14th June – 21st June 2027 – Workshop Week 1. Open.

21st June – 28th June 2027 – Workshop Week 2. Open.

Alex is running two Red Sea workshops, each a week long, in 2027. Both have the same planned itinerary and teaching. Contact Caroline@scubatravel.com for more bookings and more information. If you have a date preference, or want to be on the same week as specific others, please let her know.

For more that 20 years Alex’s classic summer Red Sea Workshop, organised by Scuba Travel, has had a must-do status in the underwater photography community. It is a week of intensive underwater photography in the Red Sea taking in vibrant Red Sea reefs, world class ship wrecks and importantly, also timed to catch gatherings of great schools of fish in the Ras Mohammed National Park, all with expert insight, knowledge and tutorage from Alex. The theme of the workshop is demonstrating their is “more than one way to wide angle”, with teaching focused on all the details that allow us to get outstanding images of the different subjects we encounter.

“I have taught 34 Red Sea workshop weeks and I keep going back because the diving is so productive for images and the varied subject matter is ideal for teaching many of the different nuances required to excel in wide angle photography,” says Alex. “I hope you will join me in 2027. This is a workshop that gets you lots of time in the best spots at the best times and with the underwater freedom needed to create stunning images. Many Red Sea liveaboard trips will give you around 15-20 dives, we usually do between 23-26 – all in daylight – giving you so much more opportunity to create stunning wide angle photos.”

Alex says “I run this trip so much because the diving and the entire set up is ideal for teaching underwater photography. We just get so much quality photography packed into each day, no other trip is as productive. It is really diverse too, with the wide mix of subjects and the lessons that they teach us. And despite travel getting more expensive, Egypt still offers very strong value for money. Lots of people choose this to be their first trip with me, and many more return year after year on this workshop because the trip simply lets them produce so many different, high quality images in an encouraging photographic environment.”

Our base will be the magnificent Ghazala Adventure, which is a standard-setting vessel in the Red Sea. She is a large, luxurious liveaboard, with a fantastic crew, great food and lovely cabins. Importantly the guides have done dozens of workshops with Alex and know exactly what photographers need from dive 1. “Ghazala Adventure is the perfect base for this workshop,” says Alex. “Ghazala Adventure is steel-hulled and very stable compared with the typical wooden Red Sea boats, Ocean Tribe take safety incredibly seriously both in terms of the vessels safety systems and the crew’s training. Ghazala Adventure is fast too, meaning we arrive everywhere early and the boat has four compressors meaning tanks and filled and ready, part of what allows us to squeeze in more dives than other boats and run open deck periods when we’re on site for the day. The boat also has a huge amount of communal space, perfect for talks, camera fettling, downloading and processing, and large cabins too – there is plenty of space throughout the boat for all the group and all our gear! But the standout feature for me is the guides, captain and crew, who work so hard to make sure these workshops deliver exactly what we need as photographers.” This workshop is limited to 21 photographers, although the boat can actually take 26 divers, in 14 cabins.

Please note that there are two weeks available. The diving and teaching is intended to be the same each week, although the weeks will always vary a little with conditions. “We initially open these trips up for people to book just one week, to give more people a chance to get places on this popular workshop,” says Alex. “But if there are cancellations after the initial uptake – then I am happy for people to ask to join the other week. The teaching content focuses on the subjects we are shooting (wreck externals, wreck internals, schooling fish, reefs scenery, split levels and fish photography and hopefully dolphins), although it always varies depending on the dives we do, the interests of the group and the questions that are asked.”

NEW MARINE PARK FEES

From Scuba Travel “We are expecting Egypt to introduce a sizeable new Marine Park Fee of approximately £150GBP (that will actually go to the conservation of the marine parks locally) from January 2027. Scuba Travel have historically always included Egyptian park fees, port fees and any fuel surcharges within your holiday package price. While many other Red Sea liveaboard trips charge these fees locally (with divers paying several hundred dollars to start of their trip, even  – even before the increase). Particularly with so many regular guests, we always strive to be completely transparent about the cost of your holiday, so for 2027 these fees will now be shown separately on your booking confirmation. Rather than asking you to carry cash and pay these charges locally on board, the £150 will be added to your booking confirmation and collected in advance with your holiday payments. If the planned increases are not implemented (Egypt is not always the most efficient with these things), we will revise your booking confirmation to ensure you only pay the correct amount.”

VITALS

Dates:

14th June – 21st June 2027 – Workshop Week 1.

21st June – 28th June 2027 – Workshop Week 2.

The Hurghada-Hurghada package per person is £2175 GBP (plus £150 GBP Marine Park Fees, see above) – this excudes international flights. Scuba Travel are happy to quote and book Easyjet flights from/to London Gatwick, which run daily in the summer. The package includes Ghazala Adventure accommodation (based on shared cabin, lower deck), full board (not alcohol), the workshop, the diving, 12lt tanks & weights, Nitrox, workshop T-Shirt, transfers in Hurghada on embarkation/disembarkation days, plus buffet lunch and hotel daytime facilities on final day.

If arranging your own flights please book flights to Hurghada that synchronise (check with Caroline), the liveaboard will not depart late or return to port early to fit with any other flight times (embarkation is from 18:00, although the group on the official flights will arrive around 21:00; we will be back in port for the final night, with last dives around Sunday 2-3pm). The third dive on the final day is likely to finish at 1pm. Extras include: larger 15lt tanks, pre-paid tourist visas on arrival, alcohol on board, hotel day room on final day and cabin upgrades on Ghazala.

Ghazala Adventure has standard lower deck cabins, as well as options for upper deck twin cabins (£100 GBP extra pp), upper deck suites (double bed, £150 GBP extra pp) and lower deck suite (double bed, £150 GBP extra pp). Very limited single cabin occupancy is available (£1200 GBP extra) because we are running under capacity. All cabin options are on a first come, first served basis, when reserving your place on the workshop. Alex gets whatever cabin space remains (so don’t request the fanciest one – and maybe he’ll get it for once)!

BOOKING

For further questions and for reservations please contact Scuba Travel. Email is the way to go. Contact Caroline@scubatravel.com. A non-refundable deposit of £700 GBP is required to secure your place. The remaining balance is due 100 days before trip.

Caroline says “We strongly advise you take out trip insurance at the time of paying your deposit. This protects your investment against any unforeseen events that may prevent you from being able to travel (eg illness), as well as travel & dive insurance to cover you whilst you are away. I don’t recommend booking a holiday you think you might not go on! All payments are non refundable in the event of your cancellation.”