- Messages
- 149
- Reaction score
- 89
- # of dives
- 5000 - ∞
This is a trip report from a recent passenger on All Star Scuba Scene in the beautiful Red Sea!
Vessel
All Star Scuba Scene completely lived up to the high-end reputation that made me want to go on this boat. Everything onboard is clean, spacious, and makes you feel like you’re on a much more expensive trip (example, I’ve never seen another liveaboard with a swimming pool).
I was in cabin 8, which is one of the two “single cabins” that has a double bed and a twin bed inside. Since I had the cabin to myself, I put my suitcase on the twin bed and didn’t bother unpacking my clothes into the storage cabinet. The cabin has more than enough space for one person. Putting two people in the cabin might be a little tight, but I think the lower price would make up for that. How much time do we actually spend in our cabins on a dive trip anyway?
The bathroom was nice and pretty large (the whole width of the cabin). Toilet on one end, shower on the other, and sink in the middle. The shower is enclosed by a glass wall that shields the sink area from water, but some water does make it out onto the bathroom floor. It didn’t bother me much, but I think putting a towel on the floor would’ve solved it if it did. There is a rug outside the bathroom door to dry off wet feet.
One of the other passengers let me take a look in their suite on the upper deck. It was configured with two twin beds and looked a bit larger than my single room. Plenty of space for two people for sure. As a solo traveler who enjoys privacy, I was happy to have my single room…but if I was traveling with a friend or S/O, I’d spring for the suite.
Each passenger receives a towel for showering, two smaller towels for saltwater, and a towel-material poncho (kind of like a Snuggie) waiting in the cabin as you arrive. Surprisingly, the poncho was a trip highlight for me. It’s super comfortable and great for hanging out in the indoor seating areas when you haven’t changed out of your swimsuit.
Common spaces onboard are comfortable and plentiful. There are couches and chairs in the main salon, lots of seating in all the outdoor areas, and a “media room” with a tv and extremely comfortable couches. Looking back, I think a movie night in the media room would’ve been fun. The dive deck also has plenty of space, even with the full boatload of divers we had on our trip.
Diving
This was my first time on a Deep South trip, so I was unsure about what to expect. I definitely think the diving in this area is world-class, but it’s different than what you might expect without doing a lot of research beforehand. There were some deep dives, some incredible mazes of “caves” (open on top, more like crevices), vertical walls, and a few shallow reefs with neat topography.
During our two days at Daedalus, we did mostly deep dives (max of 100-115ft) to look for hammerheads. As a group, we’d go down to depth, swim ~50ft away from the reef into the blue and wait until bottom time got low. Then, we’d make our way back up along the reef into shallower water where we’d finish out the dive (deploying an SMB and getting on the tender when gas is low or at the 60-minute mark) after a safety stop.
Hammerheads are most likely to come during the time you’re in the blue, but the rule (at least for our recreational dive group) is to go back to the reef and start ascending when your bottom time is low whether there are sharks or not. We had a hammerhead come very close on two dives, but I believe the other dive group was a little luckier and saw two hammerheads together on another dive. We did a similar type of dive at Elphinstone Reef on the last day (but no sharks sadly).
At Rocky Island and Zabargad, the dives were also fairly deep and had some time spent in the blue (waiting for big critters), but there was more time exploring the reefs themselves, which were beautiful.
As far as diving with All Star Scuba Scene, I’d gladly do it again. The guides were excellent, and safety was clearly a priority. They also had a perfect system for keeping the dive deck from feeling crowded: half the boat would go down, suit up, and go out for the dive while the other half waited 5-10 mins before going down to the dive deck to do the same.
Safety
In the midst of current safety concerns about Red Sea liveaboards, I made sure to pay close attention to this aspect of the trip. My conclusion: the Scuba Scene gang takes safety EXTREMELY seriously.
The initial safety briefing comes in the form of a (lengthy) video to ensure nothing is left out. The video covers everything from muster stations to emergency protocols to onboard safety features (way too many to list here, but I’ll try to mention some of the ones that stuck out to me). They even play recordings of the actual alarm sounds you’d hear in an emergency so you could identify a particular alarm if the moment were to arrive.
One of the important things to me was having a cabin above the waterline. On Scuba Scene, all the cabins are on the main deck or upper deck, so there are none below the water. Fire control was also on my list, which they cover with a CO2 fire suppression system in the engine room and numerous fire extinguishers, alarms, and exits around the boat.
They conducted a fire drill about halfway through the week. The crew’s reaction time and professionalism were very impressive, and this was further proof to me that I was in good hands on this liveaboard. In light of the recent boat fires in the Red Sea, I believe they are doing these drills very consistently to ensure all crew stay trained and ready at a moment’s notice. I also thought it was cool that I knew what kind of emergency was being communicated without even needing to be told since I remembered the fire alarm sound from the original safety briefing video.
Some of the major safety features:
Crew/Service
I expect luxury service when I’m on a luxury boat, and Scuba Scene did not disappoint. The crew was extremely friendly and helpful. Someone was always right there to help us get into our dive gear, serve dinner, grab drinks, or even wait with fresh juice and hot towels when we got back from a dive.
The dive guides were professional and kept everything under control, which I imagine is a challenge on these deep dives in the blue. Even more impressive, they did a fantastic job navigating everyone and keeping organized groups through the maze of canyons in St. John’s – pointing out cool critters all the way through.
Our cruise director, Ahmed Fadel, is an absolute pro. If there were any problems behind the scenes, I certainly didn’t notice. He runs the boat like clockwork, and his calm demeaner adds a lot to the feeling of safety and professionalism.
Travel/Logistics
It seems like it would be arduous to travel to Egypt, but it’s actually very easy compared to other exotic dive spots like Indonesia or the Maldives. From the US, it’s just a stop in Europe (mostly Paris, London, and Munich connections from what I saw) and then straight down to Cairo.
In Cairo, I stayed overnight at the Le Meridien airport hotel. It was very nice and convenient. You can just walk from the terminal to the hotel, which I much prefer to haggling for a decent taxi price after traveling for 24 hours. I flew to Hurghada the next morning.
I got a message from the Scuba Scene operations person, Sherif, two days before boarding. He provided lots of good info about logistics on boarding day, arranged my airport pickup in Hurghada, and brought me to a beach resort to kill some time until other passengers arrived.
The resort was a nice spot to relax for a couple of hours. Nice view, good prices on water and beer, and comfortable lounge chairs. I didn’t order any food, but I believe they had a full lunch menu.
Once the other passengers arrived, I was picked up for the 3-ish hour ride to Port Ghalib to board All Star Scuba Scene. It’s a little long, but not too bad. We made a stop for a bathroom and snacks/drinks around the halfway mark.
The end of the trip was essentially the same: 3-hour ride back to Hurghada, kill some time at a resort, head back to the airport to fly back to Cairo for another night at the Le Meridien.
I did a week-long Egypt tour on a previous trip, so this time I only reserved a day for topside sightseeing (which I also booked through All Star Liveaboards). I visited Coptic Cairo since I didn’t see it last time, and it was very interesting and fun to walk around, but my big reason for staying an extra day was to see the brand-new Grand Egyptian Museum. It was supposed to be fully open on the day I toured, but the King Tut exhibit was delayed. Even without that exhibit, the GEM is unbelievable. I do plan to tour it again next time so I can see it fully open.
Final Thoughts
This trip was phenomenal. I will absolutely dive with All Star Scuba Scene again, and I’ll book land tours through All Star Liveaboards again if I come back with friends or family who haven’t done it before. Great operation, excellent safety standards, and awesome diving.
Vessel
All Star Scuba Scene completely lived up to the high-end reputation that made me want to go on this boat. Everything onboard is clean, spacious, and makes you feel like you’re on a much more expensive trip (example, I’ve never seen another liveaboard with a swimming pool).
I was in cabin 8, which is one of the two “single cabins” that has a double bed and a twin bed inside. Since I had the cabin to myself, I put my suitcase on the twin bed and didn’t bother unpacking my clothes into the storage cabinet. The cabin has more than enough space for one person. Putting two people in the cabin might be a little tight, but I think the lower price would make up for that. How much time do we actually spend in our cabins on a dive trip anyway?
The bathroom was nice and pretty large (the whole width of the cabin). Toilet on one end, shower on the other, and sink in the middle. The shower is enclosed by a glass wall that shields the sink area from water, but some water does make it out onto the bathroom floor. It didn’t bother me much, but I think putting a towel on the floor would’ve solved it if it did. There is a rug outside the bathroom door to dry off wet feet.
One of the other passengers let me take a look in their suite on the upper deck. It was configured with two twin beds and looked a bit larger than my single room. Plenty of space for two people for sure. As a solo traveler who enjoys privacy, I was happy to have my single room…but if I was traveling with a friend or S/O, I’d spring for the suite.
Each passenger receives a towel for showering, two smaller towels for saltwater, and a towel-material poncho (kind of like a Snuggie) waiting in the cabin as you arrive. Surprisingly, the poncho was a trip highlight for me. It’s super comfortable and great for hanging out in the indoor seating areas when you haven’t changed out of your swimsuit.
Common spaces onboard are comfortable and plentiful. There are couches and chairs in the main salon, lots of seating in all the outdoor areas, and a “media room” with a tv and extremely comfortable couches. Looking back, I think a movie night in the media room would’ve been fun. The dive deck also has plenty of space, even with the full boatload of divers we had on our trip.
Diving
This was my first time on a Deep South trip, so I was unsure about what to expect. I definitely think the diving in this area is world-class, but it’s different than what you might expect without doing a lot of research beforehand. There were some deep dives, some incredible mazes of “caves” (open on top, more like crevices), vertical walls, and a few shallow reefs with neat topography.
During our two days at Daedalus, we did mostly deep dives (max of 100-115ft) to look for hammerheads. As a group, we’d go down to depth, swim ~50ft away from the reef into the blue and wait until bottom time got low. Then, we’d make our way back up along the reef into shallower water where we’d finish out the dive (deploying an SMB and getting on the tender when gas is low or at the 60-minute mark) after a safety stop.
Hammerheads are most likely to come during the time you’re in the blue, but the rule (at least for our recreational dive group) is to go back to the reef and start ascending when your bottom time is low whether there are sharks or not. We had a hammerhead come very close on two dives, but I believe the other dive group was a little luckier and saw two hammerheads together on another dive. We did a similar type of dive at Elphinstone Reef on the last day (but no sharks sadly).
At Rocky Island and Zabargad, the dives were also fairly deep and had some time spent in the blue (waiting for big critters), but there was more time exploring the reefs themselves, which were beautiful.
As far as diving with All Star Scuba Scene, I’d gladly do it again. The guides were excellent, and safety was clearly a priority. They also had a perfect system for keeping the dive deck from feeling crowded: half the boat would go down, suit up, and go out for the dive while the other half waited 5-10 mins before going down to the dive deck to do the same.
Safety
In the midst of current safety concerns about Red Sea liveaboards, I made sure to pay close attention to this aspect of the trip. My conclusion: the Scuba Scene gang takes safety EXTREMELY seriously.
The initial safety briefing comes in the form of a (lengthy) video to ensure nothing is left out. The video covers everything from muster stations to emergency protocols to onboard safety features (way too many to list here, but I’ll try to mention some of the ones that stuck out to me). They even play recordings of the actual alarm sounds you’d hear in an emergency so you could identify a particular alarm if the moment were to arrive.
One of the important things to me was having a cabin above the waterline. On Scuba Scene, all the cabins are on the main deck or upper deck, so there are none below the water. Fire control was also on my list, which they cover with a CO2 fire suppression system in the engine room and numerous fire extinguishers, alarms, and exits around the boat.
They conducted a fire drill about halfway through the week. The crew’s reaction time and professionalism were very impressive, and this was further proof to me that I was in good hands on this liveaboard. In light of the recent boat fires in the Red Sea, I believe they are doing these drills very consistently to ensure all crew stay trained and ready at a moment’s notice. I also thought it was cool that I knew what kind of emergency was being communicated without even needing to be told since I remembered the fire alarm sound from the original safety briefing video.
Some of the major safety features:
- All of the cabins are above the waterline
- Metal hull, metal surrounding the galley, etc.
- CO2 fire suppression system in the engine room
- All the crew is experienced and well-trained
- Too many other things to remember
Crew/Service
I expect luxury service when I’m on a luxury boat, and Scuba Scene did not disappoint. The crew was extremely friendly and helpful. Someone was always right there to help us get into our dive gear, serve dinner, grab drinks, or even wait with fresh juice and hot towels when we got back from a dive.
The dive guides were professional and kept everything under control, which I imagine is a challenge on these deep dives in the blue. Even more impressive, they did a fantastic job navigating everyone and keeping organized groups through the maze of canyons in St. John’s – pointing out cool critters all the way through.
Our cruise director, Ahmed Fadel, is an absolute pro. If there were any problems behind the scenes, I certainly didn’t notice. He runs the boat like clockwork, and his calm demeaner adds a lot to the feeling of safety and professionalism.
Travel/Logistics
It seems like it would be arduous to travel to Egypt, but it’s actually very easy compared to other exotic dive spots like Indonesia or the Maldives. From the US, it’s just a stop in Europe (mostly Paris, London, and Munich connections from what I saw) and then straight down to Cairo.
In Cairo, I stayed overnight at the Le Meridien airport hotel. It was very nice and convenient. You can just walk from the terminal to the hotel, which I much prefer to haggling for a decent taxi price after traveling for 24 hours. I flew to Hurghada the next morning.
I got a message from the Scuba Scene operations person, Sherif, two days before boarding. He provided lots of good info about logistics on boarding day, arranged my airport pickup in Hurghada, and brought me to a beach resort to kill some time until other passengers arrived.
The resort was a nice spot to relax for a couple of hours. Nice view, good prices on water and beer, and comfortable lounge chairs. I didn’t order any food, but I believe they had a full lunch menu.
Once the other passengers arrived, I was picked up for the 3-ish hour ride to Port Ghalib to board All Star Scuba Scene. It’s a little long, but not too bad. We made a stop for a bathroom and snacks/drinks around the halfway mark.
The end of the trip was essentially the same: 3-hour ride back to Hurghada, kill some time at a resort, head back to the airport to fly back to Cairo for another night at the Le Meridien.
I did a week-long Egypt tour on a previous trip, so this time I only reserved a day for topside sightseeing (which I also booked through All Star Liveaboards). I visited Coptic Cairo since I didn’t see it last time, and it was very interesting and fun to walk around, but my big reason for staying an extra day was to see the brand-new Grand Egyptian Museum. It was supposed to be fully open on the day I toured, but the King Tut exhibit was delayed. Even without that exhibit, the GEM is unbelievable. I do plan to tour it again next time so I can see it fully open.
Final Thoughts
This trip was phenomenal. I will absolutely dive with All Star Scuba Scene again, and I’ll book land tours through All Star Liveaboards again if I come back with friends or family who haven’t done it before. Great operation, excellent safety standards, and awesome diving.
