Live aboard Safaris are the "non plus ultra" in the World of Scuba Diving, they should be thoroughly pre-planed to assure success.Wind, weather conditions at any given time of the year and the capability  of the chosen boat are important factors to be considered. The final decision is always with the skipper and the Dive guide.

In general it is save to say" a chicken is not a bird" meaning a boat that can easily reach Abu Nuhas and the Thistelgorm on a Northern routing, is not necessarily a suitable choice for a deep south routing in heavy weather. It is also important to understand the maintenance standard applied by the owner and the experience of the crew. We therefore concentrate on boats which by construction,  engine power, equipment and service standard  are most suitable to guarantee the expected security and comfort. There is a great variety of boats to choose from, we work toward to assure that the final price paid and the services provided will be in a realistic relation to each other and that you get what you pay for.

Starting from Hurghada, trips mainly go North covering the wrecks at Abu Nuhas and the Thistelgorm, often combined with a Dive at Ras Mohamed. Also trips to the Brother Islands start often from Hurghada.  Combination routings, going first south into the Safaga area and the wreck of the Salem Express, than continue north to Dive at Abu Nuhas and the Thistelgorm are a suitable option for the winter month.

The boats of the Royal Diving fleet only depart from Sharm el Sheik covering the Dive sites in the strait of Tiran and Ras Mohamed extensively, which can not be done with a Hurghada departure. Trips going south,  deep south and St. John mainly start in Marsa Alam, El Quosier and Hamata
The absolute Highlights, the Marine Park reefs, Zabargad, Deadalus and Rocky Islands should start in Marsa Alam or Marsa Ghalib, as they are far out in the open sea and can only be safely reached by powerful and well equipped boats. A one week trip to St. John starting in Marsa Alam with a good boat can also be done.

In the North  the center of interest lies mainly with the great number of wrecks, ships that have sunken in the Region over a long period of time .The "Thistlegorm" is probably the most famous wreck in the Red Sea. The British ship was on the way to Egypt to bring military equipment of all kinds for the British troops in North Africa. But then on the 6 the of October 1941 a German bomber attacked the Thistlegorm. Now the wreck is lying upright on the sea-bottom at 30-m depth. Especially interesting is the cargo: Tanks, trucks, motorcycles, weapons, railway carriage and one railway engine.

Abu Nuhas is famous. There are 4 wrecks, which are today an attraction point for divers all around the world. For example the Greek cargo ship "Giannis D.", which ran aground the reef on 19 the March 1983 and sank a short time afterwards. It is now lying in a maximum depth of 27 m and is overgrown with hard- and soft corals. The ship cracked down in the middle. The better part of the two halves is the stern section. Here it is easy to dive inside the wreck, because there are a lot of entry and exit points. Because the wreck is leaning on a 45° angle you will find yourself swimming up a stairwell which your mind tells you are heading down. This effect is very disorientating. The steamship "Carnatic" struck the reef in September 1869. She sank the following day as the weather worsened. She lies in about 24-m depths. She has broken up amidships, leaving her bow and stern intact. The decking has fallen away to be replaced by a thick growth of tube sponges, alcyonarians and occasional table corals, making her very photogenic. She is also laid open to light from above and is easily penetrated.

The "Dunraven", a steam and sail-powered vessel used to transport spices and timber, ran aground the reef Shaab Machmud in March 1876 during a voyage from Bombay to Newcastle and sank quickly. The ship broke in two, and her two halves came to rest on the sea floor. The wreck lies upside down with the stern at a depth of 28 m and the bow at 18 m. At the stern you find the propeller and the rudder, which are overgrown with corals. Inside the wreck you see thousands of glassfish.

Starting in Hurghada  Ras Mohamed can not be fully covered, only a short visit is possible, a better option to extensively discover the sites in the Marine Park are departures from Sharm el Sheik  on board of a Royal Diving boat . Follwing is a short description of the most importnat:

Jackson Reef: A wall dive, usually on the south side from the moorings where you are sheltered from the waves. The west end has a beautiful fire coral garden in 10 meters. The unsheltered North side is home to turtles and during the season, white tip, gray reef  and hammerhead sharks cruise past in the blue.

Woodhouse Reef: A long thin reef running north to south thus offering no shelter. Good for drift diving, ideal for spotting sharks

Ras Bob: Beautiful coral garden on a slope with lots of garden eels in about 25m
 
White Night Reef: A small bay with a canyon running from the sand down through stony coral walls

Ras Umm Sid: A difficult shore entry at low tide, this site has some magnificent walls of fan corals before ending in a small plateau jutting out into the Straits of Tiran.  

Tower: Spectacular from the shore, characterized by a deep canyon at the entry point with two caves and many crevices.

Thomas Reef: For experienced divers only, a beautiful drift along the wall and over the arched canyon

Gordon Reef: Large shallow plateau on the sheltered south side with an eel garden along the east side

Shark Bay: Dive able from land or boat, the bay is a well sheltered easy dive.

Ras Nasrani: Starting on a small sandy plateau, head north past gorgonians and large coral heads

Far Garden: Stony and soft coral pinnacles with a cave frequented by glassfish in 5 m.

Pinky’s Wall: Unusually narrow reef plate dropping down a wall studded in pink corals 

Middle Garden: Central to the bay, a vast sandy plateau with coral heads and blue spotted stingrays.

Near Garden: Good for afternoon dives, the plateau borders the edge of a drop off with a chain of hard coral pinnacles.

Amphora’s: Remains of amphora’s dotted about a red coral garden with an anchor embedded in the reef.

RAS MOHAMED NATIONALPARK

Shark & Jolanda Riff: The most famous dive in the area due to it’s variety. A sheer wall in the north is a haven for pelagics due to the strong currents. Drifting across a sandy saddle and over a coral garden bordered by gorgonians you’ll arrive at the wreck of the Yolande, a Cypriot freighter that sank in 1980 with its cargo of sanitary wear. The wreckage is home to many moray eels and groupers.

Ras Caty: A large pinnacle on the drop off with accompanying coral heads full of crevices which are home to glassfish, lionfish and scorpion fish.

The Brother Islands are one of the best diving spots in the world. The Islands - the Big Brother and the Little Brother - are two small isolated promontories that just come out of the water in the middle of the sea at some 140 km off the coast. About one km north, lies the Big Brother. At the Westside, in the middle of the island, is a lighthouse. When it is not too windy, you can proceed to dive the wreck "NUMIDIA" which lies upon the reef on the northern side of the island between 10 and 80 m. This 150 m long ship sunk 100 years ago and is now completely covered with both hard and soft corals and gorgonias. A fantastic view!   The Little Brother has a very high concentration of life in a very reduced area. The walls are covered literally with sponges, anemones and all sorts of soft coral alcyonarian in an astonishing variety of colors and shapes. Of course you will find here plenty of fish. It is not unusual to see sharks: hammerheads, thresher sharks, greysharks, silvertip and white tip reef sharks     At the NW side of the island you will find the other wreck: the "AIDA". This 82 m long steam ship sunk 1957. The remaining pieces of the wreck are scattered all over the reef and just the back side of the hull can be found between 30 and 60 m. It is nicely overgrown and worth to visit. Because of strong current and may be high waves it is not easy to dive at the Brother's.This safari is only for experience divers   The South, the deep South and the Marine Park sites Daedalus, Zabargad and Rocky Islands are normally reached on departures from El Quosier, Marsa Alam , Marsa Ghalib and Hamata. The standard southern routing includes Diving at the Elphinstone reef and goes as far south as Shaab Samadai ( Dolphin house ), if Elphinstone is skipped a good boat can also reach the sites near Ras Banas. The most southern reefs are St. Johns - they can be reached in a one week journey going directly south and than Dive whatever would be possible on the return trip taking individual planning and the weather conditions into consideration.

The Elphinstone reef is one of most beautiful reefs in Egypt. The north and the south plateaus of this reef are alone worth the visit to Egypt. At the wall and the drop off you will find a lot of spectacular colorful soft corals and also black corals. Because of the remote location of the reef you can meet the "bigfish". It is not unusual here to find hammerheads, greysharks, barracudas and dolphins.

Shaab Samadai or the Dolphin House: At this reef you find different diving spots: Drop offs and shallow places, one with a nice cave. The reef has a form like a horseshoe and inside the "U" the boat has the best conditions to spend the night. In this sheltered lagoon you can often see big pods of dolphins. These animals start getting used to the diving boats, and allow snorklers to come quite near when they are in the mood.


Shaab Claude: This reef is fun. It has multiple caves, passages and canyons. The underwater landscape is fantastic. Diving inside the caves at Shaab Claude is safe

Abu Galawa: Here a wreck lies in 18 m, which sank in the 50's. It is so overgrown with all kinds of hard corals, that it takes a little bit time till you recognize the bridge, rail and the funnel of the ship. The wreck is very appealing for every photographer. Also it is nice to do a nightdive at Abu Galawa. With a little bit luck, you can see a Spanish dancer.

Abu Fendera: Very very deep South in the disputed teretory between Egypt and Sudan are the Abu Fendera Reefs, due to better relations between the two countries it is now possible to visit  and Dive at the until recently untouched sites.

The Daedalus Reef is a huge reef formation that lies at about 180 km south of Brother Islands. The reef is surrounded by a sheer wall all around, featuring a plateau in its southern side that goes from 30 m beside the reef to 40 m on the edge of the drop-off. If the weather is good, try to get as far north as possible and drift along one of the sides of the reef. Reef and hammerhead sharks are often spotted here. UW life is here more abundant than anywhere else, with schools of surgeons, fusiliers, carangids

Rocky Island is a mythical site that represents the diver's dream. The fringing reef that circles the entire perimeter of the island drops steeply to an astonishing depth and the constant currents that flow all along the year favor the growth of all different kinds of life in a continuous struggle for a place on the reef. The walls are absolutely covered with the most beautiful soft corals ever found, as well as gorgonias, fans, sponges and black coral trees. Because of its isolated situation and the reduced dimensions of the reef wall, everything seems to concentrate on the surroundings of this small islet. Reef sharks, specially grays and silvertips, you can watch in the blue and may be manta rays, sailfish and dolphins.

The Island of Zabargad is a superb dive spot. Here you can dive along walls, hover over drop offs or dive slowly in the shallow area, watching the fish and admire the coral garden.At the north side of Zabargad lies a nameless wreck. The 70-m long ship lies upside in 24-m depths. The whole stern section is nearly intact- stairs, rail, davit and the bridge.

 

Deep, deep in the south are the St. John's Reefs.

Because of the long distance, this reef group is quite virginal with exciting drop offs.
The wall of one of the reefs is overgrown with big gorgonias, the wall of the other reef is overgrown with all kinds of colorful softcorals. there are a  lot of fish and in the blue you can see with a little bit luck "big fish" like hammerhead, greysharks, silvertip and white tip reefsharks and barracudas, tunas and mackerels.
Some times there are even  mantas and dolphins.
It is possible to reach St. John's in one week, but there is  going to be a lot of sailing to be done (mostly in the night) and the time is very short to dive at all the reefs in St. John's. Because of the long distance, it is advisable to decide to do a 10 or 13 days safari-cruise.