Which Route for emperor divers?

[dcabbar]

Hi,

I am an AOW diver with ~ 50 dives. We would like to see some wrecks for sure, but enjoy marine life a bit better. And, don't want to experience extreme conditions.

We are planning to take a liveaboard trip early June w/ Emperor Divers and can't decide between:

- Classic: Abu Nuhas, Giftun Island, Straits of Gubal, SS Thistlegorm, Ras Mohamed
- Reefs & Wrecks: Abu Nuhas, Straits of Gubal, SS Thistlegorm, Ras Mohamed, Ulysses, Rosalie Moller and others

But, I have been reading that these sites are heavily populated and there might be coral bleaching, etc. So, as an option, also looking into:

- South & St Johns (available only in mid July)

However, we are not sure if this is as good as the others. Furthermore, it is harder to reach (3 hours from Hurghada).

Also, we are contemplating whether we should take an early June or early July trip?

Thanks.

 

[FinnMom]

6 of us from the same club who just did our 1st warm water dives on a reefs & wrecks northern tour. We had 3-20 years of diving in Finland, relatively little experience with flora & fauna & lots with Baltic wrecks. We all suspected we'd like the wrecks best. Luckily we did wrecks & reefs because the general consensus now is that all future trips must be 50-70% reefs: we loved how much LIFE there was to see, and all the less common and stunning encounters like eagle rays, dolphins, turtle & 1 shark all occured on or around reefs (admittedly some dives were deeper, along the walls, but still all encounters were near the coral not the wrecks).
The wrecks were great & I'd visit them happily on 50 consecutive trips, but I wouldn'y miss the reefs for anything. The reefs are also NOT going to make you chose between sitting out the dive or or diving in heavy seas, washing-machine wave action conditions or stong currents => with reefs there's always a different approach or a different reef for the present conditions.
We visted Gota Abu Ramada, Panorama reef, Salem Express wreck, Ras Disha, Small Giftun, Umm Gammar, Abu Nuhas - Marcus wreck (" Chrisoula K"), Abu Nuhas reef, Abu Nuhas - Giannis D wreck, Abu Nuhas - Carnatic wreck, Small Gubal Island - Bluff Point (saw both rays & dolphins here), Kingston wreck & Shag Rock reef/wall (turtles!), Thistlegorm wreck, Rosalie Möller wreck, Siyul Kibeer (shark!), Shaab El Erg & El Fanous East. The only coral damage & bleaching I saw was at Shaab El Erg, it seemed a little low on life in general. Gota Abu Ramada and El Fanous East was also little less exciting, every other reef was absolutely TEEMING with life, site after site after site.
The Abu Nuhas wrecks & the Thistlegorm were great, some challenging conditions occasionally (it was winter when the condition are more often unfavorable). Rosalie Möller was pretty milky conditions but great for a single dive, still had big schools of fish even if you couldn't amire them all around the wreck beacuse the vis wasn't that good. The Salem was a nice dive esp because we visted on a very sunny early afternoon. You could see the whole wreck from the surface and the vis around her seemed crystal clear from Paris to Perth.
I would shoot for the edges of the high seasons to avoid crowds. Then again my suits are a 7mm or a drysuit so cooler waters is no problem. I also hate hot temps so checking out Hurgada that last night before going home would be out of the question in July.

 

[dcabbar]

Hi,

Thanks for the detailed answer.

Any comment / feedback on South & ST Johns vs North?

Also, is there a particular reason why liveaboards are mostly doing South (Simply the Best or Brothers) instead of Northern route in June and the opposite in July?

Thanks...

 

[Solly]

just came back from a saint john trip... my major note is that in the deep south the reef is amazing... but it is mainly hard corals and lots of caves and coral structures... north it is more soft corals.... fish are relatively larger with more probability of shark sightings in the south... however sea tends to be more rough in the south ....
IMHO with your profile I would go for the reef and wrecks tour.... enjoy !