Trip Report Trip Report 8-22 June 2019 Dahab Egypt and Sharm Live Aboard

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divezonescuba

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Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
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Location
Houston, Texas
# of dives
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This was our first experience in Egypt and our first experience on a liveaboard. We spent one week in Dahab at the Red Sea Relax resort and a second week aboard the King Snefro Pearl.

Red Sea Relax resides on one half of the hotel complex that is shared with Planet Divers. The rooms were clean. The pool was well maintained. The food at Churchill’s, the restaurant bar was good. Because the technical divers had to meet before the restaurant was open, we ate breakfast at Ralphs German bakery around the corner. The salmon and eggs breakfast was good and inexpensive.

The resident dive shop is well run by Jordan. Lighthouse reef dives are literally a few feet away from the dive shop assembly area. Most of the recreational dives did 13 dives including the Blue Hole, El Bells, and the Canyon. Our group split up with each subgroup with their own Gide and transportation.

The technical divers used Team Blue Immersion and primarily dove the Blue Hole Arch. Team Blue Immersion was extremely organized and timely. We later learned that Andy one of the owners is Swiss, so that could explain why things ran like clockwork. On site at the Blue Hole, the support crew assisted us with everything. We would typically relax for a few moments and preorder lunch at the Aqua Marina restaurant. After assisting us with the entry, the support people Akmed (Bone Collector’s Driver / Surface Support) or Mansour would help us with the deco tanks. Either Andy or Khaled (a very educated and entertaining guy) would provide surface supervision. After finishing the dive we would have lunch. The chicken shish kebob was fantastic. We did a total of 5 decompression dives over our four days at the Blue Hole. This included passing thru the legendary arch 3 times. The hardest part of those dives was trying not trip on the snorkelers.

The liveaboard provided 20 dives around the Sinai peninsula. Wrecks included the Thistlegorm, Kingston, Dunraven, and the Emperor Fraser. There were dives around Tiran Island, the Ras Mohammed Park. All of the dives were great. Shark Reef / Yolanda was particularly spectacular. The vessel was well appointed, but there were continuous problems with the main salon air conditioning. Since this was our first liveaboard, we were surprised at how little time there was to do anything but dive, get ready to dive, eat, and sleep. We did one dive before breakfast, one before lunch. One after lunch, and sometimes a night dive. The guides Alaa and Essam were knowledgeable, courteous, and proficient. The food on the Pearl was good and plentiful. We had a variety of soft drinks, coffee, and tea. There was a snack served after the afternoon dive. Sharif the dining steward was fantastic.

We had a great trip and hope to do another next year.
 

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