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MERIDIAN DIVE ADVENTURES

RED SEA LIVEABOARD AUG 2020

LUXURY DIVE CRUISE – GUIDED BY BARRY & CELIA

Northern Reefs & Wrecks, and into the Straits of Tiran, and Gulf of Aquaba

WHEN ARE WE GOING?

Wed 19 Aug – Sun 30 Aug

2020

7 Nights Luxury Liveaboard

The Blue Pearl

2 nights 5* Hurghada hotel

NORTHERN REEFS AND TIRAN

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ITINERARY: 7 NIGHTS ON BOARD / 7 DAYS DIVING / 2 NIGHTS HURGHADA

There are two optional add-on excursions: (in green) Day 1 – Cairo to Luxor excursion Day 11 – Cairo Day tour - Pyramids, museum See full details and price at the end

DAY 1 : WEDNESDAY 19 AUG

Check in at O R Tambo (Upstairs Terminal B – EgyptAir Counter) for a 21:45 flight to Cairo, arriving at Cairo airport on Thursday.

DAY 2 : THURSDAY 20 AUG

FLY CAIRO TO HURGHADA Arrive Hurghada Airport Transfer to a Hurghada 5 * hotel, All-inclusive, for the night All meals and drinks included.

FLY CAIRO TO LUXOR – Excursion Arrive Luxor airport Check in at 5 * hotel BnB Visit the amazing sound and light at Karnak temple Dinner at a choice restaurant (to your account)

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DAY 3 : FRIDAY 21 AUG

Check out from Hurghada hotel at 5 pm Transfer to Hurghada New Marina Check in onboard and dinner will be served

Check out of Luxor hotel after breakfast Tour to Valley of the Kings and Queens Drive from Luxor to Hurghada Check in onboard, dinner will be served

DAY 4 -9 : SAT 22 – THU 27 AUG

Diving the best of the North wrecks and reefs Braai’s onboard, evening entertainment, snorkelling and water sport activities as well as a themed party!

DAY 10 : FRI 28 AUG

Enjoy your last morning dive, return to the marina Check out after breakfast Transfer to a Hurghada 5 * hotel, all-inclusive, for the night

Day 11 : SAT 29 AUG

Hurghada late checkout Enjoy a late check out at the hotel. Transfer to Hurghada airport for flight to Cairo Fly Cairo to Johannesburg

Cairo Tour Very early flight Hurghada to Cairo Guided tour in Cairo Pyramids, Sphinx, Museum and lunch Transfer to Cairo airport to fly to JHB

DAY 12 : SUNDAY 30 AUG

Arrive OR Tambo Airport 07h15

PRICE INCLUDING FLIGHTS: R35 000 per person sharing

Flights Johannesburg/Cairo/Hurghada

Local transfers. Airport Tax

7 nights, 8 days onboard 5* liveaboard

All meals, snacks, soda, tonic and unlimited beers

Diving on nitrox, 12l tanks and weights

Experienced guides

1 night 5 * hotel before the liveaboard

1 night 5* hotel after the liveaboard

Group travel insurance

Service charge / tips

Port fees and fuel surcharge

PRICE EXCLUDING FLIGHTS: R25 500 approximately, per person sharing

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LIVEABOARD SPECS

The luxury liveaboard M/Y Blue Pearl takes 20 guests and has exceptional service and a great crew onboard.

8 cabins with twin beds sharing 2 cabins with king size bed sharing Each cabin has air-conditioning, en-suite bathroom and toiletries supplied

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DIVE EAT SLEEP REPEAT!

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WHERE ARE WE DIVING?

Firstly, we visit the SHIPWRECKS OF ABU NUHAS

CARNATIC : GIANNIS D : DUNRAVEN : THE CHRISOULA K : THISTLEGORM

Abu Nuhas is a large triangular shaped submerged coral reef northwest of the Red Sea’s largest island,

Shadwan Island in the northern Red Sea. It is a navigation hazard because it projects into the nearby

shipping channel that provides ships access to the Suez Canal. Abu Nuhas has seen its share of

shipwrecks, as evidenced by the 5- 7 shipwrecks on it.

THE CARNATIC

This British Built 90 m long, steam engine & wind

sail powered vessel was built in 1862 and sailed

through the Suez mostly to India and China. On

September 13, 1869, the Carnatic ran into the Reef

with 34 passengers as well as a cargo of cotton,

copper, £40,000 in Gold coins and wine that was

en-route to Mumbai & Calcutta in India. It is said

that the crew made it to the Shadwan Island nearby,

but 31 died waiting to be rescued. Two months later

the gold was recovered by another vessel.

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The Carnatic is perhaps the Red Sea’s

oldest divable wreck and also the most

diver’s favourite wreck.

The wreck itself lies on her port side

between 27 and 18 meters, and is

relatively safe for divers to explore. There

are several gaps in its hull where divers

can take a peek inside, and spot several

cracked wine bottles and other

interesting objects, still intact after over a

century and a half underwater. The

wooden deck of the Carnatic has

disappeared over the years and allows

plenty of light into the eerie iron ribbed

insides.

THE CHRISOULA K

Built in 1954, the Chrisoula K, a Greek registered

98 m long diesel-powered cargo freighter was

carrying a cargo of floor tiles from Italy to the Saudi

port of Jeddah in 1981 when it hit the Abu Nuhas

Reef and sunk to the bottom at 26m where its rests in

an upright position.

The bow of the Chrisoula is in just 3m of water and

visibility on site is usually very good and this allows

divers to see the whole wreck at once making this a

great site for underwater photography.

The wreck is penetrable and several interior areas can be accessed by scuba divers including the engine

room, and the cargo hold where one can see the tiles still in place. The rest of the ship has some remarkable

coral growth, and is fascinating to hunt for its inhabitants such as octopus, gobies, scorpionfish and

nudibranch.

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GIANNIS D

This ship was carrying a cargo of wood when it struck the reef and sank in 1983. The Giannis D split in two when it sank and now lies in two halves. The wreck lies on its port side, with the stern on the seabed at 20m and the top of the mast at 5m.

Divers can penetrate the wreck in the stern section. You can swim through the bridge and it’s possible to enter the engine room and accommodation areas too. However, the angle of the wreck can be disorientating when you’re inside.

Giannis D’s stern section is particularly photogenic – its bridge and funnel looking like tiers on a wedding cake. Even if you’re not holding a camera, take a minute to admire this view of one of the Red Sea’s classic wrecks.

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SS DUNRAVEN

The SS Dunraven was built in Newcastle upon Tyne at the C. Mitchell and C. Iron Ship Builders and was launched in 1873. Powered by both sail and steam, she was planned for the route from Britain to Bombay.

Three years later, in January 1876, she set sail from Liverpool loaded with steel and timber bound for Bombay. There the cargo was sold, and she was reloaded with spices, cotton and muslin for the return journey. It was generally an uneventful journey and she reached the Red Sea approaches to the Suez Canal on 25 April. Thinking they were further up the Gulf of Suez than they actually were, Captain Care and the 25-man crew sailed the ship straight into a reef. The ship stuck fast south of Beacon Rock at the southern end of the furthest reaches of what is now the Ras Muhammad National Park on the outside of Sha'ab Mahmoud. The crew worked frantically to dislodge her, and 14 hours after striking the rock she slid off. This motion upset her balance and she capsized.

She sunk quickly in 25 metres of water, leaving the crew to be rescued from the lifeboats by local fishermen. After the incident the British Board of Trade held an enquiry and found Captain Care to have been at fault. The board declared him negligent and revoked his captain's license, the Master's Certificate, for a year.

THISTLEGORM

Sunk by German bomber planes in World War Two, SS Thistlegorm has lain at the bottom of the sea for over

sixty years. Located in the Straits of Gubal, Northern Red Sea this famous vessel has been the subject of

much activity and drama during its two lives as both a seagoing merchant ship and as a world-class diving

site.

Thistlegorm was built in Sunderland and launched in April 1940. She was powered by a triple-expansion steam engines.

The vessel was privately owned but had been partly financed by the British government and was classified as an armed freighter.

She was armed with anti-aircraft gun and a heavy-calibre machine gun attached after construction to the stern of the ship.

The vessel carried out three successful voyages after her launch.

The first was to the US to collect steel rails and aircraft parts, the second to Argentina for grain,

the third to the West Indies for rum.

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She set sail on her fourth and final voyage from Glasgow on 2 June 1941, destined for Alexandria, Egypt. The vessel's cargo included:

Bedford trucks Universal Carrier armored vehicles Norton 16H and BSA motorcycles Bren guns, cases of ammunition, and 0.303 rifles Radio equipment, Wellington boots, aircraft parts, railway wagons and two steam locomotives. The rest of the cargo was for the Allied forces in Egypt.

Due to German and Italian naval and air force activity in the Med, the Thistlegorm sailed as part of a convoy via Cape Town, where she refueled, before heading north up the East coast of Africa and into the Red Sea.

On leaving Cape Town, could not transit through the canal to reach the port of Alexandria and instead moored at Safe Anchorage in September 1941 where she remained at anchor until her sinking on 6 Oct 1941.

There was a large build-up of Allied troops in Egypt during Sept 1941 and German intelligence suspected that there was a troop carrier in the area bringing in additional troops. Two German aircraft were dispatched from Crete to find and destroy the troop carrier and dropped two high explosive bombs on the Thistlegorm, both struck the stern of the ship. The bomb and the explosion of some of the ammunition stored here to the sinking of the Thistlegorm with the loss of four sailors and five members of the Royal Navy gun crew.

The survivors were picked up by HMS Carlisle. Most of the cargo remained within the ship, the major exception being the steam locomotives from the deck cargo which were blown off to either side of the wreck.

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THEN…..

Sail into Straits of Tiran, past Sharm el Sheikh on the Port side and Tiran Island on the starboard and into

the Gulf of Aquaba.

RAS MOHAMED NATIONAL PARK

Tiran reefs include Gordon, Thomas, Woodhouse and Jackson reef. Night dives in Gubal island

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DAHAB

Dahab is considered to be one of the Sinai's most treasured diving destinations. One of the premier dive

sites of Dahab is “The Bells” a large vein of rock that has eroded out leaving a deep gash in the reef that

drops to 45 meters formed where a deep groove cuts into the reef top.

The “Blue Hole” dive has stunning colonies of Star coral, Gorgonians, soft and black corals are to be found

here. You will pass anemones with their anemone fish and come across Butterfly fish and Angelfish on this

dive.

Finally, you reach the Blue Hole and enter this circular–shaped break in the coral reef

swimming over the reef wall at around 7-5 meters. The Canyon, a large crack in the ground,

penetrated from the deepest side, allowing divers to exit up the shallow slope and Ras Abu

Galum National Park offer the very best opportunity to dive these notorious sites and a

chance to see how the Bedouins, an old fishing community live.

OPTIONAL EXTRA – CAIRO TOUR

1. Cairo Day Tour - last Saturday of the trip : R 2500 per person

A day tour of the best of Cairo – Tahir Square, Museum, Pyramids & Sphinx and the Khan el-Khalili

Market

We tour the world-famous Museum in Tahir Square, this museum is home to the biggest collection of

Ancient Pharaonic Egypt. In the Museum you can find an extensive collection of papyrus and coins

used in the Ancient world made of many different metals, including gold, silver, and bronze. On the

ground floor are artifacts from the New Kingdom. And of course, Tutankhamen exhibitions.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid

complex bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient

World, and the only one to remain largely intact.

Khan el-Khalili Market, one of the oldest markets of Egypt where the Bazaars sell souvenirs, antiques

and jewellery, many traditional workshops continue to operate in the surrounding area. In addition to

shops, there are several coffee houses, restaurants and street food vendors within the market

OPTIONAL EXTRA - LUXOR IN STYLE

2. Luxor - over night on first day of arrival : R 3500 per person

Explore the incredible sites of ancient Thebes on this full-day tour of the East and West Banks of Luxor.

Admire the large courtyards and intricate hieroglyphic decorations of the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Your

Egyptologist guide will introduce you to the history of the temple and relate the story of Queen Hatshepsut,

the famous female ruler of Egypt who posed as a male to gain the throne.

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Then enter the legendary Valley of the Kings, where you will visit the tombs of three great pharaohs. Have a

delicious lunch on the banks of the glorious Nile and cross the Nile by water boat to the East Bank with a

visit to the Temple of Karnak, the largest religious complex ever built by man. This enormous temple

represents the combined achievement of many generations of ancient builders and pharaohs.

We invite you to join this underwater expedition that you will never forget.

Along with beautiful seascapes, warm clean water, we will have an excellent dive holiday, especially being

on The Blue Pearl, a luxury liveaboard.

☺ 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: 0828941625 Cell: 071 4220788 www.MERIDIANDIVE.COM Celia@MeridianDive.com

Prices can change without notice due to fluctuating exchange

rates

T&C’s E&OE