Are there flights direct into Hurghada or would one need to take a tourist bus or some other land transport from Cairo airport?
Which Liveaboard trip? Want world class diving?
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Sounds like you can even avoid Cairo:
"The city is served by the Hurghada International Airport with scheduled passenger traffic to and from Cairo and direct connections with several cities in Europe."
Shasta_man
Contributor
I think it will be difficult to have both the hundreds of sharks experience and the lush coral experience in the same trip. Secondly, you have mentioned "week" and kids. You'll need some travel time to get to some of these locations, and some locations like Raja Ampat typically have longer trips like 12 days. With international dateline issues, travel time can add up so be aware even though you technically get it back on the way back (you're still just as tired). My unscientific analysis was that if you are limited on total time, then the Sorroco trip would probably give you the big stuff, but little coral garden, while Fiji is a pretty easy 11 hour trip (easy as in get on one plane from LAX, you're there). I've been recently and it was quite good diving with very lush coral gardens but not hundreds of sharks. Nigali Passage was very good with sharks all around but probably 25-30 sharks (which isn't shabby these days). Palau is pretty good, though mostly wall diving, but is so darned expensive to get there these days, and usually a 3 stop trip to get there.
Sorry I should have been clearer, I have a week, or two, whatever it takes 
It's likely to be the only diving trip I take for a while
I like the idea of crystal clear aquarium diving with beautiful corals and thousands of fish everywhere, I think that is what Raja Ampat is all about right? And it's arguably the best in the world? From what I've read Komodo is not quite as good as Raja Ampat but there's the chance to see Manta's? And then the flip side is places like Cocos, Socorros, Galapogos, etc.. where it's all about the big stuff (sharks, whale sharks, dolphins, manta's, whales, etc). And would you say Fiji and the Maldives are the best combination of the two? The thing about Fiji and Maldives is from reading the threads on here some people raved about their trips and some were disappointed.
Palau is very expensive to get to, but everyone raves about it. I've literally never read anyone say anything negative about it, and I can't count how many times people have labeled it their favourite trip. But looking at videos it doesn't seem -that- great. The water is clear which is nice, but it seems like every dive is a ton of divers hooked onto the reef watching fish and a few sharks 50-100 feet away in the blue. It never seems like the divers are immersed in the action but rather watching from the sidelines? Then I watch a video from the Galapogos and my jaw drops to the ground, it looks like a National Geographic special on the Discovery Channel Perhaps I've just watched the wrong videos from Palau.
It's likely to be the only diving trip I take for a whileI like the idea of crystal clear aquarium diving with beautiful corals and thousands of fish everywhere, I think that is what Raja Ampat is all about right? And it's arguably the best in the world? From what I've read Komodo is not quite as good as Raja Ampat but there's the chance to see Manta's? And then the flip side is places like Cocos, Socorros, Galapogos, etc.. where it's all about the big stuff (sharks, whale sharks, dolphins, manta's, whales, etc). And would you say Fiji and the Maldives are the best combination of the two? The thing about Fiji and Maldives is from reading the threads on here some people raved about their trips and some were disappointed.
Palau is very expensive to get to, but everyone raves about it. I've literally never read anyone say anything negative about it, and I can't count how many times people have labeled it their favourite trip. But looking at videos it doesn't seem -that- great. The water is clear which is nice, but it seems like every dive is a ton of divers hooked onto the reef watching fish and a few sharks 50-100 feet away in the blue. It never seems like the divers are immersed in the action but rather watching from the sidelines? Then I watch a video from the Galapogos and my jaw drops to the ground, it looks like a National Geographic special on the Discovery Channel
Perhaps I've just watched the wrong videos from Palau.
The viz at Raja Ampat is not all that. However, it is of little consequence because the dives are so beautiful and generally packed with fish. There are shark sightings but we weren't overwhelmed with them. We also had tremendous manta action.
Blue Corner is only one of many dive sites in Palau.Palau is very expensive to get to, but everyone raves about it. I've literally never read anyone say anything negative about it, and I can't count how many times people have labeled it their favourite trip. But looking at videos it doesn't seem -that- great. The water is clear which is nice, but it seems like every dive is a ton of divers hooked onto the reef watching fish and a few sharks 50-100 feet away in the blue. It never seems like the divers are immersed in the action but rather watching from the sidelines? Then I watch a video from the Galapogos and my jaw drops to the ground, it looks like a National Geographic special on the Discovery Channel
Most of the sites are wall dives, but there are plenty of opportunities to get immersed in the action.
Here's a selection of photos, all shot off one trip on the Palau Aggressor a few years back:
https://picasaweb.google.com/Mossman.Photos/Palau#
Shasta_man
Contributor
Palau is where you can have incredibly beautiful topside views (you usually anchor in German Channel and have 360 degree view of the beautiful blue shallow water and islands). The viz is much more likely to be good. It has some great dives and you can find that drift diving is the easiest diving in the world. Blue Corner, your reference to hanging around watching some sharks out there can be VERY good at times, and it gets pretty busy with everything going on plus you holding on against a current trying to take your mask off. Then you let go and zoom off to an easy ascent. But Palau = Galapagos, NO. NO WAY. Lots of sharks, big schools, mantas, etc, but not hundreds of sharks and multiple massive schools like in Galapagos. If you want that, then only Galapagos and maybe a couple other places will suffice. However, you don't get the island views and lying in the sun that you get in Palau.
Note that good diving places don't necessarily equal good viz and many times doesn't. Komodo and Raja Ampat have incredibly beautiful places but viz can be pretty low at times, but what you do see are all the critters in the id book, not a school of brown rockfish hanging around the kelp. Sometimes it can be low and sometimes it can be great. Sometimes it can low because there is literally a wall of little baitfish blocking the light. I saw what must have been a 60 foot high wall of baitfish just blocking out light because it was so dense and large. And the silversides are utterly amazing becoming so dense you can't see through them and they are swirling in one direction all around you then away from you and then back around you, swirling in an amorphorous blob that changes and switches shapes as the school moves and contorts. Then the mobula ray you saw earlier comes racing through a few feet away on a feeding run, and the silversides suddenly part, then swirl back around you to "hide". Pardon I'm starting to drool a little... Just amazing. Lower viz tends to mean more food in the water which is what attracts the food chain to that spot. And there are plenty of mantas in RA and Komodo, and you see several wobbegong sharks which are very cool, and white tips and black tips, but others are somewhat rare. So if you want the Galapagos level experience, you going to have to go there, but there are tradeoffs, some positive some negative. Above all just enjoy the trip, it's money well spent. I just went to Fiji before having twins and there isn't any diving for Daddy for quite a while.
Note that good diving places don't necessarily equal good viz and many times doesn't. Komodo and Raja Ampat have incredibly beautiful places but viz can be pretty low at times, but what you do see are all the critters in the id book, not a school of brown rockfish hanging around the kelp. Sometimes it can be low and sometimes it can be great. Sometimes it can low because there is literally a wall of little baitfish blocking the light. I saw what must have been a 60 foot high wall of baitfish just blocking out light because it was so dense and large. And the silversides are utterly amazing becoming so dense you can't see through them and they are swirling in one direction all around you then away from you and then back around you, swirling in an amorphorous blob that changes and switches shapes as the school moves and contorts. Then the mobula ray you saw earlier comes racing through a few feet away on a feeding run, and the silversides suddenly part, then swirl back around you to "hide". Pardon I'm starting to drool a little...
Just amazing. Lower viz tends to mean more food in the water which is what attracts the food chain to that spot. And there are plenty of mantas in RA and Komodo, and you see several wobbegong sharks which are very cool, and white tips and black tips, but others are somewhat rare. So if you want the Galapagos level experience, you going to have to go there, but there are tradeoffs, some positive some negative. Above all just enjoy the trip, it's money well spent. I just went to Fiji before having twins and there isn't any diving for Daddy for quite a while.
You made me drool. . . And thr mrmories came back so vividly! !! Thank you. Thank you!! Thankyou!! We'd been diving for days. All so good and then in of our last dives everyone was hooked in but I didn't have a reef hook. I hung and finned as long as i could. (perhaps it would have gone better had I had a reef hook. But No, I didn't and I got tired. I couldn't hang on while all my the buddies were looking at the sharks out in the blue. As I said I couldn't hang on. The current took me. RIGht or wrong I wasn't afraid. I knew that I would surface after my safety stop and be perfectly fine. Did I master guide not the leader, quit looking for ED bitty Schram and came with me as we just got taken by the current across the top of the Coral table. Just as I was so guilty to have him accompanying me when we saw a huge herd, (Don't know what else to call them) I love bump head parrot fish. They were freakin huge. And they didn't even notice even though they were only 1 or 2 arms length from me.we were at the perfect2 do our safety stop and so got to watch them for more van can minutes. We surfaced I was ecstatic. The others in our group were also very happy to have been hook in to see the shark barely. Whereas I sing something so amazing Wow. Raja ampat can't wait to get back to you.
please excuse anything that makes no sense above. I'm using speaking instead of typing on my smart phone. Not that smart I guess. The phone I mean.
But wow, I've been many fabulous places to dive and loved them all. Regardless, Raja Ampat, will remain in my heart forever. So hope I can figure out how to get back fast.
please excuse anything that makes no sense above. I'm using speaking instead of typing on my smart phone. Not that smart I guess. The phone I mean.
But wow, I've been many fabulous places to dive and loved them all. Regardless, Raja Ampat, will remain in my heart forever. So hope I can figure out how to get back fast.
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Wingy
Contributor
Papua New Guinea for world class diving......un frickin believable viz and macro to massive, wrecks to reefs, walls, canyons, muck diving. MV Febrina liveaboard trips get nothing but good wraps.
Darn wingy, it was difficult enough getting to sorong from here.
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