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Dive Review of Red Sea Aggressor Southern Route in
Red Sea

Red Sea Aggressor Southern Route: "Disppointing boat, but decent diving", Nov, 2019,

by Janet Westin, WA, US (Sr. Reviewer Sr. Reviewer 8 reports with 8 Helpful votes). Report 11292 has 2 Helpful votes.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 2 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 3 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 3 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 3 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments We were accommodated on a substitute boat, due to an "incident" with the normal boat used for the Aggressor Red Sea Southern Route. The boat was inferior to what had been described to us, except for the food, which was excellent, and the divemasters, also excellent. The crew seemed unfamiliar with equipment other than their own, and handled our equipment roughly. The air fills were all short (2700psi). Our travel agent informed us a few days before we left on the trip that there would be a substitute boat, but many of our travel companions did not know until they arrived. Given that, there were lots of oceanic white tipped sharks, as advertised. The visibility was less than I expected, but may be normal for this time of year in the Red Sea.
Websites Red Sea Aggressor Southern Route   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Palau, Philippines, Fiji, Roatan, Mexico, Florida, Raja Ampat, Hawaii
Closest Airport Hurghada Getting There SEA to CDG, CDG to CAI, CAI to Hurghada

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm
Water Temp 80-82°F / 27-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 5
Water Visibility 40-80 Ft/ 12-24 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions required a buddy
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 1 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 5 stars

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]
Was this report helpful to you?
Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

Subscriber's Comments

By Lee Little Haponski in TX, US at Nov 26, 2019 12:26 EST  
Can you, please, specify what the boat was like compared to what was advertised?
By report author: Janet Westin in WA, US at Nov 27, 2019 09:06 EST  
No master stateroom, no tv in the room, no movies available, no queen beds, no ladders on the zodiacs, one robe per cabin, broken toilet seat, (one cabin had the toilet not even hooked up when they were shown to their cabin). While this sounds fairly petty, if you paid for one level if accommodations, but received another, it impacts your trip.
By Elaine Brown in ON, CA at Nov 27, 2019 12:32 EST  
I was on that vessel, Mistral, at the same time as the reviewer. I concur with her assessment of the vessel: she has provided a fair and balanced review. I would just clarify that the itinerary was the Brothers, Daedalus, Elphinstone route--as opposed to the extreme southern route that includes Sudan.
By Lee Little Haponski in TX, US at Nov 30, 2019 19:43 EST  
Thanks. Our group is booked for May2020 and we're definitely concerned about the accommodations as well as safety issues!
By report author: Janet Westin in WA, US at Dec 02, 2019 14:20 EST  
I have heard that the Mistral has been replaced with a different boat.
By Ms Lynda Durfee in VA, US at Jan 05, 2020 16:40 EST  
The reporter should have mentioned that the "incident" was a fire in the middle of the night in which one passenger died. I was aboard for two weeks in April 2018 and two more in Dec 2018 on the RSA I. If I had upcoming reservations on a "substitute" boat, I'd either demand a full refund or a discount. On both my 2018 trips, they were discounted to about $1500 plus port fees, taxes, etc., but these were discounts advertised well in advance, due to steep decline in American and European tourists in recent years.
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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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