MERIDIAN DIVE ADVENTURES

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1 MERIDIAN DIVE ADVENTURES SOUTHERN RED SEA LIVEABOARD AUG 2018 LUXURY DIVE CRUISE GUIDED BY BARRY & CELIA Brothers Reefs : Elphinstone Reef : Salem Express Wreck : Safaga Reefs Blue Force 3 just launched mid-2017 is one of the best dive boats in Red Sea! WHEN ARE WE GOING? Sat 18 - Monday 27 Aug 2018 : 7 nights liveaboard; 1 night hotel PRICE ex-flights: Package : Euro 950 / R per person (minimum 8 divers) Check out here how beautiful this liveaboard is with a virtual tour - Click below DIVING IN SOUTHERN RED SEA On arrival in Hurghada, we bus down to Marsa Ghalib port, embark and sail to the beautiful reefs of Elphinstone, then to the Brothers Islands, then Salem Express wreck. 1

2 With its vast reef walls - we will be in search of thresher sharks, oceanic white tip sharks, hammerheads, grey sharks. We may even see fox sharks, silkies and mantas! We will visit the wreck Salem Express and enjoy the reefs and a couple more wrecks in the Safaga zone. Almost all dives are drift dives along impressive walls. Along with beautiful seascapes, warm clean water, we will have an excellent dive holiday, especially being on Blue Force 3, a luxury liveaboard. PACKAGE : 9 DAYS / 6 DAY DIVING DAY BEFORE: Friday 17 Aug Book your flights early! We will plan to leave Johannesburg +- 21:45, fly for 8 ½ hours and arrive 05:30 in Cairo. DAY 1 Saturday 18 Aug Depart Cairo about 07:00 and arrive Hurghada 08:00 and meet the Blue Force Team, process visas, baggage collection then transfer to Port Ghaleb by air-conditioned bus to our Liveaboard. Transfer takes about 4 hours. DAY 2-7 (6 diving days) The dive safari is on a full board basis. Our planned route is to Brothers Reef : Elphinstone Reef : Salem Express Wreck : Safaga Reefs, enjoying 3-4 dives a day if you can keep up! On Friday after diving, sail to Hurghada port. DAY 8 Saturday - off-gassing and shopping day! Disembark after breakfast, and transfer to your 5* hotel accommodation. You may like to relax here or go on an afternoon excursion. Meet back at hotel for dinner. DAY 9 Transfer to the airport at midday to catch your flight. or DAY 8 Added extra option Cairo Fly to Cairo and visit the famous sights of Cairo, Pyramids, markets, etc. Meet back at hotel for dinner, and transfer to airport the next day. Nile Cruise optional. 2

3 PACKAGE TOUR PRICE Price is per person sharing. This package includes airport to liveaboard transfers, full board on vessel including mineral water, tea and coffee, soft drinks. Enjoy 3-4 dives a day including use of 11.5 lt cylinder and weights. Twin bedded ensuite cabins. There are also triple cabins. Travel, dive and cancellation insurance included. Excluded: Airfares are excluded as you may want to use voyager miles or stay a few extra days to explore Cairo. Please bring cash for the following: Port and Marine Park tax (E90 payable on board in Euro), Service tax/tips (E50 payable on board in Euro). Nitrox book this in advance for only E30 pp. Visas I am looking into this, as South Africans don t need a visa but I believe need to pay for a tourist visa on entry into Egypt +- R250. Customers from UK need a visa. Package Tour Price per person sharing see boat specs below Triple cabin Lower Deck: 890E / R12800 Twin bed cabins Lower Deck: 950E / R13650 Twin bed cabins Main Deck: 990E / R14200 Package price is subject to exchange rate at time of paying. Feb 2018 R14.50/E DIVING Please bring your Advanced diving certificate and log book with a minimum of 50 certified dives, SMB, dive computer and torch for night dives! Should you like a 15 lit cylinder, please book with me in advance. 3

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6 LIVEABOARD SPECS Maximum capacity: 25 passengers in 12 cabins. Length: 40 meters. Beam: 8 meters. Draft: 2,5 meters. Cruise speed: 12 knots. INSIDE: LOWER DECK: 1 suite cabin with double bed (No 1) 6 double cabins (No 2 to 7) 1 triple cabin (8). MAIN DECK: 2 double cabins (9 & 10). UPPER DECK: 2 suites with double bed each (11 & 12). All cabins have air conditioned with separate control and private bath. Common areas: Dining room in main deck and salon with TV in upper deck. All common areas have air conditioned with separate controls. 6

7 WHERE ARE WE DIVING? BROTHERS REEFS The northern most part of Egypt's Offshore Marine Park is made up of two islands 60km away from the coast and 140km south from Hurghada. The larger island (complete with a lighthouse from 1883) is 400 metres long with a spectacular plateau on the south east corner which is dotted with coral mountains and famous for thresher and grey reef shark sightings. The western side of the island has two impressive wrecks which both lie almost vertical on the side of the reef. The most spectacular is the Numidia wreck, then the smaller wreck of the Aida. 7 SS Numidia (left) British cargo steamer ship 140m, ran aground due to navigational error in July 1901, all survived. Depth 9-72m. Frequented by large pelagic predators.

8 The Aida An authority supply vessel sank 1957 due to adverse weather which caused the ship to strike rocks as she attempted to unload her lighthouse staff to the islands jetty. Depth 30-65m The smaller Brothers island, whilst only a little over 200 metres long, hosts an incredible concentration and variety of marine life. There is a pristine fan coral forest, a massive collection of hard and soft corals and compelling overhangs to explore. The highlight is the fish life; with regular seasonal sightings of hammerhead, thresher, grey reef and oceanic whitetip sharks. SAFAGA REEF AREA Filled with a variety of stunning drop offs, shallow coral gardens and interesting wrecks, Safaga has something for everyone. The most famous wreck is of the Salem Express, a large ferry which sank in 1991 with massive loss of life. There are also the large ferry wrecks of El Arish, El Tor and Al Kafain which both sank without any lives lost. The famous finger shaped reefs of Abu Kafan and Panorama offer stunning drop-offs with plentiful fan corals and incredible plateaus encrusted with soft and hard corals. Shallower reefs (such as Torbia Arbaa) are full of critters and make a perfect afternoon or night dive. SALEM EXPRESS WRECK A Salem Express, 100 m long, sank December 1991, a car and passenger ferry operating between Safaga and Jeddah (Saudi). She collided with a reef, quickly took on water and sank with minutes, with 470 lives lost. Depth 12m - 30m. There is a lot of personal effects, trucks, bicycles, toys etc. Look out for small frogfish! She is just a little shorter than the Thistlegorm 126m who was bombed in

9 ELPHINSTONE REEF ( local name Sha'ab Abu Hamra) Elphinstone Reef (named after a Captain whose ship was almost wrecked in early 18 th C) is one of the world's most exciting diving destinations, with some deep coral plateaus and caves, but changing currents. A few small breakers are the only visible sign that just below the sea's surface is the summit of a subterranean mountain, rich in colourful corals and fish species, and attracting the interest of barracuda, dolphins and sharks. It is two shark species in particular that attract divers looking for that unique once in a life-time close-quarters encounter with a big sea predator. The curious oceanic whitetip and the hammerhead. The whitetip is categorized as vulnerable to extinction by the World Conservation Union and the hammerhead one level worse at endangered. After just surfacing, with breakers, the reef depth descents to several hundred meters into the deep, making an eerie but beautiful dive. Sharks can be seen all year around, particularly from August onwards, and this reef is particularly famous for the oceanic white tips. We should see silky, grey, blacktips and cuda. Hammers are best seen off the Northern point and are usually seen deep down. Oceanic white tips frequent this area, are curious of divers, therefore coming to shallower depths. The reef is found 12 km East of Marsa Alam town, or 32km south of Port Ghalib. ADD ON TOUR You may be interested in an add-on tour to see the famous Pyramids, Sphinx and Valley Temple, or perhaps the Egyptian museum with Tutankamon treasures, or the Khan El Khalili Bazaar, carpet and perfume factories/shops and not forgetting papyrus shops. There is also the Nile Cruise, a whole week or a few days sailing down the Nile to Aswan dam, visiting all the highlights like Valley of the Kings and other magnificent tombs and monuments. 9

10 We invite you to join this underwater expedition that you will never forget. Look forward to seeing you all on another fun-filled MERIDIAN DIVE ADVENTURE Assured of our best service always, Celia & Barry Coleman MERIDIAN DIVE Cell: Cell: Prices can change without notice due to fluctuating exchange rates Feb 2018 R14.50/$1 T&C s E&OE 10