Lisa Stierwalt to plan the flights, hotels and transfers. BTW – the only thing I did not like was the Siva Hotel in Port Ghalib.

Here’s our trip video:

I can echo all of this, the RSA was excellent and the best priced liveaboard I've come across. That hammer at the surface is incredible! Did you come across many hammerheads?

 

[mcohen1021]

I can echo all of this, the RSA was excellent and the best priced liveaboard I've come across. That hammer at the surface is incredible! Did you come across many hammerheads?

4 total that I recall. We had 4 oceanic white tips, 2 large silkies, one manta and 1 thresher. We also had a freak of a green moray that was thicker around than my thigh... what sucks is it cam out right on top of me and I couldnt get any pics of video. It was like a tree trunk.