The remote, uncrowded Holy Grail of the Red Sea Unparalleled diversity A diver s paradise!

Transcription

1 The Red Sea MS Royal Evolution Southern Sudan Liveaboard Expedition The remote, uncrowded Holy Grail of the Red Sea Unparalleled diversity A diver s paradise! HIGHLIGHTS: 1000 species of invertebrates, over 200 species of soft and hard corals, drift & wall dives, endemic fish species, shipwrecks galore, Oceanic Whitetip sharks, incredible visibility and the warm, comfortable water. Duration: 16 days 15 nights, 13 nights onboard, 40 SCUBA Dives Tour Leader: Ron Hunter Trip Code: RS17 Dates: 21 st November 9 th December, Cost: $AU 8,990 incl. airfares ex Australia, & surcharges as below

2 The Red Sea The Voyage The Southern area of Sudan is the holy grail of diving in the Red Sea no crowds and everything that makes the Red Sea famous. The Red Sea is unique in several aspects: among them is its uniform temperature distribution at the surface and at different depths. Moreover, visibility reaches up to 45 m. These characteristics have made the Red Sea an ideal place for snorkelers, divers and photographers; it is comfortably warm, one could float nicely and the visibility is often referred to as some of the best in the underwater world. 2

3 The Red Sea The MS Royal Evolution What to expect! In general we will do 4 dives a day, including at least 3 or 4 night dives during the duration of the voyage, each one of them carefully prepared and checked beforehand, reassuring the right conditions. A typical day on the MS Royal Evolution offers a simple and relaxing lifestyle on a spacious and luxurious dive vessel while visiting the most interesting and beautiful locations. As a general rule, if your hair is dry it's time to dive and if your hair is wet it's time to eat! The day begins at around 6:30 am, with a light breakfast of cereal and tea/coffee. We gear up for the first dive of the day at about 7:30. After the first dive it's time for a hot breakfast that you choose from a selection of favourites. The entire day is dedicated to scuba diving unless we are steaming to a new dive site even on these days you will have at least 2 dives, more often 3 and more. Between dives you can relax on the sundecks, the shady rear lounge deck or in the air conditioned salon. Lunch is served at around 13:00 after the second dive. It usually consists of a soup, and a variety of warm dishes. At about 3:00 PM it is time for the third dive of the day, which is followed by an afternoon snack. You can then enjoy a lazy late-afternoon on our sundeck, lounging back and soaking in the wonderful landscape with a cup of coffee or tea and some snacks. 3

4 The Itinerary The Red Sea Tuesday, 21 st Nov 17: Depart Sydney 22:20 Arrive Cairo 11:45 22 nd Nov. Overnight* hotel Cairo. *A few days exploring Cairo and the wonders of Ancient Egypt should be enjoyed before, not compulsory but highly recommended Thursday, 23 rd Nov 17: Depart Cairo 09:00 arrive Port Gahleb around noon This afternoon we board the M/S Royal Evolution in Port Ghaleb and settle into our cabins, unpack and get an orientation to the vessel. This will be your opportunity to set up your dive gear and then relax for a good night s sleep. Tonight while we sleep we sail 300km to our anchorage at St John s Reef, ready for our morning dives. Friday, 24 th Nov 17: We have an early morning check diving today to ensure we have all of our gear and that s its all working okay. This is a time to make sure your camera housing is still watertight by taking it for an empty dive. After this, we will dive all day at a variety of sites. Saturday, 25 th Nov 17: Today we will awake at Shalalat and do one early morning dive before setting sail to Port Sudan overnight. Sunday, 26 th Nov 17: We will arrive in Port Sudan early this morning for our Visa registration and local taxes payment (this will take 2-3 hours). Then we sail to the Umbria wreck for 3 or 4 dives. Monday, 27 th Nov 17: Diving the whole day at Sanganeb Reef. Sanganeb is found about one and a half hours north of the "Umbria". This reef rises from 800m depth to the surface. The Sanganeb coral reef is truly a beautiful place to dive or snorkel. The reef itself has one of the richest coral displays in the Red Sea. The British built lighthouse is situated on the reef and close by there are caves and gullies for the avid diver to visit. There are two Sudanese men who take it in turns to live in the lighthouse (they rotate every 4/5 weeks) and love to welcome visitors. 4

5 The Red Sea Tuesday 28 th - Wed 29 th Nov 17: Early morning dive here at Sanganeb Reef, then onwards to Shaab Rumi for the 2 nd and 3 rd dives of the day as well as 4 more on Wednesday. This reef is about 30 kilometres North East from Port Sudan, and has a plateau of about 9 metres with a steep drop off. It is here that Jacques Cousteau studied the effects of long term dives and total saturation of a diver. The equipment is still here and well worth a look! South of Shaab Rumi is 23m plateau where you can find almost any kind of fish and coral species you can imagine a true showcase of Red Sea diversity. Thursday 30 th Nov 17: 4 more dives here around Shab Suadi and the Toyota wreck, before a night time sail to Angaroush Reef Friday 1 st Dec 17: A whole days diving at Angarosh Reef before a night time sail to Abington Reef. Angarosh means 'Mother of Sharks' and is appropriately named because of the number of sharks to be found in this area. Angarosh has two plateaus, the shallower plateau going down to 25m and another plateau going down to 45m. Angarosh is a superb dive site to see and take pictures of sharks as they swim effortlessly around you. Schools of Barracuda may be seen here but the site is most famous for its Manta Ray. Saturday 2 nd Dec 17: A whole day of diving at Abington Reef. Marked by a lighthouse, this reef only just breaks the surface. The reef is rectangular with strong currents to be found. If you like turtles, then Abington reef is the place where you are likely to see these inquisitive creatures. They are truly delightful and seem to always enjoy having their photograph taken! The reef is also well known to see schooling hammerhead sharks 5

6 Sunday 3 rd Dec 17: This morning we set sail for Merlo Reef, where we will spend the whole day diving. More spectacular coral reef systems and marine ecosystems await at this location Monday 4 th Dec 17: Today we do two more dives at Angarosh Reef before setting sail for St John s Reef for mooring for the overnight Tuesday 5 th Dec 17: Depending on weather conditions, we may do two more dives at St John s reef, or head to White Rock for our last afternoon dives and our last night onboard the M/S Royal Evolution Wednesday 6 th Dec 17: We disembark and bid a fond farewell to the crew of the Royal Evolution this morning, ready for our flights home. Depart Port Ghaleb 07:00 arrive Cairo 11:20. *Overnight hotel Cairo, *flying out same day MAY be possible, depending on airline schedules Thursday 7 th Dec 17: Depart Cairo 13:40 arrive Sydney 17:45 on Friday 8 th Dec 17 The image part with relationship ID rid8 was not found in the file. 6

7 The Red Sea The Vessel There are 2 different cabin types available on the M/S Royal Evolution, both of which have: Desk & chair Locker & drawer unit Bar fridge Individually controlled air-conditioning Sound system with volume control Ensuite bathroom TV & DVD Player in each cabin 8 x double/ twin cabins m 2 Waterline cabins with portholes, these cabins are spacious and roomy, with all of the above features. 4 x Queen suites m 2 Located on the upper dive deck, these more spacious cabins have large windows and a queen sized bed! Add $AU per person for these luxurious suites 7

8 + The Red Sea Fact File The M/S Royal Evolution redefines a new standard in luxury Red Sea Liveaboards. At almost 40 metres long, she has a 9 metre beam and weighs over 450 tonnes.! She sleeps 24 passengers and has 17 crew onboard to serve guests and run the ship! Continuous cruising speed is 12 knots; that is quick for a big ship!! Full international safety survey permitted to operate up to 600 Nm from refuge! All cabins are ensuite, are air-conditioned, with TVs and desks! Spacious dive deck and camera stations! Spa / Jacuzzi (!!) and Outdoor lounges Inclusions: 1.! Economy class airfares ex Sydney (SYD), flights also available ex MEL, BNE, ADL, PER 2.! Two nights hotel accommodation in Cairo 3.! All transfers 4.! Thirteen nights onboard the luxurious M/S Royal Evolution with all meals 5.! Up to FORTY dives including NITROX 32% fills 6.! Experienced Red Sea Dive Guides 7.! Fuel Surcharge: Remote distance travel $420 8.! Sudan taxes & Visa fees $725, subject to change 9.! Second entry Visa fee into Egypt upon return from Sudan 10.! Experienced PADI Professional Tour Leader Budget for: 8 1. " First entry Visa fee into Egypt upon arrival in Cairo 2. " Alcoholic drinks, soft drinks, espresso coffee 3. " Meals and drinks other than specified 4. " Crew tips and other gratuities 5. " Travel Insurance (compulsory) DAN insurance (highly recommended)

9 + The fine print! Costs are as at January, 2016 and are subject to fluctuations in exchange rate - $AU 1.00 =!EU 0.70 Return flights to Cairo from Australia were around $1500, as at March We will monitor these and book the flights for you. Quest Tours Forster NSW Australia (License number: 2TA 10493) For airfares to and from Egypt please contact us for advice. We may be flying a different combination of airlines to ensure that our connections all work on all legs of our journey. Ideally we should book your flights for you. Anyone choosing to fly independently and divers arriving from other countries, will need to be at Cairo Airport around noon on Wed 22 nd Nov 17 to meet the rest of the crew and join the hotel transfer. If you can t coincide with the group then be at airport by 06:00am on Thu 23 rd Nov 17 for the flight to Port Ghaleb. MS Royal Evolution + Quest Tours General Diving Rules Obviously on all dive tours, safety is our main concern. The quality of diving is guaranteed. The Red Sea has the best reef diving in the world and operating from a liveaboard will give you the chance to reach unbelievable sites, but it must be understood that being remote means potential risks. The use of a computer, octopus and SMB are mandatory. If you don t have these, let us know in advance and we will prepare them for you. There is some spare rental gear onboard, however we strongly recommend that you have your gear checked before the trip. Don t take brand new gear unless you re absolutely sure it will function adequately. Travel Insurance Travel insurance is compulsory on all of our tours. We strongly recommend taking out travel insurance at the same time as paying your deposit. SureSave, our recommended insurance provider, will cover you at the time of taking out your policy and until your tour s return date. We suggest carefully checking conditions of any other travel insurance you may be considering. Please note that DAN Insurance does not cover you for things such as flight cancellations, lost baggage or similar. They only cover you for diving related injuries. We recommend additional, comprehensive insurance to cover cancellations, airline changes and baggage. Before booking please read thoroughly the BOOKING CONDITIONS as published on our websites. As this is a Liveaboard expedition, a DAN Annual membership is recommended so as to access DAN medical advice and appropriate action in the unlikely event of a diving related injury. Special Notes You MUST have 4 free pages in your passport for visas and you will NOT be granted a Sudanese Visa if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport. 9

10 + +The Red Sea + Quest Tours info@questtours.com.au Dates: 21 st November 9 th December, Cost: $AU 8,990 incl. airfares ex Australia