Dive Review of Grand Sea Explorer in
Red Sea/Northern Red Sea

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Grand Sea Explorer: "Lots of fish, coral, and wrecks", Aug, 2022, by Susan M Fuchs, IL, US ( Reviewer 5 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 12192.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We were told Egypt wanted a COVID QR code to verify vaccination, but this was never asked for by the airlines, immigration or boat. Luckily no one got sick. This was a large group (22 people) from REEF- Reef Environmental Educational Foundation, doing its' first fish survey in the Red Sea. We were able to go from Hurghada to Mar a Salam, so cover many of the northern dive site and Elphinstone as well. The divemasters took a few dives to understand the purpose was to "count" fish of the numerous species, and not to have the dive masters show us eels, nudibrachs, shrimp within anemones etc. We were happy not to go 30 minutes in 1 direction and turn around. However, on the wrecks, like the Thistlegrom, having a dive guide was helpful. The staterooms were ok but could use more hooks and storage space. Showers warmed up quickly. AC worked well (almost too well as there was condensation on the ceiling) in my room, until we turned it off during the day. The food was good, but the desserts spectacular! They always had lots of salads and other vegetables for lunch and dinner. Breakfast was made to order. There was bottled water available, but it was preferred for you to refill your own water bottle from the dispenser. Local beer and wine was available after the last dive of the day They were very good about insisting that charging happened in the main salon only, and luckily many people brought adapters with several plugs, so you could usually find an open adapter. The variety of fish was amazing! The group identifies 450 species during the 8-day trip. Quite a few people identified blennies and gobies on all dives, but I stuck to the tropical fish, and would usually have 50 different species on each dive. Some singles (angelfish, puffers), few (butterflyfish, specific filefish, anemonefish, trevally), many (damselfish, spadefish), other hundreds (anthias). We were briefed about the oceanic white-tip sharks at elphinstone, and did see them around the boat during our group safety stop. The last day there was a school of 20 dolphins with babies and we were able to snorkel above them. The dive operator provided transportation to/from a Hurghada hotel to the boat. The last night you actually return to Mar A Salam and the boat is docked. You can leave that evening of the next morning. The crew works really hard and they are very friendly. I just wish they had a photo of everyone and their names, or their names on their shirts, so you could address them properly.
Websites	Grand Sea Explorer
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Caribbean, Indonesia, Thailand, Palau
Closest Airport	Hurghada	Getting There	Istanbul Air, Egypt Air (all need connections from US)
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm
Water Temp	80-84°F / 27-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Buddy dive, 60 minutes
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	There were cubbieholes for your dive equipment out on the boat deck, and always a clean water bucket and drying station. No separate photoroom.

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Dive Review of Grand Sea Explorer in Red Sea/Northern Red Sea

Grand Sea Explorer: "Lots of fish, coral, and wrecks", Aug, 2022,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Grand Sea Explorer in
Red Sea/Northern Red Sea