Itineraries - Brothers Daedalus Elphinstone vs. Daedalus Rocky Zagarbad?

[Sunn]

Less convenient but feasable in case flight connections to RMF are not suitable, is to fly to HRG and then get a bus / hotel transfer down to Marsa Alam. It's a few hours, unfortunately...

a few hours, but you'll see a little bit of the country and not only a resort...

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

Well.. I would say that after the first 50 km you will have seen what you will see for the next 230 km...
Don't expect stunning scenic views along the road....

 

[ontdiver]

I've done quite a bit of overland travel in the region. While not for everyone, it is without question a unique experience. The route from Hurghada to Marsa Alam is a bit underwhelming, but gives one a sense of the environment. Sadly, many travelers avoid seeing the countryside and do not maximize their experience in country X.

 

[mcohen1021]

What are the logistics go get to Port Ghalib from the US now days? Are you going through Cairo or Europe-Hurghada?

I went DFW - ORD - IST - HRG - then the 3 hr drive in the dark to Port Ghalib (June 2018)

34 hours with a 9 hr layover in IST...

 

[Sunn]

I went DFW - ORD - IST - HRG - then the 3 hr drive in the dark to Port Ghalib (June 2018)

34 hours with a 9 hr layover in IST...

nice trip
you may also have a flight DFW - LHR - CAI (16.15 hours), overnight (or 2 nights) in Cairo, seeing the pyramids, museums, etc, then a domestic flight to RMF... could be interesting

 

[bravokiloromeo]

Missed quite a few messages it seems!

I ended up picking the BDE over the DRZ route; through my research it seems like DRZ is much more appropriate for tech (deep walls and wrecks). My goal is primarily to see sharks so BDE should scratch the itch (never even saw an Oceanic White Tip last time I was there).

What are the logistics go get to Port Ghalib from the US now days? Are you going through Cairo or Europe-Hurghada?

Last time I flew through CAI/HRG, I noticed that United/Star Alliance partners had the best (sometimes only) routes, so limiting your searches through those airlines should pull up the best options.

I actually found a convenient LAX-ZRH-RMF route on Swiss/Edelweiss, which works out perfectly. IIRC I think there is also a carrier from Germany (Lufthansa partner) and another in Scandinavia that fly into RMF from Europe. The other option was to fly into Cairo, then fly -> RMF on EgyptAir, but it would have put me in RMF like 3 days early. Not gonna lie, finding the flight schedules was a real PITA because these are seasonal routes that you have to wait for the airlines to update.

One helpful hint is that the dive boat schedules are built around the flight schedules, so if a dive boat is leaving on a particular day, there is very likely a flight coming in the day before. The Swiss flight schedule I'm on drops me in RMF the day before the boat departs, and it leaves the day after the boat returns.

 

[bravokiloromeo]

nice trip
you may also have a flight DFW - LHR - CAI (16.15 hours), overnight (or 2 nights) in Cairo, seeing the pyramids, museums, etc, then a domestic flight to RMF... could be interesting

I did this but to HRG in '19 - spent 4 days in downtown Cairo, flew to HRG for the dive trip, then took a bus (which IIRC cost about $5) to Luxor for 3 days.

Makes a nice triangle if you're not lugging too much stuff around; moving around and being in Egypt is really cheap if you minimize flights, so definitely maximize your time there IMO.

 

[scubadada]

Missed quite a few messages it seems!

I ended up picking the BDE over the DRZ route; through my research it seems like DRZ is much more appropriate for tech (deep walls and wrecks). My goal is primarily to see sharks so BDE should scratch the itch (never even saw an Oceanic White Tip last time I was there).



Last time I flew through CAI/HRG, I noticed that United/Star Alliance partners had the best (sometimes only) routes, so limiting your searches through those airlines should pull up the best options.

I actually found a convenient LAX-ZRH-RMF route on Swiss/Edelweiss, which works out perfectly. IIRC I think there is also a carrier from Germany (Lufthansa partner) and another in Scandinavia that fly into RMF from Europe. The other option was to fly into Cairo, then fly -> RMF on EgyptAir, but it would have put me in RMF like 3 days early. Not gonna lie, finding the flight schedules was a real PITA because these are seasonal routes that you have to wait for the airlines to update.

One helpful hint is that the dive boat schedules are built around the flight schedules, so if a dive boat is leaving on a particular day, there is very likely a flight coming in the day before. The Swiss flight schedule I'm on drops me in RMF the day before the boat departs, and it leaves the day after the boat returns.

Hi @bravokiloromeo

I was living in Basel at the time, and took the Swiss/Edelweiss flight from Zurich to Hurghada. It worked out beautifully. They did not have a flight to Marsa Alam at the time, that would have been great. I actually got to Marsa Alam 2 days before my liveaboard, stayed at the Marina Lodge, and dived a day with on site Emperor Divers Trip Report - Emperor Divers and Marina Lodge Hotel April 2016

 

[svs]

Missed quite a few messages it seems!

Last time I flew through CAI/HRG, I noticed that United/Star Alliance partners had the best (sometimes only) routes, so limiting your searches through those airlines should pull up the best options.

I actually found a convenient LAX-ZRH-RMF route on Swiss/Edelweiss, which works out perfectly. IIRC I think there is also a carrier from Germany (Lufthansa partner) and another in Scandinavia that fly into RMF from Europe. The other option was to fly into Cairo, then fly -> RMF on EgyptAir, but it would have put me in RMF like 3 days early. Not gonna lie, finding the flight schedules was a real PITA because these are seasonal routes that you have to wait for the airlines to update.

One helpful hint is that the dive boat schedules are built around the flight schedules, so if a dive boat is leaving on a particular day, there is very likely a flight coming in the day before. The Swiss flight schedule I'm on drops me in RMF the day before the boat departs, and it leaves the day after the boat returns.

Thank you for detailed info

 

[Dan]

I did the BDE about 15 months ago. Hopefully the following info would still be useful to you: Trip Report - BDE Trip Report, 21-28 December, 2019