Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone
Also sold as BDE
The shark itinerary. Three isolated offshore reefs in open ocean, strong current, deep walls, and the best big-animal diving in Egypt.
What it asks of you
Genuinely advanced. Operators typically ask for 50–100 logged dives, current and drift experience, and Nitrox. An SMB you can deploy without thinking about it is not optional.
- Season
- Roughly March to November, with a Marine Park closure period some years. Hammerheads peak in summer; oceanic whitetips in autumn.
- Length
- Usually 7 nights, with long open-water crossings between the three.
- Departs
- Hurghada or Marsa Alam
BDE is the itinerary serious Red Sea divers build holidays around. The three sites have almost nothing in common with the sheltered north: they are isolated reefs in open ocean, they are swept by current, and there is nothing shallow to retreat to.
The diving is walls and plateaus, usually entered from a zodiac, usually with a plan built around where the current is running rather than where you want to go. Boats brief hard because the consequences of drifting off the back of Daedalus are not theoretical.
It is also the itinerary most likely to be changed. Weeks get rerouted, sites get dropped, and a good crew makes that call early rather than pushing into a crossing that should not be made. A boat that never cancels anything is telling you something about its judgement.
What you dive
- Hammerheads at Daedalus’ north plateau
- Thresher sharks at Little Brother
- The Numidia and Aida wrecks on Big Brother
- Oceanic whitetips at Elphinstone in autumn
- Some of the densest soft coral in the Red Sea
Site guides
Suits
- Experienced divers who want sharks
- Anyone comfortable with negative entries, blue-water drifts and zodiac pickups
- Divers who have done a northern route and want the step up
The catch
The crossings are long, exposed and frequently rough, and the whole itinerary is weather-dependent — boats reroute to the north or the south when the sea says so, and you will not get a refund for the sharks you did not see. If you are prone to seasickness or need certainty, this is the wrong week.