Late March Red Sea - Which sections?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Pillpusher

Contributor
Messages
731
Reaction score
195
Location
Katy, Texas
# of dives
500 - 999
After having to cancel two other planned destinations, I'll be trying out the Red Sea in mid to late march. I'll be doing two back to back liveaboard trips, and am having a difficult time deciding which two areas to choose. Well, better put, since there seems to be three "areas", which one NOT to do. I thought I had my mind made up, but now I've read so much contradictory information, I'm not sure anymore.

I was going to skip the North, mainly due to the fact that I far prefer reefs and pelagics to wrecks... Unless the wreck IS now a reef. That works, too. But I've read some state that the north has some of the most vibrant reef areas in the Red Sea. I don't mind SOME wrecks... In fact, I'd LOVE to do the Thistegorm. But I don't want 1/2 of my dives for a week to be wrecks. So, I was going to do south (St John, Fury Shoals, etc) for the more pristine and colorful reefs and BDE for reef and pelagics. However, now I'm reading that the reefs in the south aren't any better than the north, and that pelagics aren't likely at BDE in mid-late March. OR, if the Thistlegorm is the only reason I should head north, I could do the other two sections and take a day trip to the Thistlegorm on one of my extra days.
:banghead:

As for boats, the two I had mostly decided on, prior to me second guessing myself, were Emperor Elite ("South and St Johns") and MY Blue (BDE). Or, as a potential option, I can look for a "north/brothers" route, if the D and E aren't worth it, or a South route with D if the B and E wouldn't be worth it.

So, after a day and a half of analysis paralysis, I come to you, oh wizards of scuba knowledge... What say you?

Thanks in advance!
 
Hello,
maybe some additional information about diving in Egypt which you would like to factor in:

Are you directly coming from the States to Egypt? I assume that‘s going to be your first trip to Egypt, correct?

Mid-to-late March is still the very beginning of the Liveaboard season. That‘s not necessarily something bad (in fact I‘m chosing these off-season slots since its‘s very crowded especially on the BDE safaris in high season).
However, there are some consequences going that early:
1. Water ist still relatively cold (expect 22-23 Celsius on a BDE tour and maybe even a bit less in the north). I personally would go for a 7mm to feel comfortable with 3+ hrs diving a day and the potential wind, restraining you from warming up in between the dives.
2. In winter, there is generally a higher risk for wind and waves. Cancellations are rather rare but significant re-routings due to weather are possible. The
crossings and the night places (brothers) can be a bit unconvenient. Take your pills.. :)
2. In March, only a fraction of all boats are going out, which is good for you, being on the reef. However, it can happen that your particular boat is not going if they don‘t find a sufficient number of customers. This can be decided in rather short term. Make sure you are booking a boat with a decent number of bookings already in the system, or terms and conditions giving you planning certainty. At least one boat usually gives a „guaranty that they will go“. I have a very good boking office in Germany who is in personal contact with all the boats. That helped me a lot on my previous trips. Covid is worsening all this stuff.
3. Because of 2. and 3., I would go to a harbor, where the majority of boats are going from: Hurghada or tourwhise better: Port Ghalib (Marsa Alam Airport code RMF). If necessary they can teansfer you by car from HRG to Ghalib or vice versa (2.5hrs).

Tours: I have the same interests as you concerning Wrecks vs Reefs etc.
If you have never been to Egypt yet, BDE is almost a must:) for one of the two trips. Concerning big, pelagic fish: This is not Tiger Beach, Socorro or Galapagos, meaning, you can be lucky and have a decent number of sharks (Longimanus, Silky, scallopped hh, Tresher, grey reef sharks and others), pelagic mantas and so on but the density in the red sea is not that high that you can certainly expect to see them. Even not in the months considered to be the slightly stronger shark months (seasonality is not that distinct in the red sea, e.g. I had 5 shark species on my BDE tour in last March including a very high number of Silky sharks). In my opinion, the right mindset is not to be „obsessed“ in seing species xy but to enjoy the very, very rich reefs and to see what‘swimming by. I know people who haven‘t seen a single shark on a BDE tour even in the „shark month“ October..

For the other week of the two, I would chose, whats available. DRZ (Deadalus, Rocky, Zabargad and St. Johns is very nice too).

The marine park reefs in the South (Brothers and lower) are all in decent or very good shape in terms of corals and fish.

Why are you considering to go North if you haven‘t seen the South yet not being too keen about wrecks?

Boats:
Boats, I can recommend the Red Sea Explorer from Extradivers (German/ Swiss Company). They used to give a „we definitely go“ guarantee. the Ocean Window (Swiss) was good too. There are for sure other good boats with a higher amount of english native speaking customers (Emperor or Sea serpent fleet is UK based I think).
I heard very good things about the Blue.
 
For pelagics, BDE is the best, then Fury Shoal+Rocky/Zabargad. And to be brutally honest, March is not a particular good month for big fish in Egypt and water will have sub tropical temperatures. You always have the chance of course and people do see sharks and other big stuff in spring too and diving can be great, but I'll contradict what previous poster said and say that the Egyptian Red Sea is pretty seasonal. Summer is without a doubt the best time to see a variety of sharks, in general, then it can differ from week to week and you never know, there are no gurantees like on a shark feeding in Bahamas. You have to know where to look and when. As an example I particularly remember one trip to Brother Island many years ago. It was in the beginning of July. It was incredible with lots of grey reef sharks on Little Brother's North Point, silky sharks cruising around the anchor line, an oceanic white tip did an appearance, hammerheads in small groups and a threasher shark on Big Brother's South plateau. I think I counted to seven different spieces of shark one morning, over two dives. We spent three or four days there. During the 11-12 dives we did, there was one buddy team who didn't see a single shark. So I guess YMMV.
Have a look at British Blue O Two for one weeks. British owned but with superb local staff.
 
Hello,
maybe some additional information about diving in Egypt which you would like to factor in:

Are you directly coming from the States to Egypt? I assume that‘s going to be your first trip to Egypt, correct?

Mid-to-late March is still the very beginning of the Liveaboard season. That‘s not necessarily something bad (in fact I‘m chosing these off-season slots since its‘s very crowded especially on the BDE safaris in high season).
However, there are some consequences going that early:
1. Water ist still relatively cold (expect 22-23 Celsius on a BDE tour and maybe even a bit less in the north). I personally would go for a 7mm to feel comfortable with 3+ hrs diving a day and the potential wind, restraining you from warming up in between the dives.
2. In winter, there is generally a higher risk for wind and waves. Cancellations are rather rare but significant re-routings due to weather are possible. The
crossings and the night places (brothers) can be a bit unconvenient. Take your pills.. :)
2. In March, only a fraction of all boats are going out, which is good for you, being on the reef. However, it can happen that your particular boat is not going if they don‘t find a sufficient number of customers. This can be decided in rather short term. Make sure you are booking a boat with a decent number of bookings already in the system, or terms and conditions giving you planning certainty. At least one boat usually gives a „guaranty that they will go“. I have a very good boking office in Germany who is in personal contact with all the boats. That helped me a lot on my previous trips. Covid is worsening all this stuff.
3. Because of 2. and 3., I would go to a harbor, where the majority of boats are going from: Hurghada or tourwhise better: Port Ghalib (Marsa Alam Airport code RMF). If necessary they can teansfer you by car from HRG to Ghalib or vice versa (2.5hrs).

Tours: I have the same interests as you concerning Wrecks vs Reefs etc.
If you have never been to Egypt yet, BDE is almost a must:) for one of the two trips. Concerning big, pelagic fish: This is not Tiger Beach, Socorro or Galapagos, meaning, you can be lucky and have a decent number of sharks (Longimanus, Silky, scallopped hh, Tresher, grey reef sharks and others), pelagic mantas and so on but the density in the red sea is not that high that you can certainly expect to see them. Even not in the months considered to be the slightly stronger shark months (seasonality is not that distinct in the red sea, e.g. I had 5 shark species on my BDE tour in last March including a very high number of Silky sharks). In my opinion, the right mindset is not to be „obsessed“ in seing species xy but to enjoy the very, very rich reefs and to see what‘swimming by. I know people who haven‘t seen a single shark on a BDE tour even in the „shark month“ October..

For the other week of the two, I would chose, whats available. DRZ (Deadalus, Rocky, Zabargad and St. Johns is very nice too).

The marine park reefs in the South (Brothers and lower) are all in decent or very good shape in terms of corals and fish.

Why are you considering to go North if you haven‘t seen the South yet not being too keen about wrecks?

Boats:
Boats, I can recommend the Red Sea Explorer from Extradivers (German/ Swiss Company). They used to give a „we definitely go“ guarantee. the Ocean Window (Swiss) was good too. There are for sure other good boats with a higher amount of english native speaking customers (Emperor or Sea serpent fleet is UK based I think).
I heard very good things about the Blue.
Hello,
maybe some additional information about diving in Egypt which you would like to factor in:

Are you directly coming from the States to Egypt? I assume that‘s going to be your first trip to Egypt, correct?

Mid-to-late March is still the very beginning of the Liveaboard season. That‘s not necessarily something bad (in fact I‘m chosing these off-season slots since its‘s very crowded especially on the BDE safaris in high season).
However, there are some consequences going that early:
1. Water ist still relatively cold (expect 22-23 Celsius on a BDE tour and maybe even a bit less in the north). I personally would go for a 7mm to feel comfortable with 3+ hrs diving a day and the potential wind, restraining you from warming up in between the dives.
2. In winter, there is generally a higher risk for wind and waves. Cancellations are rather rare but significant re-routings due to weather are possible. The
crossings and the night places (brothers) can be a bit unconvenient. Take your pills.. :)
2. In March, only a fraction of all boats are going out, which is good for you, being on the reef. However, it can happen that your particular boat is not going if they don‘t find a sufficient number of customers. This can be decided in rather short term. Make sure you are booking a boat with a decent number of bookings already in the system, or terms and conditions giving you planning certainty. At least one boat usually gives a „guaranty that they will go“. I have a very good boking office in Germany who is in personal contact with all the boats. That helped me a lot on my previous trips. Covid is worsening all this stuff.
3. Because of 2. and 3., I would go to a harbor, where the majority of boats are going from: Hurghada or tourwhise better: Port Ghalib (Marsa Alam Airport code RMF). If necessary they can teansfer you by car from HRG to Ghalib or vice versa (2.5hrs).

Tours: I have the same interests as you concerning Wrecks vs Reefs etc.
If you have never been to Egypt yet, BDE is almost a must:) for one of the two trips. Concerning big, pelagic fish: This is not Tiger Beach, Socorro or Galapagos, meaning, you can be lucky and have a decent number of sharks (Longimanus, Silky, scallopped hh, Tresher, grey reef sharks and others), pelagic mantas and so on but the density in the red sea is not that high that you can certainly expect to see them. Even not in the months considered to be the slightly stronger shark months (seasonality is not that distinct in the red sea, e.g. I had 5 shark species on my BDE tour in last March including a very high number of Silky sharks). In my opinion, the right mindset is not to be „obsessed“ in seing species xy but to enjoy the very, very rich reefs and to see what‘swimming by. I know people who haven‘t seen a single shark on a BDE tour even in the „shark month“ October..

For the other week of the two, I would chose, whats available. DRZ (Deadalus, Rocky, Zabargad and St. Johns is very nice too).

The marine park reefs in the South (Brothers and lower) are all in decent or very good shape in terms of corals and fish.

Why are you considering to go North if you haven‘t seen the South yet not being too keen about wrecks?

Boats:
Boats, I can recommend the Red Sea Explorer from Extradivers (German/ Swiss Company). They used to give a „we definitely go“ guarantee. the Ocean Window (Swiss) was good too. There are for sure other good boats with a higher amount of english native speaking customers (Emperor or Sea serpent fleet is UK based I think).
I heard very good things about the Blue.
Thanks. Yes, it will be my first time there. My plan was to fly into Hurghada since they have a lot more flight options for me, and transfer to Port Ghalib when I join a boat down there, and vice-versa.

I guess I was considering north because I had read some people saying that they were less than impressed with the south and that the north has some of the best reefs in the Red Sea (contradictory to what I read elsewhere, which is why I’m seeking more, non-biased opinions on this).

However, I’m pretty sold at this point on doing south and BDE. But now I’m starting to rethink the timing of the trip all together.
 
For pelagics, BDE is the best, then Fury Shoal+Rocky/Zabargad. And to be brutally honest, March is not a particular good month for big fish in Egypt and water will have sub tropical temperatures. You always have the chance of course and people do see sharks and other big stuff in spring too and diving can be great, but I'll contradict what previous poster said and say that the Egyptian Red Sea is pretty seasonal. Summer is without a doubt the best time to see a variety of sharks, in general, then it can differ from week to week and you never know, there are no gurantees like on a shark feeding in Bahamas. You have to know where to look and when. As an example I particularly remember one trip to Brother Island many years ago. It was in the beginning of July. It was incredible with lots of grey reef sharks on Little Brother's North Point, silky sharks cruising around the anchor line, an oceanic white tip did an appearance, hammerheads in small groups and a threasher shark on Big Brother's South plateau. I think I counted to seven different spieces of shark one morning, over two dives. We spent three or four days there. During the 11-12 dives we did, there was one buddy team who didn't see a single shark. So I guess YMMV.
Have a look at British Blue O Two for one weeks. British owned but with superb local staff.
Thanks for the info. I’m coming to realize the same. It’s maddening because nearly every website you come across by googling “best time to dive Red Sea”, say that “March-May or Sept to November” are the best times. However, the more info I gather, the more it seems like March-May is one of the WORST times.

I’m considering pushing back the trip to late may/early June, unless I can figure out why all these websites boast March-May as being so good. March is WAY more convenient for me, but if waiting a couple of months would truly be THAT much better, I feel I’d regret going in March.
 
So, now I guess the question is, what IS good about March-May? There has to be something I’m missing since all the websites say it’s one of the best times to go. I’d love to hear the opinions of anyone else that has been there during that span and what they saw.
 
However, based on this, there doesn’t seem to be a ton of difference march/April and the summer.

How accurate do y’all feel this is?
 
Hi @Pillpusher

I did back to back weeks, southern route and BDE, in April/May of 2016. It was a very good trip, saw everything on my list except for Oceanic Whitetips Trip Report - Red Sea Aggressor April-May 2016 Unfortunately, the itinerary at Brothers has changed since my visit, with much less time and fewer dives done there. OWT season seems to mostly be toward the end of the year.
 
Hi @Pillpusher

I did back to back weeks, southern route and BDE, in April/May of 2016. It was a very good trip, saw everything on my list except for Oceanic Whitetips Trip Report - Red Sea Aggressor April-May 2016 Unfortunately, the itinerary at Brothers has changed since my visit, with much less time and fewer dives done there. OWT season seems to mostly be toward the end of the year.
Looks like an incredible trip! Oceanic white tips are definitely way up on my list, but I fully realize that’s going to be hit or miss regardless of the timing.
 
I did BDE (trip report) last May. Overall, I enjoyed it, but our divemaster said it was the wrong time of year. We didn't see a single Oceanic white tip, and had a few 'wasted' blue water dives we didn't see anything - but also 1 really great dive we went to see the reef instead of blue water and a few hammer heads showed up and got close.

I am a much bigger fan of colorful coral reefscapes and less of pelagics compared to a lot of other divers and I really enjoyed Abu Dabab, so if I did another Spring/Early summer Egypt trip, I'd probably go deep south. Not that I don't appreciate pelagics, but there are better places to see them, and the coral formations in the Red Sea are unique and better than anywhere else - at least anywhere you can get to as easily and cheaply from the US.

All that said, if I had the option to do BDE again this Spring at current airfare and liveaboard prices without worry about COVID, I'd take it in a heartbeat. I don't have either the time or money to do 2 big trips in a year, and I booked 3 Egypt liveaboard trips I didn't get to take (2 cancelled by the operator, 1 I couldn't get a flight) due to COVID before that 1 I went on. So I am waiting until Fall, if Indonesia is still closed, BDE in September is a very real possibility.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom