large_diver
Contributor
Just returned from a Blue O Two “Deep South” trip (southern Egyptian Red Sea) aboard M/Y Blue Melody 28 May to 4 June. Fantastic experience on my first ever liveaboard trip. Blue Melody is a great boat = well-maintained, very comfortable & roomy. The boat crew and guides (Karin, Kevin & Aladdin) were all fantastic. Detailed, informative dive briefings. Well-run dive logistics. Crew was very customer service-oriented and always seemed to be there just when you needed their help, whether zipping up a wetsuit, helping with a BC strap or answering a question.
I was traveling solo on the trip, but settled in quickly with new dive buddies and a friendly roommate. There was a UK dive club group of 19 on the boat, but this wasn’t an issue as everyone mixed and mingled quite nicely.
Diving: although visibility was not crystal clear, the diving was great. During our trip through St. John’s, Fury Shoals, Elphinstone, etc. we saw beautiful reefs, cool reef cave systems/swim-throughs and great marine life. Some sharks on the trip (my group saw silkies, white tipped reef sharks and an oceanic white tip; others saw hammerheads), but not huge numbers. We did see one large dolphin underwater and mantas feeding at the surface at night from the boat. Karin even spotted the elusive dugong on our last dive. I dove 19 of the possible 20 dives. We had a full boat with 26 divers; we were normally broken up into 2 main groups so that things weren’t too crowded gearing up. My dive buddy group of 3 used the guides for one dive but dove on our own for the rest of the week. Diving was a mix of zodiac and mother ship entry/pick-up. Dive schedule was 06.00 dive briefing/dive, breakfast, ~11.00 dive, lunch, ~15.00 dive, dinner, night dive.
The highlight for me was our last night dive where we had a visit from a rather curious Oceanic White Tip. Floating mid-water in the dark waiting for the shark to come into view was definitely interesting. I managed to capture some video of the Oceanic = see link below.
I would heartily recommend Blue O Two for Red Sea liveaboard trips and will certainly use them again!
Chris
Oceanic White Tip Video (click on the image to watch):
I was traveling solo on the trip, but settled in quickly with new dive buddies and a friendly roommate. There was a UK dive club group of 19 on the boat, but this wasn’t an issue as everyone mixed and mingled quite nicely.
Diving: although visibility was not crystal clear, the diving was great. During our trip through St. John’s, Fury Shoals, Elphinstone, etc. we saw beautiful reefs, cool reef cave systems/swim-throughs and great marine life. Some sharks on the trip (my group saw silkies, white tipped reef sharks and an oceanic white tip; others saw hammerheads), but not huge numbers. We did see one large dolphin underwater and mantas feeding at the surface at night from the boat. Karin even spotted the elusive dugong on our last dive. I dove 19 of the possible 20 dives. We had a full boat with 26 divers; we were normally broken up into 2 main groups so that things weren’t too crowded gearing up. My dive buddy group of 3 used the guides for one dive but dove on our own for the rest of the week. Diving was a mix of zodiac and mother ship entry/pick-up. Dive schedule was 06.00 dive briefing/dive, breakfast, ~11.00 dive, lunch, ~15.00 dive, dinner, night dive.
The highlight for me was our last night dive where we had a visit from a rather curious Oceanic White Tip. Floating mid-water in the dark waiting for the shark to come into view was definitely interesting. I managed to capture some video of the Oceanic = see link below.
I would heartily recommend Blue O Two for Red Sea liveaboard trips and will certainly use them again!
Chris
Oceanic White Tip Video (click on the image to watch):
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especially wondering whether there were any others around 
