How good is Rocky in terms of large pelagics compared to for instance Brothers?

[ClairevL]

Next year I'll definitely do one or two liveaboards in the Red Sea. So far I've done two liveaboards there:
- South and St Johns - very beautiful reefs and relaxed diving, but not enough pelagic action for me
- Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone - I absolutely loved the diving here, many hammerheads, a thresher shark, many reef sharks

Now I'm trying to decide when and where to go next; I would love to go to Daedalus again, but maybe a different itinerary than previous time.
- I would love to see schooling hammerheads, but I'm not quite sure what the best season is to see them at Daedalus. We were there in August and saw a few hammerheads; some people say the best time to see schools of them is May-July, others say in summer, and I also know people who some them multiple times in autumn.
- I'm thinking of Daedalus & Rocky in stead of the combination of 3 mentioned above, but I can find so little information on Rocky. Would it be as good as or better than the other option? And here, my definition of good is a lot of big stuff, such as sharks. I heard the deep south offers the possibility to see oceanic white tips (I thought in May/June) and sometimes even tiger sharks.
- I don't mind strong currents.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Christian]

The intinerary you have been to, Brothers/Elphinstone/Deadalus is better for Pelagics (sharks) than the St Johns itinerary.
Summertime is the best time for hammerheads and Deadalus the best spot in Egypt. In fall the number of oceanic whitetips increase around mentioned reefs. I've also encountered groups of Silky Sharks around Brother Islands. It would be an extremely rare treat to see schooling hammerheads. Groups at best.
If you want to see schooling hammerheads you will have a greater chance in the Sudanese Red Sea in the spring.

good luck

 

[Rusty Roo]

in my experience, daedalus has hammerheads in may - july. they're elusive however on three dives there i saw 2!
i saw mantas at st johns on the same trip and same time in the year. june i believe.

 

[ClairevL]

Thanks so much for your replies! Somehow I didn' get a notification, so I only just saw them.

I actually just got back from a great trip to Brothers and Daedalus yesterday. Strangely, I saw many more Hammerheads than last time I went (which was August 2015). Big groups - over 30, which is very unlikely to happen there....we've been lucky Also many Oceanic White tips. The weather was not so stable, waves were sometimes very large and current was strong. Some boats had serious problems on the trip from Daedalus to Elphinstone I heard.

Christian, I think you're right...we should go to Sudan. That's very high on the list anyway. The only drawback is the price; it's quite a bit ore expensive then Egypt. But I guess it's worth it. Would you recommend any specific itinerary in Sudan? We were thinking about the 2 weeks Deep South.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Which boat do you take Claire? TIA

 

[ClairevL]

This time I went with Rosetta. And all previous time where with Emperor (a fleet). We booked the Rosetta because of the price (750 per week, excl flights), and I have not decided yet if I'd go with them again.

Good things: very safety concerned, delicious food, clean boat, affordable trip.
Drawbacks: Only 3 days at Brothers & Daedalus (didn't go to Elphinstone, because the owner said 1: there will be too many boats; 2: it will be choppy. He asked us if we were ok with not going there; me & my buddy were not happy with it, but he actually already decided before asking). The 3 other days were spent at Abu Aabbab, Marsa Shauna, and Ras Torombi, which is ok, but I didn't book this trip to go to these kind of dive sites. Briefings were only about safety and almost no description of the dive sites, dive guide never seemed really enthusiastic.

The boat is a bit more of a budget option, and the bathrooms are very small (shower head is above toilet seat), but the cabins are nice and clean. I'd say that overall it's good value for money.

Please let me know if you want to know anything about this boat or Emperor.

Claire

---------- Post added December 4th, 2015 at 08:21 AM ----------

Has anyone been to Rocky lately? I heard it used to be great, got a lot worse (too much fishing) and is getting better now. I'm really curious to hear about recent experiences!

 

[FinnMom]

I asked the Egyptian guides on our liveaboard this question just last week. They seemed to think that the Brothers was the most sure thing for spotting sharks. They had also recntly seen nice sharks at Zabargad, Elphinstone, Rocky Island and Daedalus.

I have made 1 dive at Rocky Island in March 2014, didn't happen to see any sharks. Saw barracuda and big trevally, also lots of turtles, really big ones well below me (maybe 50-65m) at several different places on our 1-hour dive. I spent pretty much the whole dive at 20-40m but the reef above looked really vibrant and full of life, I'd love to have the time to look at those too someday. On this same 2014 trip we saw 3-4 manta on every single dive (4 total) at Deadalus, and lots of sharks on every dive at both of the Brothers, a few sharks at Deadalus too. Never been to Elphinstone.

 

[ClairevL]

Wow multiple mantas at Daedalus...you've been lucky! I think that doesn't happen often there. Hmm your experience with Rocky soundsgood, but not spectacular. Maybe I should give it a try at some point. I know that the last couple of weeks there were often Tiger sharks around St Johns....must be spectacular

Elphinstone can be great, but since also day boats go there, it is sometimes incredibly crowded. But overall I think that is an issue in the Red Sea anyway. Particularly on the morning dives, when all boats let there divers go at the same time.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Thanks Claire, I'd love to hear more from you about Emperor fleet and those boats of the fleet you were on.

FinnMom, which boat do you use?

 

[LiquidDivingAdventure]

Earlier this year I had two ladies from Canada (Montreal & Toronto) on the Cassiopeia on a Sudan trip. They enjoyed the ship, crew and dives. The Cassiopeia and Andromeda run Sudan itineraries part of the year, then Egypt. Their trips are pretty reasonable and shore service good.