Here’s a brief report on our Dec. 9-16, 2017, Red Sea Aggressor trip. We did the Northern itinerary: Brothers-Daedalus-Elphinstone.
My wife and I had had a Red Sea liveaboard on our radar for years. As we visit her family in Europe every December, we figured we could utilize one of those European budget airlines for a side trip to Egypt. We flew from Brussels to Hurghada roundtrip on Tui Fly airlines. No complaints with Tui--quite adequate. For the benefit of my fellow Americans, if you're not aware, the Red Sea is to European divers what the Caribbean is to North American divers. Just a 4-5 hour flight from most major European cities, with many flight options. There are loads of liveaboards plying the Red Sea (though from the number we saw that appeared to be mothballed, not as many as there used to be) and most are filled with Europeans. Some boats appear to be favored by British divers, while others by Russians, others by Italians, etc. With the Aggressor, there is now a boat favored by Americans. Of the 20 (I think) divers, we had all come from the US except for two Canadians, one Brit, one Dutchman, and one German. The German guy had over 500 dives in the Red Sea, so yeah, I get the impression that the Red Sea is to them as the Caribbean is to us.
With so many boats to choose from, we kept putting off making a decision until this year when we happened to notice that the Red Sea Aggressor—a brand most of us Americans are familiar with—was offering a discount for a week during which we had already planned to be away. Red Sea liveaboards can be very economical, but the Aggressor brand seems to carry a premium. With the discount that Aggressor was offering for our week, the price fell into line with most other Red Sea liveaboards. This was the reason we finally pulled the trigger this year and booked.
We spent the night at the very nice Marriott Beach Resort in Hurghada, and were picked up the next day for an approximately 5-hour ride to Luxor. We’ve seen Cairo/Giza before, but we have never visited the sites of Luxor—the famed pharoah tombs of the Valley of the Kings, the temples of Luxor and Karnak, etc. The tombs are truly amazing. Luxor was wonderfully uncrowded—bordering on empty—due to the downturn in tourism and probably the season. We booked the Luxor excursion through Aggressor’s travel arm. When we travel to a place with sites to see, we generally don’t book package tours, preferring to put things together on the spot, but Egypt is a difficult place to do that, it takes time and patience, and so booking in advance with an agent seemed like the sensible thing to do. After two days touring Luxor, our trip continued with another roughly 5-hour ride from Luxor to Port Ghalib, near Marsa Alam, where the Aggressor and other dive boats are located.
Having read previous trip reports that mentioned the number of abandoned resort projects along the coastal road, and the number of shuttered businesses in the port, it appeared to me that maybe tourism is picking up a bit, though the people I asked about this weren’t so sure. I should mention for the benefit of those who are concerned about security that we passed through numerous security checkpoints on the road. It’s my understanding that one needs a reason to be in this part of Egypt—that is, the coastal tourist region—and most Egyptians aren’t permitted to just visit without a reason. I believe the checkpoint personnel asked the nationalities of those in the van, though we were not asked to show passports. Port Ghalib is a gated complex of condos, shops, a golf course, etc., and of course a port, and at least the parts we saw appeared to cater entirely to well-heeled tourists. (A beer cost twice what it did in Luxor.)
As there is plenty of information out there on the layout, etc., of the Aggressor, I won’t repeat all that. I was impressed with her, though at least one of the guests who had been on other Aggressors remarked that she is perhaps not the most optimally designed Aggressor in the fleet.
THE DIVING: About half was from the RIBs and half from the mothership. There is no requirement to follow the divemaster, but since many dives are along a wall, most people end up doing just that anyway. Dive times are limited. A typical plan that was given to us during the pre-dive briefing was: “swim to the wall/reef, turn right (or left) and swim along it for 20 minutes, then return. So dive times were effectively limited to about 40-50 minutes. I don’t think I ever had an hour-long dive. We had initially requested the optional larger (100 cf) steel tanks, but in retrospect I’m glad they didn’t follow through with our request, as the extra gas wasn’t really needed for such short dives. As for the marine life, I will cut to the chase and say that while the Red Sea is definitely worthwhile to see at least once, I am not likely to forsake the Caribbean in favor of the Red Sea for future trips. The Caribbean is just so easy and economical for me. That said, we really enjoyed the opportunity to see oceanic white tip sharks, which are fairly abundant in winter months. On two occasions, the oceanic white tips were right under the boat, curiously swimming around us as we returned from an otherwise ordinary dive. Really, hanging there under the boat for an extended safety stop and watching the white tips was the best part of the entire trip for me. On some dives we saw almost no pelagics except for those white tips under the boat. I almost couldn’t wait for the dive to be over so I could return to the boat. Many of the dives had strong currents, though in only a couple of instances did we have one of those “this is too hard to be worth it” moments. The coral is extremely healthy compared with anywhere else in the world I have dived, but it is surprisingly (to me) monotonous in variety. Exactly the same with the fish—although it all looks so healthy, you just don’t have the abundance and diversity of life as the Indo-Pacific. If I lived in Europe, I’d be here every year. But I don’t.
The Brothers did not disappoint. That’s where we saw the most oceanic white tips, as well as some threshers, a hammerhead, and some Napoleon wrasse. The wrecks of the Aida and Numidia added variety. We were essentially skunked at Daedalus—lots of current to fight and little to see except blue water. Oh well—it can happen. We almost didn’t get to see Elphinstone due to the sea conditions. We spent a day at a reef closer to shore, Abu Dabad, before the captain decided there was a window in which we could do some dives out at Elphinstone. Abu Dabad is shallow, with great coral. But as far as fish and other reef animals, it seemed to me that the animals were thinly populated and not especially diverse in species. Elphinstone offered some more white tips but I struggled with the current. We did all 21 dives that were offered during the week. There were only two night dives, as night diving is not permitted within the marine park.
Water temperature ranged from a low of 72 at some sites to a high of 76F at others (think bell curve with a median of 74F) with no noticeable thermocline at any site. Air temperature was around 75F as well, but the wind was almost constant and at times intense. Indeed, my computer registered a lower temperature at the surface than at depth due to the evaporative cooling effect of the wind. My wife and I were the only drysuit divers—the others had mostly 5 mm suits, and some wore vests and/or hoods. From the occasional shivers I noticed, I think the wind, especially on the RIB rides, chilled some of the wetsuit divers. For winter diving, if you’ve got a lightweight drysuit there’s no reason not to use it. For hanging out topside, bring a light jacket. No one ever felt hot on this trip. Nevertheless, those who were escaping from cold northern winters probably found a t-shirt and shorts comfortable enough at times. I didn’t bother even bringing a pair of shorts and just roamed around in the lightweight fleece pants that I used as a drysuit undergarment.
Food was what I would call “international hotel” quality. That is, excellent and even elegant renditions of the kind of fare you might see at a premium hotel anywhere in the world. Pretty amazing job, given that it’s prepared in a relatively tiny galley by a cook and his assistant. To my tastes, it was impressive but boring. If you’re the kind who fears “foreign food,” you’ll love it. If you’re the kind who looks forward to local fare when you travel, most meals included the option of a teaser-sized sample. I would have preferred more local and more flavorful food. But overall, no complaints whatsoever.
Returning to Port Ghalib, we ate our last night’s meal on shore (the Italian place is reasonably good) and returned to the boat to sleep. The next morning we were driven 4 hours or so back up to Hurghada for our flight. By this time, we felt like seasoned Egypt tourists, and so it did not surprise us in the least that although many of us departed for the Hurghada airport at the same time and had made the transfer arrangements through Aggressor, each couple or other group had their own van, and each van had a driver and a guide. For each transfer my wife and I had, there was always a van, a driver and a guide. I guess they need the jobs, and gasoline costs less than the equivalent of a US dollar a gallon. In Egypt the custom is to give a small tip to your driver and guide as well as anyone else who touches your bags or otherwise offers you even the slightest service. But tipping in Egypt—that’s a whole ‘nuther discussion.
My wife and I had had a Red Sea liveaboard on our radar for years. As we visit her family in Europe every December, we figured we could utilize one of those European budget airlines for a side trip to Egypt. We flew from Brussels to Hurghada roundtrip on Tui Fly airlines. No complaints with Tui--quite adequate. For the benefit of my fellow Americans, if you're not aware, the Red Sea is to European divers what the Caribbean is to North American divers. Just a 4-5 hour flight from most major European cities, with many flight options. There are loads of liveaboards plying the Red Sea (though from the number we saw that appeared to be mothballed, not as many as there used to be) and most are filled with Europeans. Some boats appear to be favored by British divers, while others by Russians, others by Italians, etc. With the Aggressor, there is now a boat favored by Americans. Of the 20 (I think) divers, we had all come from the US except for two Canadians, one Brit, one Dutchman, and one German. The German guy had over 500 dives in the Red Sea, so yeah, I get the impression that the Red Sea is to them as the Caribbean is to us.
With so many boats to choose from, we kept putting off making a decision until this year when we happened to notice that the Red Sea Aggressor—a brand most of us Americans are familiar with—was offering a discount for a week during which we had already planned to be away. Red Sea liveaboards can be very economical, but the Aggressor brand seems to carry a premium. With the discount that Aggressor was offering for our week, the price fell into line with most other Red Sea liveaboards. This was the reason we finally pulled the trigger this year and booked.
We spent the night at the very nice Marriott Beach Resort in Hurghada, and were picked up the next day for an approximately 5-hour ride to Luxor. We’ve seen Cairo/Giza before, but we have never visited the sites of Luxor—the famed pharoah tombs of the Valley of the Kings, the temples of Luxor and Karnak, etc. The tombs are truly amazing. Luxor was wonderfully uncrowded—bordering on empty—due to the downturn in tourism and probably the season. We booked the Luxor excursion through Aggressor’s travel arm. When we travel to a place with sites to see, we generally don’t book package tours, preferring to put things together on the spot, but Egypt is a difficult place to do that, it takes time and patience, and so booking in advance with an agent seemed like the sensible thing to do. After two days touring Luxor, our trip continued with another roughly 5-hour ride from Luxor to Port Ghalib, near Marsa Alam, where the Aggressor and other dive boats are located.
Having read previous trip reports that mentioned the number of abandoned resort projects along the coastal road, and the number of shuttered businesses in the port, it appeared to me that maybe tourism is picking up a bit, though the people I asked about this weren’t so sure. I should mention for the benefit of those who are concerned about security that we passed through numerous security checkpoints on the road. It’s my understanding that one needs a reason to be in this part of Egypt—that is, the coastal tourist region—and most Egyptians aren’t permitted to just visit without a reason. I believe the checkpoint personnel asked the nationalities of those in the van, though we were not asked to show passports. Port Ghalib is a gated complex of condos, shops, a golf course, etc., and of course a port, and at least the parts we saw appeared to cater entirely to well-heeled tourists. (A beer cost twice what it did in Luxor.)
As there is plenty of information out there on the layout, etc., of the Aggressor, I won’t repeat all that. I was impressed with her, though at least one of the guests who had been on other Aggressors remarked that she is perhaps not the most optimally designed Aggressor in the fleet.
THE DIVING: About half was from the RIBs and half from the mothership. There is no requirement to follow the divemaster, but since many dives are along a wall, most people end up doing just that anyway. Dive times are limited. A typical plan that was given to us during the pre-dive briefing was: “swim to the wall/reef, turn right (or left) and swim along it for 20 minutes, then return. So dive times were effectively limited to about 40-50 minutes. I don’t think I ever had an hour-long dive. We had initially requested the optional larger (100 cf) steel tanks, but in retrospect I’m glad they didn’t follow through with our request, as the extra gas wasn’t really needed for such short dives. As for the marine life, I will cut to the chase and say that while the Red Sea is definitely worthwhile to see at least once, I am not likely to forsake the Caribbean in favor of the Red Sea for future trips. The Caribbean is just so easy and economical for me. That said, we really enjoyed the opportunity to see oceanic white tip sharks, which are fairly abundant in winter months. On two occasions, the oceanic white tips were right under the boat, curiously swimming around us as we returned from an otherwise ordinary dive. Really, hanging there under the boat for an extended safety stop and watching the white tips was the best part of the entire trip for me. On some dives we saw almost no pelagics except for those white tips under the boat. I almost couldn’t wait for the dive to be over so I could return to the boat. Many of the dives had strong currents, though in only a couple of instances did we have one of those “this is too hard to be worth it” moments. The coral is extremely healthy compared with anywhere else in the world I have dived, but it is surprisingly (to me) monotonous in variety. Exactly the same with the fish—although it all looks so healthy, you just don’t have the abundance and diversity of life as the Indo-Pacific. If I lived in Europe, I’d be here every year. But I don’t.
The Brothers did not disappoint. That’s where we saw the most oceanic white tips, as well as some threshers, a hammerhead, and some Napoleon wrasse. The wrecks of the Aida and Numidia added variety. We were essentially skunked at Daedalus—lots of current to fight and little to see except blue water. Oh well—it can happen. We almost didn’t get to see Elphinstone due to the sea conditions. We spent a day at a reef closer to shore, Abu Dabad, before the captain decided there was a window in which we could do some dives out at Elphinstone. Abu Dabad is shallow, with great coral. But as far as fish and other reef animals, it seemed to me that the animals were thinly populated and not especially diverse in species. Elphinstone offered some more white tips but I struggled with the current. We did all 21 dives that were offered during the week. There were only two night dives, as night diving is not permitted within the marine park.
Water temperature ranged from a low of 72 at some sites to a high of 76F at others (think bell curve with a median of 74F) with no noticeable thermocline at any site. Air temperature was around 75F as well, but the wind was almost constant and at times intense. Indeed, my computer registered a lower temperature at the surface than at depth due to the evaporative cooling effect of the wind. My wife and I were the only drysuit divers—the others had mostly 5 mm suits, and some wore vests and/or hoods. From the occasional shivers I noticed, I think the wind, especially on the RIB rides, chilled some of the wetsuit divers. For winter diving, if you’ve got a lightweight drysuit there’s no reason not to use it. For hanging out topside, bring a light jacket. No one ever felt hot on this trip. Nevertheless, those who were escaping from cold northern winters probably found a t-shirt and shorts comfortable enough at times. I didn’t bother even bringing a pair of shorts and just roamed around in the lightweight fleece pants that I used as a drysuit undergarment.
Food was what I would call “international hotel” quality. That is, excellent and even elegant renditions of the kind of fare you might see at a premium hotel anywhere in the world. Pretty amazing job, given that it’s prepared in a relatively tiny galley by a cook and his assistant. To my tastes, it was impressive but boring. If you’re the kind who fears “foreign food,” you’ll love it. If you’re the kind who looks forward to local fare when you travel, most meals included the option of a teaser-sized sample. I would have preferred more local and more flavorful food. But overall, no complaints whatsoever.
Returning to Port Ghalib, we ate our last night’s meal on shore (the Italian place is reasonably good) and returned to the boat to sleep. The next morning we were driven 4 hours or so back up to Hurghada for our flight. By this time, we felt like seasoned Egypt tourists, and so it did not surprise us in the least that although many of us departed for the Hurghada airport at the same time and had made the transfer arrangements through Aggressor, each couple or other group had their own van, and each van had a driver and a guide. For each transfer my wife and I had, there was always a van, a driver and a guide. I guess they need the jobs, and gasoline costs less than the equivalent of a US dollar a gallon. In Egypt the custom is to give a small tip to your driver and guide as well as anyone else who touches your bags or otherwise offers you even the slightest service. But tipping in Egypt—that’s a whole ‘nuther discussion.
