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Dive Review of Emperor Divers in
Red Sea/Northern portion

Emperor Divers: "Good Red Sea wreck/reef diving", Mar, 2019,

by Ed Noga, OH, US (Sr. Reviewer Sr. Reviewer 10 reports with 6 Helpful votes). Report 10883 has 2 Helpful votes.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments The Red Sea is an inexpensive diving destination, loaded with sea life of all sizes, healthy coral and interesting wrecks.
I booked this trip to see the wrecks of the Red Sea, in particular the renown Thistlegorm, which lived up to its billing. I’d been on a Red Sea liveaboard a decade or so ago, in December, which was the wrong time of year to go. This visit was much better.
The trip was billed as a wreck adventure, and we had plenty of that. However, close to half the dives were on reefs. That was no problem because the reefs are in exceptional condition, full of fish of all sizes, from huge Napoleon Wrasses to nudibranches and everything in between. The only thing lacking was sharks. Wrong time of year? Are they all hanging out at Brothers Islands, with an appetite for divers? I don’t know.
Like the last time I dived the Red Sea on a different liveaboard, the ship’s crew and divemasters were friendly and highly professional. The Emperor Superior is a solid ship with plenty of room. Then again, it is set up for 23 divers, but we had just six. Trips before and after ours were full.
I had a single cabin and it was quite adequate.
The divemasters accompanied us on most trips, except for some visits to the Thistlegorm and other wrecks after we’d had initial dives on them, or when doing dives off the boat, rather than an inflatable. If you are a repeat, frequent customer, as were a couple of divers on this trip, they have no objections if you go off by yourselves.
In about five days of diving we did 19-20 dives.
I was impressed by how the divemasters protect the reefs. Drift down to the coral and you’ll get dragged off. On one occasion some idiot from another boat was shooting pictures while kneeling in the sand, with his fins smacking the coral behind him. The divemaster grabbed his fins and pulled him off…which seemed to irritate the diver. Hey, this is a reason why these reefs are so healthy.
We had a number of encounters with schools of dolphins at one site. That alone was worth the price of admission.
All of the other divers on this trip lived in Great Britain. Including my dives from years ago in the Red Sea, on a boat with at least 20 divers, there was only one other American on board. Europeans take advantage of the excellent Red Sea diving, which costs much less than most other sites. Traveling in the Middle East isn’t particularly risky if you avoid conflict areas, certainly not the Red Sea departures from Hurghada or Sharm el Sheikh. Heck, the week I was on the Emperor Superior there were six shootings in my hometown.
My only complaint was about myself. I rented most gear—very reasonable cost, and everything worked well—but ordered a 5 mil full wetsuit. Back in the day I’d dive comfortably in water down to 55 degrees F in a 5 mil. Not anymore—in 72 degrees F water I froze my butt off on most dives, other than on the wrecks when the adrenaline was pumping.
Everyone else knew better and wore at least 7 mil suits. Live and learn.
Websites Emperor Divers   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Primarily Lake Erie and the Great Lakes, but all over, from Truk to Galapagos, the Red Sea to Cocos Island, the Philippines to the Florida Keys.
Closest Airport Hurghada, Egypt Getting There Flights go there from Europe daily, or via Cairo or elsewhere in the Middle East.

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm
Water Temp 72-73°F / 22-23°C Wetsuit Thickness 5
Water Visibility 40-80 Ft/ 12-24 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Frequent customers could go off on their own. After doing initial dives at a site, we could do the same at times. Get back on the boat with 500 psi.
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 4 stars

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 They have a rinse tank, camera table and lots of electrical outlets. Be advised this is in Egypt, so bring an electrical adapter if you are from the U.S. The crew was very careful in handling photography equipment.
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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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