Don Questo liveaboard, Sudan deep south cruise
The Don Questo is a spartan boat, but it is well equipped to give divers a memorable tour of Sudan's colorful reefs. The waters south of Port Sudan are seldom visited by other dive boats, despite the lush coral and abundant fish to be found there. On our trip, we saw no others after the first day.
A dive on this tour typically begins with a plunge into the blue in the hope of seeing hammerheads. Usually there are a few - sometimes there are too many to count, and they often approach closely enough for a good photo. Various people on our tour also shot underwater videos of a manta, a thresher shark, dolphins, a marlin, and mating turtles. Expect surprises on these dives.
Our guides, Maurizio and Marco, gave us a long leash to enjoy the reefs as we liked. Although the guides have been diving these reefs for many years, they seemed as thrilled as the rest of us with what they saw. Captain Lorenzo and his Sudanese crew made sure everything worked, and that we were well fed Italian style.
Port Sudan has few on-shore attractions of interest to most tourists. It's all about the diving. I did step ashore for a pleasant evening of drinking tea and buying souvenirs. The people I met were friendly and helpful. Altogether, it was great to visit a place well off the beaten path.
