An opportunity for a luxury experience on the most popular Red Sea diving route – highly thought of and annually regarded as the best by both advanced and beginner divers!
Caves, tunnels, vertical walls, and magnificent coral plateaus are just some of the features characterising the sites on this great safari. The many structures create a hugely diverse underwater labyrinth world, the perfect home for a plethora of flora and fauna – underwater photographers will find plenty to challenge them!
The St. John's and Abu Fandera route is without a doubt the best available in the southern Red Sea. Exceptional diving spots, each a legend in its own right, satisfy a diver's every criterion. A chance to not only see everything, but to dive in every possible way: from zodiac, from the boat, drifting in the current along vertical walls, relaxing above coral gardens, exploring a wreck, or seeing the renowned walls thickly forested in soft Gorgonian coral. The local inhabitants of this environment are also out to impress: find yourself surrounded by dozens of species of small rainbow coloured fish, see huge schools of tuna, mackerel, and barracuda; swim with friendly dolphins and Napolean fish, and come eye-to-eye with larger beasts such as hammerheads and reef sharks. With a bit of luck... you'll experience the huge shadow of a giant manta crossing your path!
ITINERARY
15th May 2021 – Depart Europe for Egypt. After touching down we transfer to our boat – home for the rest of the trip!
16th May 2021 – We set-off on our cruise! Our first dive sites are at Shaab Marsa Alam.
ABU GALAWA SMALL. This beautiful reef is ideal for diving on the first day. It is composed of two primary coral blocks and a number of smaller ergs along the walls. We moor our boat to the two main coral blocks from the south, before entering the water for the first time! We drift through a narrow channel between the two main coral blocks (channel depth 4 m), before finding ourselves in the 'aquarium', that is, a lagoon formed by the two main coral blocks and a smaller block. We then make our way along the western coral block (lagoon depth: 15 m) where to the north we come to a plateau that shallows to 10 m (we make a circuit of it). After this, we start to round the western coral block where we come across numerous ergs before reaching a yacht wreck at 15 m. The reef is a beautiful display of both hard and soft coral, on one of the ergs, we will also see black coral. Walls are littered with anthias and clownfish, we also meet butterflyfish, bannerfish, jackfish, lionfish, rays... the list goes on!
17th May 2021 – More excellent diving at Claudia and Sataya South.
CLAUDIA is located right in the middle of the Fury Shoal reef system. The structure here is beautiful and offers one of the most stunning hard coral gardens in the Red Sea, as well as numerous tunnels, caves, hollows, and overhead clearances. We start by mooring up on the south side of this site where the depth is around 15 metres. Diving will take place from the zodiac where it drops us over the north wall, from here we'll go with the current south along the western wall – back towards our boat. On the western wall is where we find one of the magnificent hard coral gardens, along with a cave and a chance of seeing a whitetip reef shark. This area reaches a depth of around 10 to 15 metres and further to the west there's a slight drop down to 25 – 30 metres. On reaching the south-west side of the reef we're presented with some great tunnels at a depth of 10 to 15 metres. We'll meet an abundance of species on this dive including goatfish, bannerfish, Napolean fish, barracuda, and huge triggerfish.
SATAYA SOUTH is a large coral reef with its top sitting at just 0.5 metres below the water surface. We moor 10 metres from the south wall in water at a depth of 15 metres. Below us is a fantastic plateau, with several ergs, which reaches south from the reef wall before ending with a vertical drop-off. We dive straight from the boat and swim east to a terrific coral garden sitting at a depth of 6 to 10 metres before making our way back to the boat. Again, many species to be spotted: goatfish, giant parrotfish, clownfish, anthias, bannerfish, stingrays, lionfish, and bigeye jacks to name a few. It's also a perfect place for night diving...
18th May 2021 – Diving Abu Fandera!
ABU FANDERA is the southernmost part of our route. It is approximately 4 hours sailing from the St. Johns. It is 15 to 20 meters deep, and the passages between the reefs are full of coral blocks. The 6-kilometer reef is full of colorful small fish, colorful soft and hard corals. Sometimes, with a bit of luck, you can meet reef sharks, hammerhead sharks, large Napoleons or beautiful Spanish dancers. This reef is located just below the border with Sudan.
19th May 2021 – Dangerous Reef!
DANGEROUS REEF is one of the most impressive reefs of the St. John's system. Our boat moors up on the reef's south side. We take to the zodiac for these dives which drops us over the western wall at a depth of 15 metres. Heading south along the western wall, with the sandy bottom below us, we come to the southern end of the wall and a small cave next to a coral garden (depth 6 metres). Behind the coral is a tunnel which we pass through cutting through the southern corner of the reef (6 metres). On the southern wall, there are numerous caves, depressions, and fissures for exploration. There is a second possible route as follows: from the cave on the western wall we can head south-west and make a circuit of the beautiful erg, then return to the wall and swim the coral garden stretching south-east along the wall in the direction of our boat. The boat sits in a depth of 22 metres which falls off to the south. Here we find the giant humphead parrot fish (only found in the deep south), stingrays, Napoleans, moray eels, giant triggerfish, jackfish, sea bass, and trevally.
20th May 2021 – Habili Ali and Gota Kebira St. John's
HABILI ALI – Habili is the Arabic word for a reef that never rises to the surface. The top of the reef sits at a depth of 2 to 4 metres and therefore does not provide much protection against waves – we need excellent weather for this one, mooring here is effectively in the open sea. Our itinerary may change to allow for dives in this location – this reef will be our priority. Two dives from the zodiac can be completed on this reef; both in the north, one on the eastern wall and one on the western wall. Here we find shoals of huge tuna, grey reef sharks, whitetip sharks (reef and oceanic), hammerheads, Napoleans, trevally, schools of snapper, mackerel, barracuda, and the giant humphead parrot fish. Magnificent coral formations are abundant and include soft corals, sea whips, and gorgonian forests.
GOTA KEBIRA ST. JOHN'S – a drop-off wall with numerous deep fissures and caves to be explored. At 6 to 8 metres there are two caves connected by a tunnel. We dive either from the boat or the zodiac on the eastern reef wall which is covered in beautiful hard and soft coral. We saw as many as 15 sharks the last time we dived here! This is a great place for deeper dives. Species we may encounter include grey reef sharks, whitetips, hammerheads, Napoleans, turtles, barracuda, shoals of jackfish, tuna, trevally, and in the shallower areas numerous fabulously coloured smaller fish.
21st May 2021 – Fur Shoal Garden and Malahy.
FURY SHOAL GARDEN - a terrific garden of remarkable hard coral formations with an average depth of 15 metres. The zodiac drops us on the north side of the reef right above the coral gardens. We make our way along its western edge southwards to the boat. Here we find fusiliers, bannerfish, butterflyfish, anthias, goatfish, whiptail stingrays, and lionfish.
MALAHY is known as 'the playground' by locals and Malahy in Arabic means labyrinth, you'll see why! The site is a system of several large ergs in close proximity to each other, this formation creates the unique labyrinth. Drifting between the ergs we go through ravines and tunnels and discover caves along the way. The grouping of larger ergs is surrounded by amazing formations of smaller ergs – overhanging, hollows, etc. The reef is teeming with marine life, at the centre of the playground is a chance to see groups of fusiliers and jackfish, on the outer areas we meet sharks and almost all other species of fish. The depth of this site is from 15 to 25 metres and we dive from our boat moored on the south side. We swim to the middle of the playground and make a figure of eight circuit through the labyrinth before coming out on the east side and proceeding to the north-west wall over the cluster of smaller ergs.
22nd May 2021 – We disembark from our boat and transfer to the airport for our departure back to Europe.
End of trip.
Recently built in 2018, our luxury dive yacht is second to none throughout the Egyptian Red Sea. This beautiful vessel has been designed with attention to the smallest details. At 43 metres long and 8.5 metres wide, there’s plenty of space for everyone. The high standard of cabins and general quality of the boat makes for a relaxing holiday. At last, a yacht that meets the expectations of the most demanding divers!
The yacht comes with 14 well-equipped cabins including two double suites. Each cabin has its own self-contained air conditioning, spacious bathroom, TV, mini bar and safe. There are two decks, ideal for sunbathing and relaxing under the stars. Two large and very comfortable lounges are available. A sauna, jacuzzi, two massage chairs and a 65” TV round out the luxury facilities!
For our clients, we also have two 85 horsepower zodiacs to pull a banana-boat or trampoline!
But we’re not finished yet! Add in slides and an inflatable pool that can be set up behind the yacht. Everyone’s happy!
PRICE per person:
EUR 1550 + flights (from PLN 1499)
Additional EUR 220 per person for a Suite Cabin.
Additional EUR 180 per person for a Bosun's Suite cabin.
Additional EUR 150 per person for a Deluxe cabin.
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