The Red Sea - Quest Tours

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: 21st November – 9th December, 2017
Cost: $AU 8,990 incl. airfares ex Australia, & surcharges as below
The Red Sea
2017
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.
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The Red Sea
2017
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.
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The Itinerary
The Red Sea 2017
Tuesday, 21st Nov ‘17: Depart Sydney 22:20 Arrive Cairo
11:45 22nd 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, 23rd 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, 24th 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, 25th Nov ‘17: Today we will awake at Shalalat and
do one early morning dive before setting sail to Port Sudan
overnight.
Sunday, 26th 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, 27th 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.
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The Red Sea
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Tuesday 28th - Wed 29th Nov ‘17: Early morning dive here at Sanganeb Reef, then onwards to
Shaab Rumi for the 2nd and 3rd 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 30th Nov ‘17: 4 more dives here around Shab Suadi and the Toyota wreck, before a
night time sail to Angaroush Reef
Friday 1st 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 2nd 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
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Sunday 3rd 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 4th 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 5th 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 6th 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 7th Dec ‘17: Depart Cairo 13:40 arrive
Sydney 17:45 on Friday 8th Dec ‘17
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The Red Sea
2017
The Vessel
There are 2 different cabin types available on the M/S Royal Evolution, both of which have:
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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
14.40 m2
Waterline cabins with portholes, these cabins are
spacious and roomy, with all of the above features.
4 x Queen suites
15.96 m2
Located on the upper dive deck, these more
spacious cabins have large windows and a
queen sized bed!
Add $AU700.00 per person for these luxurious
suites
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The Red Sea
2017
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.
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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
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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:
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First entry Visa fee into Egypt upon arrival in Cairo
Alcoholic drinks, soft drinks, espresso coffee
Meals and drinks other than specified
Crew tips and other gratuities
Travel Insurance (compulsory) DAN insurance (highly recommended)
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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 2016. 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,
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will need to be at Cairo Airport around noon on Wed 22 Nov ’17 to meet the
rest of the crew and join the hotel transfer. If you can’t coincide with the group
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then be at airport by 06:00am on Thu 23 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.
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Red Sea
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Quest Tours | +612 6554 7478
[email protected] | www.questtours.com.au
Dates: 21st November – 9th December, 2017
Cost: $AU 8,990 incl. airfares ex Australia