Dive Review of Discovery Divers in
Red Sea/Port Ghalib/Hurghada

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Discovery Divers: "Warm waters and amazingly diverse coral and fish", Oct, 2019, by Joel Snyder, AZ, US ( Sr. Contributor 29 reports with 30 Helpful votes). Report 11190 has 2 Helpful votes.
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Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We spent 2 weeks aboard M/Y Samira (part of Discovery Divers) diving the Red Sea in Sept, 2019. Our overall evaluation was that the Red Sea boats are an excellent value, offering outstanding diving quality and variety at a price that cannot be beat. Because the boat's schedule is designed for a 7-day trip, with 6 days of diving, we had a lighter schedule than some liveaboards: overall we completed 34 dives, all that were available, including 2 night dives. The diving was outstanding for virtually every dive, with water temperature of 29 C (about 84 F) at most sites, occasional dips down to 27 C. Average depth across all dives was 13m, average dive length 68 minutes, max depth 44m, longest dive 86 min, shortest 55 min. Visibility was excellent on most dives, typically 15-30 meters. Diving in the Red Sea puts you into an incredible territory of both soft and hard corals, with healthy populations of colorful reef fish on every coral head: Sailfin and Yellowtail tang; Red Sea and Schooling bannerfish; Sohai surgeonfish; Picasso and Titan triggerfish; Regal, Emperor and Arabian angelfish; Red Sea Raccoon, Crown, Black Backed, Exquisite, Lined, and Masked butterflyfish: all of these showed up at least once every day. We had occasional hammerhead sightings, and frequent appearances of oceanic white-tip sharks ("Longimanus") at multiple dive sites. No manta or eagle rays this trip, but we did stumble across a Dugong wandering a bit far from the grassy areas. Turtles and giant moray eels were common, along with barracuda, stingrays and very curious Napoleon Wrasse. From Port Ghalib, boats usually run a "north" or "south" itinerary, making a big loop during the week. About 2-3 hours from Port Ghalib is Abu Dab'ab, a huge area with many dive sites that boats use as a staging point heading in and out of port--both weeks, we stopped here on the way out for our check-out dives and on the way in before hitting port. The South itinerary will hit the major sites of Rocky, St. Johns (often closed for military exercises), Zabargad, and Daedalus. Hammerheads are most likely at Daedalus, and the dive masters' goal of showing hammerheads to their dive groups led us to spend a lot of time there, sitting at 15-30 meters, hoping that sharks would show up. (After a few dives of that, we asked if we could just explore the incredible reef instead, and were given the OK) The North itinerary (sometimes called "BDE"), covers Brothers, Daedalus, and Elphinstone. All sites and dives are subject to modification based on weather, which in the Red Sea is generally wind that whips up waves, making travel difficult or unpleasant and entry/exit a problem. Although there were plenty of boats plying the areas, we generally had dive sites to ourselves or saw the occasional group above or below us as we were diving. Two of our dives (at Brothers) were actually crowded, with multiple groups of divers getting in each other's way, but this was more the exception than the rule. Our dive masters and captain worked to keep us out of currents and to avoid bad weather (wind, usually). Dives were divided more-or-less evenly between submerged large reefs, where the only decision was to follow on the left or right shoulder, and more complex underwater landscapes requiring a bit of navigation. On our first dives, the guides asked us to stay with them as they led us on a random-seeming path in-and-out through coral heads and cuts in the reef. After they had observed our skills, more advanced divers were generally given the freedom to do whatever they wanted, within time limits (supposedly 60 minutes per dive, but this was a very relaxed 60 minutes). Depending on the site, dives would either be off the back of the boat or via inflatable dinghy with a 3-5 minute ride. Every diver was required to have an SMB. For dinghy dives, if you and your buddy decided to separate from the group, instructions were to complete the dive at the normal time, swim away from the reef, and inflate the SMB for pickup, something we did multiple times. (Or just swim back to the boat if it was easy and within sight.) The dinghy drivers are awesome and had no trouble finding their own divers among the bobbing heads in the sea. We were broken into two groups, each with our own dive master for the entire week, alternating "first off the boat" status each day. For dives off the boat, once your group was called, you could get in the water whenever you were ready and either wait for the dive master or take off on your own. For dinghy dives, two dinghys were available, dropping all divers in the group at the same moment so that they could follow the guide. The dive deck on Samira consists of three rows of benches with numbered spots for each tank. You attach your gear to your tank and leave it there the entire week. Between dives, you pull your first stage off and the gasman fills the tanks--which is the limiting factor to how often you can dive. Nitrox is available as hand-blended from large O2 tanks, usually 28%. Each bench seat has a milk crate below for your mask; fins are stored on the dive deck at the back. Although the dive deck wasn't spacious, having only 10 divers at a time on it worked out pretty well. (All tanks have DIN mounts and briefings are in metric) Standard tanks were Aluminum 12L, equivalent to a standard "Aluminum 80," with larger 15L tanks available at minimal extra cost. Advanced photographers may find the Samira challenging, as there is little space or accommodation for cameras. A set of shelves (and outlets) on the deck had plenty of space for charging, but there was no dedicated camera space. The dive masters volunteered to put a towel down in the salon and offered a spot to leave cameras between dives. That worked on our trip, but a voyage with 5 or 6 photographers with housings and lights would need other arrangements. The Samira is typical of boats that ply the Red Sea in this area, all built on a fairly common plan. Samira had 11 cabins--we had 20 divers the first week, and 22 the second. We had 2 Egyptian dive masters who also served as "cruise directors," acting as intermediaries with the crew and captain, all of whom spoke varying levels of English. Although there were only 4 native English speaking guests the entire trip, briefings were delivered in English. Our two weeks had guests from France, Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the UK, and Korea, so a little linguistic flexibility went a long way. We were the only couple who stayed on the boat for two whole weeks. The dive groups ranged from a few absolute beginners (first dives after certification) to technical instructor-level divers with more than a 1000 logged dives. In general, the groups skewed towards less advanced divers, probably because of the relatively low cost and proximity to Europe---this makes an excellent trip for a European who has a week of vacation and doesn't want to burn all of it getting to Raja Ampat. The dive masters were excellent divers, although they spent more time trying to keep track of the novices than acting as spotters. Although, in these waters, you don't really need much of a spotter as there are incredible things all around you. All cabins have private baths; most have two single beds. Ours was one of two with a double-bed. Space in the cabins was limited, but there were three decks of shared space: a large salon/dining room next to the dive deck, a large shaded area with a bar and huge bench/couches perfect for a nap on the upper deck, and a sun deck/smoking deck with partial shade above that. 7 cabins were below deck; 4 were on the upper deck. Climate control in the cabins was centrally controlled, but we were generally very comfortable even when sitting in port. Daily schedule was wake-up typically around 6AM followed by coffee and briefing and the first dive. Then a breakfast, free time, until second briefing and dive. Lunch after that, and a third dive after lunch. Around 4PM - 5PM, a hot snack would appear with dinner usually around 7PM, adjusted depending on sailing times and weather. Twice we were able to fit in a fourth, night, dive. The food was plentiful and generally quite good with a selection of multiple dishes at every meal, with occasional Egyptian dishes but mostly European-style food. Everything was buffet-style, and vegetarians would have no problem on this boat. Desserts were left out after meals and always available as a snack if you wanted a little something. Water, tea, soda, and juice were included; beers were 3 Euro for a large Egyption Stella and wine by the bottle was also available. Standard rules of "no diving after drinking" were met without objection. The weekly schedule for the boat was a little hard to divine (and the lack of communication from the central office didn't help), but ended up working this way: Saturday is arrival day, and the boat is in port all day. Divers must board Saturday. Sunday morning, around 8AM the boat leaves for a short 2-4 hour motor to a nearby reef. Two dives on Sunday, followed by four days of at least 3 dives a day interspersed with sailing north or south depending on which itinerary the boat is following. Friday is a short day: 2 dives at most, and back in port in the afternoon. If you can get a flight out Friday night, that's great; otherwise, spend the night on the boat Friday and be out of your room by 10AM on Saturday and get your flight or airport transfer then. Our itinerary was from Port Ghalib, a speck of a town that has grown from a hunting camp in the 1990s to a sprawl of all-inclusive resorts clustered around the shoreline. Port Ghalib has its own airport 10 minutes from the port, with mostly international flights to Europe. Many divers on our boat chose to fly to Hurghada, a 3-hour ride from Port Ghalib, which has a larger airport and larger selection of flights. (The airport transfer to Hurghada is included in the price of the cruise). We were already vacationing in Italy, so the 4-hour direct flight Rome-Port Ghalib was a delight---one of the shortest travel times to a dive trip we've ever had. From the US, divers could either fly to Europe and catch a direct flight from major European hubs, or decide to make an Egyptian vacation by going through Cairo and spending time on land.
Websites	Discovery Divers
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Asia; Carib; Mexico; Hawaii; Red Sea
Closest Airport	RMF; HRG	Getting There	Frequent direct & inexpensive flights from European cities
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	calm, choppy, no currents
Water Temp	27-29°C / 81-84°F	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	10-20 M / 33-66 Ft
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	A 60-minute time was requested, but not enforced. Depth limits suggested (and reasonable) but not enforced.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Advanced photographers may find the Samira challenging, as there is little space or accommodation for cameras. A set of shelves (and outlets) on the deck had plenty of space for charging, but there was no dedicated camera space. The dive masters volunteered to put a towel down in the salon and offered a spot to leave cameras between dives. That worked on our trip, but a voyage with 5 or 6 photographers with housings and lights would need other arrangements.

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

Subscriber's Comments

By Greg Bruce in WA, US at Oct 21, 2019 12:39 EST

Great report. Thanks for posting.

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Dive Review of Discovery Divers in Red Sea/Port Ghalib/Hurghada

Discovery Divers: "Warm waters and amazingly diverse coral and fish", Oct, 2019,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Discovery Divers in
Red Sea/Port Ghalib/Hurghada