Trip Report Review of First (for me) Liveaboard in Egypt: Brothers/North Route

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nippurmagnum

Contributor
Messages
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Location
Washington DC metro
# of dives
500 - 999
I just returned from a fantastic first liveaboard trip to the Red Sea, and I thought it would be helpful to share my experiences as a U.S.-based diver making his first foray into diving in Egypt. I had some apprehensions about Egypt in terms of security, hassle, and health, and they turned out to be largely misplaced -- at least, the way I ended up putting together the trip.

I booked a week-long trip on the Tillis liveaboard through Liveaboard.com, and chose it based on its route (Brothers Islands and North Red Sea, sailing from Hurghada), price (middle-range for Egypt, about $1,000 for the week), and reviews (which noted that the owner was Egyptian, and took a very personal interest in the workings of the boat). I wanted to sail from Hurghada so as to combine the liveaboard trip with a visit to the Giza pyramids and the Egyptian museum in Cairo, which would also allow me to get over the jet lag before the diving began.

My buddy and I flew from the US to Cairo on Air France and Lufthansa, connecting through Paris and Frankfurt respectively, and paid about $800 for our flights, with a luggage allowance of 2 suitcases (50 lbs each) in both cases. The flights had longish connection times (5-8 hours) but neither of us particularly minded.

The Cairo airport was a breeze to get through. I was through immigration and baggage pickup in about 30 minutes, and picked up some Egyptian pounds from the ATM outside security, as well as a SIM card for my iPhone from the 24-hour Vodafone kiosk. That SIM card was essential, as it allowed us to use Uber to get around Cairo for two days. Uber was extremely helpful, as it completely bridged the language barrier (which is otherwise considerable with taxi drivers), and the fares (crazy cheap) were set by the app. A one-hour ride from the airport to our hotel in Giza cost about $12 with tip.

We booked rooms in the historic Mena House Hotel in Giza, currently managed by Marriott. This was a fantastic choice, as it was a truly 5-star hotel, directly across the entrance to the Giza pyramids -- and a room with balcony view of the pyramid of Khufu, plus a sumptuous buffet breakfast for two, cost us just $150. The hotel was an oasis, with an enormous pool and free sauna/steam room, and delightful views of the pyramids at breakfast.

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The pyramids were awesome to visit early in the morning and at the end of the day, and we hired a guide and camels onsite at the pyramids for a solid three-hour ride for about $40 each, which included rides through the stables and villages adjacent to the pyramids. We went to the Egyptian museum at night (open Thu and Saturdays 5:30 to 9 pm) and had the place almost to ourselves. We also arranged a tour of mosques and the Saqqara pyramids through the hotel.

We arranged a private car transfer to Hurghada from the Tillis owner, which cost us about $60 each for a 6 hour ride -- and the boat owner's brother actually drove us. I found the drive to be quite scenic, as it interspersed the desert road with dramatic views of the Red Sea, though some might find it monotonous. I found it relaxing to just drive rather than deal with airports.

NEXT: the diving
 
We arranged a private car transfer to Hurghada from the Tillis owner, which cost us about $60 each for a 6 hour ride -- and the boat owner's brother actually drove us. I found the drive to be quite scenic, as it interspersed the desert road with dramatic views of the Red Sea, though some might find it monotonous. I found it relaxing to just drive rather than deal with airports.

When we reached the liveaboard, we found a mix of divers from Germany, Italy, Russia, Greece, and Canada -- but no Americans. It was a fun group, with only a couple of serious photographers, and the divers' experience level was generally appropriate to the sometimes demanding conditions (currents, deep dives, night dives, open wreck penetrations, and diving from zodiacs).

The boat itself was quite comfortable, and well serviced by an all-Egyptian crew. The staff highlights for me were the deck hands, zodiac drivers, cooks, and room attendants, who really went out of their way to be helpful, and were generally funny as hell. I thought they were great ambassadors for their country.

The dive guides quickly divided the divers into groups based on experience level, and generally tried to allow photographers and more experienced divers to "self-guide" at dive sites where doing so was appropriate, which was much appreciated. My buddy and I generally did our own thing.

The diving itself was superb. We did 20 dives altogether, with three dives at the Brothers, two at the Thistlegorm, two at Ras Mohammed national park, and four night dives, but every dive site had something awesome to offer.

I just LOVED the Thislegorm. The Tillis timed our entry in the water so that we had the wreck to ourselves most of the time, and our buddy team went off on our own to explore the stern, where I got these shots of my buddy:

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The Brothers islands were adrenaline-fueled, with a couple of oceanic white tips showing up underneath our zodiac at Big Brother as I was about to get out of the water, having unfortunately handed my camera to the zodiac tender -- but it was a very close eye-to-eye staredown.

At Small Brother, we spotted a very large thresher shark at about 100 feet, and I followed it down to about 140 feet. This is a screen capture:

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Other highlights included a solo encounter with a female dolphin and her calf at the Giannis D wreck. I was lagging our diver group as we returned to the zodiac, and suddenly found this pair next to me:

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The encounter lasted two minutes, but for most of that time my camera video was set to macro mode, and I was so mesmerized by the dolphins that I didn't bother looking at the LCD screen. As soon as I realized my mistake, I switched out of macro, and got this nice 10-second clip:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/gZGuLNeMThNjqTuK9

I heard a lot of cursing in different languages for the fact that I was the only one to see the dolphins.

I generally found the reefs to be super healthy, with some especially gorgeous soft corals that I am definitely not used to seeing in the Caribbean. It was hard to take a bad picture.

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NEXT: more pictures and a few more thoughts
 
A few more shots and final observations:

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Some of the divers on the boat who had dived the Red Sea for years commented on the absence of large schools of pelagics that had been more common on previous trips, and attributed it to the lack of enforcement on overfishing after the political troubles of recent years. Not having that frame of reference, and comparing the Red Sea to the Caribbean, I was generally thrilled by the richness and health of the coral and marine life generally.

Water temps in early Sept were in the 79-82 degree range. Air temps maxed at about 92 degrees, 100 percent sunny and bone dry. There were some stiff currents at times, but nothing unmanageable.

The food on the Tillis was tasty and plentiful enough, especially the lunches and dinners. Breakfasts were relatively skimpy. But the general consensus was that the food was quite good. And there's nothing like being handed a glass of fresh watermelon juice after a dive. We were absolutely spoiled considering that we had paid just $1,000 for the whole week.

Our return to Cairo was also by private car. Our flights did not leave until 2 am, so we dumped our bags back at the Mena House hotel and went back to the Pyramids for a sunset camel ride, followed by a dinner at the hotel's excellent Indian restaurant, and a view of the Pyramid light show from the hotel's lounge. Then it was a quick Uber trip to the airport, with no traffic at that late hour.

I will say that during our 10-day trip, we found ZERO Americans travelling in Egypt, outside of a couple of organized tour groups. According to the guides we spoke to, the vast majority of visitors to Egypt these days seem to be South Americans, Russians, East Asians, and a few hardy Spaniards and Brits. Generally, people who are not put off by occasional reports of an odd bombing or two, and who appreciate an excellent vacation value.

The biggest safety issue, from what I could see, was the generally insane driving on the roads, with old/dilapidated cars competing for the road with rusty motorcycles carrying entire families, very few cars with functioning seat belts, and pretty much every driver texting on his phone.

And yes, you will get approached by various minor scam artists at the major tourist sites, but if you just ignore them and keep walking, and don't engage in conversation, they are not particularly insistent. Just ignore 100% any "where are you from?" questions or requests to see your ticket once you have entered a site.

I am already planning a return trip to Egypt in 2020, this time combining the Southern route (Elphinstone, Daedalus, Brothers) with a visit to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. The owner of the Tillis has a new boat that just had its soft open, and looks awesome, so I'd love to go on that.

Sorry for the long post, but if you read this far, hopefully you got something out of it. Happy to answer any questions if anyone is interested.
 
What an amazing trip. Thank you for posting this in such detail. I love reading about adventures like this.
 
so jaylus.
 
Excellent, thanks so much for sharing!
 
Thanks for the well-written, super informative trip report!

Interesting to see that you chose to schlep your guitar with you--which do you carry-on the flights with you, your dive gear or your guitar??

Did you look into any other dive travel agents besides liveaboard.com, and if so, why did you choose to book with them?

Got any links for info. about the new boat you referenced at the end of your report?
 
Thanks for sharing.
I always enjoy reading a nice trip report.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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