Egypt - 'Deep South Exploration' liveaboard trip

[ben arthur]

I'm considering going on one of these 2 week liveaboards trips that go beyond St Johns reef and supposedly dive fairly undived sites (i guess they go close to the sudanese border)

Has anyone ever been on one of these and if so what was the diving like?

My other option, which i did earlier this year and enjoyed so much i may do again, is a 2 week marine park trip (brothers, daedalus, rocky island, st johns etc).

If anyone has done both of these itineries i'd also like to know which one you preferred.

Many thanks

 

[Christian]

Ben,

I've not specificly done the "Deep Egyptian Red Sea" advertised by some ships, e.g. the Royal Emperor. But I have dived a little bit in the area when doing the trip Marsa Alam-Port Sudan-Marsa Alam some years ago.

I'd say the Brothers, Deadalus and Elphinstone generally provide better diving than anything I have seen in St. Johns, Sha'ab Abu
Fendera or other reefs between Zabargad and the Sudanese border. BUT. This area is not very well explored. I am convinced that there must be very good diving to be found, but nothing is guaranteed. This type of exploratory diving can be very rewarding. But you have to be prepared to find nothing.

However, one fact, is that this area lacks the deep waters that surrounds e.g. Brother Islands, and will concequently provide less pelagic spieces. You'd have to to cross the border and venture south into sudanese waters to find the deep african trench near the coast again. For this you will need to go into Port Sudan and obtain dive permissions (a ship which does not carry egyptian flag). You can also consider going on a liveaboard out of Port Sudan and dive some of the reefs in the Sudanese Red Sea. This is my favourite area in the Red Sea and highly reccomendable to any diver wishing to see some of the most spectacular UW-environments in the world.

Christian

 

[ben arthur]

Thanks Christian.

I can see your point re the deeper waters at brothers etc, and as i would like a chance of seeing pelagics i may opt for the marine park trip again

only thing that puts me off a little on sudan is that it seems that most (posssibly all?) liveaboards there generally only do 2 dives a day instead of at least 3 as i'd like, due to a lack of recompression facilities in sudan. do you know of any boats there that generally do 3 a day or would i really have to settle for 2?

which boats have you been on in sudan by the way and would you highly recommend them?

 

[Christian]

In Sudan, I've been on three different ships: the SY Amorina, a swedish flagged ship which does not sail the Red Sea anymore, the SY Ozlem, a turkish ketch which is no longer in Sudan and I have also been on the Don Questo, which is the ship I would reccomend for a Sudanese Red Sea trip. They have a small chamber on board on and they offer more then two dives a day. This is also the ship most suitable for diving activities compared to some of the others which are nice boats, but just not as sturdy. The Don Questo is a 30 meter steel vessel, built in the 60's as a fishing trawler sailing the north sea. It was converted in to a marine science ship in italy in the 90's and then to a dive ship also in the 90's by an italian dive club. The skipper is very flexible and the food is good. But generally you have to count on getting a bit less comfort in Sudan, but the diving ...

good luck

Christian

 

[captainnerd]

Hey, I've done them both and they are both great ( south much better than the north) but be careful...there are plenty of boats advertising the southern trip ( sudan, etc.) and even the brothers, but the amount who actually go there are minimal...I lived in hurghada for two years and had a hard time finding a liveaboard who actually made it there... a typical experience would be that a couple of boats would advertise it, then cancel at the last minute due to "weather", "government regulations", etc. I'm sure someone will go someday, bu 99% are full of $#!%^. I've seen people leave sharm, drive to hurghada at night, circle giftun island twice, stop and tell people they're in sudan...be careful and hope you find the south...it's amazing

 

[Rembert]

Hi Christian,
are you sure, that this famous deco chamber on M/Y Don Questo is operative? Reports from Port Sudan say, the presence of the chamber is mentioned mostly for publicity.
There is a certain solidarity between the boats operating in Sudan - especially in the sea. Don Questo never offered the chamber facility to other boats.
Anyhow I hope that none of the divers in Sudan will need a chamber.
Ciao
Rembert

 

[Christian]

Hello Rembert

To be honest, I didn't try the chamber. Nor did anyone else on the ship, so I have to take Lorenzos word for it. Allthough I did have a look at it, and judging from that, as well as the maintnance level on other things on the ship, I'd be very surpriced if the chamber wasn't able to operate. Also, think about it. If you were the captain on a ship in Sudan, which had a defunct chamber, would you hide that fact from your guests? Undoubtly, a chamber encorages divers to take slightly greater risks, which combined with the type of diving in Sudan increases probability for bends quite a lot. It could be rather uncomfortable explaining to a bent diver that the chamber doesn't work, a lot of bad PR and a helluva nasty situation for you as a skipper. Much easier to say to the guests in the beginning of the trip "the chamber doesn't work at the moment, so dive carefully".

But one can never be sure of course, and it is better to dive like there where no chamber available. I've heard some horror stories about the chamber in Hurghada as well ...

Also if they should offer the chamber to other boats, others boats should help them pay for the maintance of the chamber. I don't know if anyone has made Lorenzo that offer, but I doubt it? However, I'm certain he would do all in his power to help a diver in need, including letting him use the chamber, no matter what ship they came from and if the owner of that boat had contributed to the safety of the divers in the area.

Christian