Red Sea

[Rob5019]

I am planning to go to the Red Sea sometime between mid-June and the end of July. We just returned from Saba (fabulous diving) and a couple of dive buddies raved about the Red Sea experience. My sense is that a liveaboard is the way to go, as it sounded like the southern part and The Brothers made for some of the best diving.

Can anyone recommend a great liveaboard? Price is not a great concern, but quality of ship and crew is of utmost importance. Alos, can anyone give me some tips about what to prepare for when going there in mid summer? Finally, any good dive suggestions/experiences are welcome (as well as things to avoid).

Thanks much!

 

[ben arthur]

I've been to the Red Sea a few times and without doubt there is some great diving there.

You are absolutely right in that a liveaboard will give you the best experience, especially as it will get you to the more remote areas such as the Brothers (sensational diving) and Daedalus - you generally get away from the crowds and should get up to 4 dives a day.

I was on a trip at the end of July for 2 weeks - we did a wreck itinerary on the first week, covering wrecks such as the Thistlegorm, Rosalie Moller, Carnatic, Ghiannis D, Ulysees and others, including the 2 incredibly beautiful wrecks at the Brothers.

Second week we did Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone, which were superb (yes, so we did the Brothers twice and spent 4 days in total there, which was a real treat!)

All in all a great diving holiday, which was made especially good due to the great boat, dive guides and crew - the boat was the Royal Emperor, best liveaboard I have been on. They have 2 dive guides which ensures that you get about 4 dives a day at the Marine Park areas where you cannot do night dives - most liveaboards will only offer 3 a day here.

Have a look at the website www.royalemperor.com - has lots of info, including loads of photos from previous trips

There are plenty of other good liveaboards around, but I think you'd find it hard to beat this one. June / July is also a pretty good time to go.

Let me know if you need any more info

Ben

 

[BacardiSpice]

Seconding Ben's remarks on the quality of the diving out there. I went out to The Brothers on the (then new) MV 'Valerie' back in 2001...had a great time. Small group on the boat, excellent Egyptian diveguide named Amran, fun crew and pax. Diving absolutely superlative out there - splendid sharks, biggest manta I've ever seen, and the wreck of the 'Numidea' was breathtaking - second only in beauty among wrecks I've seen to the 'Yongala'. I still have a couple of rolls of film to get developed from that trip...must have blown three or four just on soft corals, anthias and gorgeous small stuff! Amran's local knowledge of the sites was vast and impressive, his briefings on the occasionally somewhat challenging conditions out at the exposed Brothers were thorough and spot on.

I did read in one UK mag that a diver complained about the air on one trip - they suggested it was a compressor problem, but Red Sea Divers looked into it and found it one componant that was replaced, with no reported probs on the next trip. Decent amount of room on the dive deck, nitrox, crew prompt and efficient.

Cabins compact but comfortable, a/c worked fine in the blistering August temps, ensuite not what I've been used to in other liveaboard (Peter Hughes, Mike Ball and Bilikiki operations) but adequate and - from what the other divers suggested to me - above par for the Red Sea. Food was good and plentiful, with lots of local and western dishes.

 

[SubMariner]

We did Royal Emperor's Northern Route twice. Great! We were going to do their southern trip next year, but found out that the dive guides (Sonya & Grant) are now with Excel.

So we are looking into do the Excel instead.

BTW, take a look here for some Red Sea pictures from our trip aboard RE: http://y42.briefcase.yahoo.com/pgdaley2001

A word to the wise: as nice as those pretty wooden & fiberglass boats look they rock & roll something fierce, even in relatively calm water. Best to look for a good heavy steel hulled vessel like RE or Excel.

DSDO,

~SubMariner~

 

[ben arthur]

SubMariner - I'd heard about Sonia's and Grant's reputaions for some time and was initially disappointed when I realised, having booked on the Royal Emperor, that they'd switched to Excel (after around 2 to 3 years on the RE).

However, the dive guides they currently have on the RE have to be among the very best - Ali Baba, who is as it transpires a bit of a legend in the Red Sea, and Abdul - they were excellent dive guides and not only that, provided great entertainment on board

As for wooden-hulled boats - there are quite a few of these around, but I would not be put off - I went on the Miss Veena last year, which handled rough seas without any problems at all.

 

[BacardiSpice]

Wooden hull vs the conditions...Submariner may have a point there. We experienced what were perhaps uncharacteristically calm surface conditions for most of the time we were at The Brothers, although things did start to pick up on the last day or so and it that Red Sea wind started howling. I didn't have any problems at all with excessive rolling or movement throughout the trip, but perhaps if it had really come on to blow any harder might have started feeling it.

I got a sensational deal on the trip, though, so no regrets on choosing the 'Valerie', although the 'Excel', 'Tiger Lily' and 'Oyster' were on my shortlist otherwise.

 

[Rob5019]

Thanks for the replies and advice. Looking at the Royal Emperor right now. The Excel looks great (and it sounds like Grant and Sonja are fabulous), but it doesn't look like it is going down south in June or July. Boo!

PS: Awesome pictures, Submariner!

 

[SubMariner]

I took about 1/3 of the earlier u/w pictures (the ones that were actual film), while Pearce is the one to blame for the digitals. However, I have resolved to start doing digital this year with our upgrade to the C5050 in the Ikelite housing.

Seriously, the Red Sea is an AWESOME dive destination. The sheer abundance and variety of marine flora & fauna is simply breathtaking.

What a contrast between the arid, desolate landscape that surrounds it!

DSDO,

 

[ben arthur]

Rob

If you'd like some more photos of the Red Sea, email me on barthur@boeinternational.com and I'll send you some from my recent trip on the RE

Ben