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

[BoltSnap]

I'm quite certain it doesn't work that way. Although no specific depth or time limitations are imposed, the daily schedule of meals and boat moving times are posted, and divers are required to plan their dives around that. I suppose one could sacrifice breakfast for a 3 hour rebreather dive but can't extend the dive to the point that the planned time to relocate the boat is delayed.

And no one is going to miss dinner. I can promise you that.

That's why I sought more clarification from him. Meal and sleep times are the most important aspects of a dive trip, especially on a liveaboard, for me.

 

[Jay_Remi]

That's one LOB operation out of 64 listed on liveaboard.com.

I'm feeling charitable - 4 out of 64.

That's a 6% success rate.

Are we ready to call that a win for the Egyptian dive industry?

To reiterate from my initial post, the LOBs I mentioned are from my personal experience and aren't meant to represent the entire industry or be statistically representative.

 

[iliketopetsharks]

If they have no depth or time limits on dives, how do they schedule the dives during the diving day? Wouldn't people who stay longer underwater delay the rest of the diving day's schedule?

On our trip, we did 2 dives per day, sometimes an additional night dive. Since this was in february, it got dark quite early and the night dives started at around 17:30.
Breakfast with freshly made Falafel (delicious!) was served before the first dive, at around 7:00.
Before or after the dive we relocated to the dive spot, since we stayed anchored in a sheltered location over night. When the wind was very bad, we did 2 dives at the same spot.
Average runtime was around 1h45, so no problem making it to lunch at 12:00.
Dinner was usually served at around 19:00, but if you're very hungry you can just take a snack.
Most of the time there were 3 main dishes with sides, salads and dessert available, but you can mix & match your own plate.
I was thoroughly impressed by what the chef achieved in this tiny kitchen in heavy seas!

 

[iliketopetsharks]

The weather (and coast guard) behaved quite unpredictable, but the crew didn't shy away from spending a lot of fuel just to get us to the best spots that were available for each dive!

 

[scubadada]

And now back to the initial thread topic, Egypt's liveaboard reputation.

I read a 2-part article this morning regarding the fire and sinking of the Thailand based DiveRACE Class E in the Similan Islands in April. The articles come from Dive Magazine and were written by @Crowley. Choosing a safe liveaboard from among the many available has been mentioned in this thread. I found this quote from the end of part 2 to be particularly applicable and at the heart of the matter:

"DiveRACE Class E is an excellent example of a fine liveaboard chosen by discerning divers for its good reputation, highly-praised crew and excellent safety record, because for the previous ten years, everything had been safe and successful. And then all of a sudden, it wasn’t..."

Survivors of Thai liveaboard DiveRACE Class E fire speak out - part 1

In April 2025, Thai liveaboard DiveRACE Class E caught fire and sank near the Similan Islands DIVE spoke to some of the survivors.

divemagazine.com

Survivors of Thai liveaboard DiveRACE Class E fire speak out - part 2

The second part of our report into the fire that claimed Thai liveaboard DiveRACE Class E in April 2025, as told to DIVE by survivors

divemagazine.com