MHK
Guest
Trip Report-Red Sea, Egypt
Michael H. Kane
January 2005
In the wake of recently returning from another enjoyable expedition I thought Id share with you my experiences in the Red Sea. This trip had dual intentions associated with it. Primarily, the expedition was designed to enjoy the vast array of reefs, corals and abundant marine life available in the Red Sea. The ancillary purpose was to assist Andrew Georgitsis and Faisal Khalaf organize the final preparations for the launch of the MV Tala, a live aboard and land based operation based in Egypt formed to cater to DIR minded divers who desire to dive the Red Sea. More on Red Sea Explorers later.
Traveling from the U.S.A. to Egypt is a formidable task. Its a commitment in both time and resources so anyone considering doing so must consider carefully the desired objectives; the availability of time; financial resources; and willingness to be flexible. I chose to start this trip with some sightseeing in Cairo, whereas the diving I would be doing was 1,000 kilometers to the south, thus the attention to internal travel upon arrival. Fortunately for me I had Faisal, a local, available to assist with all of the logistics. This is critical to a successful trip. He organized a local and very knowledgeable English speaking guide, a car & driver and provided housing whilst in Cairo. Accordingly, this made my experience(s) much more enjoyable.
Cairo is an extremely robust city, densely populated and, despite news accounts to the contrary, very welcoming of Americans. To read the majority of news accounts the entire Muslim world is anti-American, my experience stands in stark contrast to this view. However, they do in fact have driving habits heretofore unseen in my lifetime, one of these days Ill understand why they drive at night with the lights off ;-). If planning to visit the Red Sea I do firmly believe it is worthwhile to at least spend 2 days touring Cairo. The wealth of historic monuments to see and experience is breath taking. Climbing inside pyramids that were built 4000 years ago is an awe inspiring experience. The 3 must-things-to-do is to spend a day touring the pyramids and Sphinx and then a second day touring the Citadel and the Museum. Seeing the entirety of the King Tut exhibition is in-and-of-itself reason alone to spend the time above water, notwithstanding the rest of the exhibits in the museum. For a variety of reasons we decided to drive from Cairo to Marsa Alam, our land based respite for the next 2 weeks. In my view this 1000 kilometer trek, while noteworthy in terms of understanding the lay of the land, is better served via a quick one hour flight, which we did upon our return. If you decide to skip the Cairo sightseeing you can more easily fly directly to Hurghada, a 3 hour drive to Marsa Alam, or you can even get limited direct flights to Marsa Alam. Take a guess which Ill be choosing next trip ;-).
Upon arrival at Deep South Dive Center you quickly notice the primitive nature of the location. Mules, camels and horses still do the majority of the manual labor, and the living quarters are baron to the core with electricity available only during limited hours. Meals, as a further example, are served in the common area where your shoes are required to be removed; the tables are inches from the ground and the protocol is to eat while sitting on the blanket-laden ground with small pillows for comfort. My initial thoughts in light of the lack of luxuries were that this is going to be a long 2 weeks. Much to my surprise however, one of my final thoughts of the trip were that Im sure going to miss our evenings in the common area and that my initial perceptions proved to be entirely groundless. Assimilation is easy and relaxed while the comforts of home quickly fad into oblivion.
The dive operation is much as I expected it to be, primitive and designed to cater to a more recreational clientele, Nitrox is still outside the scope of regularity. One of our first challenges was to transform this operation into a DIR compliant facility. This meant spending time training staff, altering fill stations, connecting fill whips, and bringing 02 and helium to this remote location just to name a few of the hurdles. But the old adage that where this is a will, there is a way was never more evident then on this expedition. Much of the thanks rest with Faisal for his desire and commitment at building a long-term DIR presence to this remote part of the world. Certainly the task is monumental, but I suspect this trip went a long way to building the infrastructure.
Both Faisal and Andrews goal is to bridge the land based operation with the live aboard operation in order to provide optimal choices for DIR minded divers seeking to explore the Red Sea. Red Sea Explorers, www.redseaexplorers.com is on the pioneering cusp of significant new opportunities on the Red Sea. Our expedition included, amongst other objectives, scouting new locations consistent with DIR trained technical divers desires. In short, the goal of Red Sea Explorers is to be a dive operation built by DIR divers, for DIR divers in the Red Sea. Moreover, hauling gear half way around the world can prove to be a risky, costly, and inconvenient affair ending often times with lost or damaged equipment. Imagine if you will a dive operation that caters to the DIR diver that has available proper tanks, proper stage/deco tanks, proper markings and rigging? A dive operation that caters to standard GUE mixes? A dive operation that has RBs, scooters, AV equipment, BPs & wings et. al. all available and chosen for its compatibility with the DIR holistic system. Many dive operations lack the operational wherewithal to accommodate traveling DIR minded divers, whereas Red Sea Explorers is fluid in the uncompromising mannerisms of a DIR dedicated diver.
Operational challenges notwithstanding, diving the Red Sea is a tremendous experience, complete with warm water (72° F), hammerhead sharks, white tips, eels, tropical marine life, 100+ vis, and limitless potential. We have put a short video clip and some photos on the www.redseaexplorers.com website for your pleasure, I hope you enjoy them. We also had the opportunity to teach a Tech 1 class and a DIR-F class while many of the locals and guests from the other shops and camps joined us one evening for our DIR Demo.
For me, the fun of these type of expeditions is always the enjoyment of spending the day underwater far removed from the stress and pressures of the office, but I always walk away from these trips enriched by the experience of meeting fellow DIR divers that all seem to share a mutual bond. On this trip we had divers from Egypt, Greece, UK, Sweden, Norway, Oman, Lebanon and naturally the U.S.A. and the melding of cultures and the commonality of interests only serves to enhance the great diving that we all did. Thanks guys for all the fond memories, Ill carry them with me for quite some time. Special thanks to Faisal for all the hard work and all the logistical coordination, the trip would not have been the same without your efforts.
I highly recommend diving the Red Sea if you ever have the opportunity, and should the opportunity present itself I cant help but to recommend Red Sea Explorers.
Hope you all enjoyed the report,
Regards,
Michael H. Kane
Michael H. Kane
January 2005
In the wake of recently returning from another enjoyable expedition I thought Id share with you my experiences in the Red Sea. This trip had dual intentions associated with it. Primarily, the expedition was designed to enjoy the vast array of reefs, corals and abundant marine life available in the Red Sea. The ancillary purpose was to assist Andrew Georgitsis and Faisal Khalaf organize the final preparations for the launch of the MV Tala, a live aboard and land based operation based in Egypt formed to cater to DIR minded divers who desire to dive the Red Sea. More on Red Sea Explorers later.
Traveling from the U.S.A. to Egypt is a formidable task. Its a commitment in both time and resources so anyone considering doing so must consider carefully the desired objectives; the availability of time; financial resources; and willingness to be flexible. I chose to start this trip with some sightseeing in Cairo, whereas the diving I would be doing was 1,000 kilometers to the south, thus the attention to internal travel upon arrival. Fortunately for me I had Faisal, a local, available to assist with all of the logistics. This is critical to a successful trip. He organized a local and very knowledgeable English speaking guide, a car & driver and provided housing whilst in Cairo. Accordingly, this made my experience(s) much more enjoyable.
Cairo is an extremely robust city, densely populated and, despite news accounts to the contrary, very welcoming of Americans. To read the majority of news accounts the entire Muslim world is anti-American, my experience stands in stark contrast to this view. However, they do in fact have driving habits heretofore unseen in my lifetime, one of these days Ill understand why they drive at night with the lights off ;-). If planning to visit the Red Sea I do firmly believe it is worthwhile to at least spend 2 days touring Cairo. The wealth of historic monuments to see and experience is breath taking. Climbing inside pyramids that were built 4000 years ago is an awe inspiring experience. The 3 must-things-to-do is to spend a day touring the pyramids and Sphinx and then a second day touring the Citadel and the Museum. Seeing the entirety of the King Tut exhibition is in-and-of-itself reason alone to spend the time above water, notwithstanding the rest of the exhibits in the museum. For a variety of reasons we decided to drive from Cairo to Marsa Alam, our land based respite for the next 2 weeks. In my view this 1000 kilometer trek, while noteworthy in terms of understanding the lay of the land, is better served via a quick one hour flight, which we did upon our return. If you decide to skip the Cairo sightseeing you can more easily fly directly to Hurghada, a 3 hour drive to Marsa Alam, or you can even get limited direct flights to Marsa Alam. Take a guess which Ill be choosing next trip ;-).
Upon arrival at Deep South Dive Center you quickly notice the primitive nature of the location. Mules, camels and horses still do the majority of the manual labor, and the living quarters are baron to the core with electricity available only during limited hours. Meals, as a further example, are served in the common area where your shoes are required to be removed; the tables are inches from the ground and the protocol is to eat while sitting on the blanket-laden ground with small pillows for comfort. My initial thoughts in light of the lack of luxuries were that this is going to be a long 2 weeks. Much to my surprise however, one of my final thoughts of the trip were that Im sure going to miss our evenings in the common area and that my initial perceptions proved to be entirely groundless. Assimilation is easy and relaxed while the comforts of home quickly fad into oblivion.
The dive operation is much as I expected it to be, primitive and designed to cater to a more recreational clientele, Nitrox is still outside the scope of regularity. One of our first challenges was to transform this operation into a DIR compliant facility. This meant spending time training staff, altering fill stations, connecting fill whips, and bringing 02 and helium to this remote location just to name a few of the hurdles. But the old adage that where this is a will, there is a way was never more evident then on this expedition. Much of the thanks rest with Faisal for his desire and commitment at building a long-term DIR presence to this remote part of the world. Certainly the task is monumental, but I suspect this trip went a long way to building the infrastructure.
Both Faisal and Andrews goal is to bridge the land based operation with the live aboard operation in order to provide optimal choices for DIR minded divers seeking to explore the Red Sea. Red Sea Explorers, www.redseaexplorers.com is on the pioneering cusp of significant new opportunities on the Red Sea. Our expedition included, amongst other objectives, scouting new locations consistent with DIR trained technical divers desires. In short, the goal of Red Sea Explorers is to be a dive operation built by DIR divers, for DIR divers in the Red Sea. Moreover, hauling gear half way around the world can prove to be a risky, costly, and inconvenient affair ending often times with lost or damaged equipment. Imagine if you will a dive operation that caters to the DIR diver that has available proper tanks, proper stage/deco tanks, proper markings and rigging? A dive operation that caters to standard GUE mixes? A dive operation that has RBs, scooters, AV equipment, BPs & wings et. al. all available and chosen for its compatibility with the DIR holistic system. Many dive operations lack the operational wherewithal to accommodate traveling DIR minded divers, whereas Red Sea Explorers is fluid in the uncompromising mannerisms of a DIR dedicated diver.
Operational challenges notwithstanding, diving the Red Sea is a tremendous experience, complete with warm water (72° F), hammerhead sharks, white tips, eels, tropical marine life, 100+ vis, and limitless potential. We have put a short video clip and some photos on the www.redseaexplorers.com website for your pleasure, I hope you enjoy them. We also had the opportunity to teach a Tech 1 class and a DIR-F class while many of the locals and guests from the other shops and camps joined us one evening for our DIR Demo.
For me, the fun of these type of expeditions is always the enjoyment of spending the day underwater far removed from the stress and pressures of the office, but I always walk away from these trips enriched by the experience of meeting fellow DIR divers that all seem to share a mutual bond. On this trip we had divers from Egypt, Greece, UK, Sweden, Norway, Oman, Lebanon and naturally the U.S.A. and the melding of cultures and the commonality of interests only serves to enhance the great diving that we all did. Thanks guys for all the fond memories, Ill carry them with me for quite some time. Special thanks to Faisal for all the hard work and all the logistical coordination, the trip would not have been the same without your efforts.
I highly recommend diving the Red Sea if you ever have the opportunity, and should the opportunity present itself I cant help but to recommend Red Sea Explorers.
Hope you all enjoyed the report,
Regards,
Michael H. Kane
