The M/Y Blue Seas was only launched during late 2004, and is a truly superb boat.
Her cabins are roomy with plenty of storage space and her double bedded master suites are very spacious. She introduces a new level of diving comfort and safety to the Egyptian Red Sea which, combined with a luxurious interior, provides the highest standards in Liveaboard diving available in this particular fleet.
Accommodation Includes: Full central air-conditioning with individual controls (Max. 22 pax) 8 twin bed cabins, 3 king size bed cabins all with en-suite facilities,
In a recent trip on the Blue Seas John Bantin, a veteran liveaboard diver and journalist for Dive magazine wrote....
"The Blue Seas is spacious and luxurious, with a very helpful and friendly crew. As usual the food was excellent, and everyone got on extremely well.
It's a feature of diving that like-minded people can get together, and the non-competitive nature of the activity makes it a business with no winners or losers.
This particular group of passengers was drawn from the medical-care profession, IT, software-development and accountancy, with the odd painter-and-decorator, a policewoman and a restaurateur thrown in.....
.....Blue Seas from the Blue Planet fleet, for a trip around the St John's area of southern Egypt, I assumed that it would be just another typical week of diving.
It was midsummer. The sun shone remorselessly, the sea was calm and the diving was good. Dolphins cavorted around the boat. Under water, the Napoleon wrasse, the moray eels,
the rays, the scorpion fish and the sharks turned up on cue, and the soft corals blossomed in a feeding frenzy. Anemone fish busied themselves around their host anemones. Anthias fluttered around the coral heads. Bannerfish gathered in gangs. Octopus crept around the coral heads.....
.....At Abu Marsa Dabab, two dugongs put their heads up above the surface to give us a tantalising glimpse from the boat, even though we never got to see them under water.
We had to content ourselves with half a dozen ancient green turtles, loaded down with big green remoras, as they grazed on the sea grass.
As I photographed one in extreme close-up, a second returned down beside it from the surface where it had taken a gulp of air......."
If that doesn't convince you then look at the pictures below
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The Itinerary
This trip starts on Wednesday 27th June when we fly from Gatwick to Marsa Alam, returning on 4th July. We will be sailing on the M/Y Blue Seas. As you can see, this is an excellent boat. It is only two years old and is well fitted out. There are three decks, and a superb lounge and restaurant area. As with all these boats bedrooms are usually comfortable but a bit on the small side. All meals are provided, that is three meals a day. Again the food is very good and plentiful.
The actual route we will be taking has not yet been decided though it will be based around St Johns reef, and Elphinstone Rock in the south. As you can see these are very beautiful reefs and it is here that we are most likely to find sharks of all types, including hammerheads !!! It is also possible that we may see other large fish such as manatees/dugongs. Whatever we see it is sure to be an exciting trip especially for all the first timers !!
As with all liveaboards we will arrive at the boat sometime on the Wednesday and unpack and have a meal on the boat. Early Thursday we will set sail and have a check out dive later in the day, with at least one more dive on the first day. We will then have three dives a day (4 if you do a night dive) until Tuesday, when we arrive back into the harbour. We then have Tuesday evening/night on the boat. (This usually allows time for some shopping in town and several beers !!!) Dinner is provided on the boat though some people may prefer to eat in town. Flight times have not been confirmed yet, but hopefully we may have time to have another wander around town on Wednesday before flying home. |
