12.06.08
Posted in 5. Overseas trips at 6:11 pm by scubagirl
Introduction
Since my April 2008 trip to Turks and Caicos (which was quite disappointing) I decided not to make another overseas trip until I could afford to do something as good or better than the Galapagos October 2007
I had Glastonbury, Porthkerris and Plymouth booked so they kept me sane over the summer months I no longer believe that you can have a trip that contains everything: wrecks, colourful coral, fish of every variety possible, macro stuff, pelagics
I toyed with the idea of Chuuk, Micronesia, Canada’s west coast up to Alaska, not diving at all (that thought did not last long)
Then I woke up one morning and told myself “I have to go away and I have to go away now!!!”
I booked this Cocos trip on Monday Nov 1st and flew out six days laterNothing better than booking last minutes trips, and having a very understanding Boss!
Summary
The good: everything ….. the sharks, the food Juan Manuel
The bad: lower deck cabins, guided dives
The ugly: me, when I am sea sick
What pissed me off (new category in my summary): dive guides who race off around the reef and expect you to keep up with them, as a result you don’t actually see anything, but you cover an awful lot of ground!The concept that agencies have that everyone drinks either beer or red wine
What went wrong: ear infection, that meant I had to miss three dives
Galapagos v. Cocos
I don’t think the two can be compared
There are things that Galapagos had that Cocos does not, which were the making of that tripCocos has things that Galapagos does not have
Would I go back to Cocos: No
Would I go back to Galapagos: Yes, if I had the exact same itinerary (which is very unlikey)
The Travel
Continental - what an amazingly pleasant contrast from American Airlines
Baggage allowance - 23kg x 2 ….. fantastic!
2 days 10 hours total travel time
10 hours LHR to Houston
2 Houston lay over
3 ½ hours Houston to San Jose
3 ½ hours San Jose to Marina
36 hours Marina to Cocos
This last bit was horrible! I was so sea sick and so pumped full of drugs that I had no idea what day it was
We boarded the Undersea Hunter at 11am, set up our kit right away and had lunch
I threw up, took every pill offered to me (there five vets on board) and then I slept for the first 18 hours, ate breakfast, went back to sleep, ate lunch, went back to sleep, ate dinner, went back to sleep
Woke up in time for breakfast almost two days after we boarded the boat and we had finally arrived to the piece of volcanic rock that was the world greatest dive destination to view pelagic activity
The crossing back was worse because I of my infection and the winds coming from the north
The Diving
We had white tips on every dive (hundreds of them) and schools of hammer heads on the majority of dives
There were a few silver tips at Siverado, Galapagos sharks and someone said he saw black tip
During the average dive in amongst all the white tips we saw quite a few varieties of fish, turtles, lots of marble rays, eagle rays, trumpet fish and spotted boxers everywhere, the odd manta
There was very little in the way of small stuff, although one guy showed me a picture of a nudibranch taken at night …. I was very impressed, got extremely excited and fixed my macro lens for my next night dive
At the start of the trip we were told that the shark feeding frenzy night dive had to be cancelled because there were tiger sharks in the area of ????
This was to be one of the highlights of the trip and everyone was disappointed that we could not do it
The first night dive was a bit average to rubbish (more on the side of rubbish)
So, the next night only two of us wanted to go and we were dropped in as a token gesture by skit ten meters from the boat
What myself and my buddy found even shocked the guide
We found fifty white tips in a feeding frenzy that had never been seen in this area before
The next nights there was a really good turn out for the newly named Jolly George reef
Most of the dives followed the same format: Six people in my skit, eight in the other
Roll in off the skit, meet at 12 meters, the group goes down together to 30 meters, the group watch the cleaning station until the first person reached 5 minutes of no deco dive time or something PSI (I’ve got the SAC of a dart goby so there is now way that I would have reached that number anyway)
The group swim off into the blue or round the reef and slowly ascend
Then the group hang in the blue at six meters until you reached sixty minutes or forty bar and you can individually get on the skit
The safety side of things
A tracker was attached to everyone’s kit, in case we got lost on the guided dive
Everyone was given a safety pack, mine was stuffed in my weight pocketBefore the first dive
I took it out to see what was in it. I struggled to open the mesh bag, if I couldn’t open it on the boat how was I going to open it under water with gloves on I struggled to take out it’s contents which were:a very small flash light (about 5cm in length) a long narrow orange plastic bag
We were told that the long narrow plastic bag was in fact a safety sausage and because there was no line and no place to fix a line you could only fill it at the surface
Yes, you guessed it I took the ‘safety pack’ out of my weight pocket, replaced it with a weight and a CD, which I always carry with me and bungeed my DSMBi + spool to my back plate
We came up on one dive and the skit was out of sight, the guide told one of the divers to fill his plastic bag from the safety pack, by the time he opened it we were all suffering from heat stroke on bursting for the loo when he tried filling it nothing happened, then the skit arrived
I was told later that there was a hole in it
The boat
Undersea Hunter, oh my God, at 24 meters, it’s small
And it feels small after all the ‘ocean liner’ liveaboards that I generally like to travel on
I was assigned a below deck cabin, I would have rather paid an additional $200 to have the mid deck cabin but they had already gone …..
ok, what did I expect given that I only booked a few days before the flight
Every time I stood at the top of the stairs and looked down into the hole where the cabins were, a wave of sea sickness came over me, and my cabin was right at the end of the corridor …. never again!
The food was great, the staff very friendly and there were so many varieties of cookies and sweets in jars that you would never go hungry
Ear infections
In all my years of diving I’ve never had an ear infection or any type of baro-trauma My Mum is a skin specialist and, in the most part, I listen to what she says
I’m usually the one who preaches at other people that they should regularly moisturize and not use alcohol based products on their skin ‘it will strip the moisture from you skin, cause premature aging and if your skin is open it will cause infection’ is usually what I say
So, when my friend told me to get some swim ear (something I’ve never used on all my years of diving or swim training) to dry out my ears after the dive to prevent infection why did I rush off and buy some??
After I got my infection the guide told us not to use swim ear, for the reasons I mentioned above!
The message is: always listen to my Mum!
Costa Rica: the land bit
Passing through San Jose is a necessary evil that you have to endure, however, I can always find things to do in a new city I spent four nights on land at the Holiday Inn and did three tours (and sampled the local nightlife, if you go to San Jose take glow sticks with you) while I was there:
White river rafting:
This is we worth doingI had a 6.20am pick up from the hotel and we traveled the three hours to the Pacuare River Claiming to be in the top four rafting rivers in the world, not only because of the thrill of the ride, but also it is famous for its sheer beauty
Flanked by steep, green walls where you get the feeling of total isolation from urban life and a true connection with nature. Waterfalls cascade into the river from both sides as colorful, tropical birds fly right over your head and amazing views of the tropical rainforest open up in front of you
Zip Lines in the rain forrest:
still to write this
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08.30.08
Posted in 5. Overseas trips at 8:57 am by scubagirl
The travel:
American Airlines 777 LHR to Miami, change planes American Airlines 737 to Providenciales
Weight allowance 2x 23kg hold + 18kg cabin
Outbound - delayed 30 minutes at Heathrow and 1 hour at Miami
Inbound – Six hour lay over in Miami + delayed 1 hour
This may have been something to do with me because the Steward asked me to move to a window seat and let the lady with a bladder problem next to me sit on the isle
No, I was not going to move. They put her in Business Class in the end
I have written the rest of the “Travel” bit at the end as it’s really really negative
The Crew:
I walked out of Providenciales airport and spotted the rep carrying the Explorer Ventures sign. I caught her eye at the exact same time she caught mine and in unison we said “I know you!” Fear gripped me and I was thinking, “oh, no …. not her”. She may have been thinking the same?! I had met this crew member on a trip to Saba and St Eustatius in June 2006 where she was covering the position of the Purser for one month because the Captain had sacked two of his crew who were now on the Turks and Caicos Explorer II
After the Saba trip I made a complaint of both the Captain and the Purser – the Captain was removed from his position
I have to say now that she, the Purser, is a completely changed person. She seems to have grown up a lot and she did tell me a few things that were going on during the Saba trip which helped me understand her behaviour …. all is forgiven
On this trip she was a dive guide, which I think she is more suited to
The other crew members were: a Purser, two more dive guides, engineer x 2, chef, and the captain
I can not fault the crew at all, they were great, especially the Purser who really went out of her way to help me and the other guests
This is the first live-aboard Captain I have travelled with who mingled/ chatted with the guests and showed that he really cared for them and not just steering the boat
The Other Guests:
American …. all of them!
I could not have asked for a nicer group of people to travel with
12 were from one group based in New York, two met this group on a previous trip and were invited to join them on the T&CEII this week, there were two guys that came together and one more guy who travelled on his own …. and me
I was so well looked after, once John got over his initial worry about Cy. He was convinced that he would have to rescue me at some point. Luckily he did not – I hope I proved myself?
- Donna lent me tooth paste and two different types of anti itch ointments (I was the only one to get bitten by sea lice)
- Anne lent me stuff to heal my bites/ stings and batteries
- Stan lent me meat tenderiser
- Trish lent me clothes and a hood (if I had asked her for the kitchen sink she would have produced that from her back pack and she let me keep the hood - thanks)
- Steve would pull me out of the tank stop when I did my impression of a demented turtle
- John tried to sort out my camera
- All the boys “zipped” me up!
Some notable things that were said to me:
- “oh, you are so teenee beenee”
- “don’t you speak English good”
- “when you talk, you sound so intelligent”
- “you must breathe under water”
- “why don’t you just use your pony as your main and the crack bottle on your DSMB as your pony?”
- “have you only just got back to the boat” said by people who were de-kitted, showered and half way through lunch as I emerged from the depths
- “you should add a few layers of fat so I don’t get so cold”
And, I gained the admiration of a few because I do my own planning and travel on my own and I solo dive
….. yes, I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right – I have no friends!
I have been invited to join them in Lake George some time over the summer, or on their next trip, which I would love to do. I will bring Wagon Wheels and Curly Wurlys
A few of them are going to Gos in two months so it gave me the chance to reminisce and talk about my trip there last October. I kept a few things to myself, though ;o)
The diving:
This was not at all what I expected! We were told: 70 minute max dive time to a max depth of 110 feet and come up on 1500 PSI, up to five dives a day. This was fine for everyone
I have no idea what 110 feet is so I just stuck to my usual
plan of max 34 meters at PO 1.4 and I never run my gas down to 50 bar so I was not too worried about the PSI thing, and I’m so pleased I took my little pony
Actual average depth, for me, was 13 meters to 18 meters depending on the site with a max of 31 meters once in the whole week – no need to go deeper
The wall started at between 12 meters and 17 meters on all dives. So I would start along the wall and end on the flat bit …. what is that called??
Only felt current on one dive and surge on a couple of dives
There was little in the way of marine life and even less colourful soft coral
We had some sharks, the odd moray, no nudibranchs, one flat worm, a few hermit crabs, lots of lobsters. It was all hard coral and rock
The visibility was usually 20 meters, and the water was 26 degrees.
The only real mistake I made was not taking my dry suit. This was way too cold for me even when I was wearing four layers: under armour borrowed from Trish, AeroSkin borrowed from Jules, five mil long and three mil shorty
The best thing I did was solo dive for 25 of the 26 dives I made (the night dive I did with Steve was really good with those lobsters fighting, thanks. But after this dive he developed an ear infection and did not dive for the next three and a half days)
I was free to do what ever I wanted (within the rules of the boat, SDI and my own safety). I was doing 60+ minute dives and still coming up on 80 bar to the amazement of some of the people on the boat
I can’t really tell you anything else – this is, in my opinion, not a good diving destination
A couple of us, individually, mentioned to one of the crew about the “not so good” diving and we were told that they are saving the best for last.
Why?
Why don’t we go there first and stay there – weather and mooring availability permitting. And the weather actually got worse toward the end of the week. I accept that we can’t ‘hog’ mooring points, I think this was only a problem once and Captain Mark requested the Aggressor to move
The Boat - Tea and Cakes Explorer II (T&CEII):
The Tea & Cakes Explorer II undertook a refit in February 2007, so she still looks quite new
She is 35 meters long and holds 20 passengers and 8 crew, we had 18 passengers
There was lots of room on the sun deck and fly deck. The combo dining room and lounge was much smaller than other boats that I had travelled on and when all 18 people were in there it was full full.
But, on the plus side – the dive deck was huge and there were more mid deck state rooms than normal, and the engine was in the middle of the boat
I had a cabin to myself at the bow, I think it would have easily accommodated two people. The shower was a little ‘iffy’ but not enough for me to make a fuss about
The problem with cabin three and four is that there was a loud speaker mounted on the wall outside so that the Captain and the crew could communicate when approaching a mooring. The Captains voice would bellow through the speaker and the crew would yell back at him. Not very nice first thing in the morning
They made their own water! So, you can drink the water out of the taps and the toilet we were told, although I decided against that
Alcohol is included, but as I don’t drink anything other than Blue WKD (chilled in the freezer for exactly 45 minutes so that it just starts to crystallize) this was a cost I incurred and did not make use of …. other than Bailey’s and hot chocolate after the night dives
More about the boat ….what is that swing about?
T&CEII is built of aluminum (spelling for my fellow American guests) and sits very high in the water. I was told that there is a battle between the water current and the wind. So, the winds pulls the boat in one direction, and as the wind drops the current pulls it back the other way. You could be making your ascent directly below the stern, and then the boat would swing and it swings fast so you have to chase after it, but it is very very fast and not easy to catch
Or, you could simply wait eight minutes for it to swing back again and grab hold of the drop line which pulls you along as it swings
Make sure you get a strong grip, if you let go you won’t catch it again
The smart ones amongst us – not me, I did not think of this until I saw people doing it on day five, a bit late by then! They made their ascent and stop on the bow line and swam under the boat to the stern and up the ladder.
What I was doing was navigating back to the entry point, I would watch for which way the boat was swinging, make my ascent at some meters away and hope that I reached 7 meters at the same time the drop line was passing me
Two nights on Providenciales after the T&CEII
There are only three things to do in Providenciales: sit on the beach, dive and drink!
I’m not a sun worshipper, I’d was already all dived out and when I drink I seem to get myself into trouble
More about the travel:
I called American Airlines two weeks before I travelled to see if I could book my seat in advance. I was told that you can only book your seat at the check in desk. This is strange because I went on their website allows you to select/ change your seat, but when I tried the entire plane was showing as full except for one seat
I got to the check in desk well over two hours before take off and asked for an isle seat close to the front of the plane. I was told that the seats are assigned at the departure desk. I questioned this and was told that this is how things are always done on all airlines!!!!????? So, I skipped the usual compulsory duty free shopping and rushed through to departures and was given a pre-printed boarding pass for 44D ….. NO!
I was not accepting this seat at all, ever!
I was told that the plane was full and there were no other seats. I pointed out that there were no more than 20 people in the departure lounge and that she can switch my seat with someone else’s.
No, she said that the seats are assigned a year in advance to people. Well that just did not make sense to me and I was getting conflicting messages from American Airlines staff, she was not prepared to help me at all or provide any explanation to my questions and I reluctantly accepted the boarding pass.
As they started to board, I went back to the lady on the desk and appealed to her to change my seat. She sent me round the corner to someone else who it seems assigned the seats (had she been standing there for the entire past 12 months? I wondered)
Without much trouble she changed my seat to a front bulk head seat and there was a spare seat next to me! And the plane was not full
On the flight to Miami we were given an omelette – not very nice
Then five hours later we were given a snack – quite disgusting
And the drinks trolley came round once only
I was so hungry!
I asked for a glass of water after 7 hours and was shouted at to get out of the galley – I was not in the galley, the staff were rude and arrogant, clearly hated their jobs or maybe the people that they worked with from comments I heard from one cabin crew
There was a complete debacle at Miami airport
I had to go through immigration, pick up my bags, drop them somewhere else and then go straight through to departures
I’m so surprised when my bags turned up at Providenciales
I was impressed with the finger printing and that they took pictures of everyone as they cleared customs. Is Heathrow T5 going to implement this?
We were delayed an hour and all we were given to eat on the next flight was an airline measure bag of salted pretzels during the next flight
In Summary:
The Good: the boat, the crew, the guests
The Bad: the boat swing, Providenciales
The Ugly: the lack of colour and marine life on the reefs
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11.02.07
Posted in 5. Overseas trips at 10:47 pm by scubagirl
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Posted in 5. Overseas trips at 10:47 pm by scubagirl
The biggest and the best
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Posted in 5. Overseas trips at 10:46 pm by scubagirl
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Posted in 5. Overseas trips at 10:46 pm by scubagirl
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Posted in 5. Overseas trips at 10:45 pm by scubagirl
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Posted in 5. Overseas trips at 10:45 pm by scubagirl
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Posted in 5. Overseas trips at 10:45 pm by scubagirl
Disgusting!!! do not go on this boat
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Posted in 5. Overseas trips at 10:44 pm by scubagirl
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Posted in 5. Overseas trips at 10:43 pm by scubagirl
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Posted in 5. Overseas trips at 10:42 pm by scubagirl
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Posted in 5. Overseas trips at 10:38 pm by scubagirl
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10.31.07
Posted in 5. Overseas trips at 12:17 am by scubagirl
This is a Trip Report with a difference
It’s a ‘post trip’ Trip Report titled ……… Oh Sh!t - I’ve Lost my passport
Thursday
After a wonderful weeks diving at the Brothers and Elphinstone on Excel - it was time to leave my ‘ocean going luxury liner’ and head for home
I packed up my gear collected my passport and paid my the well deserved crew tips
We drove from Marsa Alam to Hurghada in record time and checked into the Marriott
My journey in October took over 8 hours !
l decided to get myself organised for the return flight
l took out my travel clothes, ticket, passport ….. ‘Oh Sh!t - I’ve Lost my Passport’
Somewhere between leaving Excel and arriving at the Marriott my passport went missing
My room mate, Jill, checked my gear and bags
My tour rep Ashraf also checked my bags … Nothing
Ashraf happened to be in the Marriott sorting out another guest (Puffin) issue and if it was not for him l would probably still be in Hurghada
At 11pm we went to the Tourist Police to report this incident
There was a blackout!
l could make out the machine guns that the officers were carrying
After sitting in the dark for 45 minutes we decided to come back the next day
Friday
We were moved from room to room in the Police Station
There was much chatter in Arabic - which l could not understand
At one point the chatter became animated and quite loud
Someone then asked me where my father was from
Ashraf later told me that they looked at the colour of my skin and did not believe that l was Britsh
They thought that l was from Pakistan and that l was here to cause trouble
Where in fact my father is from lndia
This took quite some persuading
Ashraf explained to them that he had known me for seven years and that l am a frequent traveler to Egypt
After quite some time sitting around and Ashraf making numerous phone calls the Head guy started to complete a form in Arabic then we were on our way
Ashraf’s father is a General for the Government so he pulled a few strings and got the process pushed thru quicker than it could have taken
Ashraf then booked me into the Hilton for the next night - the Marriott was full
After checking into the Hilton - which is still under reconstruction - l booked a room at the lnterContinental in Cairo and went to the Egypt Air office to book a flight
The very helpful lnternet engineer at the Hilton advised me on the lnterContinental as it is the closest hotel to the Embassy
l then raced back to the Marriott where the rest of my group were to be collected at 4.20
l had really neglected them since my passport discovery
They were all such nice people to be with on a liveaboard (well, some of them anyway)
Jill, Mike, Dave, Gareth, Gary, lan
xxx thank you
But it seems that they left early and l missed them by minutes
l called my sister and asked her to sort out my diary for the next week and to call my travel insurance company
lt turned out that if l pay a $30 excess l am then covered for up to $750
So, l thought that would more than cover my hotels, flight from Hurghada to Cairo and Cairo to Heathrow – l was wrong, it became much more !
Saturday
l’m waiting now for my flight to Cairo
I didn’t think that anything would go wrong from now on
l have a permit from the Police to be in the country
l just need to go to the British Embassy in Cairo and get a travel permit to take a BA flight from Cairo to Heathrow
And my hotel is minutes away from the Embassy so l will be there extra early
Ashraf had already arranged for my free return flight from Hurghada the following Friday
But, l figured if l can fly BA from Cairo any earlier than that and Heathrow is closer to where l live than Gatwick - and that saves me from flying back to Hughada
Ashraf met me at the airport and explained to the staff that l was not traveling with a passport and why only then would they let me thru
l don’t recommend Egyptian Air for internal flights
They threw a muffin and a fruit juice carton at us as we were still banking and collected the empties less than ten minutes later
l do however recommend the lnterContinental SemiRamis in downtown Cairo and in walking distance to the Consulate - just in case your reason for being in the city is the same as mine
I checked in at 11.30pm
Sunday
On Sunday morning l met another representative from SCUBA UK
A stunningly handsome man named Mardy
Unfortunately, he went to the wrong lnterContinental
But, we still made it to the Embassy before 9.30am
Mardy was not allowed past the first reception – so, l was on my own
There were quite a few people waiting to see the Consulate mostly about passports
After completing a new passport form l was asked for LE680
l had about $100 made up of four different currencies to get me thru the next few days
Armed with my credit card l tried to get some cash from two bank - who didn’t want to know
I then went to Thomas Cook
The only ld l had was my PADI card
So, l gave him that and he typed my reference number into the system
Somehow he accepted this and back l went with my LE680 for my passport
l was told ‘no problem, your passport will be ready on Tuesday’
On the way back to the hotel Mardy held my hand and we walked along the Nile
He said to me ‘this is the perfect place for two lovers to walk’!
l had earlier decided that he was holding my hand as protection for myself from other people
So that l would not get hassled by them and so l don’t get run over – there are no zebra crossings in Cairo and possibly no driving tests either
Monday
The next day l decided to do the tourist thing
l went to visit the pyramids and the Egyptian Museum
As this was my fifth trip to Egypt l thought l had better do something cultural ? And get a better appreciation of the country
Tuesday
Back to the Embassy with Mardy holding my hand
More waiting around
Azza the lady at the Consulate assured me that l will have my new passport for Wednesday not Tuesday and l can fly on Thursday ‘no problem’
l looked at her paperwork and noticed that the passport details on the fax from the UK were for my old passport which had been cancelled
After pointing this out she said ‘no problem you will have your passport for Thursday - this would be too late for my early morning BA flight
So she said she will check and l must call her later
Later that afternoon l spend a few hours walking around Old Cairo and the famous Bazzar
After speaking to Azza she said ‘no problem’ l will be able to fly on Thursday - so, l booked my flight
Wednesday
l called Azza at 8.30am to check what time l could collect my passport
After being told that it would be ready for 1pm - l told her that that was no good as l still needed my stamps from the Government office
She said that the Government office will remain open for such emergencies
After waiting an hour l had a new passport in my hands by 1.40pm
Mardy found out that we must be at the Government office before 2pm to get the stamps
We then ran to the Government office - along those endless corridors and looking in all the offices - l’m suprised no-one stopped us
After completing another form l handed it to the official
We had the same discussion about how can l be British, she thought l was actually Egyptian
‘Tomorrow’ she said in Arabic
We were too late and she was not going to change her mind!
l’m glad l booked a flexible BA ticket
l changed the date to Friday
Thursday
Once a gain Mardy met me in the hotel lobby and we went to see the Government Official
She saw me coming and shout ‘sit’ waving at a chair
After a few minutes I heard someone shout ‘British’ – looking around l decided that must be me
I walked over to the voice
A large man took my passport from my hands and handed it to someone else who marched off shouting ‘sit’ at me and waving to the chair
With stamps in my new passport, e-ticket in hand, and a packed dive bag l was ready to go
I spend the afternoon in a coffee shop reading in the sunshine as l knew that tomorrow it would be 5 degress celcius
In the past few days l had had a few calls from friends who had expected me back the week before or responding to my emails/ texts
Word had now got round the office too
Their reactions were anything from ‘fantastic you get to stay on in Egypt’ and ‘you lost your passport on purpose to extend your stay’ to ‘be careful, don’t go out alone’
I will be made fun of big time when l get back
Roger had already told me that he will ask the band at my local club to dedicate ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’ by the Bangles to me – this track is on their play list every gig
Friday
I checked out of the hotel at 5.15am
Way too early for - but that was the only BA flight to Heathrow
HOME
ls all this going to deter me?
No, l will be back on Excel for the deep south in August
l have already warned Ashraf and he told me that he will be there waiting for me !
The two tour reps representing Travel Line and Tony Backhurst showed the highest degree of professionalism, dedication and responsibility
And I feel confident that l am traveling with a first class tour company that truly values and looks after it’s guests
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Posted in 5. Overseas trips at 12:01 am by scubagirl
This was my fourth trip to the Red Sea as a solo female traveler, and I had a fabulous time
In summary I booked this very last minute (because my office messed me about) and this was the only boat that had space for me - Tony Backhurst was completely full so I ended up going on an Emperor Diver boat ….. never again!!!
The boat was clean (apart from the bathrooms which were shared), comfortable, not nearly enough space for twenty people to sit/ sunbathe
The cabins were bunks and as basic as it gets
Food was good and lots of it
Only beer and soft drinks – no spirits – which didn’t bother me
Tanks were not always filled ready for the next dive
I would much rather have traveled on Excel – there was absolutely no comparison
Next time will always go for a boat with en-suit bathrooms – the shower only trickled and the loos were broken and held together with tape
l’m diving on Hurricane in three weeks and can’t wait
My buddy was fantastic – we were so perfectly matched
She turned out to be a grandmother who was also a BSAC Instructor – must have been close to twice my age
She was great I was really very very lucky to dive with her
The diving was perfect
Enough walls to keep our hearts racing, our minds interested and our eyes peels on the look out for sharks
Enough coral gardens to relax among and wonder at the beauty of the underwater world
My favourite sites were St John’s Caves and Shaab Maksour - Fury Shoal
Although Shaab Maksour is not as good as Elphinstone or Daedelous
The tour guilds on the liveaboard were completely different to Grant and Sonia on Excel and not my kind of people at all
I was treated like I was on an 18-30 holiday and was made fun of by one of them for the first four whole days
I just ignored him and he eventually stopped – no idea why he chose to pick on me
He had none or very little input on the trip, he got lost three times and had total disregard for the inexperienced diver that he was accompanying as he went off and did his thing
For those of you who have traveled with Grant and Sonia will know exactly what I mean
The other guide gave the best dive briefings possible
October 24th
o Departed Gatwick only one hour late
o Found tour rep eventually
He decided to stand outside the building when all the others were inside
- l later found that this was because Regal representatives were not allowed in the terminal building and that it had clearly stated this in the orientation documentation
- which it was
o We were taken to a hotel in the town for one night – don’t understand why this was
- Southern Red Sea trips with Hurghada fights, as far as I know leave the same night without a hotel stay
o Left the hotel later than when we were supposed to
o Stopped at the Hilton to pick up kit for those who did not have full set of gear
Why wasn’t this done last night
- it just delayed our journey even more
o Checked on board the liveaboard (Hamada) at 3.30pm, even though the itinerary specified 12pm
- we had an 8 hour journey in a tiny mini bus !
- this bus was not large enough for 20 adults plus all their gear
- some of the bags were on the roof and some inside the bus
- no chance to stretch your legs and only one bathroom break the whole way
o 1st dive was a check out dive\ night dive! at Sataya – Fury Shoal
o 27 degrees, max depth 15 meters for 79 minutes
o Drop in from the boat and returned to the boat
o Weight check in the dark
- and gave me the chance to find out more about the others on the boat
- there were people with less than 50 dives and were unexperienced on reefs and night diving
- one lady only had 18 dives, others had never used DSMBs, others were allowed to dive without computers
o Spotted wray, sea snake, pipe fish - no Spanish Dancers this time
o There was supposed to be a sunken fishing boat nearby, but no-one found it
o on our way back to the boat I noticed that Excel was moored along side up
- I dumped my stuff jumped straight back into the water and swam over
- I traveled on Excel two months ago – excellent boat, I really missed Grant with his video camera and Sonia’s happy smiling face and the sweetest accent to wake up to
October 26th
o First dive at Habili Ali – St Johns
o Steep wall and a plateau on the east wall at 30 meters
o 30 degrees, max depth 34 meters for 68 minutes
o Drop in from rib, return to boat
o 3 grey reef sharks, 2 white tip sharks, giant moray, barracuda, lion fish, trigger fish, napoleon
o Hard coral, gorgonion fans, little soft coral
o Second dive at Habili Ali – St Johns
o 30 degrees, max depth 30 meters for 71 minutes
o Drop in from boat, return to boat
o 1 white tip, turtle (seen by buddy), barracuda, trigger fish, napoleon
o Third dive at Abu Basal – St Johns
o 29 degrees, max depth 19 meters for 81 minutes
o 1 grey reef shark, porcupine fish, napoleon, spotted wrays, lion fish, trumpet fish
o Caves and swim thru on the reef, lots of hard coral formations
o Pinnacles - not much there, hard coral, very little soft coral, therefore little fish life
o Barron sandy bottom between the reef and the pinnacles
o Fourth dive - night dive Abu Basal – St Johns
o 29 degrees, max depth 16 meters for 41 minutes
o Drop in from boat, return to boat
o Free swimming giant moray, burrfish, banded boxer shrimp, spotted wray, pearl sea star
October 27th
o First dive at Habili Gafa – St Johns
o 29 degrees, max depth 35 meters for 60 minutes
o Drop in from rib, return to boat - went round one and a half times - clockwise
o Strong current at first turn then dropped to nothing
o 50 meters in diameter - small erg
o Plateau at 30 meters
o 3 reef sharks, moray, free swimming moray, manta (seen by some divers), trumpet, schools of barracuda, lion fish
o Hard coral, colourful soft coral, teaming with marine life - really nice
o Second dive at Umm Aruk – St Johns
o 29 degrees, max depth 24 meters for 81 minutes
o Drop in from boat, return to boat
o Bighorn nembrotha-sea slug, arabian box fish, lion fish, baraccuda
o Small reef, pinnacles, sandy sea bed at 25 meters
o Hard coral, some soft coral, not as much soft coal as Habili Gafa - only minutes away but not as nice - should have gone back to Habili Gafa
o Third dive at Umm Aruk (Umeroog) – St Johns
o 29 degrees, max depth 30 meters for 66 minutes
o Nothing significant, giant moray, bumphead parrot fish
o Fourth dive (night dive) at Umm Aruk – St Johns
o 29 degrees max depth 25 meters for 33 minutes
o Spanish dancer, spotted wrays
October 28th
o First dive at Gota Soraya – St Johns
o 29 degrees, max depth 44 meters for 70 minutes
o Conditions were very rough - took ages to moor, Suzanna 1 cut our mooring lines - start over - waited for ages to get in, so many other boats at this site - did not bother us once we got in
o White tip sharks, lion fish, spotted wray
o Second dive at St John’s Caves – St Johns
o 29 degrees, max depth 19 meters for 105 minutes
o The most amazing swim throughs and tunnels openning out into caverns
o South side has a lagoon with a perimeter of pinnacles
o Tunnel entrances are via the logoon and from the west side
o North has no tunnel entrances and is covered in hard coral
o Network pipe fish, pyjama brownish coral crab, napoleon
o Third dive at St John’s Caves – St Johns
o 29 degrees max depth 19 meters for 76 minutes
o Drop in from boat, return to boat
o Network of tunnels, caves, caverns
o Came face to face (literally) with a white tip shark in one of the tunnels, network pipe fish, pyjama brownish coral crab, napoleon, arabian box fish, ruppells wart slug
October 29th
o First dive at Abu Diab - Fury Shoal
o 28 degrees, max depth 41 meters for 61 minutes
o Five white tip sharks, one grey reef shark
o Not much soft coral, marine life only toward the end of the dive on the west side, south side has pinnacles and shingle of dead coral
o Second dive at Malahi (Heaven) (Maze/ Laberinth) - Fury Shoal
o 27 degrees max depth 22 meters for 84 minutes
o Not at all like St John’s Caves, few swim throughs and overhangs
o Four main pinnacles joined in places to make the areas between the pinnacles 6-8 meters deep
o Smaller pinnacles around the outside
o Slug, lndian tube worm
o There is a family of white tips living in one of the caves (we were told) but did not see any on this dive
o Third dive at Malahi (Heaven) (Maze/ Laberinth) - Fury Shoal
o 27 degrees, max depth 22 meters for 79 minutes
o Fourth dive at Abu Galawa (Father of Pools) - Fury Shoal
o 27 degrees, max depth 15 meters for 28 minutes
o Tug boat on the west side contains schools of glass fish and shows the early years of soft coral growth
o This tug boat allowed us to do some wreck penetration - if it can be called that ?!
October 30th
o First dive at Shaab Maksour - Fury Shoal
o 27 degrees, max depth 33 meters for 62 minutes
o Two turtles, grey reef shark
o Strong up current on drop so quickly decended to 33 meters
o Two of the group from the rib were swept up over the top of the reef and we later found that their dive ended before it had begun
o The sea was so rough that we wondered if we would actually make it to the correct drop off point - it was quite some distance from the liveaboard
o Dropped in at the north, negative entry from rib and travelled down the east side
o Long thin reef, similar to Elphinestone
o Current too strong on west side so travelled along east
o South side plateau with pinnacles, dead coral shingles, therefore very little marine life
o North side soft coral, marine life
o Second dive at Abu Galawa Soraya (Small Father of Pools) - Fury Shoal
o 27 degrees, max depth 17 meters for 80 minutes
o Zodiac drop at the entrance to the gully, swam past it at first then backtracked to find it - not so easy to spot
o Sandy bottom within the gully, amazing architecture of hard coral - rather like Heaven, only better - stunning
o On the west side is the wreck of a small boat, another opportunity for some wreck penetration much to the amazement of the onlooking German divers
o This wreck also contained a school of glass fish and had very little coral growth
o The area under which the liveaboard was mored was littered with dicarded rubbish - bottles, batteries, an ashtray
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