Emperor Elite

We arrived in Port Ghalib a little after sundown. The area was quite different than the traditional Muslim villages that we had just driven through. It was obviously geared towards tourists with fancy hotels, restaurants, shops, bars and a number of large ships, many of them dive boats. The Emperor Elite, our home for the next week, looked quite stunning all lit up in the harbor.

It's the biggest liveaboard we have been on, and welcomes 25 divers plus a crew of around 12. It has 3 floors, each with ample room for sunbathing or relaxing, a large living room and dining room and a huge dive deck. Our dive instructor / tour leader Sonia is Swiss but grew up in Colombia and has now lived in Egypt for 20 years. She can speak English, German, Spanish, Arabic, and who knows what else, fluently.

We sat down to dinner with 6 others who were first to arrive that evening. A Canadian, Egyptian (who now lives in Bahrain), 2 Germans, a South African and Guatamalen (who both now live in the UAE). It was already shaping up to be a very international bunch.

After dinner, Sonia showed us to our room and joked that we would need walkie talkies to speak to each other due to the size. We were somehow upgraded to the 'Executive Suite' and it rivals the size of our apartment back in LA. It has its own shower room, which is usually shared with the toilet, a full wardrobe, mood lighting and a TV (not sure anyone would watch TV?). Needless to say, Ming approved of his crib.

We headed into Port Ghalib to grab a beer. While the waterfront area was nice, it was about as authentic as Playa del Carmen. By the time we returned, the rest of the divers showed up, and 11 different nationalities were represented overall.Read more