I was lucky enough to be invited by a UK dive club last year to join them on a liveaboard trip to The Red Sea. Termed a “wrecker’s tour” we would be diving most of the best known shipwrecks in the northern part of the sea, based on Tornado Marine Fleet's flag vessel Whirlwind.
I’m going to cover the whole trip in some detail, and spread it over several parts, so please keep checking the updates.
After a routine and on-time flight, we arrived at Sharm el Sheik airport at close to midnight. The arrivals hall was full of divers, from several flights, but this didn’t deter the immigration officials from ensuring our passage into the country was slow and painful. When the whole group were finally through, we were able to board the coach for our boat.
Due to “Security measures” we then had to endure getting off the coach with our luggage at the entrance to the port area, and once again to having all our documents scanned by a group of bored looking, liveried officials. I must admit that this whole process was a bit of a farce, and is no way to welcome people who are contributing substantially to the country’s economy. But that’s another story!
We pulled up alongside Whirlwind and feasted our eyes on what would be our home for the next six days. She’s a beautiful vessel, and one of the most luxurious liveaboards plying The Red Sea.
The crew quickly loaded our gear on, and our shoes were taken away, and weren’t to be seen again until we left. Cabins were issued, and we were asked to attend a briefing in the lounge. The cabins on Whirlwind are really quite luxurious – they are all twin bedded, with excellent air conditioning and en suite bathrooms with showers.
The communal areas are wonderful – there’s a large, sheltered sun deck astern on the mid level, a full length sun deck on the top level and a fully equipped dive platform at the lowest level. The dive platform leads into a dining room, where really excellent food is served three times a day. Up top, there is a hot tub, and on the middle deck a large bar and lounge area, with big screen television.
Whirlwind runs an honesty bar and is well stocked with beers, wine and soft drinks – if you want spirits, take your own.
We filed in for the briefing, which was conducted by the British couple who would be our hosts and dive guides for the week. We were told that the boat would leave harbour at 5AM, and that we would have a check dive around an hour later. This basically gave us five hours to get our kit ready, and get some sleep!
I was able to get my kit sorted very quickly, but I felt sorry for the rebreather guys, who had to spend a good deal of time working with their mysterious potions.
I slept very well that night, although the big twin diesels firing up meant that it was a short sleep. We were soon underway on a calm Red Sea, and getting ready for our first dive in what has become the most talked about diving experience in the world.
Come back soon to read all about it in part two!
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Scuba Mike's Red Sea Trip - Part Two
Submitted by Scuba Mike on Mon, 19/01/2009 - 19:27.
Six AM and we were heading to the check dive site in calm sea and already the temperature was up to 25 degrees. We assembled for the dive briefing, and were told that the main purpose was to check our weight for the salty water and get used to the conditions. With four dives a day available, we all elected to use Nitrox in order to keep our decompression times to a minimum and to help prevent fatigue. This would be my first time using enriched air in anger, as I had passed my PADI course shortly before the trip.
Scuba Mike's Red Sea Trip - Part Three
Submitted by Scuba Mike on Fri, 23/01/2009 - 16:10.
The following day dawned bright, clear and warm, as they all did during our trip. It is worth packing a light fleece though, as evenings and fast crossings can be cool.
I had started this trip determined to do every dive on offer, but this was the day I failed in that task. Even as someone who dives pretty much every week, I was feeling the pace of the four dives the day before. But here are the dives I did:
Scuba Mike's Red Sea Trip - Part Four
Submitted by Scuba Mike on Thu, 05/02/2009 - 19:16.The first dive that morning was to be on the Rosalie Moller. This was to be a deep dive, so we switched to a lean 28% nitrox mix, to avoid any oxygen toxicity. I sensed at the briefing that something was wrong - we were told to stay with the guides at all times and not to enter deco. Some of us were a little annoyed about this - at the time I was one of the less experienced divers, and I had over 200 dives to my credit, with well over half of those at 30 meters or more! Deco diving is something I do most weeks, so we knew already that this was going to be a short dive.
Scuba Mike's Red Sea Trip - Part Five - Thistlegorm!
Submitted by Scuba Mike on Thu, 12/02/2009 - 22:50.This was the big day - the day we were to dive the world renowned Thistlegorm, but first we headed for another wreck, The Kingston. She was an 80 meter long steamer which went down in 1881 on the delightfully named Shag Rock.
Scuba Mike's Red Sea Trip - Part Six
Submitted by Scuba Mike on Thu, 19/02/2009 - 19:05.This was our final day aboard Whirlwind, and I elected to do just one of the two dives on offer. This was because my right ear finally gave up after all the diving, and I was having problems with it. I finished on a good one though!
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