Dive Review of Mar Rosso in
Red Sea/Saudi Arabia

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Mar Rosso: "new pastures", Aug, 2023, by Michael Joest, Kehl, DE ( Top Contributor 52 reports with 31 Helpful votes). Report 12525 has 4 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
Overall Rating
Value for $$
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Comments	“Visit and enjoy the Red Sea like it was 20 years ago” the ad said and each of you like me would have for sure out of curiosity looked closer into this offer in our dive magazine. Well, it showed the first offer for a live aboard in Saudi Arabia shortly before Covid came, S A introduced the tourist visa access for Europeans in 2000. I was interested, as I dove Jordan at Tala Bay already which was nice and not that far from the border to S A where signs clearly stated warnings “ you are reaching the border …” I did some research on S A but internet couldn´t tell me much on S A diving. Only John Bantin, who it seems was already in each spot of the world, told me he was not that enthusiastic about Farasan. New things are always tempting and so I looked into that special offer. They had two different trips, one to Farasan Banks which was supposed to cruise around some offshore islands and visit steep drop offs with awesome soft and hard coral and the chance to spot pelagic like hammerheads etc. This started in autumn until May. The other was Yanbu route which went out of Jeddah cruising through many pristine coral gardens plus “seven reefs” and “five sisters”. I wanted warm water so I chose the latter and a 10 day trip to get a good impression of this area in August. By that time a second travel agent had picked up this destination and voted for more comfort on a luxurious boat. While my offer ran around 2140 € (without flights) this one charged already 1928 € for 7 days. Money concerned the Saudis are as smart as their Sudan “neighbors”. Folks are always ready and prepared to pay a bit more for new things. So naturally there is the necessary visa which you can get with a bit of work on the internet for 125 €, for permits marine park and service charge add another 405 € which is steep and you pay on board. I never found any reference to a marine park on the internet, so I doubt this money goes to nature protection. The roundtrip flight with Saudi Arabia Airlines from Frankfurt to Jeddah was 1200 which I preferred with only 6 h in the air to cheaper offers with detour for around 500 and 12 hours of travel. I asked for culture and things to do apart from diving but the travel agent was just starting with S A so she couldn´t tell me much. The SA tourist web site showed a lot of places, towns, markets, desert and other attractions worth visiting, well maybe next time. Big surprise, one day prior to departure I get an email telling me, my boat the Saudi Explorer was still sitting in dry dock in Egypt. Due to missing papers for departure to S A it could not meet our scheduled trip. However the agency Mar Rosso down there managed to put their hands on another boat, the luxurious Almonda, the cruise would go as planned. Halleluja! 6 h flight with Saudi Airlines takes you into Jeddah. However we were already delayed in Frankfurt, sitting on the tarmac for 1.5 h with late and short explanation by the captain “problem with luggage + Frankfurt couldn´t offer a free slot for take off. I saw on the internet that delay seems to be a regular issue with S A Airlines. For me it was the first time with an airline where passengers stand up long before the plane got to it´s gate or the seat belt sign being switched off. They seem unable to force this issue on their own folk. Passing customs and immigration went fast and well and a guide was already waiting for me at the huge round aquarium in the entry hall. The boat was not fully booked, 14 Italian guest, a couple from Scotland, and I got a cabin for myself lucky happy me. They gave a good and detailed briefing of the boat, even including the second exit and the strictly forbidden charging of batteries in your room or without observation on the dive deck. I checked the 2 nd exit right next to my room on the lower deck, it was a square small opening in the ceiling of one cabin leading to ??? Shaab Suflami at the seven reefs was among the most spectacular dives. The reef is pristine in it´s surrounding, vis 30 + m, water at the surface 33 C down below 35 m around 28 C. It´s an oval plateau nearly submerged at high tide. We had a rope from boat to some boulder and grabbed our way along closer to the reef. It was a wall down to 25 m all around the plateau with ledges or terrace stretching to the north and south then slowly sloping down again. Often there was some kind of greenish “haze” around 30 m, maybe minerals and plankton coming from the deep. Once trough this curtain into the dark blue we found jacks barracuda trevallies cruising and deeper some grey reef sharks, curious but shy. Does shy fish mean these are not used to divers or are afraid of peril in form of spear guns? For a while we hovered there hoping for more, then slowly climbing up a beautiful wall with aquarium like scenery and plenty of fish, a paradise for the photographers among us. I spotted a grouper and a bigger sting ray, the first so far. Most of us had reached deco at that time, so a shallow tunnel doing a U turn into the wall was welcome. There were awesome purple soft coral at the entry, a bunch of sweetlips hanging around the exit, deeper trigger were cruising. Even my old hero 3 found photo opportunity. We swam back to the rope, the computer showed 60 + minutes, everybody was looking forward to a healthy breakfast. Marco our instructor and dive guide gave detailed briefings, 10 min Italian, 3 min English, words like “immersion” or “bombola” still ringing in my ears, he never mentioned any limits time depth or deco wise (jackpot for me) and always underlined the “chance of pelagic” which sad to say where significantly missing, maybe due to the extreme water temp. With eagle eyes he spotted special things long before we even caught a glimpse of it like the few hammerheads around. Once he pointed in one direction this always was the signal for an Italian lady to switch on her turbo and kick and fin fast with big camera that way. She forgot that by chasing the fish she spoiled the chance for all the other divers to see it. I always continued slowly which made a hammerhead turning around a 2 nd time to look closer to what there is, as Marco squeezed a plastic bottle the whole time. Most dives went from Zodiac + back to it only few we jumped straight from the mother boat. With 71 I´m not that surefooted anymore and hated the Zodiac entry and exit. There should have been a net like mat around the rubber part similar to the one they had around the bow, to prevent guests from slipping. Helping hands where always around so no worry. Back into the Zodiac without gear with some effective kick of the fins I still manage easily. Due to the warm water I only dove with a rash guard overall with was totally sufficient even deeper down. On the surface the air had 38 to 40 C it was unbearable hot and humid and waiting for your buddies or the guy to find the right spot was pure suffering. Almonda is a big boat, a large dining room on the main deck, a salon with an open air plus bar on the upper deck overlooking the dive deck, a sun deck with Jacuzzi. It´s run by Ocean Breeze liveaboards. My Scottish buddy told me she has a wooden hull which makes it a bit less heavy and more unstable than the Saudi Explorer with it´s steel hull. I noticed 2 wild birds on board, the captain told me they often have some, as it seems to far from the islands to main land, so they have a break in between on ships. They even had a falcon once in the engine room which he caught with gloves and glasses. Meals were always served buffet style, sumptuous and delicious, western style meals with a touch of Italian and Arabic, the desert was mouthwatering sweet. One dinner had noodle soup, rice, mixed vegies, steak with pepper sauce, fried squid, eggplant and pudding yummy another offered a magnificent shrimp cocktail, potato wedges, fish, lamb, spinach, fresh fruit. Breakfast typically consists of bread, toast, crepes, cheese, sausage, eggs, yoghurt and some cooked meals. At Marker 39 I spotted a bunch of barracuda in around 32 m and a big stingray in 34 m. My buddy on Nitrox was hovering somewhere above me. In a slight current he couldn´t hold his position, was short on ground time, drifted away. Looking up the guide asked me where my buddy is, I shrugged my shoulder. On slow ascend up the slope I spotted him hanging on a rope from ship to plateau in shallow water. Together we continued our dive. Now, if there is someone to blame, who would that be? Maria, a reef corner with current, all these ingredients and guaranty for fish soup all around you, a dive where I could easily shoot a full role of film , a big school of barracuda circling around us, jacks, fuesseliers, surgeon, you name it and it was there. A single huge barracuda, a large field of anemones a blueish jellyfish looking like sunny side fried egg, sweetlips, soldiers, and hundreds of tiny red fish hovering and dancing above the riff. On each breath of yours returning to safe cover only to appear again soon. I spotted a medium sized moray eel, my first scorpion fish on this trip, my eyes just don´t adjust to those well camouflaged animals. Some parrot fish and angel playing with each other, in the distance some Napoleon but never getting closer. On the surface a big group of dolphins passed by, some tried to lure them closer by whistling. Nitrox was for free, few chose this as it often kept them away from continuous deep dives due to lack of ground time. I once hit 50.4. m and had several days with deco, once even 3 times with deco up to 16 min. Most dives went longer than 60 min, when a lovely shallow reef invited to stay and watch. Grand Finale was an awesome dive Al Bayada on a coral garden where macro fans could find everything and a wreck dive on the Ann Ann, where the propeller in 30 m offered a great last shot as memory. Only two times we had a bit of current running and 3 lazy fun drift dives along a wall. We had only 1 turtle, I missed manta rays, humpheads, whale sharks and most of all school of hammerheads. The last evening we went into the old town of Jeddah. Amazing to still find these ancient houses with wooden outside application around windows and doors in such a huge city. Funny to see watering spots for the many cats in town built as a small hut. People seem to care for their pets. The many highways and freeways with multiple lanes ramps roundabouts and turnstiles I find irritating and I can´t see myself ever renting or driving a car there. As reminder: I stayed on the Almonda, the dive crew and guides were from the Saudi Explorer Costs: trip 2.360 flight 1.200 visa 125 park + service 405 = 4.150 € rather expensive, the price you have to pay to be among the first in a new region. It´s for everybody to evaluate if this is reasonable and justified for what they offer. You get pristine reefs, maybe pelagics at the right season, will have definitely no throngs crowds or many other ships around you. A similar trip in Egypt would cost you easily more than 2.000 less. mar-rosso.it = Saudi Explorer oceanbreeze-liveaboards.com) = Almonda
Websites	Mar Rosso
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	worldwide more than 100 destinations, mostly South Pacific and Asia, Africa and Caribbean
Closest Airport	Jeddah	Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, no currents
Water Temp	28-33°C / 82-91°F	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	30-40 M / 98-131 Ft
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	none
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 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	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

Report currently has 4 Helpful votes

Subscriber's Comments

By report author: Michael Joest in Kehl, DE at Jan 05, 2025 04:29 EST

feedback from my British buddy Andrew: It pretty much ties up with my recollection of the trip. The one point where I probably have a different perspective from you as an underwater photographer, was regarding the pelagic vs. reef diving. As you said, there wasn’t a lot in the way of pelagics that we encountered, and those that we did were pretty distant, and so not particularly good for photographs. Perhaps this was due to the extreme temperatures driving them deeper. We did seem to me to spend a lot of the available dive time looking for pelagics without much success, and while I’m quite happy to photograph pelagics if we are getting good encounters, given that we weren’t, I would have perhaps enjoyed more time on the reefs where there were good photography opportunities.

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Dive Review of Mar Rosso in Red Sea/Saudi Arabia

Mar Rosso: "new pastures", Aug, 2023,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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 Mar Rosso in
Red Sea/Saudi Arabia