Liveaboard Cruise to Tiran

[aic007]

Hi,

Haven't been on the boards in a while, but started searching through posts related to the red sea and haven't seen any info regarding the trip I will be taking soon.

I booked a trip through red sea sports for a 3 day live aboard cruise to Tiran leaving from Eilat. They say that they go to the following stops, Jackson, Thomas, Gordon and Woodhouse. I haven't had much dive experience, I did a drift dive in Cozumel at Santa Rosa and we went down to about 85ft and also a a more relaxed dive at Chankanab. Also going to take a refresher class next week. I have read that some of these dives in the Red Sea are a bit more difficult, and am wondering if anyone has advise other than cancel the trip. :no

I will be in Israel for only 2 1/2 weeks and diving the Red Sea is a huge priority. Should I avoid the morning dives which are usually deeper and only do the later more shallow dives? I don't know how crowded the boat will be, will know more details by the end of the week. I know that safety and coming back to tell about the vacation should be top of the list, but this might be the last time I am in that area at least for the forseeable future and would love to experience it.

Thanks in advance,

 

[DutchDown]

Those are very good dives! Don't skip them. You'll have a guide, so just let him/her know your concerns. Without checking my log, I think I did the same sites from day boats when I had fewer than 20 dives. This was in January, years ago, and the currents were rather strong. There will likely be divers aboard who want to go deep, but I would caution you not to do anything you are not comfortable with. Again, talk with your guide. I stayed in my comfort zone and enjoyed the dives. You should too.

Hope this helps

Phil

 

[aic007]

Thanks for the advice, gonna see about doing the Ras Mohammed trip though since I plan on taking some pics. I figure the drifts with changing currents might be a bit much for my experience level, but I have a pretty level head and wouldnt go deeper than I felt comfortable. Waiting to hear back from Red Sea Sports about the other trip, either way psyched about diving the red sea.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Normally the guides will take care of you. Just tell them what you think/feel.

Is that the trip of the Coral Dreams?

 

[aic007]

Do you mean the live aboard boat? If so they said the sea queen, not sure which boat yet, should know by friday.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

OK the Sea Queen is much better

 

[DomaNitrogen]

Tiran.

Is very smooth nice dives. But at the end of each reef you sometime get strong current. The dive master will know and will tell you when to exit..

I just came two weeks ago and did outside of Jackson Reef in the blue .. A group of Hammer Heads hang out there. But i was unlucky. My buddy did the same dive 2 days later saw them ....

ENJOY

 

[aic007]

Thanks for all the helpful info, I switched the trip though, going to do Ras, since I really want to work on my underwater photography. I would love to see the school of hammerheads, that would be a great experience. Either way, going diving in the Red Sea regardless of which of the dozens of sites should be a great trip.

Doma, where did you depart from? Israel, Egypt? If from Eilat, what hotel if any can you recommend. Going to try and see Petra in Jordan a day or two before the dive trip.

Thanks again.

 

[DomaNitrogen]

Aic;
I live in Cairo i have no clue about Eilat...

Enjoy ur trip and dont forget to write a review

Cheers

 

[aic007]

Posted in another topic, but here is a more thorough review of the trip.

Got to The boarder in Eilat around 10pm, everyone is supposed to meet up at approx 10:45 so as people gathered we spoke and discussed past dives and general chit chat. We get ready to start crossing the boarder and tell my friend to make sure she has her passport ready and sure enough, she can't find it. Great start. The guy taking us across the boarder takes her back to the hotel to retrace her steps and fortunately for her someone found it by the pool of the hotel and brought it to the desk. So after wasting 30minutes we start the fun of crossing into Sinai.

Getting through wasn't so bad, but we waited for a little more than an hour for the Egyptian guide that would ride with us so that there wouldn't be any problems at check points. The ride down was approx 3 1/2 hours. We got to the boat at about 5am and stored our luggage in our rooms and then we went to check all the gear and place it in bins so that it would be ready for the first dive of the day.

Got some sleep, no morning dive the first day, so first dive was around 1pm. Checkout dive at Temple so the DM's could get a feel of where everyone was at. Thankfully most of the divers were of moderate experience so I wasn't the only newbie in the group. After checkouts we swam around and go to explore the site and get comfortable. The water was really warm, I don't like wetsuits and was extremely comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt.

After Lunch we went to Gordon Reef where we did our second dive. The amount of coral was breath taking, and it got better with each successive dive. Lots of flower pot corals, fans, acropora, butterfly fish, a spotted ray. Amazing. We did our and my first ever night dive at Gordon as well. Didn't take the camera on the night dives cause I wasn't sure what to expect and also didn't have my sub strobe with me. Right before we got out of the water we saw a giant ray, had to be about 5ft across swimming about 15ft away. Incredible!

Next day we headed over to Jackson Reef, which was probably the best dive site of the trip. The morning dive we went looking for scalloped hammerheads and unfortunately didn't see any but we did see some turtles and an octopus hiding in a rock. The first afternoon dive was probably the best dive of my short diving life. The DM and I managed to swim from one end of the reef to the other and back to the boat. Took about 200 pics that dive and could not believe how alive and amazing the reef was. We both got out and said that was absolutely amazing. I finally felt I had my bouyance under control and my air consumption was improving every dive.

Next off to Laguna reef for our third dive and second night dive of the trip. Laguna was great, but not a nice as Jackson. The night dive was great, saw a couple of Spanish Dancers, and flashlight fish. I also remembered what a friend told me about night dives that kept me occupied for the 30 minutes we were under. Waving your hand in the water makes the microscopic zooplankton glow. I felt like a kid with a new toy when I saw it for the first time. We got back on board and since it was the last night the crew threw a party and the cook made a nice cake, we were all dancing in the cabin and had a great time.

The next morning was Thomas Reef, I sat that dive out since I needed to catch up on sleep and had a bit of a headache. The second dive was at Woodhouse which was another great dive. There were lionfish lots of travalies, lots of different types of coral, anemones and clowns. After getting out of the water we started our packing and headed to the last dive spot, Ras Umm Sid. Another excellent spot, lots of sea life and even had a nice school of barracuda swim right by, also saw some glass fish.

It was sad to have the trip end but it felt like I was on the boat for what seemed like weeks. I can't speak more highly of the crew and DM's, they were very knowledgeable of all the dive sites and what we would be seeing on each one. I would definately go out with that crew again, and my next trip to the red sea will be to Sharm.


Here are the pics from the dives, a must do trip for all divers.

http://flickr.com/photos/aic007/collections/72157601543554328/