Question Daedalus - how good is it? - Liveaboard recommendation

[Tripophobia]

Hi all,
a friend and I are thinking about going for a liveaboard in April 2024 (first week). We are currently undecided between BDE and North + Brothers. I just returned from a familiy holiday to Marsa Alam where I had the opportunity to dive four times Elphinstone from land. That leaves me a bit disappointed because although we saw Oceanic Whitetips every time, it was super crowded with up to 14 liveaboards!

Hence, I would definitely not miss Elphinstone but am wondering about Daedalus. The chance to see hammerheads sounds tempting so I would like to hear your experiences with Daedalus (preferably same time of the year).

There is an alternative route with Ocean Lovers that even includes Brothers, North and even Tiran that we are leaning towards. Has anyone been on this boat or can maybe comment if Tiran is worth it?

Thanks a lot!

 

[scubaozy]

Daedalus is also pretty busy but it is a very large reef as well. I personally do not like it that much, reef it self is a bit duller than Brothers or even Elphinstone in terms of corals but main attraction is the sharks. I usually get bored after couple of dives. But if you have not done it yet, I still recommend it BDE route has been the classic for a long time. North & Brothers is a very good route, too, my current fave. Decision is hammer heads or not. Btw, do not raise your expectations, hammer heads are very skittish and they are usually around the same spot, relatively deep and encounters are often very short and rest of the dive I find a bit boring.

 

[outofofficebrb]

I have done BDE 2X and the south (St Johns, Fury Shoal, Zabargad, Rock, etc.) 1X. I have done the north 1X by liveaboard and then was land based another time. I have not done a combo North with Brothers. However, after having done both separately, I'd say the North deserves its own trip and I have had the best shark experiences at Brothers as of lately and historically so I would suggest that.

One of the times in BDE, we saw so many oceanics. The second time, none, but we did see some hammerheads realllllly deep. However, sharks aside, I find the actual diving (color, density, diversity) not nearly as good as in the north but by north I mean north of Hurghada and aroun Tiran, Jackson/Gordon, Ras Mohamed, etc. Some of those dive sites rival Indonesia and Philippines and I would return to those but not BDE or the South again. (Some are also accessible by day trips from Sharm El Sheikh).

I hope this helps.

 

[Wagiman]

You can see hammerheads also on the Northern tour, that and some cool reefs & wrecks.

 

[outofofficebrb]

You can see hammerheads also on the Northern tour, that and some cool reefs & wrecks.

Is that at Brothers? That is where I last saw them but they were deep because I was last there in Sept. How far does the northern tour go? It's an interesting mix.

 

[Wagiman]

No, we saw them in the North (area of Sharm el Sheikh) in the Straight of Tiran (next to Tiran Island). It was the month of June.

 

[outofofficebrb]

No, we saw them in the North (area of Sharm el Sheikh) in the Straight of Tiran (next to Tiran Island). It was the month of June.

Lucky! I have had a lot of dives in that region and I have only ever seen one shark from a distance....but I have also only spent time there in the months of September and October when the water is warmer.

 

[Parlem]

Lucky! I have had a lot of dives in that region and I have only ever seen one shark from a distance....but I have also only spent time there in the months of September and October when the water is warmer.

Wagiman is probably referring to Jackson Reef, in Tiran. In the summer months it is possible to dive the exposed side of the reef, where hammerhead sharks are not uncommon. You need calm seas, though. And I might add that many day boats simply won't offer it because they tend to stick to the tried-and-trusted spots.

 

[Tippytoes12]

We got super lucky in July. We flew out five days before the LOB to do some day boat diving and to get our sea legs. On the last diving day there were ferocious winds and we doubted that we would get out to the outer reefs. Surprisingly the LOB sailed overnight to Daedalus the first night and there were only three other boats there. We were scheduled to stay two nights but voted to stay another night, having seen hammerheads multiple times on every dive. We also had great spots with an oceanic manta. There were never more than three other boats. Later in the trip we went to Elphinstone, where there were 20 boats and because a tiger shark had been spotted every diver on each of the 20 boats seemed to be in the water.

To answer your question, yes it is definitely worth going to Daedalus. It’s a 100 per cent no brained to do this trip from Europe.

 

[Wagiman]

Maybe we were lucky. And indeed @Parlem, it was Jackson Reef. I also think North deserves it's own trip, since it's very varied. Next time to Egypt we will also want to do the South. Not convinced yet about a BDE LOB versus shore based deeper South.