Returned from Red Sea Diving near Sharm el sheik

Tell us your tale of coming nose-to-nose with a 6 gill [--this big--], or about your vacation to turquoise warm waters. Share your adventures here!
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JJHACK
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Returned from Red Sea Diving near Sharm el sheik

Post by JJHACK »

Hello fellow divers. I've returned after diving around the red sea for a couple weeks. 7 of the days was aboard the "King Snefro Love" live aboard.

The King Snefro team is a very well run operation that does not miss a beat. I would dive with them again and not even bother to shop around. They nailed 100% of everything needed and were on top of any boat or cabin issue instantly.

I'll list a couple sore spots but want to say that these are nothing to consider regarding the overall trip. It's all part of the adventure! Some of the folks had a struggle getting back on the zodiacs when we were picked up. Typical plan was to inflate BC and let the zodiac driver haul it into the boat. I can say that folks on this trip in general had rather good gear. However this is part of the dive that will break things of lower quality. Some of the plastic bits of very poor or low quality gear is put through some tough banging around when hauled up over the side of a zodiac and laid in the bottom of the boat where the next BC is stacked on top. By the time 6 divers are sitting in the boat and 6 BC/reg Tanks/ are all piled up it became a concern of mine. I decided I'm getting on the boat last after that first experience. Better my gear was on top of the pile! Only problem with this strategy was no-place to land with a full boat. I was often in the boat head first, feet in the air while somebody grabbed my fins, while I'm laying in a contorted position legs in the air!

Also getting on the zodiac. Been down this path before but was on a bigger inflatable so it seemed easier. This one had quite large side tubes so it was a challenge for many to get up over the side. Trick is to keep fins on, then hold breath lower to arms length and fin like a beast while pulling yourself up and sliding over the tube like a penguin going ashore on the rocks. A number of divers exhausted themselves with failed attempts. Until we could grab and yard them back in. There were three female divers and two men over 70 on the trip. Upper arm strength is a huge benifit getting back on the inflateable.

In addition to the entry into the Zodiac after the dive, there was the entry from the main boat. All gear on except fins, then down the ladder backwards stepping into the zodiac which was bouncing and lurching from the sea water. Several of the divers were struggling with this due to the weight they carried on their backs and the awkward moving target to get into the boat. These are not meant to be, or sound negative at all, just part of the adventure. However none of this is ever covered in the glossy brochures!

The one additional concern which I would address early on, is the choice and types of dives. We did 22 dives on this boat in 6 full days of diving and one day we did only one dive (Arrival and travel day). Several of the dives, Maybe 6 of the 22 were filler dives in my opinion. Kinda like buying an album with a few great songs that you must have. Yet there are several on there that never make radio air play, and you just cannot make yourself like them. They were dives but they were not red sea worthy dives.

I spoke to the dive master about this. His spin was that the weather was tough with the wind and tides and this was the best we could do under the conditions. That may be partly true, but when you swim 45 minutes directly into a current and then drift back with that same current 30% of the way back why didn't we just take the zodiac all the way and drift dive the whole way back? I'm not smart enough to undersatnd this, nor was anyone else on these dives! Those were exhausting efforts!

Other dives we had where a hurry up and power swim to cover distance without any way to stop and enjoy the wildlife and the corals. It was a drop off with what felt like a race get to the pickup point as fast as reasonably possible with the fitness of the group. At times people wanting a photo of something would be left behind maybe as much as 200 feet from the group. Again I brought this up with the reply being. "most divers want to see as much as possible so we make the dives as long as we can to cover the area". It did not seem to concern others and yet some folks felt it was a competitive challenge to keep up and do the dives this way.

So what about the other 16-18 dives? Well, 7 were on ship wrecks. Namely the Thistlegorm, Dunraven and Yolanda. All excellent and better experiences than I can put into words here. The balance of the reef dives were magic! The fish, corals, turtles and seascape were worth every minute of the long flights and relentless security checks!

Regarding security checks in the middle east. Cairo, Sharm El Sheik, and Dubai are serious about security. Makes our TSA lines look like security for theme park ride. First you go through metal detectors to enter the airport building, as does all luggage even checked bags. So that dive knife you can pack in a checked bag..... It's a no go in the middle east because it cannot enter the airport period. Dive gear in general was complicated for them to understand and allow. Batteries in flash lights and checked camera flash etc. became a struggle. Although in time with patience and having a more senior or experienced english speaking supervisor arrive on the scene all became clear and everything was okay. This process could be an hour to get into the airport building alone! Then of course you go to the ticket counter and check your bags. The carry on can only weigh 15 pounds (7KG) they will weight them.

Now you get to actual security which will empty everything as they see fit, I had them pour out my vitamins from a bottle and ask me what they are for. Also took out a tiny little repair sewing kit and tell me I could not bring it on board as well as tweezers, stick deodorant, and nail clippers? These were packed in my bathroom kit in my carryon as always on international trips. These guys also took my camera batteries out to look at them and then my flash and video light batteries as well as being completely baffled at how to get the batteries out of a few of the divers computers. My shearwater uses a AA battery which I had to show them.

Okay through the security after a very VERY deliberate ....verging on a "date level"As of pat down before getting to go to the gate. Which is screened off and where you must hand over your carry on to be fully inspected 100% all over again. As well as another one of these intimate "pat downs". About 1:5 travelers have the letters SSSS on their boarding pass( we think this is simply random). These folks are taken to another area for special or additional questioning.

Once on the flight, the clash of cultures is clear and smacks you head on. There is little in the way of social etiquette on the part of many of the middle eastern people flying on a jet with others of different cultures. Being shoved pushed, sneezed and coughed on openly farting yelling dropping empty soda cans water cups water bottles on the floor and leaving food trays in the isles when they are done is simply standard practice. The bathrooms look horrible with standing water on the floors, and toilets filled with paper and not flushed. Sinks with residue and something looking like partly chewed food is stuck to things. Children running everyplace on the flight screaming and laughing or bawling their eyes out is the norm on all 6 flights I took within the middle east. Including the return flight from Dubai to Seattle. On that flight soda cans and water bottles rolled down the isle past me when the flight landed. During the deplaning I stepped in food on the floor in the isles and saw food smushed and smeared on many of the seats I walked past. This Emirates Air flight remained me of the frat house in the movie animal house with john Belushi.

It's no different in their city and communities. Everyplace in the cities like Cairo and Alexandria was a giant run down ghetto. Broken out windows and doors in the majority of buildings, broken down cars just left where they stalled in the roads. Crumbling concrete walls and rebar sticking out everyplace you look on the roofs and walls of buildings. Evidence of fires all over the place. This is not just a poor culture, it's a poor culture with no hope or reason to care for any part of their future. The 100% lack of any basic hygiene is evident everywhere you look.

A small river or canal running through the city is used as a dump for household rubbish, and we saw a tanker truck which looked in every way like a septic tank pump out truck was emptying it's contents into this river or canal. Where people were fishing within 100 feet of this going on! If you think this is embellished, I was directed to a you tube video called garbage city Cairo. Check that out to see the issues first hand.

If anyone wants to visit the pyramids or dive the red sea I have a wealth of fresh perspective in my head now. I can also help you with the best Cairo tour guide you will get. She has a masters degree in Egyptian History and knows the routes and places to go. Between her and the Snefro fleet you cannot go wrong!
The best things in life are not things
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Tom Nic
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Re: Returned from Red Sea Diving near Sharm el sheik

Post by Tom Nic »

Thanks so much for the report. Really helpful!
More Pics Than You Have Time To Look AT
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BillZ
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Re: Returned from Red Sea Diving near Sharm el sheik

Post by BillZ »

Great insights on Egypt and the Red Sea! I'm headed over next month for my third trip with Red Sea Explorers.

Your DM wasn't pulling your leg on the wind. I've been through a couple of rough days on the Red Sea and it can get really sporty. The dives on our trips have always been planned on a day-by-day basis based on what the winds are doing.

Your Zodiac experience is spot on - try doing it in doubles with two deco bottles and a scooter :) . Luckily we usually could scooter over to the main boat and avoid the zodiac pick-up.
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Gdog
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Re: Returned from Red Sea Diving near Sharm el sheik

Post by Gdog »

What an experience! Thank you for sharing. However, we seem to be missing photos and /or video! Looking forward to that!
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JJHACK
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Re: Returned from Red Sea Diving near Sharm el sheik

Post by JJHACK »

Here are a few of the photo's from the red sea trip. So many it's hard to choose!
Attachments
My favorite photo of the trip, that's me at the prop of the thistlegorm
My favorite photo of the trip, that's me at the prop of the thistlegorm
IMG_4242 2.JPG
Bat fish
Bat fish
Trigger fish that bit the 2 ladies 5 times
Trigger fish that bit the 2 ladies 5 times
IMG_4045.JPG
IMG_4438 2.JPG
BSA motorcycles on Thistlegorm
BSA motorcycles on Thistlegorm
Parrot Fish
Parrot Fish
The city of cairo from the citadel
The city of cairo from the citadel
The best things in life are not things
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