2DiVE4 Red Sea, VIP One Liveaboard Trip Report
by Mat Henderson

Tick tock, Tick tock. I'm sat looking at a hotel lobby filled with tired and slightly sun burnt divers. Our flight home has been delayed by three hours so whilst desperately trying to resist the urge to fall asleep I've decided to pen a quick trip report (actually I'm using my phone to write this so if this report finishes a little abruptly it will be due to a lack of battery power). Anyway let’s step back a few days to the start of this journey.

The flight to Sharm El Shaik left on time with everyone accounted for. A few sherbets and a couple of bottles of bubbly later we land in Egypt. Fortunately our entire luggage also made it safely across.

We are then promptly whizzed off via bus to our final destination the luxury VIP One live-aboard moored up at Traveco jetty.  The weather is a bit more Blackpool than we had all hoped for but at least it wasn't raining.  We are welcomed aboard by our resident dive guide Hooch (who after much pressing revealed that his nickname is a result of a striking resemblance to the dog out of the film Turner and Hooch). 

VIP One is fresh out of dry dock after having new engines and a bit of an overhaul of the décor. A few slightly pessimistic members of the party where quick to draw comparisons with Titanic but fortunately we couldn't find a copy of Celine Dion's "classic" ballard anywhere on board.

The boat is fantastic with a good size wet deck, a really spacious and homely saloon area and a cozy dinning area with a table to seat everyone in one sitting.  Our rooms are bigger than most live-aboards even having good size en-suite facilities. The boat also has a top deck sun area with freshly laid mini-golf Astroturf, perfect for watching the sun go down and taking in the hot Egyptian sun.

We get a quick brief on boat etiquette along with an overview of the weeks plan from Hooch and then a member of the crew starts vigorously ringing the ships bell. Before anyone can break into a Titanic karaoke or anyone else has the opportunity to jump overboard Hooch calmly explains that the ships bell is only used as a call to food rather than a call to abandon ship.

The food on board is really pretty good with something to satisfy everyones taste. The good thing about a live-aboard is that the bar is never shut so after a long day just a couple of beers seemed in order. Most people head off to bed tired but hugely looking forward to tomorrows diving; lets just hope that this Blackpool esq wind dies down over night.

Hooch is a man on a mission and each day starts at 6.30 with a brief on the pre-breakfast dive.  Slightly bleary eyed we listen to Hooch explain the variable Red Sea current and outline the direction and depth of each dive.  Our first dive is a check dive at Ras Katty; the only thing I wanted to check was that we were in the right country! The wind was blowing a hooley (Hooch informed me that a hooley is about force one) and the temperature was well below par. A giant stride off the bow revealed the next shock, the red sea was sat at a Guildy like 22 degrees; boy was I glad I had brought a long suit.

Finishing the check dive I noticed the time, 7.30am, usually I would be tucked up in bed but instead I'm floating around with scores of brightly coloured reef fish. 7.30am has never looked so good!  Back on VIP One the chef is preparing a cooked breakfast for us, the smell of which greets us when we surface from the dive.

Our next dive of the day is at Ras Ghazlani and 10 minutes into the dive a high pitch squealing can be heard, on closer inspection it turns out to be Andy who's spotted a giant Manta Ray just off in to the blue. A quick fin gets us into camera shot of this magnificent creature and hopefully Andy's monster camera setup will have caught some great footage. The rest of the reef is stunning but somewhat second place to our Manta Ray sighting. The third dive of our first day is in the outside lagoon of Tiran straights followed by our first night dive of the trip to the other side of the same reef. Dinner followed by a quick beer finished everyone off and a sereenly hush soon feel over the boat with everyone tucked up in their cabins.

Woken again by Hooch knocking on cabin doors we are briefed on the next dive at Jackson reef, the highlight of which is a giant red anemone at 28 meters, apparently it generates its own bacteria that causes its colour to be so vibrant. Jackson is a stunning reef and the early start ensured we had the reef to ourselves.

Following breakfast we boarded the zodiacs for a quick ride around to Woodhouse, the neighboring reef. Again this is a fantastic dive, although it cost me a beer fine for leaving my computer on VIP One.

After lunch Hooch promised us something a little special with a dive that is normally reserved for staff on days off. The dive was a crossing between Jackson and Woodhouse through the "washing machine".  On a good (or bad day depending on you opinion) you can get caught in a meeting of three currents that can even cause your bubbles to go downwards. Hooch reliably informed us that it is quite safe and that we would be picked up by the zodiacs should the current spit us out away from the reef.  Manta rays aren't all that common so stumbling across another was almost unbelievable, this time we got even closer so our resident camera man Andy had a field day.  We surfaced buzzing from another close encounter with a Manta and somewhat pleased that the washing machine had been on a slow spin cycle.

Our night dive is on Gordon and we stumble on a 2 meter long Moray eel that fortunately isn't camera shy.  Night dives in the red sea always seem to throw up something a bit special so we weren't too surprised when we spotted a monster scorpion fish lying in wait for his evening meal, which given his size could quite easily have been one of us.

After dinner we sleepily filled in our log books and whilst gradually slipping into a snooze Laurie was planning a wakeup call. iPods are great inventions but when rigged up to the boats PA system can cause the on set of an early heart attack.  At a touch of a button Laurie had configured his custom sound system to play the general lee horn sound from the Dukes of Hazard (do a Google search if your unfamiliar), and regularly did at any sleepy opportunity.

Our ears still ringing with the sound of  General Lee most headed off to bed. With the exception of Jen who had set up camp in the saloon due to being a bit uncomfortable sleeping below water level.

The next day Steve was running a deep specialty for Jen, Lawrence, Neil and Laurie. The plan was to drop down and pass under the first arch in the canyon on Thomas reef. I offered my services as a DM for the dive and followed everyone into the canyon.  Now I would love to tell you what the dive was like but all I saw was a load of finger like fish as my mask strap snapped at 45 meters and I spent the entire dive holding my mask on my face.

The next dive of the day was on Gordon which was a really pleasant drift dive over a pretty coral garden. Following lunch the boat sailed onwards to the alternatives where we did an afternoon and night dive. 

There was a real buzz over the dinner table in the evening with talk of the following days diving on the Dunraven and the legendary SS Thistlegorm, the center piece of the trip. Hooch now fed up of trying to raise us at 6.30am decided to brief the first dive of the day post dinner, a decision he would soon regret. It would appear that some people may have had a tipple or two too many and Hooch's expert and well practiced drawing of the Dunraven came in for some serious stick; licorice in fact. Jo "I’ve honestly only had one Bailies" Gough decided that Hooch's drawing resembled more of a packet of Licorice Allsorts rather than a 100 year old wreck and as such was promptly renamed the good ship Bassett. Hooch found this funny for the first 5 minutes but soon it became clear why he got his nickname from a grumpy looking dog; I'm not sure how many times Hooch will try evening briefings again, at least not while Jo and alcohol are around.

The following morning arrived and after a quick re-brief we jumped in on the Dunraven. She's always a good dive and Hooch gave us all plenty of time on the wreck and led us into a cozy spot to hear the ghost of the Dunraven (you can still the engines if you listen carefully). On a personal note this dive marked my 100th logged dive, and quite frankly I couldn't have picked a better spot.

After breakfast we moved around to Shag Rock where we dived the wreck of the Kingston. This was also the longest drift of the trip with the current taking us a debatable 1 mile around the reef edge.  The weeks earlier wind has now been replaced by glorious sunshine and the sun deck is full off medium-rare pasty English folk.

The next dive is the SS Thistlegorm and after last nights Bertie Bassett shenanagens Hooch was playing his cards close to his chest by keeping his dive plan private until the last moment, upon which he produced a detailed artistes impression of the wreck. This met with rapturous applause even though it was a mass produced souvenir map.  In his defense though he had helped with the mapping of the wreck for the artist whom he knew personally.

Descending down the line the impressive ship looms out of the darkness and you can't help but be impressed by the sheer scale of the wreck. We make our way across the blast area and over the massive pressed copper propeller giving it a rub on the edge for good luck (apparently this is a well known custom and given how shiny the tip of the propeller is one that is not too often missed). We then progressed down the walkway where I stumbled across a stunning nudibranch posing for pictures, and over holds 1 and 2.  We found Wellington boots (left leg only, the other foot was on another vessel apparently to stop sailors stealing a pair, the question is what did her majesty’s service then do with a boat load of right foot Wellington boots?). The wreck is pretty eerie, especially given that the current was not particularly favorable making visibility a little like UK conditions.  You only get about 35 minutes on the wreck as she lays in fairly deep water but even still this gives you plenty of time to familarise yourself with the layout prior to the night dive on her.

Most people dived the Thistle at night and those that didn't elected to watch Jaws instead, unfortunately there was a small overlap between the two events and as such we descended on to the spooky wreck with our minds playing some pretty weird tricks on us; tuna or shark, tuna or shark.  Ironically in my humble opinion you see more of the ship at night than you do in the day.  I don't mean in terms of square footage but rather that you tend to concentrate on smaller areas giving you more of an opportunity to understand what you're actually seeing. The dive passed without incident with the exception of a somewhat complicated safety stop with 8 divers hanging on a line in a strong current. Vipin seemed to have some trouble spotting who his buddy was, which in itself is difficult to believe given he has a torch that creates vapor trails through the water, but thankfully Jo was there to calmly point Vipin in the right direction. It was just unfortunate for Vipin that Jo's point was at the end of her dive knife.  Back on the boat Vipin's regular buddies, Laurie, Simon and Laurence came up with a novel solution to the problem by tying a slate around their necks with the words "I'm over here Vip" on it.

Jaws was just finishing when we joined the rest of the party in the saloon, if you haven't seen it I won't ruin the end but just in case you're wondering the fish gets it.  The next morning we penetrate the Thistlegorm and spend time in holds 1 and 2 where the iconic Bedford trucks loaded with their cargo of motorcycles still remain. Some of the swim through’s are a bit small but the dive is stunning and one I would recommended any wreck head to do.  As we started to congregate around the mooring line to make our ascent Simon spotted a turtle happily lazing in the early morning sun on the deck of the wreck. Fortunately we all had enough bottom time left to hang around and gaze at the spectacle before it swam off to find a new resting spot.

Following a healthy breakfast of eggs and chocolate pancakes the boat moves off the Thistlegorm and on to Sha'ab Dunab for another reef dive. A few people, including our illustrious leader had decided to sit the days diving out in favor of tanning, relaxing and drinking (not necessarily in that order). I have to admit I was sorely tempted but given this was my first visit to this reef I struggled into my suit and entered the water. 10 minutes into the dive I came across a fantastic looking flatworm, bright yellow with distinctive black markings.  I got a few good photos and then managed to flag Andy down who spent what seemed like an eternity with his video camera 5 centimeters from the sea bed.  The result of his filming looks stunning even before he edits it.

Happy that this dive has been really worthwhile given the appearance of the flatworm we move onwards.  I'm idly swimming along and I take a brief look up and left to where my buddy Jen is and I have to do a double take, was that really a group of dolphins darting above her head?  Bugger me it was, gracefully darting off into the distance I definitely saw dolphins. I swam over to Jen and tried to articulate what had just happened but I was making little or no sense and Jen must have though my tank was about to explode or that I'd got major league narcosis.  I knew she had a brand new slate in her shiny new BCD so I hurriedly opened the pocket and scrawled "5 dolphin just swam over your head!" on the slate.  Jen looked mortified that she hadn’t seen them and when Jo and Andy caught up with us following their videoing of the flatworm, they also looked horrified that they too missed the swim by.  We continued the dive and deployed a couple of SMB's to signal the zodiac to pick us up.  The next minute we are surrounded by a pod of nine dolphins including at least one baby. They were swimming around us inquisitively checking each and everyone of us out. I think my mask was filling up from the inside as I struggle not to break out in tears of joy!  The experience was sublime with the dolphins happy to hang around for a full five minutes. This was my first dive with wild dolphins and it was an experience I will never forget.  Thankfully everyone in our group got to spend time in the water with them and hopefully Peter's still shots and Andy's filming will keep the memories fresh. When we got back on the boat it was clear that the now well-done sunbathers were regretting their decision.

The final dive of the day was on stingray station, which although a nice dive was completely overshadowed by the experience of the previous dive.  That night the beers flowed and Jo's scubOPOLY finally got played, of course I would have won had it not have been for the timely ringing of the final supper bell.  For our last night onboard VIP One the chef and crew had prepared a royal BBQ banquet on the sun deck. Vipin kindly supplied a couple of bottles of bubbly for us and an early birthday cake for Steve. It was a great end to a fantastic live-aboard.

The following morning we dived the Shark and Youlander reef taking in the sights of the captains BMW along with the myriad of comedy toilets, baths and sinks scattered from the ship and now home to a variety of fish life.  Our last dive was at Ras um Sid, which was a nice relaxing reef dive with Lionfish sleeping inside huge Gorgonian fans; an ideal location for the last dive of the trip.

Having rinsed our kit and packed our bags the boat that we now knew as home slowly pulled up to Traveco jetty and it was time to say our goodbyes to the crew that had so expertly and kindly looked after us and Hooch our dive guide and all round good bloke.

Our last night is spent at the Camel bar watching the world go by and regaling stories from the weeks diving. After a good nights sleep at the Nama Bay hotel (for those of us that didn't slope off to Pacha) and without a 6.30am Hoochy briefing we meet in reception to find out our plane is now three hours delayed. 

And this is where this story started; I'm sat looking at a group of friends tired, weary but full of great memories from a week of fantastic diving.  On this trip we've all made some new friends both above and below the water line, and I know we will be taking memories back with us that will remain as vibrant as the colours of the Red Sea itself. Tick tock, Tick tock.

The crew list:
Andy "if it moves I'll video it" Hogg.
Jo "Captain Bassett" Gough.
Laurie "The General Lee" Boost.
Simon "r kid" Worral.
Keith "shut it" Maynard.
Neil "the Jen evictor"
Steve "the beer train" Hills.
Laurence "nice wet suit" Maynard.
Vipin "buddy, what buddy?"
Jen "shiny new kit" Barnes.
Peter "it ain't cold" Henderson.
Steve "one use torch" Jeffcott.
Mat "where's my computer?" Henderson