Sudan Trip Report and Photos

I arrived back in the UK on Sunday after spending a week of fantastic diving in Sudan on the Royal Emperor.

The liveaboard was very comfy, plenty of space although admittedly helped by the fact that there were only 9 out of a potential 16 guests on board. Food was plentiful and very edible (I need a diet now!), and the staff were courteous and fun. Guiding was dealt with by James, a very experienced instructor from a variety of agencies and disciplines.

The boat is well set up, 7, 12, 15 and twin 12 tanks availabe (12 being the standard, the rest rentable), membrame compressor for basic nitrox, and also j cylinders of O2 and Helium allowing partial pressure blending for the techie mixes. There's also sofna lime and a spare inspiration rebreather if anyone fancies giving the CCR route a plunge.

The diving was superb, some really good quality and variety of soft and hard coral with plenty of reef fish that seem remarkably diver (and strobe) tolerant. The majority of dives were quite deep though, plateaus ranging from 40 up to 25, with walls to complete the safety stop.

And of course, the highlight was the shark action. There weren't as many greys as I expected, however we were treated to schooling hammerheads (between 15 and 25) on four different dives, one time coming as shallow as 25 metres. They didn't hang around for too long, and sadly light was too dim for decent photos, however still a treat to see them.

The final day was spent on the Umbria, one night dive and three day dives, with some good penetrations, and I still hadn't had enough of her!

I've uploaded some of the photos to Facebook, it's open access so feel free to browse:

General Photos
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30...=503848551

Macro Stuff
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30...=503848551

Wreck of the Umbria
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30...=503848551