Red Sea Trip Planning
Don’t we all have a bucket list with the top 10 destinations to go scuba diving? And I am sure that all divers will tell you Red Sea diving is somewhere in top 1-3 of their list!
In Pura Vida Lanzarote, we were very excited to organise this dream trip for our students and divers. We were even more excited to arrange a whole liveaboard for the North Route (Reefs & Wrecks) onboard of Emperor Superior for our Pura Vida divers only!
The trip to Egypt & arrival on-board
Trip was a bit crazy due to the flight schedule. We were travelling from Madrid via Istanbul to Hurghada departing midday and stopping over in Istanbul just before midnight for a few hours. Upon arrival in Hurghada you could simply know that everyone was really looking forward to getting on-board.
As we arrived we breezed through the easiest visa process which I have ever experienced. Once through passport control, we found the sim card booths just outside. We were picked up by the Emperor Superior transfer – luggage fitted through the windows of course!
The Red Sea liveabord experience
I was very impressed by the liveaboard experience we had throughout our 7 nights stay. The team was absolutely incredibly efficient and always smiling, the operation ran smoothly and there was not a single complaint on the food or the accommodation!
Our arrival was at 4:00 am. We had a quick brief by our guide for the week Eric followed by “OK guys have a little rest and I will see you again here at 6:30 for the morning briefing”. At 6:30 Eric woke us up with the loudest “Good morning” and this was going to be the rhythm of the coming week.
One day on Emperor Superior
It was practically: “Sleep. Dive. Eat. Repeat!”
- 6:00 wake up
- 6:30 first briefing for the day followed by dive 1
- 8:00 breakfast
- 10:30 second briefing and dive 2
- 12:30 lunch
- 14:30 briefing and dive number 3
- 16:30 afternoon snacks
- 18:30 night dive briefing and dive
- 20:00 dinner
What I enjoyed most was the fact that everyone on board was absolutely obsessed with diving so the mood was permanently upbeat and buzzing. In the first few days people were getting used to each other, to their assigned buddies, to the rhythm. The great co-living experience of all our Pura Vida divers was extremely pleasing. The best part is that when we were not diving we were looking at the videos we recorded, at the marine life we had seen, at the places we were going next. Ah, the joys of the scuba divers life!
The Dives: The Reefs & Wrecks route
We did total of 20 dives in 6 days. If you are a dive addict your best holiday will be on a liveaboard. You setup your equipment on day 1 and all you do the rest of the time is check your Nitrox and dive!
Here is a list of my top dives on our Northern Route – we saw variety of coral reefs and wrecks – stunning views, breathtaking history and lots of photos! However, I really struggle with rating them in order as they were all so different! Some brought us lifetime experiences like diving with dolphins, while others brought us back in time to WW2.
Ready to dive in?
Kingston Wreck
The Kingston Wreck is located near Shag Rock dive site in the Strait of Gubal, North Red Sea.
The Kingston is a former 80m long steamship sunk in 1881 with no loss of life after hitting the Shag Rock Reef. The wreck is between 5 and 20m. The amount of marine life is absolutely brutal – jack fish chasing sand smelts, while surgeon fish drop from every corner, anthias create curtainlike formations while you pass though the Kingston. Corals have covered the entire wreck and extend further into the gorgeous reef of Shag Rock.
SS Thistlegorm
SS Thistlegorm was a British armed Merchant Navy ship built in 1940 in Sunderland, England. She was sunk in 1941 near Ras Muhammad in the Red Sea and has established as a well known diving site.
It was first discovered by Jacques Cousteau in the early 50s with the help of local fisherman. It was not until the 90s however when Thistlegorm was “re-discovered” by recreational divers.
If you are curious to learn more about this legendary wreck I would absolutely recommend you the book “SS Thistlegorm: WW2’s Greatest Shipwreck” by John Kean.
We did 3 dives in Thistlegorm – all with very different conditions. Dive 1 was with plenty of current and with 5-7m visibility, while dive 2 & 3 we had the luck of no current & more than 10-15m visibility.
Diving within the Thistlegorm is truly impressive experience. It feels like you are re-living the history as you slowly discover the cargo: Bedford trucks, Universal Carrier armoured vehicles, Norton 16H and BSA motorcycles, Bren guns..and more !
We all agreed that Thistlegorm has been a truly memorable experience. Although we did 3 dives, it felt like it was not enough and there was still much to see and explore.
Ras Mohammed National Park
Shark & Yolanda Reef and Anemone City
Ras Mohammad is a national park in Egypt at the southern extreme of the Sinai Peninsula. As soon as you put you head underwater you realise why divers speak so much about it. Beautiful topography is coupled with an incredibly busy marine life.
In Shark Reef you can see gorgeous gorgonian fans, soft and hard corals and lots of small reef fish such as anthias – and huge schools of fish in the blue such as napoleon wrasse. Slowly from all sides you are surrounded by playful blue spotted stingrays who lead you to Yolanda.
Have you been to an underwater surreal art exhibition? This is exactly the feeling you get when you find all the marine life living in the cargo of Yolanda. In summary stingrays pose next to toilets, crocodile fish is resting in a bath. Pretty insane!
On a second dive, we visited Anemone City. We were straight away greeted by a graceful turtle. As the name says it – get ready to find lots of Nemos, but not only – the dive site is full of hidden beauties like puffers, morays and more.
Abu Nuhas Wrecks
The Abu Nuhas wrecks SS Carnatic, Chrisoula K & Giannis D are all located in the same area so they make a perfect choice for a full day of wreck diving.
Carnatic Wreck
SS Carnatic was a British steamship built in 1862. She operated on the Suez to Bombay run in the last years before the Suez Canal was opened. In 1869, she ran aground on a coral reef in the Red Sea and broke apart the following morning. The wreck was rediscovered in 1984.
SS Carnatic is quite impressive when you start passing through the ribs of the wreck where you can find curtains of anthias and plenty well camouflaged crocodile fish. At the bow, you can look through the hawsehole and you will see the a pretty awesome view of the inside of the wreck.
Chrisoula K Wreck
The Chrisoula K was a Greek registered freighter and on its final journey its cargo consisted of Italian floor tiles heading for Jeddah.
It sank in 1981 after the engines were set at full speed and the Chrisoula K was driven straight into the reef. Some say this was done in order to get the cover for the insurance policy as the ship was getting quite old and beaten up.
The wreck is pretty much overtaken by the reef so breathtaking photographs can be taken easily here.
Inside of the wreck you can still find the workshops and the tiles transported and while you are exploring you can easily find jacks coming out of the windows.
Giannis D
The sentence that describes Giannis D is “This was absolutely mindblowing!”. During the briefing we were told that the ship is located at 45 degrees on the sea floor. Therefore turning right means going up and turning left means going down. It is really confusing as the bubbles are constantly coming at diagonal and your body tries to adjust for the angle.
This ship was changed owners and names a couple of times before becoming Giannis D. It was carrying a cargo of wood when it struck the reef and sank in 1983.
Dolphin’s House
I have always been fascinated by dolphins. Who hasn’t?!
Now imagine arriving at a dive spot called Dolphin’s House. You have your eyes wide open looking for them and suddenly you see a pod of dolphins only a few meters from the boat. What will you do?
The answer of course is get in your wetsuit as quickly as you can, get your equipment on (& don’t forget your buddy!) and go find the dolphins.
Well this is exactly what we did!
The sounds underwater, their movement, their communication and their playfulness makes dolphins more than hypnotising. We can’t be more grateful for them allowing us to meet them so close!
Highlights of the trip & overall experience
An experience to be shared !
In very simple words – we absolutely loved it!
