Overwhelmed with choices for Red Sea diving/liveaboard (Oct/Nov 2024)

[fluff_astrid]

I'm doing a land tour in Egypt in mid Oct 2024, and want to tack on some diving at the end of it. Liveaboard seems the way to go, but I'm stuck on both picking a company (there's SO many options) and picking a route.

In terms of companies, I'd like luxury (for whatever that means in Egypt) and English-speaking patrons, as I'll need an instabuddy and have had some bad experiences with insta buddies that did not understand dive briefings and weren't helpful when I was trying to debrief things that went wrong. I'd also be looking for a solo supplement so I could have my own room/bathroom.

As for route: I can't say I'm particularly interested in wreck penetration, but am not peachy keen on hectic current dives, either. Pelagics are great, but not a must-see as I've gotten a good view of them in other places, and I can live life without needing to see an oceanic in person Really enjoy the underwater topography of new places, colors, and unique critters -- so chill diving where I can take a look at things instead of blowing by them at 10x speed in a heavy current is preferable. I don't mind if some current dives might be present, as I can sit out 2-3 dives if needed, and a chill drift is fine, but if all the dives will be intense, then that's probably not the route for me.

Thanks!

 

[scubajasonr]

From your description I would say pick a trip that heads south from Port Ghalib. A route that includes St Johns and Fury Shoals will give you some really interesting dive sites, generally pretty relaxed diving with lots to look at. Heading that way the dive sites are also fairly quiet without too many other boats about. Picking a Northern 'Wrecks & Reef' trip will give you more options. The wrecks are actually very interesting and have lots of marine life, however dive sites tend to be busy.

Finding boats with English speaking guests limits your options a bit. Most of the Red Sea boats cater for the European market so are multi lingual with dive guides and crew speaking English and another European language. I have been on a few mixed language boats and haven't found the language an issue, although I have always brought my own buddy along!

For boats with lots of English speaking guests I would suggest:
Aggressor boats - tend to be American guests and fairly expensive
Emperor Divers - A mixture of guests, but have a UK presence so a good chance of English speaking guests
ScubaTravel - A UK based travel company, the boats they use are aimed at English speakers
BlueOTwo boats - A UK based company and alot of guests are English

 

[dflaher]

I would agree with what @scubajasonr said, if you're set on a LOB.

An alternative which meets lots of your criteria would be a land-based operation like Red Sea Diving Safari (RSDS). Located near Marsa Alam/Port Ghalib, you could have your own room without a single-supplement, the diving is very chill, and if you wanted some adventure you could always take an excursion to Elphinstone for a small extra fee. You can pack in just as much diving as on a LOB if that's your thing, or as little as you want as well.

I am not sure I would call RSDS "luxury" but the accommodations were comfortable, quiet and all I needed. The food is just as good if not better than a liveaboard, and the service is very good -- both topside and in the diving operation.

As for as buddies, RSDS will not let you shore dive alone unless you are solo-certified, but you can dive solo on any guided dives (excursions) or their zodiac dives I believe. If you want to shore dive, there is a buddy board on which you can sign up to go along with others at a time that suits you.

Language -- I found that all RSDS staff spoke English and at least one other language, so no issue there. As for other divers, most were from Germany and other parts of Continental Europe and some spoke English and some did not. Coming from the US, I found the lack of English a welcome change

For more info you can search for my and @JustSurfaceInterval's reviews.

Happy trip planning.

 

[fluff_astrid]

Thank you both for those recommendations!