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Dive Review of Red Sea Aggressor II in
Red Sea/Northern Red Sea

Red Sea Aggressor II: "Wrecks and Reefs in the Red Sea", Nov, 2019,

by Kevin Tan, CA, US ( 1 report with 1 Helpful vote). Report 11263 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity 4 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling 5 stars
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments This was our first time diving in the Red Sea. We elected to go on the Northern route to see the famous wrecks that we heard about. We felt very safe travelling throughout Egypt, although security was very strict. We brought advanced underwater camera gear and were constantly questioned as to what everything was despite the airports knowing well that many of us were divers. Thankfully, by the time we got home, none of our gear got confiscated. We had an issue with late arriving baggage (all our scuba gear!) but thankfully it arrived just in time before the boat left Sunday morning.

The RSA II was great, as per the reviews that we had read online. Despite the baggage snafu, the staff were more than willing to give us rental gear for free in case our stuff didn't arrive. Thankfully it did. Diving was good, especially the many wrecks that were a part of the itinerary. We did our SSI Wreck diving course over the course of the week. One other guest on board was doing their Open Water Diving Certification, much to the surprise of the dive instructors on board! I wouldn't recommend doing your open water diving certification at all. Red Sea diving isn't really for beginners, although it's not the most challenging diving either.

We stayed in the only Suite on the liveaboard, so we had lots of room in our cabin. Only complaint was that the smell in our cabin often bothered us being near the diesel engine area. If you're sensitive to that, I would recommend going with one of the two Master Staterooms. Otherwise the room was comfortable. The boat itself was spacious and well equipped with many sitting areas to rest and relax. Loved the showers right after getting back from a dive and the warm towel and cold drinks from the staff. Staff helped us get into our gear and remove gear. First dive was a check dive and we had to practice deploying an SMB, which we had no done before even in our AOW training. They will require you to have a reel and safety sausage with you at all times for safety, so if you don't have one, you have to pay for one on board. We deployed it a handful of times especially during more difficult or drift dives where we got picked up in a zodiac. The dive briefings were thorough and excellent, and we were allowed to either dive unguided or guided. The SS Thistlegorm tours were amazing. We got 3 opportunities to dive there, including a night dive. The cruise director Adel was great in suggesting to do the dives earlier in the morning (5am start) because we essentially had the whole wreck to ourselves.

All in all, we enjoyed the week and met nice fellow guests on board. Many on board were from Europe, but there were a few Americans on the trip as well. Compared to diving in Indonesia previously, I would say that we were spoiled in that we didn't see as many small/interesting critters or large pelagic life in Egypt as we've seen in the past. That said, we got to dive some incredible wrecks and reefs which were really world renowned and interesting.
Websites Red Sea Aggressor II   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 51-100 dives
Where else diving Northern California, Greece, Indonesia (Raja Ampat), Mexico
Closest Airport HRG Getting There SFO-DXB-CAI-HRG

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm, choppy, surge
Water Temp 25-27°C / 77-81°F Wetsuit Thickness 7
Water Visibility 10-30 M / 33-98 Ft

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Dive according to certification (advanced open water to 30m/100ft)
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 2 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics N/A

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Decent area for cameras with dedicated outlets to charge. However, the area given to each guestroom was a bit small for my fairly large rig. For small cameras, it was probably adequate. They had separate rinse tanks for cameras.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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