27 replies to this topic

[annasea]

I would love a reason to go back to Egypt! If there's a trip in the works, I'd definitely consider saving my loonies and twonies for it! :anna:

[drbill]

I would love a reason to go back to Egypt! If there's a trip in the works, I'd definitely consider saving my loonies and twonies for it! :anna:

Aha, we may have found the ticket!

[nabster]

This sounds like a trip in the making! I am in!

Who's planning and coordinating?

[peterbj7]

I also would love to go on this trip. I thought this place was bombed recently this summer (I could be wrong) so not sure how safe or if facilities were damaged. Does anybody else know?

Que

There are Muslim extremists in Egypt as in many other places, and there have been several high profile terrorist atrocities. The authorities are determined to stop the extremists and have a tremendous armed presence at all tourist spots, though occasionally they can get past. But Brits and other Europeans go there all the time and aren't deterred. I should think the safest time of all to go is when there have been attacks, because the military will then be ultra vigilent.

[drbill]

Dove today with an Italian who has dived around the world (he's at least two continents ahead of me). He said that the Egyptian Red Sea has been battered and that the best diving is out of Sudan. Know there have been political problems there as well. Anyone interested in looking at this option as well?

[peterbj7]

Everyone I know who's dived from Sudan has found very good diving but a lot of quite dangerous hassle. I don't think I'd dive from there just yet. But to say that the Egyptian Red Sea is trashed is surely a gross overstatement? You go out on day boats from Sharm or Hurghada and you're going to be in diver soup much of the time - for a beginner it's still good diving, but a shadow of what it was when I first dived there 20-odd years ago. Ras Mohammed is heavily dived these days and has suffered because of it (though it's still pretty good), but there are still some superb drift dives to be had at Tiran - in fact, a whole week spent just on the four reefs there would be a good week.

But go down south and you'll still find excellent diving. Without doubt the best way to dive the Red Sea is on a good liveaboard - the Thistlegorm is a zoo between around 11am and 3pm when all the day boats are there, but you dive it at dawn from a liveaboard and it's a different proposition altogether. Inevitably the best liveaboards aren't the cheapest, but find a good one that actually does go where they say up front it will (I've three times been on liveaboards that were supposed to dive the Brothers, and each time there was some trumped up story about bad weather and we didn't go) and you'll have a wonderful time.

I'm a bit out of touch with the Red Sea as I haven't been there for four years, but one of the top liveaboards used to be Tiger Lily. I did two trips on her and it was superb, and I know it's been refitted since. I think it took 20 divers to fill it. You don't have to charter the whole boat, but I think you save money if you do. That's a moderately-sized boat, but there are some enormous ones out there. So long as it's big enough to cope with any storm likely to blow up (they have fearsome storms in the Red Sea) you don't need a big one.

From London (Gatwick) a complete charter of a boat like Tiger Lily, including flights & transfers to get there and one night in an hotel at the end, plus all meals on board, probably costs around £700-£800 each depending on season. That's around $1200-$1400. And you have to get to London. I think that's likely to be cheaper than trying to get there directly from the US somewhere, and as I said somewhere else you do want to fly into Egypt on a charter flight, not scheduled.

In fact, if this trip happens I'd probably like to take a busman's holiday and go on it!

[nabster]

I am all for a liveaboard. Since Ive never been to (let alone dived in) that part of the world, I am going to defer to you guys for recommendations and decisions. But let me know if/how I can help!

[peterbj7]

I've been doing a bit of preliminary research. Explorers don't seem to have as much on offer as they used to, rather overtaken by Emperor Divers. But Tiger Lily has a good website all of her own http://www.divingabr...s.htm#deepsouth. I haven't checked prices yet, and these vary considerably anyway, but this is definitely one of the premier boats. I'd recommend the Brothers, Brothers/Daedalus/Elphinstone, or Deep South. Probably the middle of those options. I've dived all of these reefs (except the Brothers, but not for want of trying) and all the dives were superb then. I can't believe they've been "trashed".

I don't think there's a bad or particularly good time to go there. I've been there at widely disparate times of the year, and experienced most weather types including the odd violent storm (which the Red Sea is noted for). At all times the actual diving was excellent. The water is never cold, but it's markedly cooler in winter than in summer, at least in the north (the Sharm area).

Have we had a poll? How many people realistically expect they could go on a Red Sea liveaboard? To fill Tiger Lily will take 20 divers - if it's not full I'm not sure if they charge per boat or per diver (in other words, who takes the loss).

[nabster]

About half a dozen people have raised their hands on this thread alone --

1. peterbj
2. sea urchin
3. nabster
4. nabster guest ?
5. drbill ?
6. annasea ?
7. sacowboy ?


To get a more realistic count, we should probably do a poll message in the main "Upcoming SD Group Trips" forum. Is that the right place/way to do this?

[EuroDiver]

Hello All

I dove the Red Sea at Sham El Sheikh (Sharm El Sheikh http://www.sharm-el-...Info.htm~bottom ) for nine day in July 2005 (30 June – 8July). My group stayed at the Coral Beach Tiran (http://www.egypt-tra...Tiran Hotel.htm). I would recommend you stay at this hotel, the rooms were clean air conditioned, and the TV had two English speaking channels.

The dive shop at the hotel is Mr. Diver. Mr. Diver (http://www.misterdiv...eng/mrdiver.htm) has five shops in the area; they are well organized very friendly. You can select all the dive sites you want to visit the first day get there so all the divers will know when and where they will be diving. If you go to the misterdiver web site, select dive centers, select Sham-coral beach, select dives in sharm, scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see a chart showing air temp, water temp, and visibility.

You can see most of the dive sites with an 8 – 10 day trip with diving 6 – 7 days. I was able to get 15 dives in two of which were shore dives. (All divers are required to do a check dive with the staff). By the way, you will need your logbook, C card, and if you are over 40, you have to have a physical form signed by your doctor. These are all requirements of Egypt; I have been there twice and needed all these documents both times. You may not be asked for all of these documents but it is better to have them than try to get them in Egypt.

If you are looking at staying on the coastline, you should fly into Hurghada, stay, and dive I Safaga. Safaga dive sites are more colorful and most of the dives will be coral reefs.

As for the threat to Americans, there isn’t much. Both bombing there was targeted toward the British, so try staying at hotels were American and the British stay. Both places I stayed at have very few American or British patrons while I was staying there. Everyone speaks English in Egypt so there is no communications.

I agree with OUTBACK if you go to Sham El Sheikl you must dive the S.S. Thistlegorm the wreck is in great condition. The Camel Bar is a good place to hangout as well as The Hard Rock, and some others I was unable to remember, must have been something in the water I was drinking.

I have a CD full of pictures for each sites, will share with all upon request.

I hope this information helps.

[BaysWaterBabe]

About half a dozen people have raised their hands on this thread alone --

1. peterbj
2. sea urchin
3. nabster
4. nabster guest ?
5. drbill ?
6. annasea ?
7. sacowboy ?


To get a more realistic count, we should probably do a poll message in the main "Upcoming SD Group Trips" forum. Is that the right place/way to do this?

If you are really keen on liveaboards, try Tony Backhurst at http://www.scuba.co.uk/ or Red Sea Divers at http://www.redseadivers.com/. I would be tempted to join you if the time was right.

If you are keen on wrecks, the North Red Sea itinerary is best. This would include the Thistlegorm, Dunraven and the Abu Nuhas wrecks (Carnatic, Ghiannis D etc.). If it is superb coral reefs and pelagics you are after, then the Deep South is better. For a good mix, I would recommend the Brother Islands. I was there last month on a liveaboard - 2 amazing wrecks on Big Brother plus thresher and grey reef sharks, and sharks (hammerheads, grey reefs, oceanic white tips) on every dive on Little Brother.

The best deals to be had, in my opinion, are from UK dive tour operators such as Tony Backhurst and Red Sea Divers for liveaboards, and Regal, Explorers, Longwood and Oonasdivers for shore-based holidays. Packages from these operators will include flights to Egypt, accommodation and quite often the diving as well. Then get yourself a cheap (hopefully!) trans-atlantic flight to London, of which there are plenty.

If you need any more information, just PM me.

Lily