Dive Review of MSY Elegante in
Africa/Djibouti

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MSY Elegante: "Economy liveaboard a bit rough around the edges but great whale sharks", Dec, 2019, by Jennifer Widom, CA, US ( Contributor 12 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 11390.
No photos available at this time
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 $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The MSY Elegante is one of a small number of liveaboards that spend time in Djibouti during the winter whale shark season (roughly November-January). Two of the boats, Lucy and Nemo, appear to be relatively upscale custom dive boats and take more than 20 divers. Two others are repurposed wooden schooners, including Elegante, which takes 14 divers. Elegante caters primarily to Italians, though we had a few Americans aboard (us), one Swiss, and one Brit. Everyone was there to see the whale sharks, which are quite reliable particularly when snorkeling. (We didn't see any whale sharks while diving, although one group had a brief encounter.) We looked for whale sharks during 3 of our 6 days when we were in the prime area, with great success on two of them; we also did 2-3 reef dives every day. The regular diving certainly doesn't match up to the coral triangle, but the reefs are healthy, and the fish, rays, and turtles are plentiful. Visibility was 30-40 feet, the price one pays to have the whale sharks around. The boat is aging and schooners aren't really laid out for diving, but the boat and routine were set up well enough to get the job done. The cabins are on the small side but they're clean and en suite; none seemed to have working air conditioners and some had significant generator noise. The Sudanese boat crew also pretty much just got the job done, with the exception of one charismatic dinghy driver -- thanks Mamoun! The divemaster/trip-director was a young Italian who ... you guessed it, got the job done, albeit rather passively. There was a second divemaster who seemed somewhat inexperienced and mysteriously stopped diving partway through the trip, leaving us just one guide for 12 divers (though the experienced group and easy conditions made it no issue). The strongest suit of the boat operation may have been the food: meals were plentiful and ranged from good to delicious. On the other hand, snacks and beverages were a bit limited, communicating the requirements of one of our group with strict gluten-free restrictions was difficult, and the stomach issues that struck a few passengers were likely food-related. We admired the more upscale liveaboards from afar, though the number of divers would be a real concern -- whale sharks are a lot more fun to snorkel with when there's not a huge crowd. The high point of our trip was when most of our passengers were on an optional land tour, and the remaining five of us swam with a friendly whale shark for a good part of an hour. That experience, along with the pleasant reef diving, made the trip a worthwhile one.
Websites	MSY Elegante
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	worldwide
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, dry	Seas	choppy, no currents
Water Temp	83-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	20-40 Ft/ 6-12 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	> 2
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	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of MSY Elegante in Africa/Djibouti

MSY Elegante: "Economy liveaboard a bit rough around the edges but great whale sharks", Dec, 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):

Dive Review of MSY Elegante in
Africa/Djibouti