Questions for 1st time in Egypt for a U.S. diver
- Thread starter ronscuba
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How was the food?
Diving:
We dove 2 separately distinct areas: remote at Brothers and closer to shore in Safaga. I think it is useful to be aware of the differences as it will impact your diving expectations, possibly your diving satisfaction and help choose an itinerary to fit your preferences. Water entry was a mixture of zodiac and off the back of the boat.
Brothers: remote area, far off shore which meant overnight travel and rougher seas. The draw is vertical walls, great visibility and chance to see pelagics. We did see several Oceanic Whitetip Sharks up close near the boat and one Thresher Shark. The coral on the walls was very healthy. The other remote sites we did not get to were Elphinstone and Daedalus. The dive guides said the type of diving there would be similar to Brothers.
Safaga: close to shore reef diving. Visibility was lower, but still fine. More aquarium marine life like smaller fish, anenome, eels, etc..
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the diving. I enjoyed the mixture of remote diving and reefs. For me, not seeing the other remote sites ended up being a plus. Having been to the Galapagos, the pelagic encounters were underwhelming. The soft corals were outstanding as were the amount of aquarium type marine life. I would return for more reef type diving, but not the remote sites. Dive guide recommended Deep South and Northern Wrecks/Reefs itineraries after I described the type of diving I like.
My rank order of the my diving experiences:
Galapagos: easy #1 for the guarantee of seeing large numbers of pelagics
Indonesia: #2, tropical diving mixing reefs, corals, fish life
Maldives: #3, similar to Indonesia, but a notch lower all around
Red Sea: #4, similar to Maldives, slight notch lower all around
Caribbean: #5, way way down compared to the above.
Food:
Overall, not good. Food on the boat, at the hotels, in town, was not good. I live in NYC, so I am used fresh quality food at every meal. In Egypt, we had 2 meals that I would put on par with an average NYC meal. One in Hurghada, one in Luxor. The rest of the meals I categorize as adequate. Food in the hotels and town were about what I get at an average US hotel. Food on the boat was definitely lower than what I have experienced on liveaboards in Caribbean, Maldive, Indonesia, Galapagos.
We dove 2 separately distinct areas: remote at Brothers and closer to shore in Safaga. I think it is useful to be aware of the differences as it will impact your diving expectations, possibly your diving satisfaction and help choose an itinerary to fit your preferences. Water entry was a mixture of zodiac and off the back of the boat.
Brothers: remote area, far off shore which meant overnight travel and rougher seas. The draw is vertical walls, great visibility and chance to see pelagics. We did see several Oceanic Whitetip Sharks up close near the boat and one Thresher Shark. The coral on the walls was very healthy. The other remote sites we did not get to were Elphinstone and Daedalus. The dive guides said the type of diving there would be similar to Brothers.
Safaga: close to shore reef diving. Visibility was lower, but still fine. More aquarium marine life like smaller fish, anenome, eels, etc..
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the diving. I enjoyed the mixture of remote diving and reefs. For me, not seeing the other remote sites ended up being a plus. Having been to the Galapagos, the pelagic encounters were underwhelming. The soft corals were outstanding as were the amount of aquarium type marine life. I would return for more reef type diving, but not the remote sites. Dive guide recommended Deep South and Northern Wrecks/Reefs itineraries after I described the type of diving I like.
My rank order of the my diving experiences:
Galapagos: easy #1 for the guarantee of seeing large numbers of pelagics
Indonesia: #2, tropical diving mixing reefs, corals, fish life
Maldives: #3, similar to Indonesia, but a notch lower all around
Red Sea: #4, similar to Maldives, slight notch lower all around
Caribbean: #5, way way down compared to the above.
Food:
Overall, not good. Food on the boat, at the hotels, in town, was not good. I live in NYC, so I am used fresh quality food at every meal. In Egypt, we had 2 meals that I would put on par with an average NYC meal. One in Hurghada, one in Luxor. The rest of the meals I categorize as adequate. Food in the hotels and town were about what I get at an average US hotel. Food on the boat was definitely lower than what I have experienced on liveaboards in Caribbean, Maldive, Indonesia, Galapagos.
Sunn
Contributor
I like your classification.... as I've nearly the same.
Surprised by the food onboard, usually it's even better than in the hotels... maybe not the best boat in the red sea for this ?
Anyway, thank you for your return.
Surprised by the food onboard, usually it's even better than in the hotels... maybe not the best boat in the red sea for this ?
Anyway, thank you for your return.
We stayed at quality hotels. Marriott Mena House in Giza and Marriott Beach Resort in Hurghada. Had buffet meals at both. Mena House food was good. Beach Resort a clear tick lower. For analogies, Mena house was like a good Vegas buffet, Hurghada like a medium Vegas buffet. Food on the boat was like a low end buffet with expected limited selection.
To repeat, boat food was adequate. But, it was below what I have experienced on high end liveaboards in other destinations. In my travel experiences, good food can be found in any city or country. The differences are how easy or hard it is to find. My 1st impression of Egypt is finding good food takes some effort.
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