Trip Report MY Sea Legend - BDE Route

[scubajasonr]

After our family Red Sea liveaboard in August ( Trip Report - Family Liveaboard on MY Thunderbird (and Breakers) ) it was time for an October trip - this time leaving the kids at home. For this trip my wife and myself joined a group who had booked out MY Sea Legend for the week. The trip had been arranged by Steve from DiveUK Hurghada, with all guests being friends/customers of his. Steve had arranged several parts of the trip, such as transfers and dive guides. These wouldn’t be relevant to anyone else going on the boat so I won’t comment on them apart from to say the transfers were great and the two dive guides were experienced and provided a great service during the week.

The Boat

At 42m long and almost 10m wide Sea Legend is one of the larger liveaboards in the Red Sea, it can take 32 guests. We had 28 aboard for the week, plus the two guides. There were also 11 crew on board. Despite the number of guests the boat never felt crowded, with plenty of space around the boat to relax between dives. There are guests cabins on three levels, we had the honeymoon suite on the sun deck/saloon area, this cabin was a very good size, but lacked a bit of storage – it just needed a few cubby holes to stores stuff, in the end we kept the suitcases in the room and used them for storage.

The cabin had a great view out from the front of the boat, but we were rarely in the cabin during day time, so generally kept the curtains shut so the view was a bit wasted! Bathroom was an excellent size, and was the largest I have had on a liveaboard. All the cabins on the boat looked to be a good size, and all had individually controlled AC and a small fridge. This week the boat did have a few plumbing issues, with at least one bathroom filling up with waste water – this was probably due to a guest putting stuff down the toilet that shouldn’t have gone down and was quickly sorted by the crew. The water for the shower wasn’t always hot, we were on the highest level, so this may have been the problem. Rooms were serviced everyday while we were diving. As we were on an upper deck we weren’t really bothered by engine noise.

The dive deck was very spacious with plenty of room for everyone’s gear. As standard tanks were 12litre with 15litres were also available. We had people on the boat diving with twinsets and side mount.

We had a few issues with Nitrox during the week. We had paid extra for Nitrox, most Red Sea boats now offer it for free. The boat is advertised as having a membrane system, but during our week on board they were having to blend from o2 cylinders. Tank fills and percentage were very inconsistent and there was often confusion over the morning fills with people getting air when they wanted Nitrox – there wasn’t a clear system for indicating what to fill the tanks with. My mixes varied from 23% (I had been filled with air twice in a row by mistake!) to 31%. Fill pressures ranged from 180 bar to 230 bar, the crew would top up the tank if it had a low fill. There was also only one O2 analyzer on board, this was used by the crew for blending and guests for checking mixes – I am not sure what would have happened if this had been damaged.


The boat had two zodiacs, these were on the small side for the number of guests on board. A lot of the diving was from zodiacs and pickup by zodiac, several times we filled both boats to capacity with divers and kit when being picked up. Ideally the boat needs two bigger zodiacs.

This was the smaller of the two zodiacs. Fine for 6 divers, but a squeeze for 10.


Food during the week was fairly average, and reminded me of the food served in an typical Egyptian all-inclusive. Nothing wrong with the food it was just nothing special, for example no fresh bread was served during the week, ever other Red Sea liveaboard I have been on has baked fresh bread daily. We had roast lamb one evening, which was really good. Fresh fruit juice at breakfast was a nice touch. Quite a few people had upset stomachs during the week (this is pretty common in Egypt) I would guess this was a bacterial infection that someone brought onto the boat rather than food poisoning, as people kept on coming down with it during the week. Several people missed a few days diving due to this issue – luckily my wife and myself missed out on this!

The boat has a large saloon/lounge area, which was always well air conditioned and was a nice place to escape the outside heat. All dive briefings happened here, making use of the large TV screen, and there was plenty of room for all divers to sit comfortably for the briefing.

The boat was advertised as having wifi, however once we arrived on board it was clear that wifi wasn’t available. If I had known I would have picked up a local sim at the airport. I did manage to hotspot off someone else’s phone to send a couple of messages. An internet connection would only have been available while we were close to land, so for several days we were ‘off-grid’ anyway, but a surprise that a boat at this end of the market didn’t have wifi.

 

[scubajasonr]

The Diving

The route for the boat was the classic BDE route from Hurghada, with a stop at the Salem Express on the way back to Hurghada.

During the week water temperatures varied from 28 degrees C at the northern sites to 30 degrees in the southern areas. I had taken a 5mm full suit with me, but just wore a rash vest and shorts for most dives. I have dived this route a few times at the end of October and then the water is a degree or two colder.

Day 0

We had an afternoon flight from London to Hurgahada and arrived on the boat in the evening. Once all the guests arrived we had a detailed safety briefing and dinner.

Day 1

First dive was a check out dive at a site an hour or so south of Hurgahda. Nothing special but a nice easy site. Dive 2 was the same site, but on a deeper wall area, this time with a zodiac drop off and a bit of a drift. Dive 3 was a night dive on the same site. These were fairly typical day 1 dives on this route, viz was a bit poor on all these dives.


Overnight we travelled to The Brothers. Sea conditions were very calm so we got a good night sleep.


Day 2

Dive 1 and Dive 2 were on Little Brother, with Dive 3 on Big Brother. All great dives with amazing visibility and fairly strong currents. We didn’t see any sharks on these dives. There were a few other boats about but we didn’t see many other divers in the water. We also had chance to go up the light house on Big Brother. Despite the lack of sharks it was still a good days diving.

Overnight mooring still isn’t allowed at The Brother Islands, so overnight we travelled to Daedalus, arriving early in the morning.



Day 3

We woke up in the normal mooring area at Daedalus surrounded by ten other boats – most boats on the BDE route now spend two days here, so it is fairly busy. The wind had totally dropped, so the sea was very calm. Dive 1 was on the North plateau as often happens lots of the boats send their divers in at the same time, so underwater it was crazy with divers everywhere – proper diver soup. For this dive we had hammerheads at about 50m, we were at 40m. The whole dive was in the blue as the current was gently pushing us away from the reef. Dive 2 was in the same area, but no hammerheads this time, we did end the dive with a really nice drift along the reef wall. Dive 3 was a drift along the south plateau, this was a really fun dive with a fairly fast drift and lots to see. After dive 3 we had a trip up the lighthouse.

Day 4

We stayed overnight at Daedalus, with the wind and waves picking up very slightly over night. Several boats had left at the end of the previous day, so there were only five boats moored up this morning. Dive 1 was a repeat of the previous morning dive, this time we were the only group in the water, so a much better experience. We hung out in the blue for a while, but unfortunately no hammerheads appeared however two oceanic mantas paid us a visit. The other dive group on the boat did see 5 hammerheads on this dive, they dropped in the same place about 15 minutes after us. Dive 2 started out in the blue and ended with a drift along the reef to Anemone City, no really big stuff on this dive apart from an inquisitive large Neapolitan Wrasse. We arrived at Anemone City with perfect lighting, so it was a great end to this dive. Dive 3 started out in the blue and we had a manta hanging above us for a good part of the dive.

Overnight we travelled to Elphinstone, the wind and waves were picking up a bit, but Sea Legend is a very stable boat so it didn’t really impact the night’s sleep.



Day 5

Sea conditions at Elphinstone were fairly rough. For Dive 1 we were dropped at the North end and hung out at 40m looking for hammerheads, unfortunately no luck today. After that it was a drift back along the East reef wall before a zodiac pickup. One of our groups had an oceanic whitetip pay a visit at the safety stop, but we missed that. Dive 2 was on the west side with a drift to the south plateau to hopefully see oceanic white tips. At the south plateau there were three oceanics circling around although they were keeping quite a distance from the divers – I think the sheer numbers of divers in the water was meaning they kept a distance, we also had a couple of dolphins make an appearance on this dive. When we came up from this dive the wind and waves had picked up substantially so the decision was made to head somewhere more sheltered. Dive 3 was at Marsa Shoona, which is a sea grass site in a sheltered bay close to Port Ghalib. We saw a turtle and large ray on this dive, but personally I would rather have dived at a different site. Dive 4 was a night dive on the reef wall at Marsa Shoona, this was a really good night dive with lots to see.



After the night dive we headed north for the last two dive of the trip. When we left Marsa Shoona the sea was fairly calm, but around 1am the sea conditions really changed and we had a pretty rough night crossing.



Day 6

Due to the change of weather the journey to Salem Express took us a couple of hours longer than expected and the crew had a few challenges mooring the boat up. Full credit to the crew they got us moored up in the shelter of a small reef near the site of the wreck. Dive 1 was Salem Express. I have mixed feeling about this wreck as the only other time I dived it was shortly after recreational diving was first allowed on it and I saw the affect it had on the crew of the boat I was on at the time. Several of the crew and guides on that boat had been involved in the recovery of bodies from the wreck and they were clearly still troubled by it. However time moves on it is clear that this is now just another wreck to most people – which is a bit said given the huge loss of life. For this dive we chose just to dive around the outside of the wreck, some of the group did do the swim throughs that are now possible.

As with any wreck it is interesting to explore around the outside of the structure. A lot of the debris that used to be on the sea bed has now rotten away, so there is less to see of the personal side of this tragedy than there used to be. A bit of fish life, but not too much. Not sure I will dive this wreck again.



After this dive we motored a few hours north to get closer to Hurghada. Dive 2 (and last dive of the trip) was on a reef fairly close to Hurghada. A very pleasant easy dive , but nothing very exciting.



After that it was a motor back to Hurghada.

On the final day we departed the boat around 10am.

Overall thoughts on the boat was that while it was very large, spacious and clean it was lacking in a few areas. Lot of other Red Sea boats offer a better overall package. It was the largest boat I have been on, and I am not sure if the size just meant that they couldn’t offer the more personalized service that the smaller boats offer. I wouldn’t rush back to this boat, equally on the right trip I would go on it again.

The diving was good, but having done variations of the BDE route several times I think this will be the last time I do this route for a good few years. Shark encounters were average for this route, on some trips we have had better encounters, on others less. At times the sheer number of divers in the water spoiled the experience, part of the problem is boats now spending two days at Daedalus means there can be too many divers all in the same place at the same time.

Despite a few negatives we actually had a really fun and enjoyable trip, with lots of great memories.

Our next overseas trip isn’t until Summer 2023 when we are going on a family liveaboard on a wrecks and reefs itinerary on the northern part of the Red Sea.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @scubajasonr

Thanks for the review, it was quite informative.

How did the diving work with 28 divers, 2 zodiacs, and 2 guides? Did the 2 zodiacs take out half the divers and a guide and then come back for the other divers and guide? Were the groups each 14 divers and a guide? Did the pick-ups work well?

What was the average and range of your dive times? Were any of the dives limited by NDL due to the problem with nitrox?

I would have been disappointed with just 17 dives, we had 22 dives on my BDE trip in 2016. Of course, we were able to do 8 dives and overnight at Brothers during that time. Is 17 dives the normal routine for the Sea Legend or were there limitations such as zodiac transport to and from the dive sites, tank filling, or other things?

Thanks

 

[scubajasonr]

How did the diving work with 28 divers, 2 zodiacs, and 2 guides? Did the 2 zodiacs take out half the divers and a guide and then come back for the other divers and guide? Were the groups each 14 divers and a guide? Did the pick-ups work well?

We split into three groups, with the two dive guides taking a group each and Steve, who organised the trip, also taking a group. Groups 1 & 2 would go first, after being dropped off one of the zodiacs would come back to pick up the other group. Pick ups generally worked fine as the groups were staggered as they came up - we only had an issue on one of the dives were the first groups had a long dive and the 3rd group had a short dive so everyone came up at the same time. Zodiacs were fully loaded for this pickup!

What was the average and range of your dive times? Were any of the dives limited by NDL due to the problem with nitrox?

Max dive time was planned at 60 minutes, most were around this time. Longest was 74 minutes. Shortest were 45 minutes. On the boat the dives weren't keen on people diving without a guide so we had to ascend with the group, which was frustating at times as on a couple of dives we came up with half a tank after 45 minutes... On several dives I was around NDL for a large part of the dive, one of my computers went into deco on 3 of the dives, but all cleared during the ascent. It would have been better to have had a richer mix as the deepest I went was 41m.

I would have been disappointed with just 17 dives, we had 22 dives on my BDE trip in 2016. Of course, we were able to do 8 dives and overnight at Brothers during that time. Is 17 dives the normal routine for the Sea Legend or were there limitations such as zodiac transport to and from the dive sites, tank filling, or other things?

On this route this is the normal number of dives nowadays. I did do the route a few (19!) years ago and we did 4 dives on a couple of days. All the boats I saw at Brothers and Daedalus all seemed to do three dives a day. Generally a 6am dive, a 11am dive and a 2pm dive. It is a shame all the boats work to the same schedule as at times it means there are hundreds of divers in the water, and at other times no divers. Four dives a day here can be a challenge due to the time it takes to get to and from the drop off points and tank filling - I think this is more of an issue on the larger boats.

 

[BoltSnap]

Not the type of a boat for me to go on for sure. Too crowded and not up to standards, I believe that there are better options in the Red Sea.

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

Side note, perhaps of relevance for other threads:
According to the pictures posted, he is fine with a shorty while she is wearing a x mm full scubapro suit. I will assume x = 5.

 

[scubadada]

We split into three groups, with the two dive guides taking a group each and Steve, who organised the trip, also taking a group. Groups 1 & 2 would go first, after being dropped off one of the zodiacs would come back to pick up the other group. Pick ups generally worked fine as the groups were staggered as they came up - we only had an issue on one of the dives were the first groups had a long dive and the 3rd group had a short dive so everyone came up at the same time. Zodiacs were fully loaded for this pickup!



Max dive time was planned at 60 minutes, most were around this time. Longest was 74 minutes. Shortest were 45 minutes. On the boat the dives weren't keen on people diving without a guide so we had to ascend with the group, which was frustating at times as on a couple of dives we came up with half a tank after 45 minutes... On several dives I was around NDL for a large part of the dive, one of my computers went into deco on 3 of the dives, but all cleared during the ascent. It would have been better to have had a richer mix as the deepest I went was 41m.


On this route this is the normal number of dives nowadays. I did do the route a few (19!) years ago and we did 4 dives on a couple of days. All the boats I saw at Brothers and Daedalus all seemed to do three dives a day. Generally a 6am dive, a 11am dive and a 2pm dive. It is a shame all the boats work to the same schedule as at times it means there are hundreds of divers in the water, and at other times no divers. Four dives a day here can be a challenge due to the time it takes to get to and from the drop off points and tank filling - I think this is more of an issue on the larger boats.

That's a shame. When we did 22 dives on BDE in 2016, our average dive time was 67 min (51-83 min) The SI between dive 1-2 and 3-4 was 1:47 (1:06-2:31). The SI between dive 2-3, lunch, was 2:19 (2:11-2:23). We never felt rushed and had no problems making 4 dives per day. The last dive on day 1 was a night dive. On days 2-5, we had dives at 7 am, 10:30 am, 2 pm, and 4:30 pm. The diving at Brothers is the big difference between my trip and the one you describe here.

I did my trip on the Red Sea Aggressor I, that caught fire and sank, killing one passenger in November 2019. I'm not sure of the itinerary the Red Sea Aggressor III does for BDE

Day 1
Marsa Shouna
Abu Dabab I
Abu Dabab III and IV
Abu Dabab I
Day 2
Little Brother
Little Brother
Little Brother
Little Brother
Day 3
Big Brother
Big Brother
Big Brother
Big Brother
Day 4
Daedalus
Daedalus
Daedalus
Daedalus
Day 5
Daedalus
Daedalus
Daedalus
Daedalus
Day 6
Elphinstone
Marsa Shouna

 

[BoltSnap]

Day 1
Marsa Shouna
Abu Dabab I
Abu Dabab III and IV
Abu Dabab I
Day 2
Little Brother
Little Brother
Little Brother
Little Brother
Day 3
Big Brother
Big Brother
Big Brother
Big Brother
Day 4
Daedalus
Daedalus
Daedalus
Daedalus
Day 5
Daedalus
Daedalus
Daedalus
Daedalus
Day 6
Elphinstone
Marsa Shouna

That's an awesome itinerary, I'd want to do 2 weeks of this itinerary

 

[scubajasonr]

Not the type of a boat for me to go on for sure. Too crowded and not up to standards, I believe that there are better options in the Red Sea.

In all fairness the boat never felt crowded, but when we were diving it did. Definitely lots of better options in the Red Sea. From my experience bigger doesn't necessarily mean better.

 

[scubajasonr]

Side note, perhaps of relevance for other threads:
According to the pictures posted, he is fine with a shorty while she is wearing a x mm full scubapro suit. I will assume x = 5.

In this case x=7. My wife really feels the cold under water, and we have dived in Egypt a lot at the end of October and she has always been fine in this suit. This time at the start of October she was too warm a few times, but she didn't have a thinner suit to wear, and would have frozen in just a swimming costume. I took a 5mm full suit which I wore for some of the dives at the start of the trip and then switched to just rash vest and shorts. By the time we got back to the Salem Express water temperature was 28 degrees and I was starting to feel a bit cold without a wetsuit.