Once in a LIFETIME

[Ed Hatfield]

I will only have one opportunity in my lifetime to dive in the Red Sea. I need to know when, where, and with who. I realize it will be 'liveaboard'. My wife and I, plus 2 other couples, will be doing a "Globus" tour of Egypt in 2011. I will stay an extra week after they depart. My trip has to also take into consideration the comfort of the others during our tour. Any and all suggestions are welcome. I need to have this one planned well in advance because of the complexities of combining the two holidays. And by the way...I could also use some company.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

What type of diving do you prefer? If you're more into wreck diving then the north itinerary is best for you. If you want some pelagic encounters, then it's one of the southern itineraries. Also are you comfortable with diving in strong current?

When and with who could be settled as soon as your preference is known.

 

[fdog]

It's kind of a humorous preview...here is a thread about a piece of gear a friend had inadvertantly left on my backplate.

We went in February. During the tour, it was somewhat chilly but better than 110 degrees F. The first two days of diving were darn cold, and warmed up to "just right" by the end of the week. If I had to do it over again, I'd do it in the fall, for temperate weather and warmer water.

If you are a very advanced diver, I can whole-heartedly reccommend the MV Tala. The dives we did were not for the average tourist diver, with every dive requiring well beyond advanced skills, but amazing, and worth it.


All the best, James

 

[String]

Decide if you want wrecks or reef with big stuff. If its wrecks go north, if its pelagics and big life go south - as far south as possible (Brothers, Elphinstone, Daedelus etc). Having decided where to go NOW pick your operator.

 

[InTheDrink]

I'd agree with String's advice.

Only thing I'd add is that if you really like topography Dahab might be for you.

However having recently done liveabord on Daedalus, Brothers, Elphinstone I can thoroughly recommend it if you like some of the bigger stuff (i.e. sharks). There are some decent wrecks there too (albeit not the thistlegorm).

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

I agree with the topology thing InTheDrink mentioned about Dahab. For more info about Dahab sites, visit http://www.red-sea-shadow.com/sites.htm

Brother - Daedalus - Elphinstone is very nice but this itinerary requires 50+ logged dives and some experience in dealing with currents, negative entries, etc... If you don't like that, other southern itineraries offer comparable quality.

 

[InTheDrink]

Ed's profile indicates 200+ dives so The Big Three itinerary should be fine, no?

Currents can be strong but I did have the pleasure to witness a one legged diver swimming against the current (we picked him + a couple others up). Main interest, from my point of view, was the Oceanic White Tips sharks. They're amazing. I did have a couple of heart stopping moments - so be prepared for that (and I am a bit of a cissy so probably get more scared than most) but if it's your kind of thing, I promise it will be a TRIP OF A LIFETIME. It was definitely my vest dive trip so far (and whilst I've not a lot of dives, I've dived in a fair number of locations).

My plug: go south. It's dynamite. And there's less people.

p.s. feel free to PM me for more details but String and Shadow are resident experts on Red Sea, as is Samaka who hasn't chipped in (yet)

 

[flw]

I just came back from a week on Grand Sea Serpent diving Brothers, Daeldalus and Elphinstone. Whilst there were some reasonably strong currents and it's all wall diving it's not actually particularly demanding - and diving with my daughter when she saw her first gray reef shark closely followed by a white tip was just fab. I'd go back on the same boat again, good dive platform, well handled ribs, excellent dive briefings, good crew and good food

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Ed's profile indicates 200+ dives so The Big Three itinerary should be fine, no?

Sorry didn't notice the number of dives. Yeah it should be fine.

 

[InTheDrink]

Sorry didn't notice the number of dives. Yeah it should be fine.

Yeah although you make a good point as there'll be others on the trip with him who mightn't have 50 dives.