In October 2015, we embarked on our first liveaboard in the Red Sea with Blue O Two, and their North and Ras Mohammed itinerary.  The week long trip would see us complete 18 dives, rounding our total number out at a half century.

The vessel, M/Y blue Melody, was a 38 metre, purpose-built luxury liveaboard vessel, with enough capacity for up to 26 divers plus crew.  The dive deck was great; plenty of room for all of your kit, with a dedicated space for each diver.  I particularly liked that you got a corresponding tag to attach to your kit so that the boat crew knew where to put your it back if you are ever separated from it.

We had one of the three double cabins on board.  It was nice and spacious, although I felt it lacked actual storage space, since we had to leave our (empty) suitcases out, which allowed them to roll around the room when it was rough.  There was an en-suite bathroom, which was a bit of a squeeze but did the job.

The food was excellent, buffet-style and differed most days.  A nice touch was the ability to order eggs cooked to order every morning, and a wake up call and coffee :-).  There was also ample room to relax and sunbathe on the sun deck, although you had to be quick to claim your space, as the best spots went quickly with a full complement of divers on board!

Morning dive briefings on the main deck

The zodiacs used to get to some of the sites

Plenty of space to dry the kit at the end of the trip!

Onto the diving…. as our first Red Sea trip, I was not disappointed!  The itinerary we were on provided a nice mix of wrecks and reefs (about 50/50), so there was plenty to see.  That being said, I think both Rae (my wife) and I enjoyed the reefs much more, and prefer diving for the wildlife, not the atmosphere so much.

Our first dive of the trip was a check dive to ensure we were weighted correctly and all the equipment was as expected.  This proved invaluable; shortly after our weight check and descent, I noticed a stream of bubbles escaping from the top of Rae’s tank.  Fearing that the regulators had an issue, I quickly went over and inspected the first stage; the leak was actually coming from the base of the tank valve!  So we ascended, got back on the boat, explained the problem and were quickly issued with a new tank.

The next few days took us to a variety of sites across the Red Sea, which you can read about in more detail when I get the posts up!

• The Alternatives
• Jackfish Alley
• Shark Reef & Yolanda Reef
• Anemone City (& Shark Reef again)
• Beacon Rock & The Dunraven
• Small Crack
• The SS Thistlegorm
• Shag Rock & The Kingston
• Gubal Island & The Barge
• The Ulysees
• Chrisoula K
• Ghiannis D
• Shaab El Erg
• El Miniya

All in all, our first liveaboard experience was great, and I fully expect us to do many more again.  In fact, we are already planning a liveaboard trip in Thailand to get some winter sun this year!  Thoroughly recommended.