A Brave New World of Expedition Cruising to the Middle East and Africa

“On an expedition cruise, it’s better to do a few things well than a lot of things,” says SH Diana Expedition Leader Scottie Kiefer. “As we move away from civilization, we do less land excursions and more expeditions using zodiacs. The excitement for me as an adventurer is to go to these places before they get well known, which is part of our DNA of seeing what others don’t. But you have to be prepared for the unknowns.”

In Swan Hellenic’s case, each of its three ships, the Minevra, Vega and Diana, travels on a circuit to different destinations rather than the same place each week. On my 21-day expedition cruise, we visit smaller ports along ancient trading routes, including Aqaba, Yanbu and Jeddah, making for an unconventional entrance into a city. The same itinerary is never repeated and the company works with local tour operators to design unique experiences and adapt to the passenger interests, like jumping in a zodiac to snorkel on Ras Al Baradi Beach, a small uninhabited white-sand island in the middle of the Red Sea near Jeddah.

21 days of surprises on an expedition cruise

Unfortunately, my time here is overshadowed by the war in Israel, which begins on the third day of my 12-day cruise. After my trip, I had planned to spend time in Jordan and Israel and to fly out of Tel Aviv. However, in a surprising act of generosity, Swan Hellenic invited me to stay on the ship for another 10 days. This isn’t a public trip – it’s an exploratory one to develop new itineraries with stops in Djibouti, Africa and Socotra Island (part of Yemen), ending in the Seychelles. How can I refuse?

My adventure begins in Cyprus and ends over 2600 nautical miles later in the Indian Ocean. On my 21 days on the SH Diana, I see places that very few tourists have ventured to. The ship travels from the Mediterranean Sea through the 193-km Suez Canal, into the Red Sea and through Bab-el-Mandeb, otherwise known as the Gate of Grief, into the Indian Ocean. There are stops in Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, including Yanbu, Jeddah and Djibouti, Africa. We also spend two days on the remote island of Socotra, just off the coast of Yemen, which has been inaccessible to many tourists for years.At most of these ports, there are no splashy cruise terminals with duty-free shopping. Instead, I enter a city from its grittiest point, surrounded by tankers, cranes, fishing trawlers and tugboats, and welcomed warmly by the local community. 

Along the way, the ocean comes to life, with blue whales, porpoises and flying fish. There’s nothing more magical than watching hundreds of dolphins leap across the water or blue whales surface only metres away. I quickly learn an important rule of expedition cruising: never leave your room without your binoculars.