April 25th-May 2nd 2008
Departed Hurgahda on Blue Fin operated by Blueotwo.
Billed as "Simply the best".....in reality simply the worst.
By far the worst live-aboard we have ever been on. We booked the premium cabin only to find we had the second best cabin which is about 35% smaller than the best (although the same price). Inside our cabin was the compressor for the boats refrigeration which worked all day and night. Sleep was with ear plugs only. On arrival the bathroom was disgustingly dirty and stinking. It was cleaned only after we asked twice.
Max number of possible dives for the whole week was supposed to be three per day (a surprise for any live-aboard)but it was less.....a max of 13 for the whole week. One night dive only.
Drives between dive sights in very rough water were 8 hours plus...ridiculous, especially when we arrive to find out one sight was too rough to dive at all.
Each and every dive sight is crammed with at least 6 other live-aboards. On one dive site there were at least 50 divers at the same time.
On the third day I, along with two other guests suffered food poisoning. 24 hours of sheer hell with Mummy Tummy as the locals call it. The boat was well armed with pills so they obviously are used to it.
This was supposed to be "Shark Week".the best of the best but we saw one Thresher Shark (very cool) one hammerhead (they were supposed to be schooling)and one Manta........the one night dive we did was very good, big squid and a crocodile fish being the most memorable.
Overall the boat was very disappointing, particularly since it looks so good on the web site. We found the dive crew mostly unhelpful and unfriendly. The Egyptian boat crew were hard working and pleasant although communications were poor. The highlight of the week was watching the remarkable boat skills of these guys tying up a 120 foot boat between three other boats in fifteen foot seas. (No diving that day)
Overall advice......don't go.......don't even think about it.
Departed Hurgahda on Blue Fin operated by Blueotwo.
Billed as "Simply the best".....in reality simply the worst.
By far the worst live-aboard we have ever been on. We booked the premium cabin only to find we had the second best cabin which is about 35% smaller than the best (although the same price). Inside our cabin was the compressor for the boats refrigeration which worked all day and night. Sleep was with ear plugs only. On arrival the bathroom was disgustingly dirty and stinking. It was cleaned only after we asked twice.
Max number of possible dives for the whole week was supposed to be three per day (a surprise for any live-aboard)but it was less.....a max of 13 for the whole week. One night dive only.
Drives between dive sights in very rough water were 8 hours plus...ridiculous, especially when we arrive to find out one sight was too rough to dive at all.
Each and every dive sight is crammed with at least 6 other live-aboards. On one dive site there were at least 50 divers at the same time.
On the third day I, along with two other guests suffered food poisoning. 24 hours of sheer hell with Mummy Tummy as the locals call it. The boat was well armed with pills so they obviously are used to it.
This was supposed to be "Shark Week".the best of the best but we saw one Thresher Shark (very cool) one hammerhead (they were supposed to be schooling)and one Manta........the one night dive we did was very good, big squid and a crocodile fish being the most memorable.
Overall the boat was very disappointing, particularly since it looks so good on the web site. We found the dive crew mostly unhelpful and unfriendly. The Egyptian boat crew were hard working and pleasant although communications were poor. The highlight of the week was watching the remarkable boat skills of these guys tying up a 120 foot boat between three other boats in fifteen foot seas. (No diving that day)
Overall advice......don't go.......don't even think about it.