Liveaboard Blue Seas – South & St. Johns
Travel period
Features
Starting from
Liveaboard Egypt: route South & St. Petersburg. Johns
Board the liveaboard Blue Pearl and explore the pristine southern Red Sea during the South & St. John’s route. This route is known for its remote location, crystal clear waters and impressive reefs. Far away from the crowds, here you will discover a world of vast coral fields, sheer walls and colorful lagoons.
South of Marsa Alam, the area of Fury Shoal and St. John’s Reef extends as a succession of spectacular dive sites. You dive at reef formations with caves, tunnels and plateaus, where soft and hard corals abound. Wrecks like the Tugs at Abu Galawa are an added attraction and attract lots of marine life.
St. St. John’s Reef is known for its compact location and great variety. Here, steep walls, fords and caves alternate. The famous St. John’s Caves offer a unique play of light and shadow, making this location particularly popular with photographers. Cave Reef to the north is another highlight, with its maze of tunnels and coral structures.
This route combines tranquility, nature and variety with comfortable sailing times. South & St. John’s is ideal for divers looking for pure underwater experiences in one of the most beautiful areas of the Red Sea.
Best travel time for the South & St. Johns route:
Average temperatures
Wetsuit advice for the Red Sea
In the summer months a 3 mm is sufficient, but in the heart of winter a 7 mm is wiser. In between, a 5mm will suffice.
What will you experience on this trip?
View itinerary here
Day 1 | Travel to Marsa Alam & board the Blue Seas
In the late afternoon, the Blue Seas departs from Port Ghalib to start the South & St. Petersburg cruise. Johns route. This means you can either arrive on the day itself or if more convenient one day in advance. Of course, we will find a suitable flight for you. Flying to Marsa Alam is possible from many airports in europe. Flight time from Amsterdam to Egypt takes about 5 hours. At the airport, you will be picked up by Blue Planet’s crew.
In the evening, the Blue Seas departs for the first dive sites. Below is an example of the sailing schedule of the South & St. Johns route. This sailing schedule may vary due to weather conditions, among other things, or because it is very busy at one dive site, for example. Then the captain throws around the schedule so you get the most out of your liveaboard.
Day 2 | Abu Dabbab & Shaab Sharm
Today begins the first day of diving on the beautiful dive sites of Abu Dabbab. Abu Dabab has a collection of 7 reefs. This is a perfect location for our first check dive. In this region you will see reef sharks on the southern outer reefs, there is also the chance of spotting a manatee and you will probably spot a few turtles. There are also many swimming passageways and caves.
After Abu Dabbab, you will continue sailing south and stop at Shaab Sharm. Shaab Sharm is undoubtedly one of the highlights of Marsa Alam’s coastal reefs. The exposed reef lies 12 km off the Egyptian coast and is 700 m long at its longest. The steep walls descend stepwise to a depth of more than 200 m, allowing water to flow freely around the reef, leading to rich coral growth and occasional large fish swimming by.
Day 3 | Fury Shoals
Early this morning you arrived at the famous Fury Shoals area. One of the most popular dive sites at Fury Shoals is the Shaab Claudia. The site is known for its beautiful coral gardens, filled with a variety of fish and other marine life. The highlight of the site is a beautiful coral garden with a large population of anemonefish, as well as blue-spotted rays, moray eels and moonfish. Divers can also explore a series of passages and tunnels where they can spot schools of barracuda and snappers.
You will also dive at Abu Galawa Soraya has a fantastic coral garden and a wreck of a private sailboat populated with glassfish.
You will make 3 or 4 dives at Fury Shoals.
Day 4 through 6 | St. Johns
For the next 3 days, you will dive in the Deep South on the dive sites of St. Johns. St. Johns Reef is known for its diversity of drop-offs, tunnels and dramatic hard coral formations. The reef formation at St. Johns is not the only thing that will leave a lasting impression on you.
Well-known dive sites where you will dive during these days are:
- Gota Kebir – This is a huge reef, famous for its tunnels and south plateau, where jacks and barracudas can be seen and the occasional manta ray. The tunnels are ideal for novice cave divers.
- Gota Soraya – One of the best wall dives in the Red Sea, with protrusions and cracks in the reef wall filled with glassfish and sweepers and an abundance of corals, gray reef, silver tip sharks and hammerhead sharks.
- Habili Ali – This dive offers giant gorgonians and black corals, while gray reefs, silvertip sharks and schools of hammerhead sharks can be found on the west side.
- Habili Gafaar – A mass of soft corals filled with schools of snappers, butterflyfish and barracudas. Manta rays, gray reef sharks and silver tip sharks can be seen in the blue.
Day 7 | Elphinstone
Last night, the boat has already started its return trip towards Port Ghalib. Today you will make the last dives! The plan is to make these on Elphinstone Reef. This reef is 300 meters long and has steep walls richly covered with colorful pink and red soft corals and elegant red gorgonians descending to about 40 meters. Other parts of the reef have nearly vertical cliffs, protrusions, small caves and drop-offs up to 100 meters. Elphinstone is known to experience strong currents that attract many different species, including barracuda, angelfish, groupers, Napoleons, moray eels, reef sharks and large schools of dogtooth tuna and jacks. Occasional sightings include dolphins, turtles, oceanic whitetip sharks and hammerhead sharks. After Elphinstone, sail back to the port of Port Ghalib near Marsa Alam.
Day 8 | Return home or extend the trip
On this day you can enjoy a very last breakfast on board, before being taken back to the airport. Should your flight depart late, we can arrange a day hotel for you in consultation. That way you can wait comfortably until it’s time to depart.
Should you want to explore Egypt on land as well, you might consider extending your trip a bit. You can take a nice cultural tour of Egypt. For example, visit the pyramids at Luxor or sail down the Nile on a traditional felucca (sailing ship).
Highlights of this trip
What can you expect from this liveaboard trip?
Fury Shoals
Fury Shoal is a vast reef area in the southern Red Sea, stretching from Abu Galawa to Sataya. The area consists of numerous reefs with caves, tunnels, plateaus and coral gardens. The variety of landscapes makes each dive different. At Abu Galawa, among others, is the wreck of the Tugs, which is overgrown with coral and frequented by reef fish, moray eels and turtles.
St. Johns
St. St. John’s Reef is known for its compact location, making multiple dive sites easily accessible during a liveaboard trip. The area offers steep walls, tunnels, caves and impressive hard coral formations. St. John’s Caves, also known as Umm Kharalim, is special because of the rays of light that fall through narrow openings. This creates unique underwater landscapes and excellent conditions for underwater photography.
Elphinstone Reef
Elphinstone Reef is known for its steep walls and plateaus on the north and south sides. The reef has healthy coral, clear blue water and rich marine life. In November and December, you will mostly see longimanus, silky sharks, barracudas and jacks here. On the plateaus, reef fish swim quietly and sometimes sharks rest. Elphinstone is one of Egypt’s most famous dive sites and ideal for spotting your first shark.
The liveaboard: Blue Seas
The boat & its facilities
M/Y Blue Seas
The Blue Seas is a comfortable and spacious liveaboard ship from Blue Planet’s fleet and shares its quality and appearance with the other ships, including the Blue Storm. When building this ship, all the experience gained from previous luxury ships within the fleet was taken into account and further refined. The result is a stable and well-equipped liveaboard that has been guaranteeing reliable and comfortable diving trips in the Red Sea since 2004.
At 41 meters long and 8 meters wide, the Blue Seas offers plenty of space on board. There is room for 24 divers on board. During the voyage you will enjoy three freshly prepared meals a day, snacks between dives and unlimited water, tea, coffee and soft drinks. Local wines, beer and other beverages are also available on board for an additional fee. On the spacious sundecks with shaded areas you can relax between dives.
The Blue Seas features several comfortable cabins divided between the upper deck and lower deck. On the upper deck you will find Double Sea View cabins with double beds and Twin Sea View cabins with twin beds, both with sea views and plenty of natural light. On the lower deck you will find Twin cabins with two single beds and the spacious Master cabin, ideal for those who want extra comfort.
All cabins are equipped with a private bathroom with shower and toilet, individually controlled air conditioning and enough storage space for a pleasant stay on board.
With 10 cabins, the ship is small in size, making it ideal for groups. Feel free to ask us about the possibilities to rent the entire boat your diving club or group of friends, also for other itineraries.
Travel costs
What is included
This travel package is AUD 2.298 per person based on two people in one cabin. The trip can be extended as desired. A number of things are included by default in this travel package.
Prices are subject to price changes, increases or changing exchange rates. Flights are always based on the cheapest possible booking class.
Want to know more about the possibilities? Get in touch with us!
Included in this trip, from AUD 2.298 p.p.
- 7 nights in a lower deck cabin
- Accommodation on full board basis
- Coffee, tea, water and soft drinks
- Dive package with 18 dives
- Nitrox for certified divers
- Return transfers
- VZR & Administration fee
Excluding
- Flight to Marsa Alam from AUD 922 p.p. but usually around AUD 1.174
- Local fees/diesel surcharge €320
- Visa at Egypt airport approx. AUD 50
✈︎ The quoted (international) flight prices are indicative prices and based on departures from Europe. However, we can arrange flights from any location worldwide. Booking your own flights is of course also possible.
Optional
Attention! It is important to book the items below in advance. Upon arrival in Egypt, these optional items are often no longer available AND also the prices are higher locally.
- Diving equipment (€135)
- Diving computer (€35)
- Diving lamp (€35)
- 15L tank (€30)
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Frequently asked questions about this diving holiday
Liveaboard
Yes. All cabins have private bathrooms.
Yes. All cabins have air conditioning.
Yes, this is allowed. However, if you want to do this you need to bring your own sleeping bag. You must also wear a hat that covers your ears. You are not allowed to use the mattresses from the cabins, but you can use the mattresses that are on the sun deck.
Yes. There is WIFI on board. This does have a data limit on it. In addition, keep in mind that connection is not always fast. We recommend buying another sim card with a data package at the airport upon arrival.
You always share a cabin with another person of the same sex. You can, however, get the cabin alone for an additional charge.
A combination of both. It can also happen that you start from the platform and the zodiac comes to pick you up at the end of the dive.
Diving general
You must be at least Open Water certified. Convenient, but not required, is also to have your Advanced since many dives are under 18m. We recommend you have a minimum of 20 logged dives and you should be comfortable diving caverns and overhangs.
You will make 3 dives a day here.
Yes, there are some days with a night dive in the program.
It is possible to take the Nitrox specialty aboard the liveaboard.
Diving equipment
All tanks are equipped with DIN connection. A limited number of adapters are available for rental. Please indicate this to us or bring your own adapter.
Yes, the additional charge for using a 15L tanks is €30 per week. You must reserve the tank in advance.
If you are certified, you can use Nitrox. Nitrox is free on this liveaboard.
Yes, if you give at least a week’s notice. The cost for a the rental is per week.
- Diving equipment: €135
- Dive computer: €35
- Diving lamp: €35
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