Cabins and bathroom a little cramped, pasta overcooked otherwise all great food! Guides great!

(Automatically translated from German)

Stellungnahme von WeDive
Vielen Dank für die gute Bewertung und Ihre Zeit für einen persönlichen Kommentar.
Wir schätzen Ihr Feedback sehr.

no comment given

The diving safari with the Sea Serpent started and ended in the harbor of Port Ghalib. As usual in Egypt, the weather was perfect. Air around 30° and water 28°-29°. Sometimes there was a heavy swell, so getting back into the Zodiac or onto the ship after the dive with equipment required a bit of strength. It was much easier without equipment.
The Sea Serpent is well maintained and everything is spotlessly clean. The cabins are large enough and there is plenty of storage space. Large hard-shell suitcases do not fit in the cabin. They are tied down on deck. As usual, the showers/WCs in the cabins are very cramped. Two showers/WCs on the main deck are helpful. There was plenty of choice for every taste at dinner, meat, fish and vegetarian dishes. For breakfast everything your heart desires, e.g. cereals, yoghurt, cheese, fruit, vegetables, toast, pancakes and eggs fried to order. Coffee, tea and drinks without alcohol except tonic were included. Tonic, beer and wine had to be paid for.
Great importance is attached to the safety of the divers. All certifications and diving insurances were individually checked and registered. On the first day there was a fire drill in the evening, during which we had to put on life jackets and pass through the emergency exit on the lowest deck at the bow of the ship, before assembling on the sun deck at the life rafts. The function of the life rafts was then explained to us there.
The deck for the diving equipment has plenty of space for all divers. Nevertheless, we prepared for diving in 2 groups. The crew were always very helpful before and after the dives. The briefings were detailed on the big screen TV in English and easy to understand. Some guides speak German, but we had divers from Spain and Ireland with us. The guides did their job well. Samy, who has a lot of experience as a guide, has a special sense of humor that I really like. His big gestures under water are worth seeing. Mohammed has very keen eyes underwater. He saw many things long before we discovered what he was pointing at. If you followed his instructions, you saw a lot.
The dive sites:
We didn't really see any sharks at the Brothers, just like on last year's trip. There are supposed to be hammerhead sharks there. But we weren't lucky again. At great depths below us, a thresher shark was spotted in the distance. The general fish population directly on the reef has increased significantly.
At Deadalus there were too many diving boats and too many divers at the same time.
We spent a lot of time in the blue water at a depth of 25-30 m and hoped for shark sightings. We didn't see any hammerhead sharks there either. At least there was a large Napoleon, and longimanus kept coming up under the boats. You can admire some of them very closely during the safety stop. That was interesting and a great experience.
At Elphinstone there were often turtles, some large Napoleons, lots of lionfish, schools of fish and lots of coral fish. The coral reef here was the most beautiful, although some of the corals had died.
Finally, we went to Ras Shona. This is a very beautiful reef with many different species of fish and turtles. However, some corals are dying here too. The last dive here was one of the most beautiful with turtles, lionfish, crocodile fish, moray eels, anemone fish and the many colorful coral fish.

(Automatically translated from German)

Stellungnahme von Alma Mare
Vielen Dank für die Bewertung und den ausführlichen Bericht.

Short explanation for the deduction of points for the cabin: I missed storage space and the door to the toilet/shower should be able to be kept open (especially in rough seas). If someone has a problem in the bathroom, no helper can get in if the door is not kept open.
Otherwise a great tour with an excellent and attentive crew and despite the pack of boats we were almost always able to dive alone at the dive sites.

(Automatically translated from German)

Stellungnahme von Alma Mare
Vielen Dank für die Bewertung.

no comment given

The crew on the ship was very nice and always helpful. It is a pity that the crew was not introduced and we only got to know the team in the course of time. There has also been no farewell in the larger framework. A possibility would have been the evening with the gala buffet to express a thank you.
The cabins were absolutely ok and it was cleaned and tidied up several times a day.
The condition in the dining room is quite tight for 22 divers. It is unfortunate coordinated - seating and buffet arrangement.
The food was really excellent and plentiful. Kudos to the kitchen crew.
We felt safe on the ship. Emergency rescue was talked through and carried out.
The dive spots were really very nice even though 6 TG at Deadalus was too much. Also, because up to 18 other ships were there. 3 dives would have been completely sufficient, then rather flexibly drive to another spot. The same applies to Elphinestone, it is high season, yes, still, stay flexible and look for another spot. There are enough.
Dive guide: Generally we were 22 divers of which 1 diver with a private guide. So 21 divers were divided between 2 guides. These are too big groups with different experience and wishes. Unfortunately we were not so lucky with our guide. The guide must be able to adjust to the group assigned to him and their experience. This should already be recognized during the checkdive. The communication was difficult and the wishes of the group were not taken into account. Stretch diving and hanging on the buoy formed the one and other dive. This is unnecessary especially since very experienced divers were in the group. The dive spots themselves are not difficult from the orientation, if someone runs out of air or vll. would like to end the TG it is necessary and ok that the guide shoots the buoy and initiates an ascent, but that the whole group then has to go into the blue water and breathe away the air at 8-10m, sometimes to well below 40 bar; unnecessary and irresponsible. This can be better organized. In our group we could have equalized this by Patrick a TL. It was not wanted. Our guide also preferred to dive rather about 10-20m deeper. An intervention in an emergency situation is not guaranteed. Great potential in group leadership and communication, as well as estimating the direction of the current and dropping off to the dive spots.
Many thanks to the captain for the safe steering of the ship.

(Automatically translated from German)

Stellungnahme von Alma Mare
Vielen Dank für die Bewertung und die positive Kritik. Nur so können und werden wir Dinge verbessern.

Unfortunately we were very unlucky with the dive guide,he didn't show us anything. He was very fast under water, he didn't consider our dive level (RD, Instructor, air consumption).
Some divespots were very nice , some were very destroyed (coral bleaching).



(Automatically translated from German)

Dining room: extremely cramped conditions u. Handicap with long waiting times because buffet badly placed.
Cabin 02: at next trips "creaking" wooden wall - annoying.
One dive guide for 10-12 people: never again!
Div. dive sites with 20 ships and corresponding number of divers: never again!
Especially since there are much better dive sites like Elphinstone or Dadaelius - with less is often more!
Crew was nice & helpful!

(Automatically translated from German)

Stellungnahme von Alma Mare
Vielen Dank für die Bewertung und die positive Kritik. Nur so können und werden wir Dinge verbessern.

Crew and service were top. Very friendly and helpful.
Food was great.
Cabins were cleaned/prepared several times a day.
You notice that the ship is getting on in years.
To criticize was our dive guide. Groups with 10-12 people too large with a wide spread of diving experience. In addition, the dive guide has little care for the group. Dived 5-10 m deeper than most of the group. Has shown little to no interesting marine life and cared too little for the weaker divers. Did not respond much to wishes of the group.
We would have liked groups of 4-6 people divided by diving experience and knowledge.
Greetings
Andy & Sue

(Automatically translated from German)

Stellungnahme von Alma Mare
Vielen Dank für die Bewertung und die positive Kritik. Nur so können wir Dinge verbessern.

no comment given

no comment given

Very good liveaboard, I recommend with pleasure,
the reefs are very ok, the abundance of fish has decreased in recent years.


(Automatically translated from German)

no comment given

no comment given

no comment given

The boat is no longer the youngest, but in good condition. Desirable for such tours (BDE) would be a tracking system for the divers. The crew took care very well. The guides were experienced and almost always responsive. Particularly noteworthy is the very good cuisine.

(Automatically translated from German)

no comment given

We had a great time on the Sea Serpent and a lot of fun with the crew. They were always very helpful. The cook has conjured up every day super delicious food. And our dive guide Mohamed was just great. He almost always managed to find dive spots where we were the only boat :-) Perfect! He also took great care of us and showed us the underwater world.

(Automatically translated from German)

no comment given

no comment given

Very nice trip & very nice dives!!
Sea Serpent boat: inside & (lower) cabins are a bit outdated but okay. Beds are comfortable.
With 19 divers and 2 guides the groups are a bit large.. I prefer smaller groups like max 6-8 persons.
Both the guides (Hamadi and Garmal) where very good & professional.
Nice balance between somewhat more demanding dives and easy dives.
The overall service and the food was superb!!


(Automatically translated from Dutch)

Beautiful and spacious ship. Lots of room to sit and relax, even with the maximum of divers. spacious, well-kept cabins. Food great!

(Automatically translated from Dutch)

TOP trip...great group...great CREW...super organized...TOP HOLIDAY...gladly again!!!

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!!

(Automatically translated from German)

no comment given

The towels provided to us were clean, but extremely smelly and were therefore not used by me to dry off after the shower. I assume that they still had residual moisture after washing when they were wrapped in foil and stored in the ship. There was no separate shower stall. The toilet room was also the shower room. I did not like that so much.

(Automatically translated from German)

no comment given

Super week!

(Automatically translated from Dutch)

no comment given

no comment given

no comment given

The ship looks better in the pictures than in person. Already something in the years come. The cabin down at the very front of the bow is too narrow. Too many people on the ship. Very tight quarters in the dining area. Would not book this ship again.

(Automatically translated from German)

BDE from 21-28.10 with a group of 7 people. The Sea Serpent is absolutely recommended! Guides are very flexible in responding to requests. The food really stands out. Professional care. The number of divers with ~20 is acceptable.
One suggestion: About the sense that a total of divers from 22 boats (~500 bubble generators) at Daedalus NE at sunrise together hammerhead sharks search, should think about the entire Egyptian dive fleet industry once. This is not only no fun, but in the long run it will also affect the quality of the dive sites and is therefore sad. In Asia (e.g. Lembeh, Raja Ampat) and in the Pacific (e.g. Socorro, Galapagos) a regulation / route coordination of the permitted boats is long established. Perhaps the ADTO can become active here vis-à-vis the authorities in Egypt?

(Automatically translated from German)

super crew. Always stood behind you with warm towel after diving. Help with dressing and undressing. No must have but nice to have.

(Automatically translated from German)

Top also under Corona conditions.

(Automatically translated from German)

Hi Aqua Active Team, once at sea the liveaboard was well organized and very nice as described. The cabins were quite sufficient, because the main place of stay is in / under water or on deck. A schnegativen impression has made the arrival on board, cabins not yet ready for occupancy and we had to get on board the time somehow around, because the luggage also could not be guarded. At least the check-dives could have been done at the house reef with the zodiacs. If I had known that earlier, a later flight would have been a better option for me - too bad.

(Automatically translated from German)

no comment given

The ship is in very good condition. The crew is very friendly and helpful. The food, 4 times a day, very tasty. I was the only vegetarian on board and the cook was super flexible. Courteous service. I wanted to do the BDE tour for a long time... it was more than worth it!!! Mother Nature was very generous. There were thresher sharks, hammerheads, longimanus, turtles and of course the usual reef clientele. Of course this is neither the fault of the ship nor the organizer... but nevertheless it put the cherry on the cake for the experience... It was a wonderful trip in these difficult times.

(Automatically translated from German)

no comment given

Unfortunately we only had one dive guide. The dive spots were nice so far, but unfortunately we had bad luck with big fish. It was also a bit too stressful, the many changes of dive spots.
The boat was awesome and the crew great.

(Automatically translated from German)