Trip report - Highlights of a liveaboard in Egypt: BDE route
Margriet deals with marketing, content and the website at EWDR. Besides her work, she is also an avid diver: she has been spending time underwater regularly since 2011, and in 2023 she obtained her instructor’s license. In November 2024, she traveled to Egypt, where she sailed the BDE route aboard a liveaboard. The goal? Seeing sharks! In this blog, she shares all the highlights of the trip.
Frankly, boarding a liveaboard is already a highlight for me, because you can’t make me happier than being on the water all day, diving and talking about diving with the other divers. By the way, this is not the first time for me to do a liveaboard trip in Egypt. Last time I did the northern route with the wrecks. A week after returning, the trip for next year was already booked: Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone this time. I share my highlights with you in this blog, in no particular order.
1. The route of the liveaboard
The BDE route is perhaps the most popular liveaboard route in Egypt, but I genuinely liked it. Elphinstone is still pretty close to land, but the other dive sites are really remote. You have quite a few days with nothing around you but the sea and you are guaranteed the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets. I also found it quite nice that you have no coverage on your phone.
2. The sharks!
I don’t think it needs much explanation: diving with sharks was really an absolute highlight. We saw a total of 16 longimanus over the entire week, 2 thresher sharks and a number of gray reef sharks. It still brings a certain adrenaline to dive with the sharks. The negative entries and leaving the water 1 by 1 also contribute to that for me.
3. The views from the boat
Getting up early is not necessarily my thing, but during a liveaboard, I don’t mind at all when there is a knock on my door as early as 6 a.m. You start the day with a fantastic sunrise, followed by a swim and breakfast. Then you can’t get up in a morning mood. The sunset after the last dive is also fantastic to see every day. During navigation, by the way, we also saw many dolphins!
4. The people on the boat
The advantage to a liveaboard is that you are on the boat with divers, so you have something in common anyway. We had an international group on the boat and had the most fun together. You share the memories of the week and it’s really not uncommon to leave the boat as friends. In fact, it clicked so well with our little group that six months later we went diving in Malta for a long weekend.
5. The dives on the last day
After a week of diving with sharks, quite a bit of current and along deep drop-offs, the dives on the last day were really a nice change. Beautiful coral, clear water, good visibility, turtles, squid and lots of fish. Really lovely, relaxing dives to end the week with. We did these dives as buddy teams, but ended up going into the water with our whole group.
6. The rhythm of the day
All days have a set rhythm and everything revolves around diving. I love the rhythm of waking up, diving, having breakfast, taking a nap and then diving again. Evenings were always fun too. Watching the sunset with the group on the deck, having dinner and playing games after dinner. Every day someone played his playlist and we had totally different music on board.
7. The wrecks at Brothers
There are 2 wrecks at Brothers and I especially liked the Numidia dive. With the right certification and an eye on your maximum depth, you can also get into the wreck. The visibility was super good, so we really had a very nice view of the wreck and how immense it actually is. I like wrecks anyway, so being able to go in there was a nice addition and change from the dives with sharks.
7. The boat itself
Another highlight of the trip was the boat itself. We stayed on a modern, spacious liveaboard that was fully equipped. The dive deck offered plenty of space to quietly get ready and set up all the equipment in an orderly fashion, which made diving very relaxing. The cabins were comfortable and larger than I expected, allowing you to really unwind after a day of diving.
In addition, there were several places to relax – whether you wanted to read a book in the shade, chat with other divers or (accidentally) fall asleep on a couch. Not to mention the crew. They were always there for us, helping where needed and making sure everything ran smoothly.
Also experience this diving trip?
The chances of encountering oceanic white tips are greatest during the months of October through December. That makes this the period to sail the NDE route if you want to experience these impressive sharks for yourself. Besides the sharks, this is also a time of year when conditions are often ideal: good visibility, pleasant water temperatures and plenty of life underwater. Take a look at our current range of trips to Egypt here.
