Emperor Divers News

Kevin Prosser's chuffed with Sharm

2010-01-28T09:47:12Z

Please pass on my thanks to all involved at Emperor Divers for making my stay a really enjoyable experience in Sharm. I have returned to diving after a 23 year break and the BSAC ocean diver course was just the ticket to bring me back up to speed with latest equipment and best practice. I really, really enjoyed the reef and hard boat diving and the whole service from all involved was a fantastic experience.

My special thanks to my instructor Mat Cotton who was very thorough and professional in his approach. I have had experience of various instructors over the years and Mat certainly stepped up to the plate. Suffice to say, if my daughter wished to learn to dive I would recommend she attends Emperor Divers.

I will be looking to return in the spring to complete the BSAC sport diver course (ideally with Mat or Pete) and hopefully thereafter enjoy some additional non-course diving. I have joined the local Chester BSAC branch and will wholeheartedly recommend Emperor Divers to all concerned for both courses and holiday diving in the Red Sea.

Kevin Prosser, England

Meet us this month at Duikvaker, Netherlands

2010-01-28T09:44:42Z

Come along and meet the team. From 5 - 7 February, we will be at Duikvaker, Expo Houten, Netherlands on Stand G02. We hope to see you there!

New from April - Sinai Classic & Mini Cruises and Deep North from Sharm el Sheikh

2010-01-28T09:37:38Z

Do something a little different this year and join Emperor Fleet for some promising NEW dive adventures!

Sinai Mini Cruise
- Ras Mohammed - Dunraven - Thistlegorm

Sinai Classic Cruise
Ras Mohammed - Thistlegorm - Abu Nuhas or Straits of Tiran

Deep North
Ras Mohammed - Ras Mamlach - Ras Abu Galum - Dahab - Nuweiba

With prices at just over £290 for a mini cruise...what are you waiting for?

Email info.safaris@emperordivers.com today

New 'Palace Housereef' for Marsa Alam

2010-01-27T12:21:38Z

The first official Palace Housereef dive took place recently. Now guests are just one giant stride away from one of the most amazing reefs in the area. Hawksbill turtles, barracudas and lionfish are seen on a regular basis.

Marsa Alam Dive Centre Manager, Vanessa Ronecker and Tom Bauer, Area General Manager for InterContinental Hotels in Port Ghalib, are pictured preparing for the giant leap!

Following his first diving experience, Tom decided to start his open water course straight away. During their dive they were accompanied by a little hawksbill turtle, lionfish and loads of anthias. Guests can choose morning or afternoon dives and even really early morning and night dives!

Click here for more on diving in Marsa Alam

From 'child to adult'...is this the same Nuweiba Frogfish?

2010-01-26T08:14:20Z

As many visitors to Emperor Divers, Nuweiba, know, this is a great location for regular sightings of the elusive Frogfish. They vary from tiny little finger nail size specimens to the much larger - and thus named - Giant Frogfish.

Frogfish change colour over time to match their surroundings and, not surprisingly, grow larger as they grow older. Underwater photographer and frequent visitor to Emperor Nuweiba, Jan Davies, has sent us four photos from 2005 to 2009 of what he believes to be the same Frogfish showing how it has adapted its colouration over the years with its surroundings.

Are there any Frogfish experts out there who can confirm that this could be the same fish growing older over the years?

Frogfish 2005

Frogfish 2006

Frogfish 2007

Frogfish 2008

Be adventurous! Explore the Deep South with Tekstreme

2010-01-19T14:36:17Z

Emperor Divers and Tekstreme are giving adventurous divers the chance to join the platinum liveaboard, Elite, on its exploratory trip to the Red Sea's Deep South on 16 - 23 April.

Sailing from Hamata port to destination unknown, we will be exploring some of the reef systems and Habilis further south of St John's where normal safari boats don't venture.

Technical divers are welcome on the trip to help explore, map and discover new dive sites in the most southern area of the Red Sea.

Cost is 1300 Euros per person, which includes cabin, 7 nights on board (last night either on board or in a hotel), 6 days diving (min 3 dives/day, last day 2 dives), local transfers, guide, weights, full board & soft drinks, wine with dinner, environmental tax, Marine Park fees and port departure fees. Not included: Flight/visa, diving equipment, alcohol.

Email tekstreme@emperordivers.com for more information.

Go compare...Emperor liveaboards new easy cross-checker

2010-01-14T07:53:32Z

We like to make life a little easier here at Team Emperor. Which is why we have compiled an easy cross-checker to see what each of Emperor Fleet liveaboards has to offer.

From the number of cabins to the number of zodiacs and whether wine is included with dinner - you'll find it all here at a glance.

Take a look here!

And once you've chosen, contact info.safaris@emperordivers.com to book the liveaboard of your life!

Marsa Alam guests enjoy dolphins and eagle rays

2010-01-13T12:58:42Z

Guests with Emperor Marsa Alam recently spotted a pod of dolphins in the bay at Marsa Shoni Kebeir. Snorkelling gear was donned quickly and the group enjoyed the privilege of being accepted by the dolphins for a while. But the adventure was to get even better as later, during their dive, they met a huge eagle ray leisurely passing by. All agreed, it was a magical day!

Then just the next day, the Zaher family from Switzerland went out on the speedboat for a one-tank dive in Marsa Mubarak. On their way out of the marina they spotted eight bottlenose dolphins and actually went snorkelling with them. What a fabulous family experience! Wait for it...on their dive in Marsa Mubarak south they found two eagle rays passing them on a sandy spot! Yet another magical Marsa day.

Update on cargo vessel wrecked on Woodhouse Reef

2010-01-06T09:20:39Z

Since hitting the reef on New Year's Eve, the 260m-long, Hong Kong-flagged CSCL Hamburg is not interfering with diving in the area as it's on the outside of the reef. Damage is allegedly limited to the bow area and, fortunately, there are no oil or fuel leaks at present.

The extent of damage to corals is to be assessed.

The reason for the incident is not known as yet.

Our thanks to Simon Burrows, aged 12, who is currently diving with Emperor Sharm for these photos of the incident.

Ras Mamlach - clearest-water cracks & weird creatures?

2009-12-30T08:14:10Z

One and a half hours south of Nuweiba, along the coastal track by jeep, lies the remote and beautiful dive site of Ras Mamlach in the Abu Galum National Park. The diving here offers pretty coral gardens and a spectacular wall festooned with black corals dropping into the abyss.

During the surface interval, a short walk along the shore will bring you to another interesting feature of this remote location.

Several years ago an earthquake caused two long and narrow cracks to be formed on the shore running inland. About 2 metres wide and dropping down to around 6 to 8 metres, the water in these cracks is extremely clear and not as salty as the sea probably because it is a mix of seawater and fresh underground water from the nearby mountains of the Sinai.

We have yet to discover if there are any weird creatures living in this newly formed habitat such as the blind shrimps found in similar cracks near to Ras Mohamed. Only time and the intrepidness of the dive guide will tell!

HEPCA proves Red Sea recycling works

2009-12-29T08:57:01Z

Since August 2009, the Egyptian government has granted HEPCA sole responsibility for the management of waste collection and recycling in the southern Red Sea. The scheme has achieved some incredible results - proof that recycling really does make a difference and dramatically helps to reduce daily damage to the environment.

HEPCA's latest figures show an outstanding success rate in helping to reduce the Red Sea's carbon footprint:

The following are the figures recycled each month:

PAPER

more than 8.5 tonnes of paper and cartons saving:
- 145 trees
- 34 barrels of oil
- 25 cubic metres of landfill space
- 34,000kw hours of energy
- 59,500 gallons of water.

Simply put, the monthly HEPCA recycled paper total saves enough energy for heat, electricity and air-conditioning for the average Egyptian home for almost 30 months!

ALUMINIUM

more than 41,500 cans saving:
- enough energy to run a television, or operate a computer for 14 years, or a computer centre with 20 computers for over one year.

GLASS

at least 6000kg of glass saving:
- enough energy to power a computer for 296 days, a 100-watt light bulb for 5.93 years and saves the equivalent of 272 litres of oil.

PLASTIC

almost 259,000 plastic bottles and parts saving:
- enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for 89.9 years.

STEEL and TIN

an average of 4.5 tonnes of steel and tin saving:
- 24.9 tonnes of iron ore, 14 tonnes of coal, and 1.2 tonnes of limestone.

HEPCA saves around 65 tonnes of CO2 pollutants from entering the atmosphere of the Red Sea each month.

HEPCA's solid waste management strategy is not only concerned with saving the environment but also saving livelihoods. Many valuable employment opportunities have been created for the local community in waste collection, transportation and staffing at the MRF. Further employment and income is also generated through the selling on of recyclable material. We estimate an additional 70 jobs will be created annually in support of this program.

Hurghada plays host to resident octopus

2009-12-19T09:39:55Z

News just in from the team in Hurghada is that they've been playing 'host' to a resident octopus.

Says dive centre manager, Sharon El Shoura, "This little chap arrived about 5 days ago and has been around the marina area but looks like he's now moving on. And if he is a she then we apologise!"

Team Hurghada also reports sightings on the house reef of a turtle and eagle ray!

Red Sea liveaboard Emperor Fraser sinks

2009-12-17T12:00:38Z

At approximately 16:30 hrs on 16th December Red Sea liveaboard, Emperor Fraser, was moored at Dunraven near Sharm el Sheikh. While the 11 guests on board, from the UK, Australia, Finland and Holland, were doing their second dive of the day the wind direction changed suddenly causing the rear mooring lines to break free. With divers underwater the captain was unable to start the engines in order to prevent the boat from colliding with the reef, causing a breach in the hull.

The crew immediately recalled the divers and attempted to plug the rupture. However, this proved impossible and the captain took the decision to abandon ship onto the zodiacs.

Emperor Fleet headquarters helped coordinated the rescue, which included the Egyptian Navy and other dive boats. All guests, guides and crew were picked up by the Egyptian Navy and taken to the nearest port, Sharm el Sheikh, where they were met by Emperor staff, provided with new clothes and taken to the Hilton Dreams Hotel.

Emperor Divers would like to express their thanks to the Egyptian Navy and CDWS for their assistance.

Emperor Divers is deeply regretful that this unfortunate accident has affected our guests' holiday and is doing everything possible to provide them with diving in the Sharm and Hurghada areas before they fly home. Sadly the Emperor Fraser, a favoured boat for many divers over the past few years, is unsalvageable. Guests with a forward booking on Fraser will be contacted by Emperor Reservations to discuss alternatives or contact info.safaris@emperordivers.com

Extensive BSAC training at Emperor Divers

2009-12-15T20:18:52Z

by dive guide Daniele Zanoni

In October and the beginning of November Emperor Divers Sharm El Sheikh had four instructors that crossed over to BSAC Dive Leader in order to take part in the BSAC Advanced Diver course that took place from 17 - 25 November on Emperor Asmaa, one of our fleet boats.

Emperor Divers is always looking at the quality of the service provided to their guests and it could not miss the opportunity to give their guides the chance to gain precious extra knowledge. The expanding and ever changing market requires dive centres to broaden their horizons, services offered and special needs for experienced divers and new professionals.]]>
The Advanced Diver programme seemed to tailor very well on us (read dive guides) since it involves deepening the knowledge about meteorology, tidal movements, organizing trips on small and big boats, setting up emergency equipment and emergency procedures, and leading rescue teams in case of emergencies. The candidates have to be able to work with Admiralty Charts, undergo rescue workshops, lead diving trips and extend their depth limits learning how to perform decompression stops in the proper way.

Sophie Rennie was our BSAC National Instructor (highest level in BSAC). She has been diving for almost twenty years and has seven year's experience in instructor assessment and high level diver training. In order to qualify more Advanced Divers in the future, we also trained two more guides as BSAC Advanced Instructor. This course is a complex path and a comprehensive study of how to improve your teaching skills, how to grab a teaching opportunity when it arises and how to infuse more knowledge and enthusiasm to the course takers and/or qualified divers. It covers small lectures, specific briefings, progressive teaching and broad study of diving related topics such as meteorology, tides, dive managing and rescue leading.

Another important aspect of the training was the boat handling and boat coxswain training. RIBS were the boats we learnt how to drive, to steer and to use to recover divers from the water. The qualification is the CDA (Combined Diving Agencies) BSAC ICC (International Certificate of Competence) and is widely regarded as the best training available.

These eight days together aboard Emperor Asmaa have been fantastic. The Emperor team made a big effort to dovetail all the puzzle pieces together, to encourage people that needed a nice word, to pat others on the shoulder and say "Well done" immediately after another tick fell in the box. We also had to face another hitch, which turned out to be very positive; we had to drive to Hurghada to board the boat and this made our training even more challenging and interesting because we were not in our usual comfort zone of known dive sites (Sharm El Sheikh). So we were forced to plan all of the days in dive sites we barely knew and we could really see the spirit of the Emperor team: everybody contributing to let the day run smoothly.

But probably the weirdest task was that we had to pretend to train or brief other instructors who are colleagues and friends and at the same level of knowledge. But guess what? Nobody neglected to be part of the audience and actively take part in all the activities.

New BSAC Advanced Instructors:

Daniele Zanoni
Steve Hinton

New BSAC Dive Leaders:

Sarah Wright
Simon Stanford
Steve Parry
Mat Cotton

New BSAC Advanced Divers:

Sarah Wright
Simon Stanford
Steve Parry
Mat cotton
Roger Jenkins
Shaun Lambert
Denis Durrant
Peter Walsh

New boat handlers and coxswains:

Daniele Zanoni
Sarah Wright
Simon Stanford
Steve Parry
Mat Cotton
Roger Jenkins
Shaun Lambert
Denis Durrant
Peter Walsh

Safari Report - Emperor Fraser - 4/11 December

2009-12-15T17:52:21Z

by dive guides Sonia and Juan

Boat:
Dates of safari:
Dive guides:
Route:
Exit-Enter Harbor:

Emperor Fraser
4-11 December 2009
Sonia and Juan
Classic North Cruise
Hurghada

]]> DAY DIVING ONE:
Dive one: Poseidon Garden Shaab el Erg, very large school of masked butterfly fish and banner fish, beautiful.
Dive two: Carnatic, very beautiful light, with all the soft corals on the bow puffed up and some glassfish, very scenic also moray eel, puffers, and many pipefish.
Night dive: Abu Nuhas Reef, cuttlefish, synapta sea cucumber, lots of shrimp and crabs
Weather: sunny
Wind: Indicate force and direction: 10-15 Knots from North
Water Temperature and Visibility: 24C and 30m

DAY DIVING TWO:
Dive one: Giannis D with very clear visibility, beautiful, lots of fusiliers everywhere, and the engine room and adjacent quarters filled with glassfish and copper sweepers, awesome! Also a school of batfish by the bow. Very relaxing dive and very scenic.
Dive two: Small Passage at Shaab Mahmoud, saw an EAGLE RAY, yippee, and also beautiful fan corals, lots of soft corals, amazing table coral gardens, red anemone, eel garden, turtle sleeping fantastic, current was coming out so we did only the outside, which was beautiful!
Dive three: Dunraven, fantastic visibility, had two free swimming moray eels, schools of jacks, goatfish and sweetlips, the school of batfish was by the propeller, fantastic, and also all the lush soft corals puffed up, amazing, on the reef saw TWO STONEFISH, awesome, one upside down in a hole all body exposed, and the other one on top of a porite coral block in a hole as well, beautiful!
Night dive: Beacon Rock, lionfish, basket star, scorpionfish, sea urchins, crabs
Weather: sunny
Wind: Indicate force and direction: 10-15 from North
Water Temperature and Visibility: 24C and 30 m

DAY DIVING THREE:
Dive one: Shark Reef and Yolanda, moderate current, soft corals amazing everywhere, napoleon fish, morays, simply gorgeous dive!
Dive two: Anemone City, such a completely beautiful dive, so many soft corals, huge table corals, lots of anemones with clouds of black damsels and anemone fish, lots of chocolate dip damsels, absolutely fantastic dive!
Dive three: Thistlegorm, did the inside, with no other boat diving, only towards the end everybody got in and the ship turned into a Jacuzzi for us on the safety stop.... The best about the dive was the school of more than 100 batfish hovering above the wreck.
Weather: sunny
Wind: Indicate force and direction: 15-20 knots from N, quite rough
Water Temperature and Visibility: 24C and 30m

DAY DIVING FOUR:
Dive one: Thistlegorm with great visibility and lots of batfish, the huge school still there, awesome, and also all the pink anemones on the wire at the stern all open really beautiful. The current was moderate, so we could visit the locomotive as well as make a tour of the stern, all the banner fish in the blast area. Was really nice dive!
Dive two: Kingston and Shag Rock reef, everybody loved it, because the reef is so gorgeous and pristine, and also the wreck so covered in corals. Large schools of goatfish as well as an EAGLE RAY!!! On the way out there were about 30 dolphins on the surface.
Dive three: Barge at Gubal with all the nasties standing by, moray eels, scorpionfish, lionfish, small white morays, yellow goatfish school hunting on the bottom, crocodile fish, anemone carriers, sea urchins, fantastic dive!
Night dive: Barge again and the same nasties still there, as well as the giant old moray... free swimming.... Great! Everybody's favourite night dive...
Weather: sunny
Wind: Indicate force and direction: 15 knots from north, quite rough
Water Temperature and Visibility: 23C and 20m

DAY DIVING FIVE:
Dive one: Bluff Point with no current and beautiful fans and clouds of anthias and glassfish, lots of morays and lionfish and..... what really made our dive perfect was the appearance at the end of the dive of 3 BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS staying with us for about 10 minutes, just under us, taking turns in brushing themselves against a set of black coral bushes, coming up to get air past us, eyeing us close up teasingly, and going done again to have another brush... it can't get much better for birthday present...
Dive two: Siyul Kebir, very awesome dive as usual. Stayed around the special pinnacle for ages, enjoying the view of all the glassfish and silversides, as well as all the soft corals, two yellowmouth morays, plenty cleaner shrimp, hingebeak shrimp, humpback shrimp, plenty blennies poking their heads out of the holes, longnose hawk fish on the gorgonian fan, beautiful!!! No frogfish this week, gone walkies.... Along the reef schools of goatfish, moray eels, and clouds of anthias, lionfish and scorpionfish.
Dive three: Gota Shaab El Erg, quite strong current coming from the south, but everybody loved the very pristine hard coral garden and the schools of goatfish, also a large crocodile fish, and a huge school of glassfish and copper sweepers in the shallows, as well as a school of silversides above them, being chased around by jacks, very beautiful!
Night dive: Shaab El Erg, Spanish dancer, turtle, stonefish, anemone carrier hermit crab, moray, stingray, everybody loved it. Weather: cloudy all day and cool
Wind: Indicate force and direction: smooth seas, 10 knots N
Water Temperature and Visibility: 24C and 30 meters

DAY DIVING SIX:
Dive one: Giftun Drift, very gorgeous, all the fan corals beautiful and then the shallow reef covered in soft corals and lots of anthias and damsels, as well as many large morays, porcupine fish mating, schooling black snapper, and also a large jackfish touring around, gorgeous dive!
Dive two: Gota Abu Ramada north and west sides, as the current was coming from SE direction. All loved it, again large morays and many schooling fish, including sweetlips, beautiful!
Weather: sunny
Wind: Indicate force and direction: 10-15 knots from north, rough
Water Temperature and Visibility: 23C and 30 meters