Caught a morning flight to Hurghada on the Red Sea coast where I met up with the rest of the guests for the 9 days on the boat. Most were doctors, most of these had along a younger second wife, most of whom had previously been the doctor’s nurse, and all the docs knew each other. When I asked how they met I was told that they all heli-ski in the winter and were looking for something to do in the off season. Wealth.
My roommate turned out to be a cool young guy from San Francisco named Drew. You get luck of the draw as a single traveler not paying single supplement, but I had no complaints whatsoever about Drew.
Nearly all the live aboard Red Sea dive boats anchor at the same location about an hour south of Hurghada. The ride was pleasant enough, but I was shocked to see the huge trash dump created by these boats. They dump all their trash in the same location just north of their common anchorage. I guess that trash in the desert was never much of a problem until modern times. Organic materials deteriorate quickly in a harsh desert environment. Plastic does not.
The diving was spectacular. Some of the best coral reefs in the world. Each night after sunset we would motor to a new location, arriving sometime in the wee hours and anchor to a mooring just off the reef. After breakfast, Zodiacs would take us out to the reef for the first of up to five dives per day. The food was quite good, the cabins quite decent if unremarkable, and the diving fantastic.
