JDelage
Contributor
I was booked on the Red Sea Aggressor for the April 12 - 19. It was my first liveaboard experience.
The Red Sea Aggressor boat wasn't actually ready, so were were on the M/Y Aldebarand - another diving liveaboard. The boat was fine although it only has two whips to fill tanks and the crew was struggling to get all tanks filled in time. I don't know how it compares to the actual Red Sea Aggressor boat, except that the Aggressor is obviously newer. The food was good (especially earlier in the week) and plentiful. It's my understanding that the chef will in fact be the one on the Red Sea Aggressor.
I had the misfortune of having the airline loose my bag during either my Frankfurt or Cairo connection on my way to Marsa Alam. So I arrived in Marsa Alam with the clothes on my back, my uw photo rig, regulator, computer, mask, and a swim suit, but no BCD, wet suit, or fins. The Aggressor owner, David Home, and the Aggressor team went way overboard to help me. First they rented diving gear for me. Second, on the day after, while we were making the check dives nearby, David sent someone at the airport to pick up my bag and drive it close to where the boat was. The boat's crew then went and picked it up. I was blown away.
So the team came through with flying colors from the get go. Through the trip, they remained very helpful and congenial. The cruise director was Dave Patterson (who has experience on other Aggressor boats), the lead dive guide's name was Mahmoud (who was deeply familiar with the dive sites), and there was also a younger dive instructor, Erin. All were friendly, available, and helpful. Dave really worked hard to make everyone's stay as good as possible.
The other guests were great, and there was a big international contingent with three Brazilians, two Fins, a German, a New Zealander, an Italian, and a French.
The diving was awesome, simply the best I've done. We were on the route that covers the Brothers, Daedalus, and Elphinstone reefs. We saw hammerheads, gray reef sharks, mantas, devil rays, barracudas, napoleon wrasses, turtles, millions of anthias, etc, and visited two wrecks. We didn't get any rough weather, which normally would have been expected at this time of the year. I hope I'll be able to come back one day and do the Southern route. Note that there's no night diving in those areas so we only were doing 4 dives a day. We did one night dive on the coast the first day.
I was hoping to see an oceanic white tip, but was told that the season to see them is Oct & Nov (with Oct being nicer in terms of length of days). I know they've been seen at other months but not this time.
Key learnings / things I would do differently:
- Bring spare batteries for the computer & transmitter, even though I'd just had it serviced (it died during the trip).
- Bring a spare gauge & computer.
- Bring 1 t-shirt per day, 2 swim suits, a hat (that you keep on in the zodiac and don't mind storing in your BCD during the dive) and some synthetic shorts + travel clothes.
- A hood can make a big difference if your wet suit is not warm enough. I was fine with my 5mm Henderson and no hood, but I'm not very sensitive to cold. One of the dive instructor was a petite female and was actually using a light dry suit. At least one half of the guests were using hoods or beanies, and a smaller number had two layers on.
- If you travel by yourself, make sure to bring earplugs as you might be rooming with someone who snores. I was glad I had mines.
- I had brought 3 bags of nuts from Trader Joe's and they were very much appreciated by everyone. I would bring more.
- Hurghada is further away from the boat than Marsa Alam, but there are so many more flights into this airport that it might be a smarter solution if it gives you better connection times.
- If you fly into Marsa Alam, and can afford to fly in a day earlier, you'll spare yourself a lot of stress. There are very few flights and there's always a risk of missing a connection. (Note however that there's nothing much to do in the Port Galib marina, where the boat is anchored.) I flew into Marsa Alam from Seattle and on the way in I had two transfers with only 1.5hr each, which is too little (that's how my bag didn't make it, but I only made my connection in Frankfurt because the second flight was late departing). On my way back I had a 9hr layover in the Cairo airport, which was boring as hell (but safe). So again, Hurghada might be the less stressful option.
Feel free to ask questions.
The Red Sea Aggressor boat wasn't actually ready, so were were on the M/Y Aldebarand - another diving liveaboard. The boat was fine although it only has two whips to fill tanks and the crew was struggling to get all tanks filled in time. I don't know how it compares to the actual Red Sea Aggressor boat, except that the Aggressor is obviously newer. The food was good (especially earlier in the week) and plentiful. It's my understanding that the chef will in fact be the one on the Red Sea Aggressor.
I had the misfortune of having the airline loose my bag during either my Frankfurt or Cairo connection on my way to Marsa Alam. So I arrived in Marsa Alam with the clothes on my back, my uw photo rig, regulator, computer, mask, and a swim suit, but no BCD, wet suit, or fins. The Aggressor owner, David Home, and the Aggressor team went way overboard to help me. First they rented diving gear for me. Second, on the day after, while we were making the check dives nearby, David sent someone at the airport to pick up my bag and drive it close to where the boat was. The boat's crew then went and picked it up. I was blown away.
So the team came through with flying colors from the get go. Through the trip, they remained very helpful and congenial. The cruise director was Dave Patterson (who has experience on other Aggressor boats), the lead dive guide's name was Mahmoud (who was deeply familiar with the dive sites), and there was also a younger dive instructor, Erin. All were friendly, available, and helpful. Dave really worked hard to make everyone's stay as good as possible.
The other guests were great, and there was a big international contingent with three Brazilians, two Fins, a German, a New Zealander, an Italian, and a French.
The diving was awesome, simply the best I've done. We were on the route that covers the Brothers, Daedalus, and Elphinstone reefs. We saw hammerheads, gray reef sharks, mantas, devil rays, barracudas, napoleon wrasses, turtles, millions of anthias, etc, and visited two wrecks. We didn't get any rough weather, which normally would have been expected at this time of the year. I hope I'll be able to come back one day and do the Southern route. Note that there's no night diving in those areas so we only were doing 4 dives a day. We did one night dive on the coast the first day.
I was hoping to see an oceanic white tip, but was told that the season to see them is Oct & Nov (with Oct being nicer in terms of length of days). I know they've been seen at other months but not this time.
Key learnings / things I would do differently:
- Bring spare batteries for the computer & transmitter, even though I'd just had it serviced (it died during the trip).
- Bring a spare gauge & computer.
- Bring 1 t-shirt per day, 2 swim suits, a hat (that you keep on in the zodiac and don't mind storing in your BCD during the dive) and some synthetic shorts + travel clothes.
- A hood can make a big difference if your wet suit is not warm enough. I was fine with my 5mm Henderson and no hood, but I'm not very sensitive to cold. One of the dive instructor was a petite female and was actually using a light dry suit. At least one half of the guests were using hoods or beanies, and a smaller number had two layers on.
- If you travel by yourself, make sure to bring earplugs as you might be rooming with someone who snores. I was glad I had mines.
- I had brought 3 bags of nuts from Trader Joe's and they were very much appreciated by everyone. I would bring more.
- Hurghada is further away from the boat than Marsa Alam, but there are so many more flights into this airport that it might be a smarter solution if it gives you better connection times.
- If you fly into Marsa Alam, and can afford to fly in a day earlier, you'll spare yourself a lot of stress. There are very few flights and there's always a risk of missing a connection. (Note however that there's nothing much to do in the Port Galib marina, where the boat is anchored.) I flew into Marsa Alam from Seattle and on the way in I had two transfers with only 1.5hr each, which is too little (that's how my bag didn't make it, but I only made my connection in Frankfurt because the second flight was late departing). On my way back I had a 9hr layover in the Cairo airport, which was boring as hell (but safe). So again, Hurghada might be the less stressful option.
Feel free to ask questions.
