As every year, in November we organize a diving trip to some of the most beautiful diving areas in the world. This year we are traveling to Egypt. More precisely in the south where we will dive the Brothers, Daedalus Reef and Elphinestone dive sites.
For this purpose we will be on the Red Sea with the Golden Dolphin IV for a total of 7 nights. The trip was organized with great support from the travel agency Tu.R from Essen in Germany. The trip will be accompanied by Tamara and Daniel from the Cyprus Diving Centre.
Before the trip starts
Five days before departure, we at the Cyprus Diving Center check and service the rental equipment that we bring with us, as well as our own equipment for the trip.
Daniel, as an APEKS and Aqualung service technician, mainly takes care of the regulators and Tamara organizes all the equipment and site management.Fünf Tage vor Abflug geht es bei uns im Cyprus Diving Centre darum, das Mietequipment, welches von uns mitgebracht wird, wie aber auch unser eigenes Equipment für die Reise zu überprüfen und zu servicen.
Day 1 - The meeting
It's finally starting! Today the Golden Dolphin 4 is boarding in Hurghada. Some of the group arrived a little earlier and enjoyed a few more days on the beach, while others are arriving directly from the airport today. So travelers meet again and again on the Golden Dolphin 4. Marius and Selest from Germany were among the first to make themselves comfortable on the Golden Dolphin 4. Our group consists mainly of friends and divers from Cyprus Diving Centre. But there are also one or two new faces, which makes us very happy! We're a cool, mixed-up bunch.
Everyone who arrives on the Golden Dolphin is first given a briefing about the boat, shown the cabin and, of course, the first step is to set up and check the equipment. Everyone agrees on one thing: Our home for the next few days is absolutely amazing! You quickly feel comfortable and the first impression of the crew is just great!
An unbelievably great service right from the start and all wishes are catered for. There are no dives today and we remain in port. So there is plenty of time to get to know each other and explore the boat. Soon the bell rings - the sign that dinner is coming.
The dining room is in the belly of the Golden Dolphin and we were all amazed at the variety of choices on the buffet and how delicious it all looked, and it was! Towards the evening we sat comfortably on the middle deck and chatted a bit. But many were tired from the journey and so it was time to go to bed. The next day it finally starts!
Day 2 - Gota Abu Ramada Reef
We were all woken up at 07:30, breakfast was already ready! It was the first night on the boat. For many it was also the first time on a safari boat. But the rooms are very comfortable. The Golden Dolphin IV is still in port and we are awaiting clearance to set sail. During breakfast the time had come.
The engines started and the DG IV cast off. The first stop was the GotaAbuRamada reef, where we can do the first two check dives, check our equipment and get used to the conditions in the Red Sea. We split into three groups.
The first dive went to 12 meters. A beautiful reef with very beautiful and colorful corals. Directly on the descent we have the first Blaupunkt rays in front of our eyes. Otherwise, the variety was overwhelming. Especially for the divers among us who have never seen a coral reef. It was a really nice, relaxed dive. Shooting buoys was also practiced - it was noticeable that there was still a lot of catching up to do here! :-) After 60 minutes we went back to our boat, where lunch was already waiting for us.
The first day was no exception. Lunch was also very tasty.
The second dive led to the opposite side of the reef. This time we were taken to the entry point with the Zodiac and we also practiced the negative entry right away. We will then have to use this more often on further dives at the Brothers, DaedalusReef and Elphinestone. The second dive was also super relaxed. Beautiful pinnacles, lots of big triggerfish, a barracuda and moray eels. In the evening we had our first night dive because we are not allowed to dive at night on the Brothers and the Daedalus Reef.
Here we were divided into individual buddy teams and we were able to explore the dive site on our own. One of the highlights was definitely the giant moray eel, which went on a foray accompanied by a mackerel. After the night dive there was dinner together and then a cozy get-together with music and a beer or two. The Golden Dolphin has meanwhile detached itself and is now heading straight for the Brothers. The journey takes about 8 hours.
Day 3 - Brothers - Beautiful wreck and the first sharks from the boat
It started at 05:30 today and we started directly with the briefing for our first dive on Big Brother, the larger of the two small islands, which are located in the middle of the sea. We started again from the boat with a negative entry and swam straight over to the wall. One group was lucky enough to see a Longimanus right after entering.
Otherwise, however, the big fish were still a long time coming. Nevertheless, it was a very nice dive. The steep wall is just impressive.
Back on the ship, breakfast was served. But this time on the deck, in bright sunshine. The selection was huge again! Shortly after the meal there was a bit of a rush...Several Longimanus sharks circled our boat. This encourages the second dive!
The second dive was to the NumidiaWreck. This time we started again from the RIB boat. The waves have increased. The current was strong this time too. The dive starts at the northern tip of Dive Site Big Brother. Here the current splits and we try to dive right in the middle. Our guide first went ahead and then gave us the signal to dive directly to 10 meters with a negative entry. We were right at the top of the reef. Below us it went down to around 50+ meters and you felt like you were on Titanic. On our right side then the wreck. In an almost upright position. A very impressive wreck, which is already completely overgrown by corals. Unfortunately, the current was so strong that we couldn't explore the wreck for very long. So our drift dive started along a beautiful steep wall. Unfortunately we had no luck with big fish on this dive either. But when we came back, we again saw several Longimanus from the ship.
The third dive was at the Little Brother. To do this, our ship had to change position. Again we went out with the Zodiac boat. Same game as Big Brother with waves and currents, but it was definitely worth it. Here too we found a beautiful reef with barracudas, tuna and the first even saw a shark. It's still a long way off, but we still have a few days. In the night to Sunday we drive to our next destination, the DaedalusReef. The journey takes about 8 more hours and will last all night.
Most of them are pretty tired, are still looking forward to the meal and then it's off to bed!
Day 4 - Daedalus Reef - Finaly the first shark sightings under water
This morning we started the day at 5.30 a.m. again reasonably fresh and lively. After the first coffee we went straight to the briefing and then straight into the water. Via Zodiac we were taken to a small lagoon at Daedalus Reef and started our dive with a negative entry. The group met at a depth of 10 meters and we dived into the deepblue, led by our guide. There we saw some large schools of fish, tuna and napoleons. After the first dive we were all looking forward to the delicious breakfast on the ship. Only the hammerhead sharks haven't found us yet.
After a long break to relax, we started again. The second dive was very similar to the first but we ended up seeing two hammerhead sharks. The hammerheads were very curious and got so close that we could watch them very closely for quite a while. What an experience. After enjoying this experience, we boarded the Zodiac back on board where we had lunch on the upper deck and relaxed with freshly grilled food overlooking the sea. We started our last dive of the day directly from the boat. From there we went underwater to the reef where we observed the multitude of colorful soft corals and the many colorful fish. Also on this dive we encountered big barracudas, tuna and napoleons.
The culmination of this dive awaited us again directly around and under our boat. While we were still busy with our safety stop, four Longimanus sharks approached and curiously stopped by each of our dive groups.
Tired and happy as we were, we got back on the boat where the crew was already waiting for us. They had transformed our entire jacuzzy deck into an oriental lounge and surprised us with tea, shisha and self-roasted and prepared mocha. We all sat together with the entire crew for the rest of the evening and exchanged diving stories and all kinds of other things before we finally fell into bed completely satisfied and exhausted. We also stayed on the reef that evening to explore further the next day.
Day 5 - Daedalus Reef - Hammerhead sharks!
Since our boat was at anchor that night, there were no loud engine noises and many were finally able to sleep properly again. The briefing started again at 6 a.m. and the goal for today was clear: more hammerhead sharks! The conditions were perfect! Mirror-smooth sea, sun and almost no current! So we went out with the Zodiac and straight down with great motivation. After a short time we were rewarded with three more hammerhead sharks! Some got really great shots and the hammerheads became more and more interested. Unfortunately, the air and the no-decompression time were slowly the decisive factor for us to get back up. For some, the hunger factor certainly came into play. But we knew: The hammerhead sharks are here and now we wanted the schools!
So, full of excitement and anticipation, we went back to the same spot! With a negative entry, it went down pretty quickly to about 30 meters and as soon as we reached the bottom, our guide started cheering wildly! Directly below us a school of about 13 hammerhead sharks! Only a few meters lower than us! Unfortunately they were gone just as quickly as they came and we only saw a single hammerhead shark a little further away from us. Not realizing that the school of hammerheads must have swum a big circle and reappeared right behind us! Laure spotted them first when they just passed about 10 meters below us and started swimming in circles in front of us and ascending almost to the same level! This moment was simply indescribable! And as if it wasn't enough, a Longimanus also circled us further up! This was definitely one of the best dives of our lives for most of us! We were able to enjoy the hammerhead sharks for most of the dive. But unfortunately it was about time for us to show up.
On deck we were welcomed with a barbecue on the upper deck. The perfect end to a breathtaking dive.
During the surface interval we were able to inspect the lighthouse on the DaedalusReef and of course buy souvenirs. The view from the lighthouse is just beautiful and you could even see a stingray.
The afternoon dive was a rather leisurely reef dive with lots of anemones and nemos, again accompanied by the odd Longimanus. Shortly after the dive we started towards Elphinestone. Another long overnight crossing awaited us. But we were probably all so exhausted from the dives that we quickly disappeared into our cabins.
Day 6 - Elphinestone - Beautiful coral reef
Since we left early the day before, we arrived near Elphinestone at midnight. However, since the ship had not docked directly at Elphinestone in the dark, we drove a short distance in the morning. We were also accompanied by dolphins. A glorious morning! After the briefing we went back to diving. Today 4 dives were planned. Two at Elphinestone and two at Abu Dabab 2 Reef. One of them was a night dive.
The reef at Elphinestone is beautiful and full of colour! But there were also many other divers here and we were a bit spoiled by our previous dives. Despite everything, it was very nice and relaxed dives and of course we were visited again by one or the other Longimanus.
After the second dive, the wind picked up quite a bit and we drove to the other dive site fairly quickly, as it was a little more protected in a bay. Here the maximum depth was still around 17 meters and it was just a comfortable and relaxed dive and explore our night dive site.
The highlight was probably the small tunnel system under water, which was a lot of fun. A small white tip reef shark also said hello.
The buddy teams set off on their own for the night dive and looked for small snails and crabs. In the meantime, the preparations on board were in full swing, because the captains dinner was announced today. Traditional Arabic clothing was laid out for us. So after the dive, it was time to shower and change. We all looked GREAT! Dinner was already waiting for us on the upper deck! As every evening, the kitchen crew has once again outdone itself! The choice was huge and there was even a whole lamb! Afterwards we let the evening end comfortably to be fit for the last day of diving!
Day 7 - The last day
On the last day we went to the Ras Shona South Reef. Here we make our last dive of this trip. We started again from the Zodiac and were greeted by a beautiful coral reef. In addition to bat fish and sand eels, a huge green sea turtle said goodbye to us. It was the perfect dive to end an incredibly great week!
After the dive we went back to Port Ghalib where we washed our equipment and spent the day in the port. The first shore leave in a week and for many it was still swaying on land.
Some then stayed on land and had a nice evening in the bars and some still enjoyed the last evening on the ship, exchanged photos and contact details and reviewed the whole week.
Check-out was then the next day and we were taken to the airports in groups, depending on the flight time. Everything was super organized and completely relaxed!
It's been an absolutely amazing week and we want to thank everyone who was a part of it! We can't find words to sum up this trip!
We are really looking forward to our next group trip!
Our next trip😍
Heading to the Maldives in November 2023 with the aim of seeing manta rays and whale sharks.
Find out more and secure your place now!