Red Sea Aggressor Itineraries - Help!?

[Dogbowl]

So...I’m considering the Red Sea Aggressors...but am totally confused about which itinerary might be a better fit for us. We have been on the Belize Aggressor IV before and that’s all the experience we have on liveaboards. We’re also relatively new divers at about 50 and 60 dives each. We prefer easier diving, less currents, and wrecks are not our favourite. Our intended travel timeframe is November, December before Christmas, if that will affect the diving.

There are or will be 2 Red Sea Aggressors.

RSA1 has 2 itineraries:

• Brothers/Daedalus/Elphinstone
• Southern St. John/Daedalus

RSA2 has 1 itinerary:

• Northern RedSea/Ras Mohamed/Straits of Tiran

Reading their descriptions, I’m guessing the RSA1 itineraries are better suited for us, as RSA2’s itinerary has more wrecks. But which RSA1 itinerary would you recommend?

Thanks!

 

[scubadada]

Hi @Dogbowl

Two years ago I did back to back weeks on the RSA (before the RSA2) Red Sea Aggressor April-May 2016

The northern itinerary has the Brothers Islands, these dives were deeper, had more current, and included two deeper wrecks. Both itineraries include Daedalus, a site with good current and where we saw many hammerheads on both visits. Both itineraries also have an opportunity to dive Elphinestone, a good dive with the potential for brisk current. The southern route has more, shallower reef dives and also has the fantastic snorkel with the dolphins opportunity. I would think the southern itinerary might be a little better for you, but, I would imagine you would do fine on either. I couldn't decide, so did both.

Best of luck, one of my favorite trips ever. If you haven't seen Egypt, think about seeing some of it before or after your liveaboard. I arrived in Port Ghalib/Marsa Alam a day early and went out with Emperor Divers, a good way to get started Emperor Divers and Marina Lodge Hotel April 2016 I'd be glad to try to answer any questions.

Good diving, Craig

 

[Dogbowl]

@scubadada, thank you very much for your thoughts!

Currently researching the flights to Marsa Alam...looks like they don’t match the Sat-Sat Aggressor schedules. Trying not to do hours of ground transportation from other airports!

 

[scubadada]

@scubadada, thank you very much for your thoughts!

Currently researching the flights to Marsa Alam...looks like they don’t match the Sat-Sat Aggressor schedules. Trying not to do hours of ground transportation from other airports!

I lived in Switzerland when I did the trip, had a nonstop from Zurich to Hurghada. The grd transport is about 3 hours, not terrible. When I looked, EgyptAir was the way to get to Marsa Alam. You could always spend some extra time in Marsa Alam and/or Cairo, Luxor...

 

[Darnold9999]

Look at Brussels/Swiss Air from Toronto To Mars Alam. I flew from Vancouver through Toronto. I did get to Marsa Alam a couple of days early to reset my clock but Vancouver is a very long way from Egypt.

Just came back from RA1 in Late March and did back to back North and south. Did North with Aggressor and South with Amelia (Aggressor boat was at virtually every site with us on Amelia)

Would echo what Scubadada said. Brothers is deeper with more current but otherwise the itineraries are very similar. Even more so as we could not do St John's because it was closed by the military so we did Daedalus on both itineraries. It is very common for St Johns to be closed. We saw very few sharks in early May. One thresher and one oceanic white tip and half a dozen hammerheads in two weeks. All on the first trip - none on the second even though we were diving the same sites. Diving the North is Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinestone with a couple of other reef dives closer to shore at the beginning and end of the trip. The South is Elphinestone and a bunch of reef dives along the coast down and back. If St Johns is closed they add Daedalus to the trip.

Would also recommend adding a few days at the front or back of your trip to go to Luxor. I did not have enough time to do this and regretted it. There is nothing to do or see around Port Gahib. A few hours to explore the Port and possibly a day trip to a town nearby but otherwise pretty barren. (You can always go diving of course)

 

[Dogbowl]

If I’m going in November/December, looks like the water temps will be cooler, around 75F or 24C? They’re recommending 5mm and maybe even a hood/gloves - in that case, I’ll probably need a 7mm . The water is colder than I’d like.

 

[scubadada]

If I’m going in November/December, looks like the water temps will be cooler, around 75F or 24C? They’re recommending 5mm and maybe even a hood/gloves - in that case, I’ll probably need a 7mm . The water is colder than I’d like.

I dived my 7mm, I was often the only warm diver. It was a bit much on a couple of dives but a good flush fixed that.

 

[Darnold9999]

Late March was in a dry suit. Everyone else was cold. December is about the same temperature. Minimum 5 mil and expect to be cold.

 

[Dogbowl]

Late March was in a dry suit. Everyone else was cold. December is about the same temperature. Minimum 5 mil and expect to be cold.

Oh wow. Ok then, I can probably scratch this trip off my list, at least for this timeframe. I’m really looking for somewhere where I will not be cold.

Thanks everyone for clarifying this so I don’t make the wrong decision!

 

[KathyV]

If I’m going in November/December, looks like the water temps will be cooler, around 75F or 24C? They’re recommending 5mm and maybe even a hood/gloves - in that case, I’ll probably need a 7mm . The water is colder than I’d like.

We dived the Red Sea in late October, the water was usually around 78 F, a few times it got as low as 76 F and as high as 80 F.