Sudan?

I am thinking of a trip to Red Sea in October, 2006. I have been searching forum and got interested in Sudan. Any opinions or thoughts are appreciated. I assume that this maight be a good time to go for more pelagics (colder?). Thanks.

Chris

mmmm maybe - we were on the first trip that Royal Emperor did in the Sudan in October last year.

Couple of points :-

Diving is great - not many sharks in Oct - try Feb or March for them.

Umbria is a hell of an interesting wreck.

Flights into and out of Sudan are a total mare. Several hours of delay usual.

Everyone on boat was ill - they take on water in Port Sudan and well, fundementally, it is dificult to avoid - some one will always say wash a glass in the stuff.

Pictures are up on my web site though I will caution that it was only my second trip with a camera - so.....

Drop me a line if you have any specifics.

Paul C

Oh and it is not colder - in Oct we had 34C in the water and 38-43 on top.

Paul C

if you are looking for pelagics and hammerheads in particular, then october is not the best time in the sudan. you are better off in march, april or may when the waters are usually cooler.

ditto on the flights in and out of port sudan, though we were luckier than paul seemed to have been (only 1 hour each way). however what i really loved on sudan airways is that the safety demo that mentions life jackets under your seat. well i searched for them under my seat and all the seats on my row and could not find one not that they would be useful in the event of an emergency. also loved the the pilot's last words before slamming down the engine power... and that 737 is probably the second or third that ever rolled out of boeing's production lines... be aware

diving was great, though the water was still too warm for the hammerheads, we had to go and look for them around the 50m mark, which is not a healthy thing to do when you are 14 hours away from the closest recompression chamber.

at the time i went there were only a few boats out there, it seems there a few more now, especially the emperor. also i recall a couple of months ago in diver magazine there was an article on a new boat out there, but cannot remember the name. maybe john b. will be able to chime in here.

some photos up on my site as well if you want to see what the waters look like...

hth/paul

Yea, Port Sudan, the only landing I have made while watching the AA guns tracking the plane on approach .

Don't worry too too much about the plane, as it is flying international it will be covered by international standards - even if it is a bit tatty.

Internal flights would be a bit more of a concern, however I have not seen any commercial trips that involve them.

Only one hour delay is unusual from what we heard - the going rate is a hell of a lot more.

All baggage is searched on entry - all staff were quite civil and nice.

Real fun was to be had when another party was found to have three bottles of whiskey and tried to do a deal with the customs guys - great spectator sport.

I would go again, but would try for Feb, March time.

Paul C