Is Egypt Getting an Unfair Reputation When It Comes to Liveaboards?

[Living4Experiences]

Another problem with for example Agressor is that they write: approx 18 dives. So this means it can be 16 or it can be 20. But maybe max 3 dives a day? What are you doing all that other hours on that boat?
Offer 4 dives a day for the same price and the prices are getting a little bit better. And tell how much dives you really get. Not approximately.

I honestly never knew that some liveaboard companies only give an estimate of dives. I have been on nine liveaboards across four companies, and each one of those trips had a set number of dives that were going to be provided. Barring a real safety concern, all dives were delivered. In the instance of a dive being lost due to weather or other circumstances, they always made sure it was made up somewhere in the trip.

I can add this to the multiple reasons I won't sail with Aggressor.

 

[BoltSnap]

Once again i can recommend MV Legends. No babysitting and no limits

Thank you for the info. I am now reviewing their website and seriously considering their boat.

Are food, service, cleanliness, comfort, and safety all good? Are there any possible complaints or shortcomings with the entire operation, please?

 

[iliketopetsharks]

FThank you for the info. I am now reviewing their website and seriously considering their boat.

Are food, service, cleanliness, comfort, and safety all good? Are there any possible complaints or shortcomings with the entire operation, please?

Food and cleanliness is excellent.
Water, softdrinks, juices, coffee, tea and snack (sweet and savory) are available all the time with no surcharge. Alcohol is not available, at least when i was there.
Full CCR and Trimix support, two zodiacs with robust and stable ladders and the boat has s lift. Step on it half submerged and you'll be lifted level to the lower level of the dive deck.
I found it to be very comfortable, altough if you have one of the two cabins that neighbor the engine room, the generators will sing you a lullaby since they run basically 24/7. It didn't bother me and i slept like a rock.
Safety is good, the emergency and dive briefings were very thorough. Life vests and fire extinguishers in every cabin, luggage or gear laying around on the floor is not accepted.

Potential shortcomings:
It's not the biggest boat, so stow your stuff smart and don't run around on the dive deck like a headless chicken
It's also not that cheap. A 7 night trip is around 1000-1200€, that's without cylinders (Al80 twinset 70€/week), Nitrox flatrate (150€) and some other small stuff.
But again, no limits regarding time and depth and an awesome crew, well worth it imo.

 

[Strombo]

Blue Planet Liveaboards, which operates four boats: Blue, Blue Pearl, Blue Storm, and Blue Seas. Very good vessels with excellent service, top-notch food, and thoughtful safety features—each diver was even provided with an ENOS device. The overall experience on Blue was truly outstanding.

I'm researching them right now for an Sept/Oct trip. Any idea if all of the fleet provides ENOS?

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

[...] no limits regarding time and depth [...]

Really?

 

[gamon]

Really?

It's not unusual for such things to be left up to the discretion of the divers. "Plan your dive, and dive your plan, pool's open".

I've been on liveaboards where they don't set limits, and even go so far as to say they don't discourage non tech trained recreational divers from going into deco.

 

[iliketopetsharks]

Really?

Really. You just tell the crew your approximate runtime and have at it.
You can also rent DPVs

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

@gamon @iliketopetsharks
I thought you are limited to 40 m… may have changed…

 

[LFMarm]

Food and cleanliness is excellent.
Water, softdrinks, juices, coffee, tea and snack (sweet and savory) are available all the time with no surcharge. Alcohol is not available, at least when i was there.
Full CCR and Trimix support, two zodiacs with robust and stable ladders and the boat has s lift. Step on it half submerged and you'll be lifted level to the lower level of the dive deck.
I found it to be very comfortable, altough if you have one of the two cabins that neighbor the engine room, the generators will sing you a lullaby since they run basically 24/7. It didn't bother me and i slept like a rock.
Safety is good, the emergency and dive briefings were very thorough. Life vests and fire extinguishers in every cabin, luggage or gear laying around on the floor is not accepted.

Potential shortcomings:
It's not the biggest boat, so stow your stuff smart and don't run around on the dive deck like a headless chicken
It's also not that cheap. A 7 night trip is around 1000-1200€, that's without cylinders (Al80 twinset 70€/week), Nitrox flatrate (150€) and some other small stuff.
But again, no limits regarding time and depth and an awesome crew, well worth it imo.

Thanks for the recommendation. I didn’t know about this boat and it seems quite nice.

 

[gamon]

I thought you are limited to 40 m… may have changed…

Who or what is limiting you to 40m? Is there some sort of a sign that says "depth limits enforced by sonar"?

Or a line of that yellow tape that says "Do Not Cross"?

Or one of those traffic cops with the whistle and the white gloves?

Because I've NEVER seen anything like that down there.