Trip Report MY Ghazala Explorer and north Red Sea, Hurghada to Straits of Tiran

[Cornbread O'Malley]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I am looking at going in April on the North - (Tiran & Dahab) itinerary. Do you think the upper deck cabins are worth the extra $100? Was there more than one exit from the lower deck cabins? And, did the boat have an analyzer available to check after each fill?

It's tough to measure things in monetary value considering each person's whims and fancies differ. I did notice a few advantages of booking the upper deck cabins:

• You can tie off your swim outfit or shorts on the railings for quicker drying because of good sun and wind exposure.
• Windows instead of portholes for a nice view of the sea and surroundings.
• Less engine noise. I was in the lower deck (cabin #5) two cabins removed from the engine room so the noise didn't bother me, but the noise may be a bother for those who book lower cabins towards the stern.
• Fresher air. The bathroom in my lower deck cabin always had an odor from being damp all the time. I aired things out by leaving the bathroom door open and my cabin door open and when possible the porthole open. The bathroom was quite roomy with shower at one end, sink in the middle, toilet at the other end. I attached some pics.

The lower deck cabins had two exits: the main stairs and the one emergency exit through the suite located at the bow. The boat provided two analyzers to check nitrox fills.

 

[henduland]

Thanks @Cornbread O'Malley for the review! We have booked them for June and this being our first dive trip in the Red Sea, I was wondering how you submitted payment for the trip? They asked us to send Euros via wise to their bank account. I've normally paid via a website and not directly to a bank. Just was wondering if that was normal
thanks!

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

We have booked them for June and this being our first dive trip in the Red Sea, I was wondering how you submitted payment for the trip? They asked us to send Euros via wise to their bank account. I've normally paid via a website and not directly to a bank. Just was wondering if that was normal
thanks!

Welcome to ScubaBoard!

I booked through Liveaboard.com (some people hate them; some people find them convenient). I paid via credit card through Liveaboard. Many tour agencies outside the USA ask for payment via wire transfer. The transaction is somewhat stressful because should anything happen, and you want the money back, convincing the other party to wire the money back is difficult. You can try to message Ocean Tribe Fleet and try to convince them to let you pay via credit card.

Check out my thread about my issues at Cairo International Airport. Should you enter/exit via that route, the thread should give you some pointers.

After Red Sea, negative experience at Cairo International Airport

I enjoyed my week of diving in the Red Sea. Trip Report - MY Ghazala Explorer and north Red Sea, Hurghada to Straits of Tiran I returned to Cairo and had quite a negative experience with Cairo International Airport security. My friends and I booked airfare to Cairo for two days of seeing...

scubaboard.com

 

[henduland]

Welcome to ScubaBoard!

I booked through Liveaboard.com (some people hate them; some people find them convenient). I paid via credit card through Liveaboard. Many tour agencies outside the USA ask for payment via wire transfer. The transaction is somewhat stressful because should anything happen, and you want the money back, convincing the other party to wire the money back is difficult. You can try to message Ocean Tribe Fleet and try to convince them to let you pay via credit card.

Check out my thread about my issues at Cairo International Airport. Should you enter/exit via that route, the thread should give you some pointers.

After Red Sea, negative experience at Cairo International Airport

I enjoyed my week of diving in the Red Sea. Trip Report - MY Ghazala Explorer and north Red Sea, Hurghada to Straits of Tiran I returned to Cairo and had quite a negative experience with Cairo International Airport security. My friends and I booked airfare to Cairo for two days of seeing...

scubaboard.com

Cool. Thanks for the info! We booked the BDE trip with them and are excited for our first trip to the Red Sea!

 

[nippurmagnum]

It's tough to measure things in monetary value considering each person's whims and fancies differ. I did notice a few advantages of booking the upper deck cabins:

• You can tie off your swim outfit or shorts on the railings for quicker drying because of good sun and wind exposure.
• Windows instead of portholes for a nice view of the sea and surroundings.
• Less engine noise. I was in the lower deck (cabin #5) two cabins removed from the engine room so the noise didn't bother me, but the noise may be a bother for those who book lower cabins towards the stern.
• Fresher air. The bathroom in my lower deck cabin always had an odor from being damp all the time. I aired things out by leaving the bathroom door open and my cabin door open and when possible the porthole open. The bathroom was quite roomy with shower at one end, sink in the middle, toilet at the other end. I attached some pics.

The lower deck cabins had two exits: the main stairs and the one emergency exit through the suite located at the bow. The boat provided two analyzers to check nitrox fills.

I was on the Ghazala Explorer in December and had an upper deck cabin. Definitely worth the extra money. And I’m cheap.

 

[nippurmagnum]

. The guides mentioned Ocean Tribe Fleet may in the future offer cruises from Hurghada for the Brothers, Daedelus, and Elphinstone route. I seriously would consider booking the Ghazala Explorer for that route in the future or to dive the north Red Sea again!

I noticed that next year the Ghazala Explorer is indeed running to BDE from Hurghada once a month. I love that boat and BDE is the one itinerary I haven’t done yet so looking forward to doing it at some point.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

I noticed that next year the Ghazala Explorer is indeed running to BDE from Hurghada once a month. I love that boat and BDE is the one itinerary I haven’t done yet so looking forward to doing it at some point.

I would like to do the BDE itinerary also and see the oceanic whitetip sharks.

 

[nippurmagnum]

I would like to do the BDE itinerary also and see the oceanic whitetip sharks.

I did a North-Brothers route and absolutely loved diving Brothers. Saw my first thresher shark and my first grey reef shark there. I also came face to face with a couple of oceanic whitetips in a memorable way: I was getting back on the zodiac at the end of ouir last dive at Brothers, and had handed up my gear and my camera, when the other diver on the Zodiac line said to me, "there's two sharks directly below us." I looked down and sure enough, there were two oceanic whitetips starting right at me, not more than 15 feet away. I instinctively and stupidly yelled to the zodiac tender to hand me my camera back, and the tender refused, and ordered me to get out of the water, which I did reluctantly. After the adrenaline rush had passed, I realized that the tender had done me a huge favor, at the risk of making a client unhappy -- and at the end of the trip I tipped him an extra $20 and told him it was for saving me from my own stupidity. Hanging out with a couple of oceanic white tips on snorkel at the surface is a special kind of stupid.

My first encounter with an oceanic white tip had actually been on a blackwater night dive in Kona, and the shark circled us for 20 minutes as we were tethered to the boat. That was memorable too.

All of which is to say, I do want to go back and do the BDE route.

 

[BoltSnap]

I did a North-Brothers route and absolutely loved diving Brothers. Saw my first thresher shark and my first grey reef shark there. I also came face to face with a couple of oceanic whitetips in a memorable way: I was getting back on the zodiac at the end of ouir last dive at Brothers, and had handed up my gear and my camera, when the other diver on the Zodiac line said to me, "there's two sharks directly below us." I looked down and sure enough, there were two oceanic whitetips starting right at me, not more than 15 feet away. I instinctively and stupidly yelled to the zodiac tender to hand me my camera back, and the tender refused, and ordered me to get out of the water, which I did reluctantly. After the adrenaline rush had passed, I realized that the tender had done me a huge favor, at the risk of making a client unhappy -- and at the end of the trip I tipped him an extra $20 and told him it was for saving me from my own stupidity. Hanging out with a couple of oceanic white tips on snorkel at the surface is a special kind of stupid.

My first encounter with an oceanic white tip had actually been on a blackwater night dive in Kona, and the shark circled us for 20 minutes as we were tethered to the boat. That was memorable too.

View attachment 868958
All of which is to say, I do want to go back and do the BDE route.

Not only you don't want to be with the sharks by yourself, these hurried unplanned actions are causes for losing your camera kit too.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

My first encounter with an oceanic white tip had actually been on a blackwater night dive in Kona, and the shark circled us for 20 minutes as we were tethered to the boat. That was memorable too.

View attachment 868958

Very interesting experiences with the oceanic white tips. The operator in Kona did not require you and the other divers to exit the water upon seeing the whitetip? I read a trip report in the Hawaii forum that Jack's Diving Locker pulled their divers out of the water at the 20-minute mark upon sighting a whitetip during one of the black water dives.