A "Majestic" Exploration Trip in the Deep South, June 2007


by Iain Paul

Having had an excellent exploratory trip on "Emperor Fraser" in 2006 when intended arrangements on other boats fell through, when I heard that there was a two week Deep South exploration trip on "Majesty" one of Emperor;s Gold Class boats I jumped at the option.

Booking was through Regaldive with their BSAC member discount. Marsa Alam has flights from both Manchester and Gatwick with the latter beinng more convenient for us. An initial internal flight meant testing 2 different airline baggage arrangements. From Aberdeen with BA there was not even a raised eyebrow when I checked in a relatively small camera case as my main piece of luggage followed by a large dive bag as the additional sporting equipment! The offer of diving Qualification cards was unnecessary. An overnight stay at Gatwick used the Premier Travel Inn Central accessed in minutes from North terminal whether by foot or courtesy coach. With 9.30am flights we departed early and were at the check in desks before the Astraeus staff! The expected 25 kgs allowance and discounted excess for divers proved to be 30kg free, with no issue made when we fully utilised this - though the Q cards were noted.

After a comfortable 5 ½ hour flights with excellent leg room (for which Astaeus are to be applauded) we arrived at Marsa Alam and our Rep excelled himself getting us right at the front of the visa & immigration queues. Having collected our baggage we were guided to the air conditioned minibus for our trip to the boat. We were to join her 2 ½ hours drive further south at Hamata and not at Port Galib, Majesty's normal port of departure. On the bus we were each provided with a box of snacks and drinks for the journey. Travelling in daylight the massive amount of development which is going on was very obvious, with resort complexes rising out of the desert shore line every few miles right down the coast. On arrival at Hamata we were transported to "Majesty"by RIB where we met Ahmed Fadel our main guide for the trip, and were allocated our cabins.

With only 13 guests and "Majesty" designed for 20, this meant that all the guests were in the twin bed cabins rather than bunks with a number of us having a cabin to ourselves. Altough most were on the London flight, with some guests from Manchester and another from Poland, arrival was phased over several hours, with all treated to a welcome drink on arrival and then a meal.

Cabins are spacious with good storage and excellent ensuite facilities with flush toilet and separate shower cubicle. All cabins are individually air conditioned with local controls. They are accessed off 2 companionways, one from the saloon and the other forward of the separate dining room. Both saloon and dining room being fully air conditioned with this running 24/7 and so effective that it could even feel a little chilly! A plasma TV in the saloon was used for some of the briefings as well as guests sharing their dive videos and DVD's. There are 2 sun decks with a jacuzzi on one, which is filled on request. Tea,coffee and soft drinks are available free of charge at all times and after most dives we were met on the dive deck with fruit juice or smoothies.

Our first morning on board was a late start, finalising paperwork and getting clearance from the coastguard. This would be the last late start we would have without missing a dive. We were all given a thorough safety briefing on the boat and activities prior to setting sail. The emphasis on the trip was exploratrion spending as much time as possible in the very far south of Egyptian waters combining a mix of new untested sites with others which are more or less well known.. The general plan involved 3 dives to be on offer the first and last day with 4 on the remainder, to include either a dusk or night dive. All were preceded by a thorough briefing by Ahmed who has very extensive experience of sites in the deep south. With a membrane nitrox system giving approx 32%, most guests used this, especially as it is provided free on Majesty and other Emperor Gold/ Platinum Class boats. Diving was a mix of from/to the boat or her 2 RIBS and either way, the crew were very attentive to the presence of divers and DSMB's or flags on the surface. As with other boats in their fleet Emperor have helpfully painted the name (well almost!) in large letters on the bottom to help you choose the correct ladders when sharing a dive site with other boats (rarely the case for us in the deep south)!

Guests held a mixture of BSAC, PADI and CMAS qualifications and all well exceeded the 50 dive minimum requirement for the trips in the area, with most of them having been there previously. In general, following the briefing, guests were free to do our own thing during the dives within our buddy pairs / groups with Ahmed and Michelle (the second guide) observing carefully or making up numbers rather than working on the "follow my leader" basis.

Our first dive was on the yacht and reef at Abu Galawa Soraya wihin Fury Shoal following which we moved straight on to Mikawa Island (Cirnaka) where we dived late afternoon and night. Progress down south was then via sites in St Johns Reef, to Abu Fendera, Ohrob, Abu Ramad, Raw Abel and Abu Antut. Return then took in various isolated Habili's and wrecks before doing the more usual sites of St Johns finishing in Fury Shoal again.

Highlights of the diving for me were the encounters with bumphead parrotfish shoals at Abu Fendera, with further individuals at The Nursery and Abu Basala. The most memorable experience was however snorkelling with the dolphins in the lagoon at Sataya reef. A further point of interest was the opportunity to be some of the very first to dive the remains of the Egyptian Destroyer "Al Qaher" (since visited by John Bantin for a feature in Diver). This lay where she sank, in a fight with Israeli aircraft during the War of Attrition and had obviously been almost unvisited by divers. I sincerely hope that future vistitors treat her with respect her and leaves her undisturbed, taking only memories and photos. Also of interest was the opportunity to further review an ancient amphora wreck which was discovered on the trip in 2006.

Amazingly we encountered very few other boats during the 2 weeks. Even on our return to St Johns and Fury shoal we only shared a couple of sites with divers other boats and only because wind limited safe overnight moorings. We may just have been lucky but it seems likely that it was a combination of the phasing of flight days separating UK fromother countries, plus the use of Hamata as our start and finish point. The latter put us well out of sync with most other boats until almost the end of the trip when we started to meet some of other nationalities.

Although an exporatory trip, the itinerary gave an excellent mix of new and well known sites. With the trip being mid to end of June, the water was not as warm as I have previously experienced and a number of us (softies) found the general 26-28C water temperature a little chilly in 3mm suits when average dive times approached an hour. Previous trips in July & August has seen 29-30C or more!

Departures were dictated by flight times with most having a night on board in port before being collected by the minibus mid morning and transported to the airport via the Coral Beach Resort. The pace of expansion of tourism was again clear at the airport where building works at the terminal look as though it will have doubled in size for 2008, only about 5 years after it opened. Check in and return flights were again uneventful both in Egypt and UK.

Report and photos by Iain Paul - BSAC Advanced Instructor iain@iainjpaul.freeserve.co.uk

More photos at Here


Web addresses Regaldive - Here
Emperor divers - Here"
Majesty info & video - Here
Premier Travel Inn - Here
Astreus - Here


Egypt main page