bshort4
Contributor
When I looked at booking this trip I wanted to do the BDE route but Brothers was closed and went with St Johns. Booked through PADI Travel--very easy and very helpful with questions and a few changes I needed to make on flights to notify the boat for changed pick-up times in Hurghada. My plan was to fly to Cairo and spend a night then fly to Hurghada the next day and be transferred to Port Ghalib to join the boat then do four days of touring Luxor and Cairo after the dive trip.
LOGISTICS: Tried to book my flights to Cairo from Denver and back on one ticket but found the long layovers to be just to much. There was a Eygpt air direct flight to Cairo from New York and that's the one I wanted to catch as it arrived at 11 in the morning which would give me a full day and night to recover before joining the liveaboard. So booked a flight on Delta on a separate ticket to New York ($107 plus $30 for my checked bag.) Six hour layover before catching my flight on Eygpt airlines to Cairo. My flight from New York to Cairo and back to New York and on to Denver would be on one itinerary--cost: $1005. I had pre selected my seats on all the flights through Orbitz but when I checked in they had changed me to a middle seat--oh no--but I asked her to look and she found me an aisle seat--great (same for my return flight). Eygpt airlines is ok--nothing great--nothing bad--gets you there--food was typical airline food and seats were fine---no booze.
We arrived in Cairo at 11 am on time and I had arranged a meet and greet through Nile Holidays who would also be taking care of my tours after the dive trip. I was met right before the place to buy your visa--he took my passport and $25 and bought my visa--no line. Proceeded to immigration, he again took my passport and got me through immigration while I just stood there--again no line at all. Went to pick up my checked bag and waited 10 or 12 minutes for it to show up During that time I went to a ATM machine (two of them) right against the wall by the luggage carousel and pulled out 5000 Egyptian pounds for boat fees, crew tips and whatever else I may need. My guide took my checked bag and passport and we walked right through customs and into the arrivals hall---empty--I mean no one there. Overall I was very impressed with the Cairo airport--very clean, organized and easy to navigate. Walked outside and walked maybe 50 yards to our waiting van and off to the Le Passage Casino Airport Hotel--five minute ride---nice hotel. My guide checked me in and said he'd meet me here in the morning for my transfer back to the airport for my flight to Hurghada. Took a nice hot shower and then as it was still early I tried staying awake until that evening to help with the jet lag but I was failing. Went to the lobby bar and bought a Coke Zero ($3-ouch) and a glass of ice--big mistake--more on that later. Next morning my guide was waiting for me and we went back to the airport. He took my bags to the check-in counter, checked me in, handed me my ticket and pointed me towards the gates. I then thanked him and tipped of course--great service. Wild bus ride to the plane on the tarmac and a short 50 minute flight to Hurghada. Picked up my checked bag in the domestic terminal and walked outside to find my ride who showed up after about 5 minutes. We stopped in Hurghada to pick up two more guests and were off on the three and a half hour trip to Port Ghalib. When I arrived in Cairo I had a 4G signal on my phone and the same in Hurghada--thanks T-Mobile. But half way to Port Ghalib we stopped for a rest break and I had no signal--decided to buy a sim card for my phone but couldn't get it to work but really didn't need it for the rest of the trip. We arrived at about 4:30 pm and checked onto the boat right away. Shown to my main deck room (I upgraded) and was told to unpack all but my dive gear and we would put our kits together after the greeting for everyone once they arrived. Room was small (expected) small cupboard with two shelfs for all your clothes--no place to hang any. Small bathroom with sink, toilet and a shower in the ceiling that would get everything wet in the bathroom---most of us used the two showers on the dive deck to take showers. After filling out the usual forms, checking certs and insurance we set up our gear. I put my yoke reg on the tank turned on the air and big leak--it was a DIN tank and I hadn't even noticed. Inserted a converter and good to go. I was the only diver out of 14 using a yoke reg. The next day we would leave port and do two dives--the first of course would be our check dive and one more before doing the long 11 hour overnight trek down to St Johns reef.
LOGISTICS: Tried to book my flights to Cairo from Denver and back on one ticket but found the long layovers to be just to much. There was a Eygpt air direct flight to Cairo from New York and that's the one I wanted to catch as it arrived at 11 in the morning which would give me a full day and night to recover before joining the liveaboard. So booked a flight on Delta on a separate ticket to New York ($107 plus $30 for my checked bag.) Six hour layover before catching my flight on Eygpt airlines to Cairo. My flight from New York to Cairo and back to New York and on to Denver would be on one itinerary--cost: $1005. I had pre selected my seats on all the flights through Orbitz but when I checked in they had changed me to a middle seat--oh no--but I asked her to look and she found me an aisle seat--great (same for my return flight). Eygpt airlines is ok--nothing great--nothing bad--gets you there--food was typical airline food and seats were fine---no booze.
We arrived in Cairo at 11 am on time and I had arranged a meet and greet through Nile Holidays who would also be taking care of my tours after the dive trip. I was met right before the place to buy your visa--he took my passport and $25 and bought my visa--no line. Proceeded to immigration, he again took my passport and got me through immigration while I just stood there--again no line at all. Went to pick up my checked bag and waited 10 or 12 minutes for it to show up During that time I went to a ATM machine (two of them) right against the wall by the luggage carousel and pulled out 5000 Egyptian pounds for boat fees, crew tips and whatever else I may need. My guide took my checked bag and passport and we walked right through customs and into the arrivals hall---empty--I mean no one there. Overall I was very impressed with the Cairo airport--very clean, organized and easy to navigate. Walked outside and walked maybe 50 yards to our waiting van and off to the Le Passage Casino Airport Hotel--five minute ride---nice hotel. My guide checked me in and said he'd meet me here in the morning for my transfer back to the airport for my flight to Hurghada. Took a nice hot shower and then as it was still early I tried staying awake until that evening to help with the jet lag but I was failing. Went to the lobby bar and bought a Coke Zero ($3-ouch) and a glass of ice--big mistake--more on that later. Next morning my guide was waiting for me and we went back to the airport. He took my bags to the check-in counter, checked me in, handed me my ticket and pointed me towards the gates. I then thanked him and tipped of course--great service. Wild bus ride to the plane on the tarmac and a short 50 minute flight to Hurghada. Picked up my checked bag in the domestic terminal and walked outside to find my ride who showed up after about 5 minutes. We stopped in Hurghada to pick up two more guests and were off on the three and a half hour trip to Port Ghalib. When I arrived in Cairo I had a 4G signal on my phone and the same in Hurghada--thanks T-Mobile. But half way to Port Ghalib we stopped for a rest break and I had no signal--decided to buy a sim card for my phone but couldn't get it to work but really didn't need it for the rest of the trip. We arrived at about 4:30 pm and checked onto the boat right away. Shown to my main deck room (I upgraded) and was told to unpack all but my dive gear and we would put our kits together after the greeting for everyone once they arrived. Room was small (expected) small cupboard with two shelfs for all your clothes--no place to hang any. Small bathroom with sink, toilet and a shower in the ceiling that would get everything wet in the bathroom---most of us used the two showers on the dive deck to take showers. After filling out the usual forms, checking certs and insurance we set up our gear. I put my yoke reg on the tank turned on the air and big leak--it was a DIN tank and I hadn't even noticed. Inserted a converter and good to go. I was the only diver out of 14 using a yoke reg. The next day we would leave port and do two dives--the first of course would be our check dive and one more before doing the long 11 hour overnight trek down to St Johns reef.
