Dive Review of Red Sea Aggressor in
Red Sea

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Red Sea Aggressor: "Red Sea Aggressor December 2021/January 2022", Dec, 2021, by Gregory S Bruce, Washington, United States ( Sr. Contributor 24 reports with 19 Helpful votes). Report 12129.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation	N/A	Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
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Comments	Red Sea Dive Trip December 18th to January 7th, 2021/2022 A group of friends and I planned to do a 2-week dive trip to the Philippines during these dates. Unfortunately, they were still not allowing in foreigners unless accompanied by a lengthy quarantine period. So, when it was clear that we needed to choose something else, I received an e-mail from the Aggressor fleet offering deep discounts on the Red Sea itineraries over the same time frame. The cost was so discounted ($1250 per person), that we decided to do two back-to-back weeks, with two different itineraries, but on the same yacht. There were some additional expenses as there always seems to be on a liveaboard: $45 per week for port fees $105 per week for Marine Park Pass Optional: $100 per week for Nitrox and $75 per week for a 15L or 100cf tank and of course tips. Week 1 would have us board the boat at 3pm on Saturday, December 18th from the Port Ghalib marina, where we unpacked, had a leisurely dinner and then a detailed boat and itinerary briefing and introductions to our fellow passengers and the crew. We spent the night at the marina before departing the morning of the 19th for our adventure south to dive Daedalus, Fury Shoal and St. John’s Reef, before the return back north to Port Ghalib on the afternoon of the 24th. Week 2 would take us north to dive The Brothers and Elphinstone region from December 25th to January 1st and then back south to Port Ghalib. We then decided to add a 3rd week of sightseeing on the Aggressor Nile Queen that sails down the Nile River from Luxor to Aswan and takes in many historic sights. The Nile Queen was $999 for the 6 days plus a ground transport fee of $195 per person paid to Aggressor for travel from Port Ghalib to the Nile Queen in Luxor and then back to Port Ghalib from Aswan at the end of the cruise. Knowing what we know now, we could have found our own ground transport for considerably less, but in the moment, it was prudent and easy and seamless. GETTING THERE Some of us were coming from Los Angeles and some from Portland, OR. The week before departure, we were notified that the last leg of our journey from Frankfurt to Marsa Alam had been canceled by Lufthansa Airlines. So, a scramble ensued to find alternative flights that would get us where we needed to be at the right time. Long story short, we routed through Zurich, Switzerland and after using United Airlines to that point, we transferred to a Swiss Air flight operated by Edelweiss Airlines. It was a long and tiring journey. We landed in Marsa Alam a full 2 days before we were scheduled to board the Red Sea Aggressor 3. Even that did not turn out to be enough time for those who had flown from Los Angeles. Upon arrival in Marsa Alam, their bags were nowhere to be seen. Their layover in Zurich was tight and although they made it onto the flight, their bags didn’t. I won’t boor you with the drama, but 2 of the bags eventually made it before embarking on the boat and 4 did not. Fortunately, the Aggressor has super nice Aqua Lung gear that is made available for free in the event of this happening, so all was not lost. LESSON LEARNED: In the future, don’t fly into Marsa Alam. There are so few flights coming in each week that any lost or delayed luggage can have a difficult time getting there by the time you need it. After discussions with other passengers, should we come back, and I anticipate that we will, the better options will be to fly into Hurghada and arrange for a 3-hour ground transfer. Hurghada has many more flights from multiple destinations and air carriers throughout Europe. I should also say that the staff who handles lost luggage at the Marsa Alam airport could not have been more helpful or gone out of their way more to do anything possible to retrieve the luggage. Also, if you do fly into Marsa Alam, be sure to have pre-arranged transportation to wherever you are going to spend the night, if you come in a day or two early. We just assumed there would be an abundance of taxis or ground transportation available. If there was, it was gone by the time we got through with all of the paperwork related to the lost luggage and there was literally no transportation to be found. We called our hotel/residence and they were able to send a vehicle and driver and get us to the Port Ghalib Marina Residence. That turned out to be a Godsend, as our driver spoke good English, had a wonderful personality and we ended up contracting him for a day of sightseeing in Al Quseir. Another reason to fly into Hurghada instead of Marsa Alam is that there is absolutely nothing to do in Marsa Alam/Port Ghalib. It is very much a city built for tourism and is a ghost town until mid-afternoon. Cell reception is spotty and WIFI connection is basically non-existent, with the exception of a restaurant called Hakuna Matata. There are 4 restaurants along the marina serving overpriced American/European food. There is one very legit and authentic Egyptian restaurant called Ray Ga that had excellent food and prices. Everyone took US dollars or Euros as payment. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS It is possible to travel to and from Egypt without being vaccinated, but it is tremendously more difficult and complicated. Even with proof of vaccination, we were required to get a negative PCR test prior to arrival and the test result and your proof of vaccination need to be on a document with a QR code. We returned through Germany with an overnight stay in Frankfurt and not having proof of vaccination with a QR code would have made life quite difficult. Since the USA requires a negative antigen test (for people fully vaccinated) 1 day prior to departure, we opted for a rapid test kit that we purchased ahead of time through eMED/Navica and did our tests online via computer face to face with a technician. As long as you have a good enough WIFI connection to handle a video call, it works flawlessly and test results are emailed and posted to your Navica app on your cell phone within minutes. THE DIVING The Red Sea Aggressor 3 is a newer boat- built in 2014. It is extremely spacious and well laid out. I had a Master Suite which was at the bow, on the primary deck that also had the galley, dining room and dive deck. The crew were absolutely outstanding and made the entire 2 weeks a real pleasure. They were all well humored and customer focused. The food was good and plentiful, hot towels were on your shoulders as soon as you got out of your wetsuit on every dive, fins donned for you, etc. Dive briefings were excellent and well communicated. Half of our dives were to and from the yacht itself and the other half were from zodiacs. Water temps the first week on the southern itinerary were a consistent 75-76 degrees. Week two saw the temps drop to the low 70’s on nearly all dives. Visibility overall was very good. We had a good amount of wind, which is typical for the time of year and made those warm towels after the dive a real welcome sight. Air temps were a consistent 73-76 degrees for both weeks. We surprisingly did not see any sharks at all during the 2 weeks. We were all looking forward to some Oceanic White Tip encounters, but they never materialized. That being said, I found the diving to be extremely rewarding and the reefs in most places were pristine. Particularly at the Daedalus and Brothers dive sites. Our group had an amazing 15-minute close encounter with a pod of 20 bottlenose dolphins that circled and played around us and that was clearly the highlight of the trip. This was not on the snorkel excursion to a location known to have resident dolphins but was rather on a dive site. They seemingly came from nowhere and hung with us and then departed. It was magical. Most common sightings were of large humphead wrasses, very large moray eels, thousands of orange anthias on the wall dives, gorgeous soft corals, beautiful anemones and Clark’s anemone fish, blue spotted rays, tons of species of butterfly fish, scorpion fish, huge clams of many colors, tons of large porcupine fish, various nudibranchs and the occasional turtle. The diving was quite easy overall. We had some drift diving, but only one dive that had a good current and that was for about 10 minutes. Overall, we did a lot of finning, even at dive sites known to have current. Getting on and off the Zodiac could be sporty on occasion due to surface swell and wind. We had some lengthy dive site crossings on 3 different evenings. They could be 8-10 hours and given the winds and swell, they were not for the faint of heart or those prone to seasickness. Overall, our group consensus was that we enjoyed the diving in the southern route more (this included Daedalus, St. John’s and Fury Shoal). The water was warmer, the reefs were more bountiful, colorful and fish filled and most of our photos were taken on those dive sites. The Brothers was excellent on the northern route, but Elphinstone was a bit disappointing. THE NILE QUEEN Our 6 days on the Nile Queen Aggressor was wonderful and we are glad we did it. The crew was efficient, the food was amazing and our daily tour guide was incredibly informed and knowledgeable. We began in Luxor and after a 6 hour drive to get there from the dive boat, we had lunch and then we were off sightseeing the rest of the day and early evening at the Temple of Luxor and the Karnak Temple. We were pretty exhausted after such a long day, but the next day was even longer since we opted to get up and off the boat at 4:15am to go on a hot air balloon trip over Luxor and the valley. The rest of the day was spent touring the Valley of the Kings. It was a long but rewarding day and we are glad we did it. The balloon trip is optional and an additional expense, but very much worth it. A real highlight. Day 3 was a much more leisurely pace that had us jump on a Tuk Tuk for a bit of a ride through a village in the morning and to the tombs of El Kab. After lunch back on the boat, we arrived at the city of Edfu and took horse drawn carriages to the temple of Edfu. The next couple days were leisurely cruising down the Nile (technically up the Nile) to more sites and a very enjoyable evening BBQ dinner on an island in the river where ate and danced to traditional Egyptian music. The last day was spent in Aswan touring the site of the unfinished obelisk, the high dam and the temple of Philae. We had lunch at a local restaurant and then had a 7 hour van ride back to Port Ghalib where we spent the night before a late afternoon flight the next day to Frankfurt. We arrived in Frankfurt at 9:30pm and spent the night at the Marriott/Sheraton hotel located within short walking distance across a sky bridge at Terminal 1. Next morning for me was a United flight from Frankfurt to Denver, CO and then on to Portland. It was a god trip, but a long time to be away combined with the time it takes to get there and back and arrive a day or 2 early. We are discussing options for a possible return in 2024. But, before then, there are trips planned to Fiji, the Sea of Cortez and the Philippines.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Cozumel, Thailand, Vietnam, Channel Islands, So Cal Coast, Pacific NW, Monterey-CA, Grand Cayman, Bonaire, Belize, Philippines, Red Sea, Sea of Cortez, Florida
Closest Airport	Marsa Alam RMF	Getting There	Lots of ways to get there, but I recommend arriving in Hurghada instead or Marsa Alam
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, choppy
Water Temp	74-81°F / 23-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Surface with 500 PSI. Most, not all, dives were dive guide led. Surface together due to variable currents.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	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	Typical Aggressor liveaboard setup for cameras.

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Dive Review of Red Sea Aggressor in Red Sea

Red Sea Aggressor: "Red Sea Aggressor December 2021/January 2022", Dec, 2021,

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 Red Sea Aggressor in
Red Sea