Emperor Superior
We did our first live aboard trip on the Emperor Superior in April. The boat and crew were first class. We had an upper deck berth that was spacious and had a large window. All cabins have their own en suit and are air conditioned. The boat is very clean and tidy and all rooms are cleaned daily by the crew.
The crew are extremely attentive providing first class assistance whether dining, kitting up for a dive or returning after a dive. They get to know you so well that by the second day they knew how we liked our tea made and how we liked our breakfast eggs cooked. All meals are first class and served buffet style either on deck or in the dining saloon. Dinner comprised three courses with a soup of the day followed by seafood, beef and or chicken and vegetables. The deserts are plentiful and varied - there is little chance of losing weight even when doing 4 dives a day.
The boat is designed for diving and as such the dive deck never felt cluttered or cramped even with 20 divers kitting up. The dive guides are very knowledgeable about the dive sites and the pre-dive briefings held in the lounge are informative and safety driven. Both Nitrox and air are available to divers and we actually completed the Nitrox PADI course on the boat. In most instances the live aboard anchors above the dive site so access to the sites is extremely easy. When this is not possible - especially on the reefs - groups are taken to the dive sites on a short zodiak ride.
We did the Wrecks and Reefs itinerary and were not disappointed. We dived on 7 wrecks including the famous Thistlegorm which is every bit as magnificent a dive as we had read about. Visibility was good - as it tends to be in the Red Sea and the reefs we dove on had plenty to see including large fan corals, eels, octopus, lion, large Napoleon and stone fish. Dive sites are very popular and as such there can be multiple boats including day trippers at many of the sites making them crowded.
In April the water is still cold - although this is a relative term. We dove in 5mm wetsuits but when we go back again we will definitely be wearing a 7mm semi dry at least. All of the other divers either wore these or dry suits. The wind at this time blows strong and cold so warm clothing to wear at the end of the diving day is a must.
Emperor diving have something for everyone. We particularly wanted to dive on the Thislegorm and as stated earlier we were not disappointed. If you are contemplating a live aboard trip read the itineraries carefully to see if they suit what you want to see. One diver on our trip had not done this simple homework and had less than a good time as she hated diving on the wrecks.
