Trip Report M/Y Tillis 12/7-12/14 2024 - North and Ras Mohamed

[RedSeaDiver2]

That's why we booked the BDE route initially. It was switched to the North by Dive Pro citing bad weather as the official reason.

BTW, the weather was rough at times. Last 2-3 days of the trip it was blowing pretty hard, on 2 or 3 crossings the boat rocked pretty violently. I would say that I don't want to be on that boat in stormy conditions, it didn't strike me as particularly stable.

If you think that it was rough in the north - you definitely wouldn't have wanted to be doing BDE as I've heard that it was pretty horrendous down south when you was there - a lot of boats skipped the Brothers altogether.

Sharks in the north - these days mainly around June full moon at Ras Mohamad. There have been lots of changes over the years as to where species are now compared to 30 years ago, species behaviour etc.

The rough crossing - yep that would have been Straits of Gubal - I have very unpleasant memories of some really rough crossings in winter when I was a dive guide there 30-odd years ago. I do miss those spectacular sunsets though.

Generally close to Hurghada is pretty good as there are plenty of reefs and islands to break up the swells etc., and the distances from one dive site to the next are usually reasonably short. We used to do 7 day trips in winter from Hurghada without needing to cross the Straits of Gubal, and life was pretty good - then they rediscovered the Thistlegorm and we had to cross the Straits every goddam trip after that!

All in all it sounds like you had a pretty good northern trip.

 

[Scuba-74]

If you think that it was rough in the north - you definitely wouldn't have wanted to be doing BDE as I've heard that it was pretty horrendous down south when you was there - a lot of boats skipped the Brothers altogether.

I'm pretty sure you're correct, and I'm certainly not saying we should have gone to the south. This being my first trip to the Red sea I was happy to go to either place.

The rough crossing - yep that would have been Straits of Gubal - I have very unpleasant memories of some really rough crossings in winter when I was a dive guide there 30-odd years ago. I do miss those spectacular sunsets though.

The sunsets, the sunrises, and the scenery in general were amazing. I didn't realize there are so many mountains out there. Spectacular.

All in all it sounds like you had a pretty good northern trip.

Yes, a great experience overall!

 

[RedSeaDiver2]

The sunsets, the sunrises, and the scenery in general were amazing. I didn't realize there are so many mountains out there. Spectacular.

Yes, a great experience overall!

It is a beautiful but rugged place, with a lot of history. In the mountains there are ancient gold and copper mines everywhere.