Argos Red Sea/M/Y Aeolus, May, 2010,by Roger D Roth, OH, US ( Contributor 16 reports with 8 Helpful votes). Report 5537. |
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No photos available at this time | |||
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Accommodations | Food | ||
Service and Attitude | Environmental Sensitivity | ||
Dive Operation | Shore Diving | N/A | |
Snorkeling | N/A | ||
Overall Rating |
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Value for $$ | |||
Beginners | |||
Advanced | |||
Comments |
The M/Y Aeolus (26 meters long and breadth is 6.7 meters) is a new boat that's been designed with 4 comfortable double cabins of varying sizes downstairs. All cabins have their own private facilities. Showers are hot and strong. The Aeolus is docked in Dahab, which is an hour's drive north from Sharm el Sheikh. The boat can desalinate 4500 liters/day. The dive platform is spacious and has two fresh, warm water showers. The dive deck also has plenty of room for gear storage underneath the bench seats where tanks and BC's are lined up. Tanks are filled here immediately upon surfacing so they are ready after a reasonable surface interval. Other filled tanks are also ready for use if necessary. The owner/captain Karim Eric is very knowledgeable about the Red Sea having worked it for almost 20 years, and is also a scuba instructor as well as a tech diving instructor. Tech diving groups are welcome. Nitrox is included in the pricing if desired. Captain Karim likes to dive as much as possible with his guests and is a great guide, too! The staff is very attentive, experienced, and their service is great. The chef on board serves three wonderful, filling meals a day as well as snacks and/or smoothies, juices, or hot chocolate immediately following all dives. Meals have many choices and are served buffet-style in the salon with a crew member standing by to help fill any guests' needs. The Aeolus has wireless internet when a signal can be received, which is much of the time except when moored close to the mountains that block the signal. There are a number of ID books in the salon for guest use. There is also plenty of oxygen on board in case of any emergencies. The Northern Red Sea itinerary ranges from the Gulf of Aqaba then south to the tip of the Sinai Peninsula and back north up to the Straits of Tiran. There are numerous shipwrecks to dive on this itinerary including the world-famous Thistlegorm. Captain Karim can also describe many "hidden" artifacts on the Thistlegorm that most dive guides don't know about and he likes to share this information with his guests. The Dunraven wreck consistently had a school of 15-20 tuna patrolling around the wreck. Some dives are done from the boat and back to the boat wile it's moored. Other dives may include using the zodiac to get to a divesite once the boat is moored then the zodiac will wait for divers to finish their dives for the quick ride back to the boat. Some drift dives may begin from the boat then divers may either be picked up by the boat or the zodiac, whichever works out best. Most of the divesites are in good shape as far as sponges, corals and fish life is concerned. Many reefs are inundated with schools of anthias, breams, batfish, surgeonfish, trevalleys, fusiliers, picasso triggerfish, snappers, soldierfish, and more. Some divesites have numerous shrimpgobies and alpheid shrimp as well as lionfish, anemones and their hosted anemonefish and even pipefish. The giant green moray is surely a sight to behold if you haven't seen one before as is the giant Napoleon Wrasse. One can also find a number of crocodilefish, scorpionfish, stonefish, longnose hawkfish, and various species of butterflyfish, angelfish, groupers, and nudibranchs in a week's time. |
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Websites | Argos Red Sea | ||
Reporter and Travel |
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Dive Experience | 501-1000 dives | ||
Where else diving | Fiji, Papua New Guinea, N. Sulawesi Indonesia, Hawaii, Cozumel, Cabo San Lucas, Catalina Island, Antigua, Dominique, Barbados, St. Bart's, Cayman, Exuma Islands, Nassau, Bonaire, Curacao, Belize, Bay Islands, Honduras, and more | ||
Closest Airport | Getting There | ||
Dive Conditions |
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Weather | sunny, windy, cloudy, dry | Seas | calm, choppy, surge, currents |
Water Temp | 72-78°F / 22-26°C | Wetsuit Thickness | |
Water Visibility | 50-125 Ft/ 15-38 M | ||
Dive Policy |
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Dive own profile | yes | ||
Enforced diving restrictions | There are no restrictions for experienced divers except to dive safely. | ||
Liveaboard? | yes | Nitrox Available? | yes |
What I Saw |
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Sharks | None | Mantas | None |
Dolphins | Schools | Whale Sharks | None |
Turtles | 1 or 2 | Whales | None |
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best): |
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Corals | Tropical Fish | ||
Small Critters | Large Fish | ||
Large Pelagics | N/A | ||
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best): |
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Subject Matter | Boat Facilities | ||
Overall rating for UWP's | Shore Facilities | N/A | |
UW Photo Comments | The Aeolus has a good fresh water rinse tank as well as a number of charging stations. There is a large TV in the salon for videographers' use. |
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