Trip Report Family Liveaboard on MY Thunderbird (and Breakers)

[scubajasonr]

A bit of a long read, but I hope a few people find it interesting! I have split this into four parts for it to fit onto the forum.

First a bit of background. My wife and myself have been diving for about 20 years, in that time we have been on a few Red Sea liveaboards. Our kids are now 16 and 13 and we have done a few Red Sea shorebased diving holiday with them in the past. I was keen to take the whole family on a liveaboard, but wanted a suitable trip and an operator who was happy with kids onboard diving. After a bit of searching I found a company called Deep Blue Cruises, who offer family liveaboard trip during the summer holidays. Deep Blue Cruises have two boats MY Thunderbird and MY Firebird and mainly target the German market. So back in 2020 I made a booking for a trip in 2021, unfortunately in summer 2021 the UK still had travel restrictions, so we weren’t able to travel. Deep Blue Cruises were very good and let us move the booking and deposit onto a trip in 2022. So with the dates booked the planning started. The plan was to fly out a few days before and do some easy diving, then the week on the boat, followed by a few days in a hotel to relax before flying home.

Part 1 – Breakers (1st August to 4th August)

The flight from the UK to Hurghada is around 5 hours, our flight on the way out was slightly delayed, but eventually made it to Breakers around 1am. Checkin was pretty quick and after a quick walk around the hotel it was time for some sleep!

On the first morning we signed in at Orca Divers. A large and very well run setup, so check in was very quick and easy. As with most dives centers in Egypt it is compulsory to complete an orientation dive for the first dive, so we signed up for the 3pm dive guided house reef dive. Breakers has a very long jetty (quarter of a mile?) to reach the entry point, they have a fleet of electric carts to take divers and gear to and from the end of the jetty, so it is actually very easy diving here. For the first orientation dive we had to demonstrate some basic skills (mask clearing and reg removal) before the dive proper started. This first dive was a fairly easy swim and back along the reef, my family are all well practiced in the water so the guide left us alone and he focused on the other three people in the group, who were flapping around a little bit.

This is my daughter, with my son in the background


On the 2nd day we did 2 unguided dives on the house reef. One going north and one south (this was dictated by the slight current) The house reef is nice, but you wouldn’t want to do too many dives on it. Orca do offer a full range of half day and full day trips which appeared to be popular, as we were only here for a short time we didn’t try any of these.

Overall Breakers was a very chilled hotel, and Orca was a good dive center. We will definitely be back here some timein the future

 

[scubajasonr]

Part 2 – MY Thunderbird (4th August to 11th August)

The trip we were booked on aboard MY Thunderbird on a route called ‘South to Sataya’ starting and finishing at Port Ghalib. With only 16 guests this would be the smallest liveaboard we had been on, and being aimed at the German market we were slightly apprehensive of any language issues – although I had been advised before the trip that guides and crew all speak English.

Deep Blue Cruises had arranged to collect us from Breakers at 2pm for the 2.5 hour minibus ride down to Port Ghalib. At 2pm the minibus arrived, on the bus already was Chris, one of the dive guides for the week. Chris is German, and spoke excellent English. Also on the bus were a father and son from Austria, they also spoke excellent English. With a bit of chat on the way to Port Ghalib the time flew by.

On the boat the 16 guests came from UK (my family) Germany, Austria and Bosnia. 9 adults and 7 kids. The kids ranged in age from 10 to 16. . There were three dive guides, it would normally be two but as this was a kids trip there was an extra guide. As well as Chris, the other guides were Moussa (he worked on Royal Evolution for a number of years, and by coincidence I dived with his brother, Khalid, on RE last October) and Ahmed. There was also a boat crew of 8. So with 11 staff to the 16 guests it is fair to say we were looked after very well during the week!

Once on the boat we had a very thorough boat safety briefing from Chris. As with most of the briefings during the week this was delivered to my family in English and then a German briefing followed.

I will cover the diving later, but here are a few comments on the boat

While the boat is fairly small, there was plenty of space for the guests. Cabins are small, but not much time is spent there and there was plenty of storage space. AC worked well in cabins and in the main lounge/diving area, despite it being August in Egypt we never felt hot on the boat. Bathrooms are a wetroom style. Sundeck was very good with plenty of shade and with chairs and bean bags to relax on. The boat had a good size dive platform, with one ladder that can climbed up wearing fins. The dive deck was fine for our group, but I could imagine would get busy if 16 divers all tried to gear up at the same time.

Food during the week was very good, at least as good as any other Red Sea boat I have been on. Fresh filter coffee in the mornings was a nice touch. Three good meals a day and a snack in the afternoon, there was always a selection of homemade biscuits available. Mid-week we had a BBQ dinner on deck, and a chef’s celebration meal towards the end of the week. Even the last dinner when we got back to Port Ghalib was good, I have been on other boats were the food standard has dropped once back in port.

The boat had two zodiacs, both worked well during the week, although we only used these for diving a couple of time. They also got used for entertaining the kids some afternoon.

Nitrox was free for the week. 12litre Ali tanks were standard, but there was an option for 10l or 15l. Nitrox fills were always 31% and fill pressure around 210psi.

The plan was for 3 or 4 dives a day, with the kids having an option of 2 or 3. They were fairly relaxed over which dives the kids did. Most dives we were split into two groups, typically split by experience and depth limits. For the morning dives the experienced group would have a max depth of 30m, with the other group 12m or 18m depending on age. By the afternoon all dives were 18m or shallower. Divers moved between groups depending on who was diving and what people wanted to do, the guides were very relaxed over this.

Apart from the first day wake up was normally at 6am, in the water by 7am. Breakfast after the dive. Another dive before lunch, a third dive after lunch and then the option of a night dive (around 7pm) before dinner. Max dive time was set at one hour, although the longest dive we did was 70 minutes. Most dives were guided, although we did a couple unguided.

Weather for the week was very still and humid for the first half, and then for the second half of the week the wind picked up and sea became a bit choppy. Day time temperatures were around 40 degrees C. Water temperatures varied from 29-31 degrees C. I mainly wore a 2mm full suit for most of the trip, but switched to rash vest and shorts for some dives. Most people on the boat were diving in shorties. Viz was generally good for the week, some dives the water was crystal clear, although a few dives were a little murky for the Red Sea.

Once we left Port Ghalib we rarely saw any other boats, it was only on the last day that I saw a diver from another boat underwater.

 

[scubajasonr]

Day 1

First dive was a check out dive at Abu Dabab 1. For this dive it was just my family and a guide. A very easy dive, we all had to deploy a SMB at the safety stop.

Second dive was at Sharm Marsa Alam, I have dived here a few times in the past. An easy and interesting dive site, with a few reef swim throughs and the remains of an old wreck.

After the dive the kids spent a fair amount of time jumping, diving and swimming from the dive desk.

We then had a night dive at the same site.

Day 2

First dive was Shaab Sharm. A amazing dive site, a deep wall with a plateau at the eastern end. Highlight here was being engulfed in a huge shoal of sardines, I have never seen so many fish together, there surrounded our group of divers, and then just disappeared into the blue, there were thousands of them.

Second dive was a place called Habili Wadi Gamil. They don’t usually stop here, but the weather as so calm it made it possible. A very nice dive site, with lots of marine life and a turtle that we saw a few times.

Third dive was Abu Galawa Soraya. An easy dive with lots of pinnacles around a larger reef.

Due to travelling we didn’t finish the third dive until just before sunset, so didn’t have chance for a night dive today. After this dive the kids swan from the back of the boat and were joined by a small group of dolphins.

Dolphins at sunset

Day 3

First dive was Shaab Maksur. An amazing reef, it reminded me of diving at The Brothers, just without all the other boats and divers!

After the first dive we travelled to Sataya, famous for dolphins. As if on demand as soon as we arrived a large pod of dolphins appeared within the lagoon area. So everyone on the boat jumped into the water with snorkeling gear and spent 30 mins with the dolphins. An amazing experience.

Second dive was on the Eastern outside reef at Sataya. Another amazing site, lots of variety on this dive. A sandy bottom to start, then a wall dive on a deep wall followed by a swim back to boat over hard coral. After the dive the dolphins reappeared, so a bit more time was spent snorkeling with them.

Third dive and night dive were at Abu Galawa Kebir. A reasonable dive site, noticeable part was a steel wreck that was next to the reef. After the third dive the crew inflated a rubber ring and gave the kids rides behind the zodiac, more dolphins arrived while they were doing this.

We finished the day with a BBQ dinner on the top deck. This is probably one of the best days I have spent diving.



Day 4

The weather changed today, with the wind picking up.

First dive was Shaab Claudio. The first half of the dive was spent in numerous reef/cavern swim throughs, glad we had a guide for this part) followed by a swim back over a coral garden.

After this dive we started to head north.

Second dive was Gota Siyal. Like all the sites on this route this site had lots of coral and fish. Dive started with a swim into a slight current, before a gentle drift back.

Third dive was at Shelanyat. This was a zodiac drop off and drift back with the current, this was an interesting dive underwater with lots of channels and pinnacle in the coral making the drift back a bit of fun.

Everyone passed on the night dive today.



Day 5

First dive was at Shaab Halhal. This started from the boat swimming through some channels in the reef structure, before getting to a small drop off. Hung out here for a bit hoping to see something big, but nothing appeared. A couple of turtle sightings during the dive.

Second dive was back at Sharm Marsa Alam, this time on the outer reef with a zodiac drop off and slight current to drift back to boat.

Kids happy but worn out

Third dive was at Abu Dabab 2/3 West. Another zodiac drop off and drift back to boat. This dive start with a few caverns to swim through, and then current all the way back to the boat. Highlight on this dive was a small reef shark resting under a coral structure, it was very happy to just sit there and have it’s photo taken. This ended up being a 70 minute dive.

Night dive was on the same site but straight from the boat. Really good viz, and lots to see.



Day 6

Just two dives today. First dive was Abu Dabab 2/3 East. Again zodiac drop off and drift back to boat. There wasn’t much current here, so it was more of a swim back.

Second dive was at Marsa Shoona. This is a normal last dive on liveaboards from Port Ghalib and isn’t a favorite of mine. We spent a bit of time exploring the sea grass, didn’t see much at all, before return to the boat.



Day 7

Check out was at 10am, and we had a bus to take us onto our final hotel.

In total during the liveaboard my wife and myself did 19 dives each, the kids did14 or 15.

 

[scubajasonr]

Overall thoughts on the liveaboard are that it represented excellent value for money, while it was a small boat the crew to guest ratio was very high, so service was great. During the weeks the kids diving came on massively, they had chance to experience all sorts of diving. Language really wasn’t an issue, most of the guests could speak some English, some spoke perfect English. The guides and crew all spoke English. The itinerary was fairly flexible, and the guides and captain adapted the route as we went on to ensure everyone on the boat could have some diving at the right level. During the week we saw very few other boats, so it felt very remote compared to the more popular routes like BDE or Wrecks & Reefs.



Part 3 – Cleopatra Luxury, Makadi Bay (11th August – 15th August)

Not much to say about this. The plan was just to relax for a few day and we succeeded in that. A nice hotel, but doesn’t really stand out compared to other hotels along the coast line. We didn’t dive here, but Extra Divers are on site. We did snorkel, but underwater it is very poor compared to what can be seen elsewhere.

After a few days at the hotel it was time for a night flight back to the UK.

Overall an amazing family holiday, we are already planning to do something similar next year.

 

[KrisR]

Great report. I’m already looking forward to taking my son on liveaboards. ( some might say I’m getting ahead of myself - he isn’t quite 2 yet )

 

[drrich2]

Apart from the first day wake up was normally at 6am, in the water by 7am. Breakfast after the dive. Another dive before lunch, a third dive after lunch and then the option of a night dive (around 7pm) before dinner.

So, you're up at 6 a.m., but then if you do the night dive, that starts at 7 p.m., I would imagine takes about an hour, and dinner is after that? Sounds like dinner is one late meal (by U.S. standards).

Good trip report! Enjoyed the photos. Glad your kids got to share in your trip.

Richard.

 

[scubajasonr]

Great report. I’m already looking forward to taking my son on liveaboards. ( some might say I’m getting ahead of myself - he isn’t quite 2 yet

It won’t be long. Both of mine started diving at 8 and were qualified at 10.

 

[scubajasonr]

So, you're up at 6 a.m., but then if you do the night dive, that starts at 7 p.m., I would imagine takes about an hour, and dinner is after that? Sounds like dinner is one late meal (by U.S. standards).

Good trip report! Enjoyed the photos. Glad your kids got to share in your trip.

Richard.

If we had a night dive then dinner would be sometime after 8pm. Max dive time for the night dive was 45 minutes, so a quick shower after the dive and then straight to dinner.

The days without a night dive were quite nice as we could sit on the sundeck with a beer and watch the sun set.

 

[Parlem]

Thank you for such a detailed report.

 

[Christian]

You had some ace crew on your trip! Sha ab Maksour is one of my favourite reefs in Egypt.