Shark Quest | Red Sea Dive Holiday

Shark Quest - Red Sea

  • Water temp 18 - 28 C
  • Air Temp 18 - 35 C
  • Visibility 15 - 25m
  • Good for... Shark Quest
  • Suitable for beginners Please note this one is only for divers comfortable in the blue maintaining depth levels while watching sharks!
  • Highlights Shark Quest dives the southern Red Sea according to its seasonal best, including the Brothers or Daedalus. The goal? To see more sharks and rays. Dive fewer sites for longer for the most inspiring and exciting pelagic sightings possible.

About Shark Quest

Shark Quest is all about diving the southern Red Sea at its seasonal best and spending more time on fewer, carefully selected dive sites. We trust the local knowledge and experience of our dive teams. Building on their know how and recent sightings, they will select one of the big marine parks to dive. Be that Brothers, be that Daedalus, you can enjoy up to 3 days in the boat's selected pelagic hot spot. Dive where you have the strongest chances for sharks and rays. It's that simple. Join our quest for the most inspiring and exciting pelagic sightings possible.

We all love the thrill of diving with the big fish, but timing matters. What you can see and where in the southern Red Sea changes throughout the year. The cooler water temps in the winter months are ripe for oceanic white tipss, thresher shark and silkie sightings. Oceanics are inquisitive sharks, not afraid to come in close. The threshers come up into relatively shallow water, whilst oceanic white trips and silkies are found lurking under the boats in the shallows! Late April through to mid July are all about manta and hammerheads. Without cleaning stations, manta sightings are that bit extra special in the Red Sea. Spring is the prime time to watch them in feeding mode. Be amazed as they gorge on plankton thick water. Hammerheads are shy sharks, but before the water gets too warm, you can find them between 20-25m gently cruising past divers hovering in the blue. As the water warms up over the summer and into Autumn, the oceanics re-appear.

Your Shark Quest will start with a warm up day, to iron out the kinks, find your weights and get into the swing of things, before setting sail for one of the marine parks. Here you will have wall dives - as such, you will need to be confident in possible currents and over drop offs. Many dives will be from the ribs/zodaics and you should be able to make a negative entry. The boat will then sail back towards the mainland, with further diving planned at either Elphinstone or Ras Shona. We ask that divers are certified to 30m. Technical divers are welcome on board. Please just make sure you book your tanks and gasses prior to travel.

Year round the southern Red Sea has outstanding pelagics encounters. Didn't want to come off the walls on your last trip? Then this is the itinerary for you. Gear up and accept the quest.

Hurricane

Hurricane stands out in the Egyptian Red Sea - and not just because she is one of the few steel hulled vessels. Many Red Sea liveaboards are compared to Hurricane, but few are as enduringly popular. She has won the prestigious "L... MORE

Scuba Travel have year round departures on the Shark Quest itinerary, with a seasonal focus on which pelagics you will seeking

Embarkation
Hurricane will depart from Hurghada

Trip Duration
All of our Shark Quest trips run for 7 nights with 7 nights spent on board your liveaboard.

There are normally 3 day dives whilst in the marine park areas where night diving is prohibited. On your first and last day there will be an average of 2 dives a day. There are around 18 dives on an average week but this can vary depending on local weather conditions.

All liveaboard itineraries are subject to various unpredictable changes including weather conditions and changes in local Government approval. Whilst our boat operators make every effort, we cannot guarantee diving at specific sites. In adverse weather conditions, the guides and captain of the boat will have the final decision about which dive sites to visit to ensure that the safety of guests, staff and boats is not compromised in any way.

Arrival
Once you have been picked up from the airport you will be taken to the port to board your liveaboard. If you are making your own way to the harbour we ask that you not board before 18:00. There will be a full welcome briefing on arrival and you can set your kit up. If you have prepaid any rental equipment this will be given to you on arrival. There is then your first dinner and you can settle in for the evening. The boat will not leave harbour on this first night.

After the boat permissions are sorted, the boat will depart the next morning and the check dive will be made.

Wall dives

You will spend up to 3 full days diving at one of the below wall dive locations

Daedalus
Daedalus is a huge toblerone triangle shaped reef with many dives on offer. The north tip is the best place to hang out for hammerheads and then drift down the walls. Manta love to play here. The west wall in particular is another great place to literally bump into the odd hammerhead as there are several cleaning stations. Threshers are frequently seen here on the corners of the plateau. Or hang about under the boat where you can meet some of the oceanics.

The east wall is home to the anemone city, with a narrow band of splendid anemones and clownfish sprawling down the reef. The south plateau is a brilliant boat dive with chances to see reef sharks, huge barracuda and tuna racing on the edge of the drop off. and camouflage fish on the plateau itself. The hard corals are simply spectacular too and worth investigating in their own right - loads of macro especially flabellinas.

The Brothers
The two Brothers are quite different in character. Head to Big Brother and dive the south plateau - this doubles as a thresher shark cleaning station early in the morning. See if you can find the resident turtle or play with the rabbit fish around the jetty.

Over on Little Brother the diving is all about the sharks, especially greys which hang about on the north tip. Watch closely and you might see one come in to be cleaned. The wall dives on both sides are excellent with a range of sea fans to admire. Move to the south plateau and you find grey reefs, tuna, barracuda and rainbow runners zipping about. A big napoleon lives here along with a large stone fish in one of the shallow overhangs. A massive manta is sometimes seen in the deep. And depending on the season silky sharks and oceanic white tips are usually seen in the vicinity of the boat moorings.

Elphinstone
Elphinstone is one of the big name reefs in the Southern Red Sea. It is a slim and relatively small reef with dramatic walls and a plateau at each end. You can do several dives here (weather permitting). Head out to look for hammerheads on the north plateau before drifting along the magical wall (the clouds of anthias are vast!). A friendly trumpet fish will often shadow divers as you make your way down the wall. The southern plateau is where oceanic white tips hang out during the later half of the year. You must watch your depth and currents carefully on Elphinstone as conditions can be variable.

Reef dives
You will typically have 1 day diving reefs on your first day diving and then 1 and half days at the end of your trip.

Marsa Alam
There are many dive sites around Marsa Alam, especially to the south of Port Ghalib.

The Abu Dabab system has around 7 main reef systems which are brilliant check dives and night dives (look out for the feeding lion fish and large plurobranchs). Shaab Marsa Alam has a small wreck on it as well as good for smaller schooling fish and macro.

Ras Shona and Marsa Abu Dabab are always popular dive sites with so much for divers. The hard coral reefs are lovely and home to an impressive selection of fish. Sea grass beds in the centre of the bays draw in large turtles which are frequently seen feeding. If you are lucky you can also find the resident dugongs which literally hoover up grass. Large whip tail rays are also found here.

Disembarkation
You will normally leave the boat after breakfast on your last day and be transferred to a hotel for the day. Your final transfer will take you to the airport for your return flight home. Please do speak to the travel consultant at the time of booking to confirm the exact last day arrangements as it can vary.