Input on dive spots in the southern red sea

[maweber]

Hello,
we are heading for the red sea on a liveaboard trip in early September this year. I can't deceide on the itenary and would like to get your input on dive sites in the southern part of the red sea like: Elphinstone, St. Johns, Brothers, Deadalus etc. What are the characteristics of these sites, which one you liked best and why etc. I am not looking for "objective" descriptions rather your very subjetive input. This is our first trip in the red sea and I realize that we can't dive all those sites in a week so we have to prioritize...sigh
Thanks a lot

 

[djkpsu]

I have also been looking into diving the southern Red Sea and found this thread helpful.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=87896

 

[Christian]

Take a look at a map over the red sea, and you will see that all the sites you mention actually are located in the northern red sea.

Brothers and Deadalus are isolated reefs far out to sea, surrounded by very deep waters, sometimes big waves and strong currents. In my opinion Brothers is the best diving in Egypt, because you have everything there. Very nice coral, a lot of sharks and two wrecks. Dedalus has the same basic settings, but no wrecks. Usually very good viz. at both places. I have experienced 50 meters at Deadalus once.

Elphinstone is pretty close to shore, but also situated in very deep water (close to the african trench/rift). Steep walls, current swept points and walls, big fish, beatiful corals. Schooling hammerheads are usually found of the north point and there is a dive called "the arch" which is a passage through the south plateau at 50+ meters.

I have only brief experience of St Johns (a sail through with a handful of dives on my way to Port Sudan). Situated on the continental shelf and does not have the same proximity to the really deep water as the other reefs mentioned. Not as hifgh voltage maybe, but however very beatiful diving in some places. Astonishing coral and plenty of fish. Less dived than Elphinstone and Brothers.

cheers

/christian

 

[gehadoski]

I have been to the brothers once, I liked it very much. I experienced something dangerous. kind of current called down stream current and up stream current. Take care of these two currents. My tip to you is to stay very close to the reed, because the more you are away form the reef the stronger the current.

 

[vjongene]

Hello,
we are heading for the red sea on a liveaboard trip in early September this year. I can't deceide on the itenary and would like to get your input on dive sites in the southern part of the red sea like: Elphinstone, St. Johns, Brothers, Deadalus etc. What are the characteristics of these sites, which one you liked best and why etc. I am not looking for "objective" descriptions rather your very subjetive input. This is our first trip in the red sea and I realize that we can't dive all those sites in a week so we have to prioritize...sigh

Thanks a lot

I have dived all of these sites, and confirm Christian's descriptions. Here are my own subjective impressions:

- As Christian said, diving on the Brothers and Daedalus is not for beginners. Make sure that you are comfortable with currents, strong surf, surge, etc before you go. Know how to deploy a DSMB. Carry signalling devices. All that stuff.

- The Brothers are a fantastic destination. Probably my all-time favorite. Be aware that the wrecks there are deep, and that you will easily go over 40 m if you start exploring (legal limit in Egypt is 30 m...). Little Brother doesn't have wrecks, but the soft coral is even more spectacular than on Big Brother, and the walls are sheer drops into the abyss.

- Daedalus is almost on par with the Brothers. Fewer boats go there (even more isolated).

- Elphinstone is a beautiful reef, but close enough to shore to get crowds of day trippers. So it is best dived in the early morning or late afternoon.

- The Southern reefs (this means Southern Egypt, close to the Sudanese border) are probably the least crowded Egyptian dive sites. I had my only encounter with a whale shark there - close enough to touch. There are still some no-name spots that have rarely if ever been dived. The reefs are in better shape that further North. But the sites are not as breathtakingly spectacular as the Brothers. They are also a lot less technically challenging.

But no matter where you end up going, I can pretty much guarantee that the diving will be spectacular.

 

[Christian]

I have been to the brothers once, I liked it very much. I experienced something dangerous. kind of current called down stream current and up stream current. Take care of these two currents. My tip to you is to stay very close to the reed, because the more you are away form the reef the stronger the current.

Well, actually, if you get caught in a down current the best thing is to swim a w a y from the reef as this type of current only appers close to the reef wall where the current hits the reef and the water move in all possible directions. I have also experienced this on Little Brother many times, usually where the fan coral garden is located.

cheers

Christian

 

[gehadoski]

Yes I got caught the in the down stream current on the small brother right in the corner after the the north plateau. If you stay close to the reef you get a stronger down stream current and away from the reef the tidal currents are stronger. Am I right ??

 

[maweber]

Thanks everyone. That helped. As of now I was leaning more towards St. Johns but it seems that the Brothers is a destination not to be missed. Most liveaboards seem to go either one way or the other but never do the two destinations on the same trip, probably due to location.
I get the impression that St Johns is a little bit easier to dive ? Not that I am scared but I am traveling with my wife who is not so experienced.
You also mentioned a couple of deep spots. 40-50m is pretty deep. I am Trimix certified and would (ar least in the cold waters of California) never attempt a deep air dive like this, instead use some sort of Helium based mixture like 26/17 or 21/35. So are you saying that all these deep dives are done on air ? I know that the tropical waters are different but at some point narcosis will hit you. If you have some more input on this issue I would appreciate it. Since I am traveling with my wife I was not actually planing on doing deep dives which eventually require more gas (doubles) and proper deco procedures.

 

[vjongene]

Thanks everyone. That helped. As of now I was leaning more towards St. Johns but it seems that the Brothers is a destination not to be missed. Most liveaboards seem to go either one way or the other but never do the two destinations on the same trip, probably due to location.

It is a long way between the Brothers and Daedalus, which are relatively close to Hurghada, and the Sudanese border. Certainly too long for the typical one week liveaboard safari. You may be able to find a boat that does a two week trip out of Hurghada, which would be the minimum to cover all of these sites.

I get the impression that St Johns is a little bit easier to dive ? Not that I am scared but I am traveling with my wife who is not so experienced.

The Brothers and Daedalus are definitely NOT for the not so experienced. Most boats require a minimum of 50 dives experience to be taken there. It is not a matter of being scared, but of being aware of one's limitations. Have a look at the thread last summer about twelve divers who went missing for a full day after having been swept away by current at the Brothers.

You also mentioned a couple of deep spots. 40-50m is pretty deep. I am Trimix certified and would (ar least in the cold waters of California) never attempt a deep air dive like this, instead use some sort of Helium based mixture like 26/17 or 21/35. So are you saying that all these deep dives are done on air ? I know that the tropical waters are different but at some point narcosis will hit you. If you have some more input on this issue I would appreciate it. Since I am traveling with my wife I was not actually planing on doing deep dives which eventually require more gas (doubles) and proper deco procedures.

The wrecks on Big Brother, the Aida and the Numidia, lie at very steep angles on the reef. While their tops are not very deep, their bottoms are in the 60 m plus range. The usual dives on these wrecks are "bounces" with a quick descent to 40-45 m and an immediate ascent inside the wreck. So you can stay within NDL on air. I just checked my logs for these dives, and by the third one I was skirting the edges of NDL and had a mandatory safety stop. I actually skipped the fourth dive of the day, which was just an excursion on the reef.

HTH,

Victor

 

[maweber]

Thanks to everybody who responded. I think we are heading south.