Volcanic Ash Tour Liveaboard, Egypt

After diving Egypt by shore, and then by day boats, it was decided that we should try Egypt by liveaboard and see how that went. The trip was organised by Scott, and decided on blue o two » after hearing good reviews. Upon arrival at the airport at 7:30am, we were told that was a delay until 12:30pm. So off to the bar we went where some of us started on the Guinness! Time ticked away and when 12:30pm arrived, we were told that the flight was delayed until 4:30pm! Needless to say that it was a very long first day.

The diving during the first week was great, so this more than made up for the delays getting to Egypt. Doing the northern wrecks and reefs itinerary provided a good mix of wrecks and reefs for us first timers venturing out further a field. Highlights of the trip had to be the excellent Thistlegorm, Carnatic, Giannis D and Chrisola K.

Blue Horizon was the boat we were on and it was very nice indeed. There was also a camera crew on board making a documentary about life on liveaboards, and some Club members got to feature in it! Ask around to see the documentary!

As the week drew to a close, things took a twist. We were informed that due to the volcano eruptions in Iceland, all aircraft in Europe were grounded. This meant that we couldn’t fly home, and equally no new guests could come out. After a suspenseful few days, we were granted our wish and managed to enjoy a second weeks diving for just £250! Result!

For the second week we got to sample Blue Fin (too small for our liking) and Blue Melody (nice) as our accommodations. Diving was on the great Dunraven, Rosalie Muller, Ulysses and Giannis D again, amongst other sites.

Needless to say that we all purchased polo tops in the second week with ‘Volcanic Ash Tour 2010’ written on them, which became the very apt description of the week. Amusingly, Nick had already purchased his top in the first week, so didn’t want to buy another!

The two weeks ended very week with a great night out in Hurghada town, sampling the delights of the Egyptian food and drinks. Sadly by this point the ash clouds had cleared and we now had to return home. An excellent week where we couldn’t have been ‘luckier’ that the ash cloud happened when it did. Of course Scott had totally chosen this week for this purpose…;)

An excellent two weeks, for cracking value for money.

Thanks to Scott, Nick, Paul and Jim for the photos. Ask to see the Volcanic Ash Tour DVD featuring the highlights of the two weeks set to music!

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