Egypt Liveaboard: which and where??

[irycio]

I got annoyed with the over-the-top "service" at times. I can put my own fins on just fine, thanks.

I totally feel you . Seems like a universal behavior though, and I ended up hiding while dressing up so that I can do it on my own. Still, the crew of grand sea serpent were fantastic and I guess it's just a cultural difference. Some other guests were very happy to be helped.

 

[Mod63]

You can lucky and unlucky I've done BDE multiple times, and even during the same season (Christmas e.g.) one year we had more longimanus than you can count, a year later we abandoned Brother and Deadalus after a day each and headed south because there was nothing to see.

 

[Dan]

Trip Report - BDE Trip Report, 21-28 December, 2019

 

[Dan]

You can lucky and unlucky I've done BDE multiple times, and even during the same season (Christmas e.g.) one year we had more longimanus than you can count, a year later we abandoned Brother and Deadalus after a day each and headed south because there was nothing to see.

I guess I was lucky then.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @Dan

It was interesting reading your report, I missed it a year ago. When I did BDE in 2016, we did 22 dives (24 1/2 hours) including 4 at Little Brother, 4 at Big Brother, and 8 at Daedalus. It looks like the itinerary has been trimmed down to 18 dives, including 3 at Brothers and 6 at Daedalus.

I wionder what the BDE itinerary looks like with operators other than Aggressor? For those of you who have done BDE relatively recently, could you let me know what the dive schedule looks like?

Thanks

 

[irycio]

For those of you who have done BDE relatively recently, could you let me know what the dive schedule looks like? Thanks

We did 4 dives a day except for first and last day.
Day 1 was checkout + fun + night near Hurghada.
Day 2 was 4 dives at Brothers - 2 Big, 2 Little. No night dives and staying overnight is still forbidden at Brothers.
Day 3 and 4 - 2x4 dives at Deadalus, plenty of hammerheads + some mantas there.
Day 5 - 2 dives at Elphinstone + Mangrove Bay + El Minya Wreck near Hurghada.

 

[mcohen1021]

I was there June 2018 on the dead and buried RSA 1, it was spectacular! The crew on the south itinerary could not have provided a better experience - seriously. They made us feel like royalty and family at the same time.

As fa as wetsuit, I did all dives in a 1.5 mil top, only cold on one dive.

Here's the trip video purchased from RSA:

 

[Dan]

Hi @Dan

It was interesting reading your report, I missed it a year ago. When I did BDE in 2016, we did 22 dives (24 1/2 hours) including 4 at Little Brother, 4 at Big Brother, and 8 at Daedalus. It looks like the itinerary has been trimmed down to 18 dives, including 3 at Brothers and 6 at Daedalus.

I wionder what the BDE itinerary looks like with operators other than Aggressor? For those of you who have done BDE relatively recently, could you let me know what the dive schedule looks like?

Thanks

I guess that’s before the accident when a Longimanus bit off a German diver’s calf. They no longer let any liveaboard staying overnight in Brothers since & trimmed the numbers of diving in BDE.

 

[scubadada]

I guess that’s before the accident when a Longimanus bit off a German diver’s calf. They no longer let any liveaboard staying overnight in Brothers since & trimmed the numbers of diving in BDE.

Yes the Brothers closure and reopening occurred end of 2018, beginning of 2019. The restrictions have been in place since, I didn't know if perhaps they had been loosened a bit. We overnighted at Brothers to get in our 8 dives before heading off to Daedalus.

Are there also restrictions at Daedalus, I had not heard of any from the same time period?

 

[scubajasonr]

I have done quite a few Red Sea liveaboard trips. I think the one I enjoyed the most was ‘Brothers and the North’ from Hurghada. Not many operators run it, but it did showcase the best of the Egyptian Red Sea - getting the Brothers and Thistlegorm on the same trip shows the diversity of the Red Sea.

End of October 2019 I did BDE. Saw several thresher sharks, hammerheads (only solitary), one manta (from a distance and rare at that time of year), numerous oceanic whitetips, but missed out on dolphins. We were lucky to see what we did, several on the boat only saw one or two sharks.

I have two trips planned for this year. One is ten days heading south from Marsa Alam in the summer and should be nice easy diving. The other is Brothers, Daedalus, Rocky and St John in October, lots of traveling on this trip, but visits some great sites.