DIVING SAFARI DEEP SOUTH EGYPT
21-28 October 2023
«GALAXY 720»

PROGRAM

Day 1

Arrival in the city of Hurghada. Check in time 16:00. The group will be met at the airport by our representative (holding a sign that reads "TENERIFE DIVERS") and transported to the harbour, once settled on the yacht we have an introductory briefing and preparation of our diving equipment followed by some free time to relax.

Day 2

In the morning, after finalizing documents with the coast guard, the ship goes to sea. We will have a Check-dive and further dives in the area of Hurghada, giving you the opportunity to test your diving equipment, choose the right weights and refresh your diving skills.

Day 3-5

Diving on the reefs of Feri Shoals, Sataya and Elphinstone. About 20 km from Hamata, in the southernmost civilian settlement of Egypt, there is a group of reefs called Fury Shoals — "mad shoals". Feri Shoals are well worth a week of diving

Small Abu Galawa is a long reef with separate reef columns and sandy bottoms at depths of 12-15 meters. Some places have as much as 90% coverage of hard corals. An ideal place to get acquainted with corals and reef fish — all families of coral fish are found here without exception. On the outer side of the reef, you can find some pelagic fish, characteristic of open deep reefs: pelamid tuna, blue-finned caranx, tilozur. One of the individual reefs has a sunken tugboat from 17 meters all the way to the surface. No one knows its name or the history of the wreck but it is known to locals as “the tugboat at Abu Galav“. As a sunken object, it is not of much interest however it is very beautifully overgrown with corals, and it lies picturesquely on the sea floor.
 

Big Abu Galawa (Big Abu Galawa) A rounded reef, inside a sandy lagoon in the shape of an amphitheater, surrounded by porite corals descending to it in meter-long steps. A grandiose landscape and rich thickets of hard corals. A very small sunken yacht lies outside, but a flock of glass parapriacanthus fish is constantly kept inside and swallow fish lay eggs on the rails making them very territorial and capable of defending their young aggresively.

Claudio (Claudia)

The reef is famous for shallow caves, although this is not the only attractive feature of Claudia. Shallow—water caves are a feature characteristic only of the southern Egyptian reefs. They are formed due to the fact that closely located reef columns close and coalesce at the surface of the water, and at a depth of 5-10 meters there are passages and backwaters. These caves often have holes in the "ceiling", so they are bright and not scary. Fish and crustaceans hide there, bright gorgonarias and antipatharias grow on the walls. When viewed from the inside, the bright blue exit from the cave, framed by feathers and coral nets, is a wonderful sight. Sometimes, in the far corner of the cave, big—headed parrotfish rest during the day - massive fish better not to tease or frighten. At the bottom of the caves are teniura — rays with blue spots, sea anemones grow with the inevitable amphiprions, and boxer shrimps hide. The cave system on Claudia is small, you can go through all the moves in one dive. the moves in one dive. Under the wall of the reef, under the entrances to the caves, there is almost always a large flock of Kashmiri snapper and barabul. These fish often form mixed flocks; it is very interesting to observe the movements of the flock. Big Napoleons also inhabit here. On the western side of the reef there is a grandiose coral landscape: two—three-meter domes of porites occupy the entire slope of the reef from the surface to 18-20 meters. Perhaps this is one of the largest porite buildings in the Egyptian part of the Red Sea.

Park Malahi (Malakhi)

Given a few tens of hundreds of years, this reef will become a cave system. For now, it is a beautiful maze between coral columns that rise from a single base at a depth of about 10 meters making it easy to get disoriented, but it's okay: you can always swim up and look around, there are no motorboats running around inside the reef, and there are no waves. Many different schools of fish flow at the foot of the columns. Swimming, every now and then you find yourself in secluded nooks or dark gorges, and young reef sharks often rest here.

Shaab Maksour
Almost the only "deep" reef on Feri Shoals. Maksur is sometimes called the "southern Elphinstone" — indeed, these reefs are similar in structure. The reef is very long, stretched from north to south, its walls go to a depth of 80 + meters, at the northern and southern ends there are long plateaus at depths of 22-32 meters. The Northern plateau is a wonderful place, both for the beauty of the soft and hard corals covering the plateau; and for the likelihood of seeing large pelagic animals. The edges of the reef are patrolled by dark-finned sharks and hammerhead sharks; blue—finned, giant and big-eyed caranxes, pelamids and bonito; large groupers above the plateau. Even if there are no large fish, you can contemplate the game of caesium and small blue red-toothed triggerfish that curl on the current. Maksur is one of the few places where large—scale ocean triggerfish are always found. Just below the plateau, on the wall, there are large gorgonarias.

Dolphin Reef, Sattayah
A long curved reef that frames the entire Feri Shoals area from the south. There are about a hundred dolphins in the lagoon of the reef. These are long-winged prodelfins, Stenella longirostris. In English they are called "spinning dolphin". Here we can enjoy snorkeling with dolphins — with a mask, snorkel and fins.

 Elphinston. One of the most famous and beautiful reefs of the Red Sea. Elphinstone is elongated in shape, resembling a cucumber, with steep walls on the north and south sides, at a depth of 60 meters turning into a plateau. The walls are covered with a carpet of soft, hard, gorgonian corals, among which reef fish live. The bustling life attracts the attention of large predatory individuals, who in their own way represent a celebration of life; and various sharks, hammerheads, turtles, large tuna and other predatory fish swim towards the reef. Divers usually raft along one or the other wall. Since the current follows south, the vessels are moored at the southern tip of the reef. On the southern plateau at a depth of 50 meters is the famous arch, which is accessible to technical divers. The arch itself is very beautiful, sharks and flocks of numerous fish hang out in it. The northern side of the reef is slightly inferior in beauty to the southern one, but here in the morning grey-reef sharks are found on the plateau.

Day 6

 Reef diving in the area of Vadi Gamal, Shaab Sharm, Shab Marsa Alam.

Day 7

2 dives on Elphinstone reefs, rest. Arrival to Hurghada port before 18.00. Dinner on the boat. Rest

Day 8

 Check out time is 09:00. In the morning transfer from the boat to Hurghada airport. Flight home.

The route of the trip and the dive program are indicative, and can be changed by the organizers depending on weather conditions and in the interest of the safety of the participants of the trip.

Boat characteristic: Length 42 m, Width 8 m, 12 cabins, 2 zodiacs

PADI Courses on board:

• Open Water course: 320 Euro with individual client’s equipment
• Advanced Open Water course: 250 Euro with individual client’s equipment
• Nitrox speciality: 200 Euro for full trip Nitrox dives with individual client’s equipment
• Deep speciality: 290 Euro with individual client’s equipment

Booking policy

• 50% of the price in the moment of booking, the remaining 50% one month before the beginning of the trip (20 September 2023)

Cancelation policy

After you have confirmed and paid for your reservation, the following cancellation policy applies:

- More than 90 days out = 75 % refund
- Between 30 and 60 days out = 50 % refund
- Less than 30 days out = no refund

Documents and info

- Copia of the passport
- Certification level
- Equipment for rent (if necessary), sizes

*If you have any specific dietary requirements (religious beliefs, food allergies, vegan) whilst on-board please inform us on the moment of booking.

For more information and reservation:    info@tenerife-diving.club      WhatsApp: +34722119202