BSAC TRAVEL CLUB - Trip Reports - Liveaboard Royal Diving 3 from Sharm

TRAVEL CLUB

Liveaboard Royal Diving 3 from Sharm

by Mike Bailey

Where shall we go?
This year we decided to break away from the usual dive places our Club had used and spread our wings a little further. We'd dived Malta and Gozo, Southern Ireland, Northern Ireland, France, Wales and Scotland many times, and although it was generally good fun, it had become a little too predictable. So this time we decided to try something completely different and we opted for the Red Sea.

We'd all heard stories of vast quantities of fish (large and small), sharks, turtles, pristine coral, warm water, 50m+ visibility, no rain, surface temperatures to die for and up to 5 dives a day if you chose a liveaboard. Could this really be true? If it were, it would be such a contrast to anything we had done before. It sounded so different we had to give it a try.

Which boat?
Having chosen a destination we set about looking for boat. There were plenty to choose from, both large and small, some taking bigger groups than others, some with wooden hulls and some with steel, some doing the northern itinerary and some doing the southern one, some doing both, and some with twin rooms and some with triples (a double and a single, now that did strike me as rather odd) some had en-suite facilities and some had shared facilities. One common feature seemed to be that they all claimed to have the best chef / food in the Red Sea - if this was true, then I wouldn't have wanted the worst one! Many boats were featured in different tour operator's literature, the only difference being the price. The price also varied between the northern and southern routes, with a premium price for the south. As we'd not done either before, we settled on the cheaper option and did the northern route.

We were looking to book a whole boat, so that only our group would be on it. That way we figured that as we all knew each other, we'd all get on well. And so it was. The prices varied quite a bit between operators and between similar boats, also depending upon whether you fill the boat or not. We were only interested in full boat prices. Some offered group discounts, some offered free places and some offered both. Even so, it was still a case of having to work out the maths to see what was best, as a good discount off a high price isn't always as good as a small discount off a lower price. So my first tip would be not to assume big discounts mean best value for money.

The choice of boat was decided one evening over a few beers. It had to be big with plenty of deck space for kitting up, take 16 divers, have twin en-suite rooms, provide nitrox and look the part. The final choice was Royal Diving 3, a gin palace.

Royal Diving 3 was 29.3m long with a beam of 7.8m and had two engines, each of 650hp. All cabins had en-suite facilities and the boat was fully air conditioned throughout. She had two air compressors and a nitrox compressor. A small inflatable was used as a launch and recovery platform for some of the dives, but for others we simply dropped off the back of the boat and swam back to it after the dive.

Which tour operator?
From the various conversations we had had with dive shops, at the dive shows and with other club divers, we were getting very mixed messages about different tour operators. The same tour operator was thought to be good by some but poor by others. I guess it depends on your own personal experience. So we went back to the pages of Dive magazine to see who was featured in there. A couple of tour operators looked interesting so I made enquiries about availability and prices. Then I asked if any of their staff had dived from Royal Diving 3, and if so, what was it like. If the first answer was no, then I didn't go any further with that operator. If they said yes, I asked to speak to the person who had done the diving, so that I could pick their brains. I suppose they could have talked up the diving and offered insincere praise about the boat or the operator, but I thought I might detect if they were telling porkies.

Having had several conversations with different operators, I finally opted to book through Tony Backhurst. I had personally spoken to Tony on a number of occasions and he had always provided answers to my questions, mostly without having to come back to me, so I determined he must have plenty of knowledge and experience of the boats, the diving and the more general information about the Red Sea. Tony made the booking very easy for us as most of it was done over the phone. I even found it was easy to substitute one diver for another, when illness prevented one of our party from travelling. Deposits were paid and a receipt was forwarded by return. We also received a very colourful fact sheet containing important information about our trip.

Pre-departure meal
As most of us were travelling solo, and leaving our 'other halves' behind, we decided to have a pre-departure meal one evening before we set off. We booked at the Yew Tree at Dormington (a local restaurant, which is run a by one of our dive club members) and we had a great time at a bargain price.

The night before
As we were due to fly at 09:00 we decided to travel down the night before and do a stopover at the Holiday Inn, Crawley. We made use of their shuttle bus service to take us from the hotel to the airport the following morning. When we booked the hotel, the shuttle service was included in the price of the stay. However, when we came to use the service it was no longer free and we had to pay a small fee to use the bus.

The Flight
Our flight was with Sabre Airways, a regular carrier of passengers to the region, and we flew direct from Gatwick to Sharm el Sheikh. Flying time was about 5 hours. Our original flight time was 09:00. However, due to unknown reasons, our flight time was changed to 11:50, and then later changed again to 13:10, so we had plenty of time to spare at the airport. Check-in time duly arrived and we had a bit of aggravation getting our bags through. The usual problem arose, several bags were 'overweight' and they wanted to charge us extra. After our protests came to nought, we simply moved stuff from one bag to another until we finally met the check-in desks criteria for weight.

At Sharm el Sheikh

Getting a visa took sometime. Unfortunately the plane did not have visa cards on board for us to fill in prior to landing, so just about everyone on the plane had to get one inside the terminal building. That was the first problem. The second was 250 people queuing to pay the $10 to one of two immigration staff. Another tip would be to get your visa before you go, it costs a little more, but you'll go straight through immigration, without having to queue.

A member of the boat crew met us at the airport and he directed us to the minibus that was going to take us to the boat. The minibus was barely big enough for all of us with our bags, so we were a little cramped. However, they did agree to stop off along the way at the duty free shop, to allow us to buy a few beers for on the boat.

On the boat
We soon met up with the boat and got on board. It was one of those, 'leave your shoes at the doorway' affairs, as shoes were not needed again until departure. Cabins were chosen and kit stowed and we waited eagerly for the diving to begin. Alcohol was available on board at an extra charge, so too were soft drinks. It was a self-service arrangement operated on honesty, you simply chalked up the number of drinks you had had during the week and settled up at the end.

Some of us had brought our own drink and the crew were happy for us to keep our beer in their fridge. There was also an ample supply of fresh bottled water in the icebox, with no restriction on what you could have.

There was plenty of space on the boat, with more than enough room to spread out. The lounge had numerous chairs and tables and we often sat into the evening playing cards and having a few drinks, prior to settling down for the night. The air conditioning was a definite bonus, as below decks could get very hot and stuffy when the system was turned off, which it was at times.

The sun deck was very popular for just stretching out and relaxing. However, if you didn't want the sun (or you'd had enough) there were other shaded areas to rest.

There was a radio on board and the boat carried oxygen, which our divemaster, Dennis was trained to use, as were a number of us, but thankfully it wasn't needed.

Weather
It was mostly sunny but the wind did pick substantially on one day, so much so that the skipper ran for cover and wouldn't move the boat until the storm abated. We could see one vessel, which had recently run aground on a reef. Wind was a major factor we were told, but by the end of the week the boat had been re-floated and towed away. Another casualty was in the Ras Mohammed area. Remains of ships could be seen in a number of places.

There was no rain during our stay. In fact it never rains we were told and as no rivers drain into the Red Sea, the visibility is always good. During our visit was no exception and we easily had 40 to 50m visibility, maybe more.

Health
There are a few recommended immunisations for the Red Sea; polio, tetanus and typhoid fever but malaria tablets were not needed - no fresh water means no mosquitoes - and we certainly didn't see or feel any.

Diving
Dennis, an English guy, had an aversion to people sleeping during the day, even though he himself nodded off frequently. His catchphrase was, 'briefing, no sleeping' and if that didn't wake you, then a sharp nudge usually did the trick.

Each dive starting with a briefing and pictures of the dive site were presented to give us a feel for the area to be dived. As our group had 16 divers, we were usually split into two groups of 8 with Dennis leading the first group and myself leading the second group. We dived the same site but in two waves as the Zodiac could not accommodate us all at once.

The first dive was, as always, a checkout dive. On this occasion the boat owner, Chas, also came along to give us the once over. Both he and Dennis gave us feedback after the dive, including comments about the divers performance above and below the water. Some buoyancy problems were mentioned; in particular where one diver had made contact with the reef, also mentioned was a diver who couldn't get the cylinder to hold fast in their BC.

After the dives, the Zodiac came to pick us up. Kit was generally removed in the water and passed up to the crew in the Zodiac, prior to hauling yourself in. When the Zodiac was full, it made its way back to Royal Diving 3 and offloaded its passengers.

We had a good selection of dives including wrecks, reefs and night diving. The best reef dive was around Jackson Reef where we saw turtles and white tip reef sharks and numerous corals, most in perfect condition. This was my first encounter with sharks in the wild, but they never came closer than about 10m. They say you never forget your fist time, and so it is for me.

The Thistlegorm is a stunning wreck and we managed 3 dives on her in the same day. I'd seen pictures of a row of BSA motorcycles in magazines, but the pictures don't really do the scene justice. There are rows and rows of motorbikes, at least 50. There are Bedford lorries, steam engines, and loads of Wellington boots. Also many pieces of ordnance, including some shells, which when I lay alongside, were longer than me, so a minimum of 6ft in length.

Another great dive was Yolander Reef (the area around the toilet wreck). This is at Ras Mohammed and it's teeming with life. Many different varieties, including hump head wrasse and moray eels. One large moray (about 5 foot) was out in the open and swam alongside us for about 100m, gracefully curling its way through the rocks and crevices. This is the deepest water I had dived in with the bottom reckoned to be 3000ft below, so good buoyancy control is a must.

Story and photographs by Mike Bailey

Mike Bailey
BSAC Advanced Diver / Advanced Instructor, Training Officer, Hereford Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC Branch 0633). Tel: 01432 272526. Email: mike.bailey2@ukonline.co.uk.

Cost
The cost of the trip was �795 each, which included UK travel, insurance, flights, accommodation, full board, water, tea, coffee, entry visa, resort transfers and all diving. Extras were for alcohol and nitrox.

When
22nd to 29th April 2001

Travel & Diving
Travel was arranged through Tony Backhurst Scuba Travel and we were able to get good discounts because we filled the boat. Contact details www.scuba.co.uk. info@scuba.co.uk. Tel: 01483 271765.

Insurance
Diving and travel insurance was booked direct with BSAC travel insurance (Home & Overseas). No longer available with this insurer.

Return to EGYPT Main Page