Red Sea, Egypt MV Typhoon, Liveaboard

I have recently returned from a weeks diving in September on a live aboard in the Red Sea and can tell you the MV Typhoon and her crew are truly exceptional!

Motor Vessel Typhoon is part of Tornado Marine Fleet (see their website at tornadomarinefleet.com) and this is the second time I have spent a week on her, having done a week in November 2005 previously.

The guest rooms or cabins on board are all twin (not bunkbeds like some lesser boats) and en suite. Each cabin has its own air conditioning. Space for clothes and personal items is quite limited, however, once you've packed your diving gear for a diving holiday, the luggage allowance doesn't usually allow you to take too much in the way of non-diving things anyway!

If you take cameras or camcorders etc, there are purpose built charging stations on the main deck for batteries etc as the crew do not wish the chance of any electrical faults starting fires in the cabins whilst unattended.

Room No.1 is on the upper deck beside the bridge; it has a slightly smaller ensuite than the other rooms, but I like it because it is up high so you get a good "rocking" sensation if the sea is rough! Rooms 2 & 3 are found on the main deck beside the dining area. These are the best cabins in my opinion because they are quite large, well above the water, and their en suites are quite large also. Rooms 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 9 & 10 are all on the lower deck and all have small porthole type windows. in rough weather the crew will instruct the occupants of these rooms to ensure that these portholes are closed. A good tip is to avoid the aft (back) rooms (eg 9 or 10) as the ship's generators are aft so the noise can be quite obtrusive.

Please be aware there are no fridges in the cabins on MV Typhoon. However, you are free to bring your own drinks on board (other than beer which they sell) and they will supply ice cubes etc at the bar. It is handy to buy your drink at duty free on the way out. As is usual on a live aboard, tea, coffee, water and soft drinks are provided free of charge. MV Typhoon has the usual, Pepsi, diet Pepsi, lemonade etc however they do charge for Tonic water, so bare that in mind if you are a Gin & Tonic type person!

The Captain of the Typhoon is only 29 years old, however he has been the Captain since he was 24 years old and he really does know the Red Sea like the back of his hand. It would appear that the same crew usually stay with the same boat as I remembered most of them from last year. They really cannot do enough to help you. This year's itinerary took us down to The Brothers (islands on the south Red Sea) where the water was much rougher than the northern parts around Sharm El Sheikh. When the waves were so big that guests were having problems getting back up the ladders onto the dive deck at the end of a dive, the crew had no hesitation in jumping into the heaving water (without fins or mask) and taking your BCD with tank away from you to allow you an easier time of getting back on board. Similarly, they will take everything from you before you get into the ribs, and will take everything from you again at the end of the dive before they haul you back into the ribs.

At the end of every dive the crew greet you with a tray of orange juice (when hot) or hot chocolate (when cold!) and they really spoil you... It is difficult not to turn into a very lazy diver on this boat!!

The dive guides I was lucky enough to have this year were Egyptians by the names of Yasser and Khalid. They were both excellent and very good fun as well. Last year the dive guides were a British couple named Barry & Victoria, who were also great fun. I think all the dive guides are a very high quality with this company as they win lots of awards every year.

I booked this holiday with Tony Backhurst (see scuba.co.uk) who are an English company. It is also possible to book directly with Tornado Fleet, but if you are travelling from the UK, why not book locally? Tony Backhurts are able to pre-book or allocate cabins numbers at the time of booking too.

Last year I flew to Sharm El Sheikh with Excel Airways (see their website at xl.com) and they allowed an extra 5 kilos on top of the standard 20 kilos of luggage allowance for divers. This year I flew with Astraeus (see website flyastraeus.com) who allowed the same. Next month I will be flying with Thomas Cook Airlines (see thomascookairlines.co.uk) again back to Sharm, and they allow a whopping 10 kilos above the standard 20 kilos, however they will ask for proof of your diving (eg BSAC or PADI card or similar) at check in and also ask that you pack all your dive gear into one separate bag and you must arrange this prior to check-in.

One point to note, especially if travelling with children or the easily bored (me!) the Astraeus flight I was one did not have any TV screens or music etc so it was a long flight!

I hope you get to go to the Red Sea, and if so have no hesitiation in recommending MV Typhoon as your liveaboard. I certainly plan to go back to this boat again next year!