AOW and possible liveaboard? Advice needed!

[kyle1234c]

Hi,

I originally passed by open water course all the way back in 2011 in Malaysian Borneo and stupidly, did not dive for many years.

Well, that has all changed as I went to Mozambique recently and did a refresher and a couple of dives. Now I have been bitten with the bug!

I would love to do a bit more diving and get my advanced open water. The natural place for me to do this is Egypt given I am UK based and the red sea is not too far away. I was hoping to do some diving in October/November sometime.

I have only just started looking into this and was wondering where people would recommend I do this e.g Sharm or Hurghada? What dive centres come recommended? I would also love to a liveaboard and am not sure whether I should spend a couple of days doing my AOW before, or do it while I am on the boat. If anyone has any opinion on this that would be great. Finally, could anyone recommend a liveaboard that would be suitable for a relative novice like me (I have done one deep dive before though). I would love to visit some sites with good shark sightings (seeing hammerheads is on my bucket list and I also heard two brothers is great for oceanic white tips). Also despite seeing several rays like eagle and blue spotted, I have never seen a manta ray but I am not sure the red sea is best for them. I'm excited to see what people suggest and hopefully get something booked! Thanks in advance.

 

[outofofficebrb]

There are a few options for liveaboards in the Red Sea. You could do the northern routes that include wrecks (including the famous Thistlegorm) and the Strait of Tiran or you could do the southern routes like Brothers, Elphinstone, Daedalus, St John’s, etc. The northern routes take off from Sharm or mostly Hurghada and the southern routes take off from Hurghada or mostly Marsa Alam. Visibility is supposedly better the further south you go. Some of these itineraries have requirements for a minimum number of dives being logged so double check with the operator. No night diving is allowed in the marine parks there.

I don’t go until September and don’t have any first hand experience to report but have everything booked. These were my findings above.

I suggest if you have time, I would do your AOW dives separately. I would hate to be doing skills and such while on a dive and not being able to look out towards the blue for the sharks you are looking for and just enjoying the dive. While there is time to do this after skills, etc., I would prefer to keep it separate. I’d also not want to be reading and doing knowledge reviews while on a liveaboard. I like to relax, nap, chat and reflect on dives with the group and socialize.

 

[Erik Forsberg]

Hi,

I strongly recommend that you get your AOW first before you go on a liveaboard. You don't want to waste the first few dives on AOW dives; especially since the first dives after the check-out is quite cool down there.

The northern route is PACKED with cool dives and doesn't come with a minimum required amount of dives, while the southern route requires 50 dives if I recall correctly, due to the marine parks being a bit more rough in terms of currents etc, and as OOO said, no night dives.

I went with Emperor last June and I was very happy with that; would definitely go again if I had the chance.
We took the 8d/7n trip on the northern route on the Superior.

 

[Dogbowl]

I agree with the posts above. I recently did AOW and Nitrox on a vacation to Cozumel. Both courses have a manual that you need to read before the dives. I really wished I had at least done the reading part before I went, as that took time that I’d rather spend relaxing.

 

[Erik Forsberg]

I agree with the posts above. I recently did AOW and Nitrox on a vacation to Cozumel. Both courses have a manual that you need to read before the dives. I really wished I had at least done the reading part before I went, as that took time that I’d rather spend relaxing.

Yes, get Nitrox also! Most dives in red sea is around 20m if I recall correctly and several are down at 30m, like Thistlegorm. Nitrox will help you a lot with bottom time without going into deco.

 

[kyle1234c]

Hi,

I strongly recommend that you get your AOW first before you go on a liveaboard. You don't want to waste the first few dives on AOW dives; especially since the first dives after the check-out is quite cool down there.

The northern route is PACKED with cool dives and doesn't come with a minimum required amount of dives, while the southern route requires 50 dives if I recall correctly, due to the marine parks being a bit more rough in terms of currents etc, and as OOO said, no night dives.

I went with Emperor last June and I was very happy with that; would definitely go again if I had the chance.
We took the 8d/7n trip on the northern route on the Superior.

Thanks for all of the comments.

Can I ask what kind of stuff you saw on the Superior? You had a great time and were happy with the way things went?

Ok, so the themes I am getting here are to do AOW and nitrox prior to a liveaboard and that the north may be more suitable than the south for a newish diver like myself. I kind of fancied the south more, but I am sure it is all amazing.

Any more comments on dive centres to do the courses at and liveaboards would be great. Thanks all.

 

[Erik Forsberg]

Thanks for all of the comments.

Can I ask what kind of stuff you saw on the Superior? You had a great time and were happy with the way things went?
Any more comments on dive centres to do the courses at and liveaboards would be great. Thanks all.

I can only comment on Emperor, but I am very happy with them. Nice crew, nice boat; can't say about the rental gear since I brought my own.

What kind of things we saw... hmm. The first dives you see super cool creatures everywhere but after a few dives your start to forget about them and only focus on the new ones haha. I mean, diving here in Sweden generally means that we can see a crayfish or a pike at most and 1m visability, so the Red Sea offered sensory overload on like the first 10 dives

We got 20+ dolphins in Dolhpin Gardens, a huge sea turtle in Thistlegorm and some fornicating octopi was probably the top three sightings in terms of animals; when it comes to wrecks there were several that were super cool, and I prefer wrecks over reefs so for me it was an insane blast

 

[Youssef ElNahas]

I would do AOW first. There are a lot of sites that are accessible from Sharm (and I assume Hurghada) where you would have a decent chance of spotting hammerheads and other sharks, and a friend of mine saw a Manta on a house reef in Sharm El Sheikh.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @kyle1234c

The Red Sea is fantastic, you will get more out of it if you are better prepared. Nitrox certification is requisite. AOW is not as important as experience in diving, deep, currents, etc. Of course, AOW helps gain some of that experience and confidence. Some operators have minimum diving requirements. We had an inexperienced OW diver with us on the Aggressor Southern route, Daedalus, St Johns, Elphinestone. He struggled mightily to dive with the group and required a tremendous amount of assistance from the DM, it was embarrassing.

Though I went out with the Aggressor for 2 weeks of liveaboard, I also did a day of land based diving out of Port Ghalib with Emperor Divers. They were a very good operation. You could probably do diving and training with them or a similar operation to increase your experience and skills prior to tackling a Red Sea liveaboard.

I admire your motivation and wish you the best

 

[Sunn]

As everybody tells you, I should advise to be AOW and Nx certified before. Just to avoid losing time....