RED SEA LIVEABOARD ADVICE

Hi,

I am looking to go on a Red Sea liveaboard next May, could anyone give me there opinions/advice or experiances. I am undecided on whether to go North or South. My main aim for the trip is to get some good pictures, i have been to the Red Sea quite a few times, but mainly shore/day boats.

I realise the pro's and cons etc, on both North and South itenaries.

I will probably be using Tony Backhurst, and will more than likely be travelling alone.

Any advice, will greatly be appreciatted.

Brian

Can't go wrong with Tony's boats - generally they are well sorted and if the wheels come off for any reason the company does sort it out, ( I have no connection with the company other than seeming to sign over large amounts of disposable income their way ).

As for which trip - they are all 'ok' but the dedicated wreck trips can be a bit too much 'steel' unless you have a real bad wreck habit to feed.

Liveaboard is an order of magnitude better IMO than diving from day boats or shore in the Red Sea.

One word of warning the sea can get surprisingly rough at times, our group have often gone early in the year (Jan) and the sea can be a bit of a lottery. The bonus is that you are often alone at the dive sites - the last two years we have been the only boat at the Brothers.

If you are alone and want to take pictures you may want to try and get on a dedicated picture taking trip, they seem to come in at only a small amount over the usual price but may offer a different schedule and the possibility to dive the same site more than once - that or see if you can find a like minded picture taker to team up with.

On all of the boats I have been on as long as you show yourself to be responsible the guides welcome the chance to let you 'do your own thing'.

Paul C

I'd agree with Paul's advice though I favour the Blue Planet fleet and over the years I have been shown every accomodation by the excellent guides, Pia, Nina and Ashraf. You can't beat a 'deep south' safari - St. Johns and the Fury though I have had great safaris everywhere in the Red Sea. I guess the only place I would avoid is dayboating from Hurghada, El Gouna and Ghalib.

Also agree with Timmoranuk - our last trip was with Pia and she is one of the best in the Red Sea.

P.S

Anyone who is going out and wants to start off on a good footing - a box of liquorice allsorts does wonders for Pia! - seems they don't make them the same in Egypt - I dunno.....

Paul C

Now that we are on the subject of Red Sea boats and specifically Tornado boats:

I was looking to schedule something for summer of '09 and noticed that the Tempest is no longer listed in the fleet for that year. Now, I'm looking for a smaller boat as I'm planning to charter the whole boat and probably cannot get a crew together from Finland to fill a big one in the middle of the summer.

Any other small boat (~12 pax) recommendations for Northern Red Sea before I give Tony's a call to ask what the deal is with Tempest?

timo

Give them a call Timo.

They seem to be slowly dry docking most of the fleet and making them bigger so that they can get 20 punters on them.

They are also fitting bigger engines though given the current prices of fuel I wonder if that is a great idea.

Paul C

I was over there a couple of weeks ago and saw Tempest in the Sharm International 'Marina', so it's definitely still around at the moment.

I'd agree with everyone's advice so far on the Tornado boats - they are right up there with the best in the Red Sea and Tony Blackhurst are like a well oiled machine - well as well oiled as you can be in Egypt!

Cheers, Simon

If Red Sea boats are new to you, any trip, north or south, will be good. I have been north and south in recent years, and against expectation the better trip was from Sharm el Sheikh to Abu Nuhas and Ras Mohammed (though that might have had something to do with Peter Rowlands and Alex Mustard). Trips from Marsa Alam can be good, but my experience of trips from Hurghada is less positive. The Brothers are a big commitment if the weather is less than perfect: perhaps a second trip when you know what's what?

You'll do more dives than you can cope with (a lot of divers start skipping dives about day 3), so be prepared to shoot a lot of images. As a single photographer you might be subordinate to the group, so see if you can find a boat with another photographer on board: a guide who shoots video can be a real asset, as they have an interest in diving photogenic sites, and know where the animals are. I've found being part of a group hinders macrophotography, but wide-angles can work well. The quiet, shallow sites that some old hands don't bother with can be the places to do close-ups: "Alternatives" in the north, "Zabargad" in the south etc. The deeper and more exposed sites can have quite fierce currents, too.

May is good as the water is warming up, but there might still be a chance of sharks; further south April is better for sharks as the water warms faster.

For really impressive reefs, and a really impressive hassle factor, go all the way to Sudan!

Good luck!

Just to add to Tim Priest's and Paul C's advice, both Pia and Nina on the Blue Planet fleet are keen photographers. When possible, I always buddy with Pia and we often laugh at each other after a dive "Hey, we had a really good dive together, we actually saw each other..."

The downside to the Blue Planet safaris, and most other safaris is that you'll only ever get one dive on each site - 26 dives and 26 sites... But I can understand that most punters want plenty of variety.

Also, I like to twin up a pair of independent 12's on dive 1 and 2 each day. Having been to depth, I don't have to come straight up to the safety stop along with everyone else and I can linger at 15-20 metres in solitude. If that's the sort of diving you like to do, check that the boat will let you twin up.

I've done both the South and North starting from Hurghada and Sharm - using Colona Divers at all times. I'm really happy with the level of their dive masters and the fact that they teach both IANTD and DSAT without beeing all GUE fuzzy about things. The boats are excellent, the liveaboards are affordable and they go to reefs that are not as visited as others. Happy to tell you more if you're interested.