Red Sea Leonfish
Contributor
There's been a lot of posts about Red Sea liveaboards lately so I thought it might be useful if I gave a fairly detailed consolidated write up, as requested, of my recent trip
I booked direct with Blue O Two to travel on their "Best of Wrecks" tour on M/Y Blue Melody flying from Gatwick (South Terminal) and then sailing from Hurghada (Marriot Marina) from 13-20 July 2012.
Blue O Two's web site turned out to be generally accurate and very representative of the whole experience. I recommend looking at their web site in detail - particularly the FAQ sections - if you are considering travelling with them. I won't repeat what is posted there, except to say that booking was swift and easy and all necessary paperwork arrived promptly. Questions were dealt with by telephone or - at my request - by prompt email reply.
The rest of my comments are specific to my experience but - I hope - might be useful.
The trip
We dived 13 wrecks over the course of 19 dives over 6 days (actually four full days and two half days). These included the Rosallie Moller, Thistlegorm, Salem Express, Numidia, Aida, and Carnatic. I won't go into the details of the dives themselves but suffice it to say that the wrecks of the Red Sea are some of the best dives in the world - for wreck-geeks - and the name "Best of Wrecks" lives up to expectations.
That said, this is very much a 50+ dive / AOW minimum wreck-speciality trip foe divers interested in doing that kind of diving. Do NOT book that trip if you don't want to be doing numerous repeat dives on some 30+m wrecks and dealing with some strong currents. Our dive groups were blown off of both the Numidia and the Aida at Big Brother Island. The currents switched mid-dive - despite a competent current-check by our guide - and group cohesion went out of the window. Then, on a wall swim (trying to get back to the light-house where our boat was moored) most people gave up and ended up being washed several hundred metres to the point right at the other end of the island!
To do this trip you absolutely must be confident enough in your self and your buddy to be happy finishing a dive by deploying a marker buoy from depth and awaiting a rib pick-up (and be prepared to do this yourself without a guide). The 50 dive-minimum is probably a bit low (depending on other experience and time out of the water) and I would suggest that 75-100 would be more realistic.
Finally, this is not a trip for reefs, fish or much 'big stuff'. I saw one white-tipped reef shark and one turtle (and even that was the one that lives on the Thistlegorm). If you want reefs, then I would recommend seriously considering the "Best of the Best" or "Best of Reefs" tours instead. You have been warned...
The Boat and Crew
The boat is pretty much as described on the web site. It is kept clean and is well equipped. However, it was the crew who really made the trip. They lived up to the high reputation of crews across the Blue O Two fleet. From the deck hands to the captain, cook and saloon managers, everyone was friendly, helpful and interested in the guests and their diving.
The deck hands were always available to help guests into and out of wet suits and tanks and returning divers were frequently greeted with cool glasses of juice or a warm hot chocolate in the evenings. The ribs were well-handled with divers assisted on pick-up (although we sis see some amusing styles of rib entry throughout the week - assisted and unassisted). Rooms were all well kept and generally made up with towels stocked and bins emptied during the first dive of the day.
The Food
The food was plentiful and tasty. All the usual diver-fodder of pasta, rice, meat, plenty of fish and some nice salads. Eggs were freshly cooked to order every morning - after the first dive - and served with cheese and meats and bread. Lunches was served early afternoon with snacks of cake, crisps and fresh fruit smoothies brought out mid afternoon before a satisfying three course meal in the evening (the starter generally appearing to be lunch made into a soup). Attempts were made to cater for any allergies/dislikes. However, if you won't eat fish, meat or bananas then you will need to be flexible as to what you can expect!
The Drinks
Free drinking water (slightly chilled) was constantly available throughout the trip. Fridges were stocked with bottles daily but they did ask - quite reasonably - that you refill from a (slightly chilled) dispenser on the sun deck were possible. A big red marker pen was helpfully provided to mark your own bottle. Free coke, lemonade and fanta (slightly chilled) was also available, as was hot drinking water (nearly-boiling) and milk, tea and coffee.
Large cans of Sakara Beer were £2.50GBP and tonic water was 50p for a medium sized can (double the size of a standard mini). Wine was also available on request. Guests were welcome to take bottles of spirits on board with them and several people took gin or rum and mixed this themselves from the selection of mixers. For anyone worried about luggage restrictions, there is actually a shop in Hurghada airport after baggage reclaim but before customs which sells alcoholic drinks on arrival in Egypt.
Towels
Cabin and deck towels were provided and changed during the week. As a nice touch, there were even numbered hooks on the dive deck which matched the cabin numbers. The only thing to watch out for were a load of brand new towels which, being evidently unwashed, left you covered in blue fluff if you used them! There was also bath robes (if you wanted them).
Solo-travellers
Blue O Two cater well for solo travellers. You can pay +£450 for a room to yourself or take 'pot luck'. Of the five odd travellers on our trip, one (female) got a room to themselves and four (all men) got to share with strangers. However, you actually spend very little time in your cabin and divers tend to be like-minded travellers with similar aims and objectives for the trip so this wasn't a problem on our trip.
One point to note, however, is that Blue O Two do seem to book solo travellers into the slightly smaller cabins at the front of the ship. This may well be because there may only be one person in which case a smaller cabin makes sense. However, for two solo travellers with two complete sets of luggage and kit, this is unfortunate as the cabins are significantly smaller, have smaller bathrooms, a lot less space between the beds and about half as much storage space for bags and kit. If I booked again I would be tempted to ask that I only share if it is a full sized room rather than one 75% of the size of the others (for the same price).
Tank Fills and Nitrox
M/Y Blue Melody has two compressors but, with 30+ 12 and 15 litre tanks to refill between each dive (inc. guides and twinsets), this still takes 2-3 hours. Of course, good diving practise should be to have extended surface intervals between multiple dives, but - on occasion - our dive plans and timetables were dictated more by the speed of the compressor than currents, mealtimes, site availability and travel times. At least, the tank fills were always 200+ bar.
The nitrox mixes were, however, a little poor. Depending on various factors, purported NOx32 varied between 24% and 31%. Also, as the tanks were filled by top-up, you needed to plan your dive mixes somewhat in advance. The trick, we found, was to bleed your tank right down to 50 bar max before changing mixtures. Otherwise, any switches between nitrox and air could leave you either with a weak mix or restricted MOD.
It should be noted that this was all down to the limitations of the compressors themselves and not the ship's engineer who, like all the crew, was clearly competent, correctly-qualified, and amiable. However, at £60GBP for a week's nitrox you should make sure that you have realistic expectations!
Hire Kit / Ship's Spares
The hire kit was clearly used but well serviced and clean. My hired reg-set had a damaged connector on the low-pressure inflator hose which meant having to manually inflate my BC for the check dive. Thereafter, I swapped it for a spare from the ship's spares set which was fine for the rest of the trip. One of the guides (Abdu) carried out the swap for me and I was very happy with the way the whole thing was handled. The ship's spares were all good quality and not the usual sack of battered old 'odds'n'sods' you get on some day boats.
Another diver's fin buckle broke and, despite not having spares in her kit, was able to borrow a replacement free of charge from the ship's spares. Again, this was no hassle for the guides who dealt with it quickly and professionally.
Briefings and Guides
There was a mandatory "check dive" on day one. However, this was mainly to check weights and kit. No-one was made to demonstrate skills and the guides seemed content on everyone's competency having checked cert cards and seen everyone in the water. After that, guiding was optional on each of the dives.
Divers were typically split into four groups, given a suggested dive plan as part of the briefing and reminded on best practise for buddy procedures. Guides were available on request and there was normally a guide in the water somewhere. However, given the experience level required for the trip, hand-holding was unnecessary for our group and most divers went off quite happily in groups of 4-6.
The briefings were presented with a mix of video, on screen powerpoint presentations in the upper saloon (yes, really, MS Powerpoint) and good old fashioned hand-drawn white boards. The main guides (Mustafa and Abdu) gave some relevant history for each of the wrecks and were keen to point out any interesting features and the best places to look for wildlife (including repeated references to much-promised but little-seen ghost white pipefish).
Underwater the guides were helpful in taking groups on various excursions and pointing out some of the smaller wildlife. All divers were left to monitor their own gas, deco and OLF which, for competent divers, should not and did not cause any problems.
Dive times were around 45-60 mins with a max depth of 40m. However, the guides were fairly um lets say "pragmatic" about imposing any diving restrictions. Safety was clearly important but, equally, adults were treated like adults and expected to dive in buddy pairs and within their own limits for the applicable conditions. The guides were commendable in their approach.
Tech Diving
M/Y Blue Melody can cater for tech divers. There were a few twin-sets and some mixed gas divers on board. Their extended dives were worked around the rec. divers' itineraries and didn't cause any problems. However, anyone hoping to go 'tech' should make sure that they discuss this in advance with Blue O Two (obviously).
Last Night/Day
The boat got back to port the day before the end of the holiday. Dinner on the boat was offered but everyone opted to visit Hurghada for dinner and drinks. For a small fee - I think £35-ish - you could upgrade and spend the final night in the Marriott. A few people took that option and seemed perfectly satisfied with the hotel. Equally, those who stayed on the boat (albeit moored) were perfectly happy where they were.
Then, on the last day, bills were settled and passengers were relocated to the nearby Marriot with pool, beach and access to a shared 'day room' to shower before pickup for the airport transfer. Some people opted for a later flight and stayed the weekend. Neither Hurghada nor the Marriott are particularly impressive but access to the dayroom in the hotel was a very nice touch as it was good to be able to freshen up before the flight.
Misc. Comments
M/Y Blue Horizon
Whilst back in port at the Marriott Marina, I had a quick look around Blue O Two's M/Y Blue Horizon which was just back from a week out of service. This had just been serviced and they were sanding and staining the woodwork in preparation for a trip the next day. In many ways the boat is similar to the Blue Melody, albeit a little more spacious. The rooms are superior with mini-fridges and there is a hot tub. Personally, I found the Blue Melody to be perfectly adequate to my requirements and would probably not bother paying any supplement to go on the Blue Horizon.
However, if you travelled out of season (when you might want to spend more time inside the cabins), were planning on spending more time on the boat (e.g. not doing four dives a day where possible), or wanted to have a little more comfort, then I can see why guests might wish to pay a little more to book the superior M/Y Blue Horizon.
M/Y Blue Fin
I have never travelled on the M/Y Blue Fin and so cannot comment on it as a boat. However, several guests on the M/Y Blue Melody did say that they had travelled on the M/Y Blue Fin - which is, I think, the smallest in Blue O Two's fleet - and that they would rather pay a little more and go on the M/Y Blue Melody.
Price / Value for Money
The prices for the various tours with Blue O Two vary by itinerary, boat and time of year. Most are around £900-£1,100 for Red Sea trips. My trip was not cheap by any means and see comments above about extras for nitrox, tips, upgrades, etc - but it was excellent value for money.
You certainly get what you pay for with Blue O Two and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend booking with them.
Conclusion
I very much enjoyed my trip on M/Y Blue Melody with Blue O Two and I will probably book with them again in the future.
I booked direct with Blue O Two to travel on their "Best of Wrecks" tour on M/Y Blue Melody flying from Gatwick (South Terminal) and then sailing from Hurghada (Marriot Marina) from 13-20 July 2012.
Blue O Two's web site turned out to be generally accurate and very representative of the whole experience. I recommend looking at their web site in detail - particularly the FAQ sections - if you are considering travelling with them. I won't repeat what is posted there, except to say that booking was swift and easy and all necessary paperwork arrived promptly. Questions were dealt with by telephone or - at my request - by prompt email reply.
The rest of my comments are specific to my experience but - I hope - might be useful.
The trip
We dived 13 wrecks over the course of 19 dives over 6 days (actually four full days and two half days). These included the Rosallie Moller, Thistlegorm, Salem Express, Numidia, Aida, and Carnatic. I won't go into the details of the dives themselves but suffice it to say that the wrecks of the Red Sea are some of the best dives in the world - for wreck-geeks - and the name "Best of Wrecks" lives up to expectations.
That said, this is very much a 50+ dive / AOW minimum wreck-speciality trip foe divers interested in doing that kind of diving. Do NOT book that trip if you don't want to be doing numerous repeat dives on some 30+m wrecks and dealing with some strong currents. Our dive groups were blown off of both the Numidia and the Aida at Big Brother Island. The currents switched mid-dive - despite a competent current-check by our guide - and group cohesion went out of the window. Then, on a wall swim (trying to get back to the light-house where our boat was moored) most people gave up and ended up being washed several hundred metres to the point right at the other end of the island!
To do this trip you absolutely must be confident enough in your self and your buddy to be happy finishing a dive by deploying a marker buoy from depth and awaiting a rib pick-up (and be prepared to do this yourself without a guide). The 50 dive-minimum is probably a bit low (depending on other experience and time out of the water) and I would suggest that 75-100 would be more realistic.
Finally, this is not a trip for reefs, fish or much 'big stuff'. I saw one white-tipped reef shark and one turtle (and even that was the one that lives on the Thistlegorm). If you want reefs, then I would recommend seriously considering the "Best of the Best" or "Best of Reefs" tours instead. You have been warned...
The Boat and Crew
The boat is pretty much as described on the web site. It is kept clean and is well equipped. However, it was the crew who really made the trip. They lived up to the high reputation of crews across the Blue O Two fleet. From the deck hands to the captain, cook and saloon managers, everyone was friendly, helpful and interested in the guests and their diving.
The deck hands were always available to help guests into and out of wet suits and tanks and returning divers were frequently greeted with cool glasses of juice or a warm hot chocolate in the evenings. The ribs were well-handled with divers assisted on pick-up (although we sis see some amusing styles of rib entry throughout the week - assisted and unassisted). Rooms were all well kept and generally made up with towels stocked and bins emptied during the first dive of the day.
The Food
The food was plentiful and tasty. All the usual diver-fodder of pasta, rice, meat, plenty of fish and some nice salads. Eggs were freshly cooked to order every morning - after the first dive - and served with cheese and meats and bread. Lunches was served early afternoon with snacks of cake, crisps and fresh fruit smoothies brought out mid afternoon before a satisfying three course meal in the evening (the starter generally appearing to be lunch made into a soup). Attempts were made to cater for any allergies/dislikes. However, if you won't eat fish, meat or bananas then you will need to be flexible as to what you can expect!
The Drinks
Free drinking water (slightly chilled) was constantly available throughout the trip. Fridges were stocked with bottles daily but they did ask - quite reasonably - that you refill from a (slightly chilled) dispenser on the sun deck were possible. A big red marker pen was helpfully provided to mark your own bottle. Free coke, lemonade and fanta (slightly chilled) was also available, as was hot drinking water (nearly-boiling) and milk, tea and coffee.
Large cans of Sakara Beer were £2.50GBP and tonic water was 50p for a medium sized can (double the size of a standard mini). Wine was also available on request. Guests were welcome to take bottles of spirits on board with them and several people took gin or rum and mixed this themselves from the selection of mixers. For anyone worried about luggage restrictions, there is actually a shop in Hurghada airport after baggage reclaim but before customs which sells alcoholic drinks on arrival in Egypt.
Towels
Cabin and deck towels were provided and changed during the week. As a nice touch, there were even numbered hooks on the dive deck which matched the cabin numbers. The only thing to watch out for were a load of brand new towels which, being evidently unwashed, left you covered in blue fluff if you used them! There was also bath robes (if you wanted them).
Solo-travellers
Blue O Two cater well for solo travellers. You can pay +£450 for a room to yourself or take 'pot luck'. Of the five odd travellers on our trip, one (female) got a room to themselves and four (all men) got to share with strangers. However, you actually spend very little time in your cabin and divers tend to be like-minded travellers with similar aims and objectives for the trip so this wasn't a problem on our trip.
One point to note, however, is that Blue O Two do seem to book solo travellers into the slightly smaller cabins at the front of the ship. This may well be because there may only be one person in which case a smaller cabin makes sense. However, for two solo travellers with two complete sets of luggage and kit, this is unfortunate as the cabins are significantly smaller, have smaller bathrooms, a lot less space between the beds and about half as much storage space for bags and kit. If I booked again I would be tempted to ask that I only share if it is a full sized room rather than one 75% of the size of the others (for the same price).
Tank Fills and Nitrox
M/Y Blue Melody has two compressors but, with 30+ 12 and 15 litre tanks to refill between each dive (inc. guides and twinsets), this still takes 2-3 hours. Of course, good diving practise should be to have extended surface intervals between multiple dives, but - on occasion - our dive plans and timetables were dictated more by the speed of the compressor than currents, mealtimes, site availability and travel times. At least, the tank fills were always 200+ bar.
The nitrox mixes were, however, a little poor. Depending on various factors, purported NOx32 varied between 24% and 31%. Also, as the tanks were filled by top-up, you needed to plan your dive mixes somewhat in advance. The trick, we found, was to bleed your tank right down to 50 bar max before changing mixtures. Otherwise, any switches between nitrox and air could leave you either with a weak mix or restricted MOD.
It should be noted that this was all down to the limitations of the compressors themselves and not the ship's engineer who, like all the crew, was clearly competent, correctly-qualified, and amiable. However, at £60GBP for a week's nitrox you should make sure that you have realistic expectations!
Hire Kit / Ship's Spares
The hire kit was clearly used but well serviced and clean. My hired reg-set had a damaged connector on the low-pressure inflator hose which meant having to manually inflate my BC for the check dive. Thereafter, I swapped it for a spare from the ship's spares set which was fine for the rest of the trip. One of the guides (Abdu) carried out the swap for me and I was very happy with the way the whole thing was handled. The ship's spares were all good quality and not the usual sack of battered old 'odds'n'sods' you get on some day boats.
Another diver's fin buckle broke and, despite not having spares in her kit, was able to borrow a replacement free of charge from the ship's spares. Again, this was no hassle for the guides who dealt with it quickly and professionally.
Briefings and Guides
There was a mandatory "check dive" on day one. However, this was mainly to check weights and kit. No-one was made to demonstrate skills and the guides seemed content on everyone's competency having checked cert cards and seen everyone in the water. After that, guiding was optional on each of the dives.
Divers were typically split into four groups, given a suggested dive plan as part of the briefing and reminded on best practise for buddy procedures. Guides were available on request and there was normally a guide in the water somewhere. However, given the experience level required for the trip, hand-holding was unnecessary for our group and most divers went off quite happily in groups of 4-6.
The briefings were presented with a mix of video, on screen powerpoint presentations in the upper saloon (yes, really, MS Powerpoint) and good old fashioned hand-drawn white boards. The main guides (Mustafa and Abdu) gave some relevant history for each of the wrecks and were keen to point out any interesting features and the best places to look for wildlife (including repeated references to much-promised but little-seen ghost white pipefish).
Underwater the guides were helpful in taking groups on various excursions and pointing out some of the smaller wildlife. All divers were left to monitor their own gas, deco and OLF which, for competent divers, should not and did not cause any problems.
Dive times were around 45-60 mins with a max depth of 40m. However, the guides were fairly um lets say "pragmatic" about imposing any diving restrictions. Safety was clearly important but, equally, adults were treated like adults and expected to dive in buddy pairs and within their own limits for the applicable conditions. The guides were commendable in their approach.
Tech Diving
M/Y Blue Melody can cater for tech divers. There were a few twin-sets and some mixed gas divers on board. Their extended dives were worked around the rec. divers' itineraries and didn't cause any problems. However, anyone hoping to go 'tech' should make sure that they discuss this in advance with Blue O Two (obviously).
Last Night/Day
The boat got back to port the day before the end of the holiday. Dinner on the boat was offered but everyone opted to visit Hurghada for dinner and drinks. For a small fee - I think £35-ish - you could upgrade and spend the final night in the Marriott. A few people took that option and seemed perfectly satisfied with the hotel. Equally, those who stayed on the boat (albeit moored) were perfectly happy where they were.
Then, on the last day, bills were settled and passengers were relocated to the nearby Marriot with pool, beach and access to a shared 'day room' to shower before pickup for the airport transfer. Some people opted for a later flight and stayed the weekend. Neither Hurghada nor the Marriott are particularly impressive but access to the dayroom in the hotel was a very nice touch as it was good to be able to freshen up before the flight.
Misc. Comments
- It is made clear before you travel - but not until AFTER you have booked - is that the mandatory tip is £30GBP for the crew and the customary tip is £30GBP for the guides. This is not unreasonable, but for travellers on a budget you should remember to add at least £60GBP (actually £10GBP a day for the boat trip) on to the total cost of the holiday.
- Blue Melody boasts of having plenty of spare batteries for sale on board. However, during our trip they ran out of AAA batteries. To be safe, make sure you take plenty with you if you're taking torches, computers, or any other gadgets.
- The dive deck has charging stations with UK-style 3-pin sockets for torches, lamps and gadgets. However, the cabins only have 2-pin sockets. So, if you want to be able to charge things like phones or iPads in your cabin (which is not encouraged) then you will need to take at least one adaptor with you.
- Hurghada Airport isn't the nicest airport in Egypt (certainly a less enjoyable experience than Sharm) and queue times for security and facilities can be lengthy. I suggest taking food and water with you and preparing yourselves for a hot and sweaty wait just to get through the front door followed by at least an hour or so waiting around for your flight.
M/Y Blue Horizon
Whilst back in port at the Marriott Marina, I had a quick look around Blue O Two's M/Y Blue Horizon which was just back from a week out of service. This had just been serviced and they were sanding and staining the woodwork in preparation for a trip the next day. In many ways the boat is similar to the Blue Melody, albeit a little more spacious. The rooms are superior with mini-fridges and there is a hot tub. Personally, I found the Blue Melody to be perfectly adequate to my requirements and would probably not bother paying any supplement to go on the Blue Horizon.
However, if you travelled out of season (when you might want to spend more time inside the cabins), were planning on spending more time on the boat (e.g. not doing four dives a day where possible), or wanted to have a little more comfort, then I can see why guests might wish to pay a little more to book the superior M/Y Blue Horizon.
M/Y Blue Fin
I have never travelled on the M/Y Blue Fin and so cannot comment on it as a boat. However, several guests on the M/Y Blue Melody did say that they had travelled on the M/Y Blue Fin - which is, I think, the smallest in Blue O Two's fleet - and that they would rather pay a little more and go on the M/Y Blue Melody.
Price / Value for Money
The prices for the various tours with Blue O Two vary by itinerary, boat and time of year. Most are around £900-£1,100 for Red Sea trips. My trip was not cheap by any means and see comments above about extras for nitrox, tips, upgrades, etc - but it was excellent value for money.
You certainly get what you pay for with Blue O Two and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend booking with them.
Conclusion
I very much enjoyed my trip on M/Y Blue Melody with Blue O Two and I will probably book with them again in the future.
