By Kassie Smith
Photos- Gabe de Leon
Egypt was never a destination that appeared within the top
ten spots on my bucket list to visit...
But when Aggressor & Dancer Fleet announced they were offering a new dive trip to the Red Sea,
we said let’s go! Based on Aggressor's reputation, mixed with diving in some of the most famous reef's in the world, I knew it was a trip not to pass up.
More research told me about the new yacht in dry dock finishing it's major renovation for the maiden voyage. Since the upheaval in Egypt there had been no news
of US dive trips to this destination for some time. Even though The Red Sea is considered “epic” to
divers, it fell off the radar. Being one of the largest liveaboard fleets in the world isn’t an easy
task, and I felt this may have been a bit premature for Aggressor as they were unsure of the diver's reception to Egypt. Foolish thinking on my part as they were completely committed to making this new trip a success!
Once we were booked, Aggressor's outreach prior to the trip was well done as they kept us informed weekly of the complete itinerary and any changes. It dispelling any worries I personally had to diving in the Red Sea. Adding this new trip to their roster of already over 20 destinations I feel was a smart move for Aggressor. As things eventually settle down politically, Aggressor Fleet will be well on it's way to a streamline tour while others will just be coming onboard.
This year Aggressor celebrates an Anniversary. My research tells me that exactly 30 years ago President Wayne Hasson and his wife Anne met a man
that would plot their course to what is today now known as a “5 star diving experience”.
From what I have read, during a dive trip to Grand Cayman the couple met an oil rig
man named Paul Haines. Paul shared a love for diving along with Anne and Wayne,
and at the time possessed a fleet of unused oil rig boats that had gone idle
from the oil bust. The three joined forces and as they say, the rest is
history. Now with over 20 boats and destinations in their fleet, Wayne Hasson
and now partner / CEO Wayne Brown came up with an idea of offering a more
innovative way for you to enjoy the
“eat, sleep and dive” scenario. Not just dive boats that resemble
camping on water, these guys pioneered changes in the liveaboard industry to todays standards of offerings.
Aggressor marches to their own standards though, with daily gourmet menus,
bespoke land excursions and luxurious accommodations to now be able to call
their boats dive “yachts”. For the expansive fleet that Aggressor holds it is
credible to be able to consistently achieve this level of standard across the
board. As a destination guru of sorts myself, when I am looking at 8 days on
water I need to feel like I have alternative amenities to look forward to when
I am not diving. So why the name ”Aggressor”? It was the name of the first oil
crew boat that was owned by Haines and they say changing a name of a boat is
bad luck. As luck has it the myth has served this fleet well, as they keep the
momentum going.
Another type of excursion offered in the fleet are the
“Dancer” yachts which are a bit different type of experience from the
Aggressor's original fleet of boats. Additional amenities and style of trip, like
the Komodo Dancer, which touts 124 feet of sailing vessel and is impressive in
any dive log. Being a sailor myself, I
truly want on this boat! The Dancer
fleet of yachts were sold to Wayne Brown sometime in 2008 from Luxury dive boat
owner Peter Hughes. " This was purely a financial move" stated
Hughes to media, as he released all interest to his luxury fleet to Aggressor. My feelings, A
lucrative acquisition for Aggressor, as Dancer Fleet had it's own affluent
client base that was very loyal to Peter Hughes and his excursions. From this acquisition I believe Aggressor
had an opportunity to expand it's brand even higher into luxury status.
The safari recipe is something that Aggressor excels at with most of their excursions, and has given them the step up in the liveaboard world of competitors.
They are not adverse to changing the course at a moments notice to take advantage of a new unplanned land excursion or dive site, so to make the experience of the trip more fantastic. Utilizing the numerous national parks within
the world, your experiences to each destination are diverse and
exciting. On our trip to the Red Sea, Aggressor arranged a memorable land based tour of the Luxor and Valley of The Kings, prior to us boarding the boat. While already on board a guest requested to see a Bedouin Village once we docked. The ship's captain (David) put in a few calls and made it happen for that same day!
Bedoin Performer
An asset to Aggressor is Tom Gebhardt, sales manager to the entire fleet. Immediately after committing to the trip, we received a call welcoming us on board and explaining our upcoming trip details on the newly
renovated yacht. Tom has a life time of
experience and long list of accolades as a yacht captain,
expert diver, and now sales and marketing exec and is qualified to run any
excursion on any type of trip. By the time we were ready to leave Egypt, we felt we had made a friend
forever. Prior to this trip, Tom took a short sabbatical but Aggressor brought
Tom back to launch the Red Sea. Who better but Tom Gebhardt to
take this on, as he not only knows the
expectations of Aggressor and how to manage a new crew, but
also the expectation of the experienced divers who would be on board. This of course was a special excursion,
not only was it the maiden voyage but a “fam” trip. In the tour world this
means a trip to host tour professionals who would leave their vacation impressed and in turn book clients on other
Aggressor trips. Expectations would be high for sure as there would be uncertainty amongst the guests as to the safety of the exact itinerary. Tom I am sure anticipated this and seemed to meet the task head on. We all met Tom in Hurghada at the Marriott Beach Resort. Beautiful resort for us to have a quick stay and off through the desert to Kings Island, Luxor for a few days of land based tour.
The true challenge wasn’t only to make the diving and accommodations perfect, but was to make the guests feel completely at ease to travel through Egypt. All my friends said, “are you nuts, Egypt”? I see why there was that immediate response, but now in retrospect I feel it is unwarranted. In my opinion, our current view of this alluring country have been blown a bit out of proportion by the media. Also, our general outlook as a country right now is insecure. I am not diminishing the severity of the political mess and danger that is still occurring, that was in the forefront of all our minds for sure. I know now the true danger is more isolated to certain parts than are revealed, unless you understand the complete topography of the country. You can get in trouble anywhere in this world if you bring attention to yourself or embark on areas that are undesirable and truly dangerous! People also take risks because it stimulates them and it is exciting.
Today even more, media swarm to cover dramatic issues as it gets more attention than a human interest "feel good" story. God knows in this struggling economy media needs readers and numbers! As Americans we want to know right away, and politically I think we are all confused as to our US global strategies. But as for Egypt, I personally searched for "positive content" in stories about the safe areas to still travel to in Egypt, but had a hard time. Nothing memorable accept a few small dated articles on how the Egyptian economy has been severely damaged by the lack of American tourist trade and begging us to come back. I am sure there were more recent pieces if I looked harder, weren't there? I see it briefly referenced in news releases, but once you see the faces and meet the people, it is very real. While on the water, Russian and Italian dive boats were seen in abundance. We, as Americans have clearly been absent from this picture for some time. Talking to the Egyptians they all said "please tell American's there are beautiful parts of this country and they are welcome and very safe".
When landing in Cairo, it was not at all as expected, quick and painless. Not even a strange look came my way as an American, even when I decided to loosen up and unwrap myself a bit from my black head to toe garb. I am not a novice traveler by any means, traveled abroad since I was a kid, but I was now in Egypt. I heard the stories and I was trying to fit in respectfully as well as fly under the radar. From the time of arrival, there was never a point of discomfort or fear.
I have included a recent link below of a positive article about travel to Luxor and Egypt...Most of the articles that reference Luxor say there is no danger to visit there...
So far the reception was amazing in Egypt. Once we met up with our tour guides that would escort us through the land tour we all felt a bit at ease. They were seasoned professionals who at no point looked concerned to take American's through Egypt.
All our guides were extremely educated and lovely people.
Our personal guide Ahmed Wahab (facebook Contact) ended up being such a great friend to all of us by the end of the three days. Not just a guide but an educated history major, and native of Luxor. Since we were an inquisitive crowd, tons of question were asked about Egyptian culture and the tour. We kept Ahmed on his toes but he truly kept his "Ramses", as he affectionately called us, on ours. ("Ramses", a term that references Pharaoh Rulers). The tour of "Valley of the Kings" was a highlight. At lunch we chatted with Ahmed as he sadly explained the poverty that had fallen upon Egypt from the complete halt to the US travel to Egypt. At that very moment I looked over to see more than a dozen tourist ships docked and it looked as they had been that way for several year. Ahmed urged us to speak well of Egypt and the conditions and how safe it was to travel to the tourist areas such as Luxor. The Egyptians were embracing and lovely and respected what their gracious hospitality towards Americans could bring back to their country.
Jolie Ville on Kings Island was not what we expected.
This was truly a "five star" expansive resort, covering a large amount of acreage and catered to an array of guests. Arriving at night we did not truly experience what it had to offer until we woke to breakfast on the Nile River. A small amount of fog gave it a surreal and dream like imagery. I was speechless to the beauty.
A strange feeling came to me though as I knew they were also feeling the pains of the abandoned tourists. Regardless, the resort was in top condition, fully staffed, completely open and ready to accommodate these skeptical Americans. This resort features 647 rooms and 31 luxury bungalows. Aggressor made sure that we all were accommodated with bungalows for our two night stay. To aggressors credit all accommodation given to us were luxury rated. The next morning to wake up and have breakfast on the Nile was truly serene. Conference areas, several pools and five star dining. The resort was truly the start to an amazing visit through Egypt.
The tour through Egypt brought me an entire new respect for the ancient culture of this country. Gabriel was able to take some amazing shots of Egyptian community. They loved to pose for Americans...
Once we reached Port Ghalib where Aggressor had the boat docked, it all
became even more exciting...
The crew fell over themselves to be absolutely accommodating from the time we
set foot on board and continued throughout the trip. More than that they were such fun people! Once on board and busy settling our dive gear, we glanced over to see a man with a back pack who shouted “what else
do we need from the dive shop before you set out”?….soon did I learn that was
not one of the crew but our very
accommodating host and yacht owner
David Home. David was rushing
off with a list from the crew of last minute needs for the guests. I thought "wow that's impressive". We would see him later at diner when he greeted us with a warm
welcome speech and the excitement of the maiden voyage to the Red Sea was heard
through every welcoming word he spoke. Once he greeted us and sent us on our way, he jumped off to head to his other boat in dry dock getting ready for a new Sudan trip.
David Home, substantial entrepreneur with
several companies that revolve around tourism and hospitality, had just
purchased this new Aggressor yacht with an Egyptian partner. "Home", who has done business in Egypt and India for some time, entered into an Aggressor franchise opportunity. This was a wise move for Aggressor as David Home has solid footing in Egypt and would enable Wayne Hasson and Wayne Brown a
smooth opportunity into the Egyptian market.
Additionally, “Home” is in the
process of building a new 5 star safari resort in India, along with working on
the Sudan livaboard trip as well.
The India resort Haathigainda Safari Resort will be located inside a national park reserve,
and will fit into the land and sea destination experiences Aggressor has
started offering perfectly. You will hear more from me later this year on the
progress...
The accommodations aboard the boat proved to go above our
expectations and true to the Aggressor & Dancer Fleet standards. We were
offered exquisite traditional dining experiences along with the Egyptian chef trying
to accommodate the Americans with their favorite dishes like hamburgers and French fries. Since destination resorts are "my thing", I have been known to write about the small details that show outstanding effort while on a trip. I felt that was one! I also have to mention that the crew greeted us each day as a "Five Star" staff would, not really the expectations of a liveaboard. Every morning asking to fulfill our every need to be accommodated throughout the day. I must personally mention this, and I know it was valued by most of us. All new ventures have their kinks to work through, but ours were very minimal. I truly believe that Aggressor and their partners like "David Home", try to make all their dive experiences as much about luxury service as the diving. More than "eat, sleep & dive", just as Peter Hughes started years before, a luxury destination dive experience.
It is about the complete experience that stays in our memories.
Here are just a few of the amazing underwater photographs Gabriel captured...
After the 8 days out on water we all returned feeling like Aggressor family. It
was sad to leave the boat. For
weeks after, through Facebook and other social media, we all traded pictures,
short stories and comments of missing the days we just spent together in Egypt
and on the Red Sea. A maiden voyage we were all lucky enough to experience.
I will end with a story I read in the “Cruise News” a few months ago that was put out
by Aggressor & dancer Fleet. It was called “The last Horrah” and was a
farewell written to Aggressor from the famous Stan Waterman. Stan had his last
dive at the age of 90 on his old friend the Cayman Aggressor IV. He spoke of
his retirement from diving and more importantly he spoke of the Aggressor being
his “home afloat”. The vast footage of videos he captured through his year
after year touring on the Aggressor trips became the basis for his seminars.
The story tore at my heart as he truly was saying goodbye to a family
and old friend not just diving. I understand Stan, as Gabriel and I feel the
same way about the Aggressor. We truly have made a friend for life and we will continue our
passion for diving aboard your glorious yachts. Happy 30th Aggressor
…
Cheers & Thank You Aggressor!
See you soon...
Visit Aggressor's Sites to find out more ......
Photos of Tom Gebhardt in the Red Sea
Words From Owner / CEO
Wayne Brown -
Unique Specialty Charters;
Wine Appreciation Charter
Are You A Wine Enthusiast? Join CEO Wayne Brown for a wine appreciation and tasting charter. Sample unique vintages of red and white wines and learn impressive facts to tempt your palette for more. It will be a fun filled week of sharing stories, toasts and fun facts about wine appreciation.Guests will view videos of “WineWorks”, created under the direction of Wayne Brown. Whether you are a wine connoisseur or a novice this unique charter is for you.
Dusk dives are offered (no night dives) so everyone can participate in the wine tasting at dinner.
Belize Aggressor III, Aug 15 - 22, 2015 Turks & Caicos Sept 12 - 19, 2015
View All -
.jpg)
