Which month for BDE?

[Asanoth]

Hello,
as my other topic drifted towards nitrox and reg maintenance, I decided to ask a separate question here: Surely the mods will manage if it is deemed inappropriate.

I decided to do the BDE liveaboard in 2024, or some variation of it, but I am not sure which month would be the best.
I read July - August is best for hammerheads, then I read they are deep as the water is too warm, so maybe it is better to go some other months, OWTs are up in autumn, but then there are no hammerheads, mantas are rather rare, but less so in summer, threshers... fall or winter?

Then of course there is this infamous table, but I got the impression it is rather sales oriented, especially at Mar - May months: https://scubaboard.com/community/attachments/screen-shot-2022-01-10-at-3-16-11-pm-png.699891/

Anyway, I would say, my priority would be diversity in general and I also like small non-fish stuff. My wife, however, said "I want to go there for sharks", so lets go along with that . There is also that "lets see the pyramids as well" idea, but that is not the priority as we can get easily and sometimes inexpensively to Egypt other time. If we were to go to Luxor and Giza as well (I already visited most major historical sights in Egypt, but my wife has never been), summer is not the best. But again, great diving is the priority.
I am a bit dettered by the crowds at BDE, but I doubt I would get great sites in a good season for a good price without crowds... Especially if our interest on this trip are also/mostly pelagics.
Regarding our timeframe, we are only blocked out last two weeks of May (which could be dealt with, but I doubt those two weeks are absolutely unmissable compared to, say, first week of June) and I wanted to go for a non-diving vacation sometimes in Autumn, possibly October, but that is still unclear and can easily change depending on destination.

So, when would you advise me to go?
Thank you.

 

[rayaa3]

I did a trip 5 years ago. 7 days BDE out of hurghada with a BlueO2 boat.

It was the last week of may/first week of June.

Mantas: no
We saw:
1 thresher
Countless oceanic white tips
Hammerheads on 3 days of the trip
Their may have been a 4th species but if so I can't recall it.

We saw the usual reef inhabitants from parrot fish to clownfish.

There was only 1 night dive on this itinerary. It was uneventful.

Luck is always a factor.

No turtles. No other rays except the blue spotted stingrays in the sand. The main show was the sharks and it was a good show. The oceanic white tips were the highlight as the other sharks tended to shy when they saw divers. The white tips were quite curious and required managing your safety stop amd exiting the water very carefully.

 

[Asanoth]

Thank you.
I am now deciding mostly between June and September. According to the table, September might be better, but it is not really about the tables... Any other opinions, please?

 

[Dan]

I went in December. Nice weather. Saw Hammerhead, Oceanic Whitetip, Reef Whitetip, etc. Also visited Luxor at the end of the trip. See my trip report, below.

Trip Report - BDE Trip Report, 21-28 December, 2019

Summary This is an eight-day (21-28 December, 2019) liveaboard trip to Red Sea BDE (Brothers, Daedalus, Elphinstone) route, with Scuba Scene, Red Sea Aggressor 1 (RSA1) replacement, after RSA got burnt & sank in November 2019. The itinerary, as shown in Table 1, includes 6 days of diving, 3...

scubaboard.com

The highlight is diving with Oceanic White Shark (Carcharhinus Longimanus) in Elphinstone.

 

[Asanoth]

Thanks. I do not think my not-so-inclined-to-cold wife would like December . Plus, I read many operators do 3 dives a day in winter and 4 dives a day in summer, which would be a great deal for me. June for sure is summer, not sure about September. Also, it would be another reason to take a nitrox course, I guess.
I am also considering Elphinstone - Dedalus - Fury Shoal, instead of BDE, but I am not sure how to decide.

 

[Dan]

I’m from Indonesia and 24-25C water temperature is not cold. It’s nice. That’s why they call it room temperature.

I was in Galapagos with water temperature as low as 15C. That is cold.

June in Egypt would be very hot.

The Red Sea Weather in June | Thomas Cook

Want to go to The Red Sea in June and don't know what clothes to pack? Visit our holiday weather guide and check out the weather!

www.thomascook.com

“The Red Sea resorts reach a balmy day time high average of 38°C in June and will only drop to around 29°C on cooler days. The night time level could be around 25°C, so you'll need air conditioning in your hotel. The sea temperature averages 26°C and taking a dip in the Red Sea is the best way to cool off.”

Water temperature of 26C would be fine though. May be it’s not so bad if you spend most of the time diving and staying in AC room when you are not diving.

 

[scubaozy]

Summer is better, days are longer, water is warmer. On the boat you do not feel the heat because it is windy and all areas inside the boat are cooled by ac.

 

[Asanoth]

I spoke with my OWD diving instructor and he advised not to go in summer, as the sharks are generally in deeper water and that when they went in August 2022, they did not really see much. He goes to Egypt at least once a year. This, however, counterdicts most of what I read here on Scubaboard. He recommended November - which is indeed also according to locals best for OWTs, but maybe not so good for hammerheads (which I would very much like to see, nevertheless he did not see them in August anyway).

Any comments on this, please?

 

[scubaozy]

I spoke with my OWD diving instructor and he advised not to go in summer, as the sharks are generally in deeper water and that when they went in August 2022, they did not really see much. He goes to Egypt at least once a year. This, however, counterdicts most of what I read here on Scubaboard. He recommended November - which is indeed also according to locals best for OWTs, but maybe not so good for hammerheads (which I would very much like to see, nevertheless he did not see them in August anyway).

Any comments on this, please?

Well usually people in SB have broad experience and they do correct each other as well. I lived and worked in the Red Sea few years, so my experience is first hand. My advice would be summer or autumn (autumn is busier with number of tourists).
Deeper water argument is not accurate, I sometimes hear this but it does not make sense; in Red Sea temperature drops by 1 deg celcius every couple of 100 meters, it is barely different at depth. There is no point for hammerheads to go deeper. They rather go south or north depending the time of the year, possibly driven by the temperatures.
20 years ago, high season for OWT was in the autumn but nowadays they can be seen all year around because they are attracted to the boat traffic/activity. They are pelagic, normally you would not expect them to see on a reef. Other reef sharks like white tip or gray reef shark are not migratory so they will not go anywhere but there are too few of them, so you still need luck to see them.
There are no guaranties for the sightings in any season, migratory patterns are not yet understood they may change year to year. I have seen hammerheads and owt in winter as well as in summer. My recommendation is you lower your expectations and try to book at the time which has best conditions to dive, long days, pleasant temperatures etc.

 

[Tippytoes12]

Well said Scubaozy.

We saw hammerheads on all three dives every day for three days, plus several spots of one manta at Daedalus this summer in July when it was 36 degrees. There is no perfect month to go anywhere, let alone to these reefs which are out in open ocean and where the big creatures are individuals that can swim for zero to 60mts in the blink of an eye.

On many Red Sea trips we saw the most in Summer. I agree that just going when you can in Summer or Autumn and enjoying the experience is important. And most if not all LOBs just do three dives a day in the national parks, four where possible outside of the national parks.