Question about liveaboards. Red Sea! First Time!

[Oceancruiser]

Planning next year's dive travel. Thinking about a Red Sea Liveaboard. Question: Do the boats stay out at sea or anchored every night? Do they cruise to the next destination at night? Or do they come into port, or different ports at night so you can get off, maybe eat on shore, and explore??? Thanks for the help!

 

[Buttha Ghamila]

Hey Oceancruiser-- I run Red Sea liveaboard trips (and I used to work as a guide in the Red Sea) -so I can tell you that the boats do not come into port at night and you cannot leave the boat during the cruise.
What route are you looking to do? My favorite is the Northern Wrecks & Reefs- the Sinai and WWII wrecks and reefs

 

[myshadeofred]

Great diving...no need to expound on the others. I have done two live aboards in the red sea and you want feel like you need to come back. It goes quick with 4 dives a day and almost unlimited swimming. No shoes for at least week.

 

[Hoag]

I have never done a LOB in the Red Sea specifically, but I have done a number of LOBs in other locations. In my experience, although there is no hard and fast rule, the boat will normally be anchored over night. Typically, the captain will try to find someplace relatively sheltered such as in the lee of an island or in a lagoon. This will be somewhat dependent on the weather. If there is a storm, then the Captain may opt to move the boat (even if it takes a couple hours) to a safer, more sheltered location. (One night in Fiji, we sought refuge in a small lagoon surrounded by mountains as a Typhoon went past us and the mountains protected us from the wind. We were hit with a lot of rain, and the currents were pretty wild for the next day or two, but we were safe.)

In general, for the most part, once you leave the dock, the next time you might set foot on dry land again will be at the end of the trip.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Planning next year's dive travel. Thinking about a Red Sea Liveaboard. Question: Do the boats stay out at sea or anchored every night? Do they cruise to the next destination at night? Or do they come into port, or different ports at night so you can get off, maybe eat on shore, and explore??? Thanks for the help!

Liveaboards in general: Boats usually stay out at sea for the entire duration of the trip. They will moor at a buoy or anchor when they stop, depending on the arrangements and availability. Some boats travel between dives, some boats travel overnight, it just depends on the itinerary and how far they have to be and where they need to be at a particular point in the itinerary. I have also been on a liveaboard that constantly had its engines running because it was too large to moor and they were not allowed to drop anchor (Tubbataha). There is no coming into port or ports at night so you can get off and explore. Some itineraries allow you to take a dinghy to a nearby village or land where you can meet the locals, visit the village, or see the local sights with a brief tour, but it really depends. What you will want to look for is a "safari" if that is what you are looking for. You dive/eat off the boat and stay at hotels/resorts/guesthouses/homestays at night. Safaris generally don't head out to areas that are as isolated as liveaboards for the most part, due to the logistics. As a result, liveaboards tend to have access to and will sail towards quieter/remote regions, hence the inability to get out on land and such.

For the Red Sea, they will stay out and will moor to another boat that is connected to one if not directly to one. For Brothers, Daedalus, Elphinestone, Fury Shoal, St. John, Zabargad, it is mostly overnight travel. You stay at one place for the entire day for the most part. There is one opportunity for those routes to see a lighthouse on the atoll but that is it.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Planning next year's dive travel. Thinking about a Red Sea Liveaboard. Question: Do the boats stay out at sea or anchored every night? Do they cruise to the next destination at night? Or do they come into port, or different ports at night so you can get off, maybe eat on shore, and explore??? Thanks for the help!

Now I'm curious as to where in the world there are liveaboards that dock at night as opposed to anchor or relocate to the next day's dive site?

You may be happy the boat does not dock at night, as the coast is pretty desolate, save for a few resorts (many more "resorts" are seemingly abandoned in a half-finished state). Not that I really get into the idea of liveaboard "cuisine," but some of the best food I have had in Egypt was on the Red Sea Aggressor. I believe they told us the chef had previously worked at some swanky Cairo restaurants.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Now I'm curious as to where in the world there are liveaboards that dock at night as opposed to anchor or relocate to the next day's dive site?

There are some but they are called "safaris". I did not see one in my research for the Red Sea but there are a few available in the Philippines. I have also seen one in Raja Ampat. Dive and eat off boat during day, homestay/guesthouse/resort/inn/hotel etc. at night.

 

[Lorenzoid]

There are some but they are called "safaris". I did not see one in my research for the Red Sea but there are a few available in the Philippines. I have also seen one in Raja Ampat. Dive and eat off boat during day, homestay/guesthouse/resort/inn/hotel etc. at night.

Interesting. I also recall seeing "dive safari" used to refer to a land-based trip in which the guide will take you diving in multiple places along a multi-day route. We did our own in Bali, hiring a different guide in each place along the coast, but I saw advertisements for dive safaris in which the guide would have stayed with us for all or part of it. I kind of like the idea, if it fits the region. (Food and accommodations are often cheap, plentiful and excellent in Asia.) But to echo what you already pointed out to the OP, I would not think the safari format would fit Egypt, as the best dive sites are far from the coast, and apart from scattered resorts/hotels there are few amenities along the coast to cater to the needs of overnight foreign visitors--even assuming they have a dock that could accommodate the vessel-- which in sum is why liveaboards are so common there.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Interesting. I also recall seeing "dive safari" used to refer to a land-based trip in which the guide will take you diving in multiple places along a multi-day route. We did our own in Bali, hiring a different guide in each place along the coast, but I saw advertisements for dive safaris in which the guide would have stayed with us for all or part of it. I kind of like the idea, if it fits the region. (Food and accommodations are often cheap, plentiful and excellent in Asia.) But to echo what you already pointed out to the OP, I would not think the safari format would fit Egypt, as the best dive sites are far from the coast, and apart from scattered resorts/hotels there are few amenities along the coast to cater to the needs of overnight foreign visitors--even assuming they have a dock that could accommodate the vessel-- which in sum is why liveaboards are so common there.

Maybe there should be differentiation for what we are each describing. A "safari" for what you describe and a "seafari" for what I describe?

 

[Hoag]

Now I'm curious as to where in the world there are liveaboards that dock at night as opposed to anchor or relocate to the next day's dive site?

One time at band camp ... Oops sorry. One time on the Aquacat, the night before we went to "Pig Island" and the Thunderball Grotto we docked at Staniel Cay and could go ashore (to the local watering hole) if we wanted.