I have been on a BlueOTwo boat that had a shore excursion to the Brothers Lighthouse. But the boat was never near a town until the night before we departed, when we docked at Port Ghalib and we were allowed to go ashore to explore and for dinner. The Royal Evolution on its Deep South itinerary to Sudan did dock at Port Sudan for immigration paperwork but we were not allowed on shore. The Sudanese immigration officers came onto the boat. However, a couple of days later we were able to go ashore at one of the lighthouses far from any population centers.
Question about liveaboards. Red Sea! First Time!
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I did back to back weeks, BDE and southern route in 2016 Red Sea Aggressor April-May 2016. Other than Port Ghalib, I only set foot on land to visit the Daedalus lighthouse. We were moored at Brothers for two nights and did 4 dives off each of the islands. I don't know how Brothers works now, with the current regulations.
Has anyone been to Brothers this year, since the new regulations were implemented?
Has anyone been to Brothers this year, since the new regulations were implemented?
Most of the LOBs trips that we have done, including the Red Sea Aggressor, stayed at sea the entire time without opportunities to visit sites on land, but there have been a few exceptions on some Caribbean and Bahamian LOBs.
The Caribbean Explorer departed from St. Maarten and we dived around St. Kitts and Saba. On 2 afternoons we were given the option to either keep diving or to take a panga to shore and explore those 2 islands. We choose to explore the islands and we greatly enjoyed the chance to see a bit of them.
When we were on Blackbeards long ago, it cruised from Miami to the Bahamas and one afternoon we docked in Bimini and had the opportunity to enjoy the amenities of that island - it was very quiet and undeveloped back then but we had a lot of fun. One night the Blackbeards boats docked off of a small island occupied by "sand miners" working for a glass factory. We had a bonfire and barbecue party on the beach with the crews and passengers from the other boat and with the miners.
We also spent some time in Bimini and Freeport when we were on another Bahamian LOB, perhaps it was Nekton? I know that the goal of a LOB is to "eat, sleep, dive" but we've also appreciated opportunities to go onshore and look around a bit.
The Caribbean Explorer departed from St. Maarten and we dived around St. Kitts and Saba. On 2 afternoons we were given the option to either keep diving or to take a panga to shore and explore those 2 islands. We choose to explore the islands and we greatly enjoyed the chance to see a bit of them.
When we were on Blackbeards long ago, it cruised from Miami to the Bahamas and one afternoon we docked in Bimini and had the opportunity to enjoy the amenities of that island - it was very quiet and undeveloped back then but we had a lot of fun. One night the Blackbeards boats docked off of a small island occupied by "sand miners" working for a glass factory. We had a bonfire and barbecue party on the beach with the crews and passengers from the other boat and with the miners.
We also spent some time in Bimini and Freeport when we were on another Bahamian LOB, perhaps it was Nekton? I know that the goal of a LOB is to "eat, sleep, dive" but we've also appreciated opportunities to go onshore and look around a bit.
Komodo liveaboards often include an afternoon shore excursion via RIB to see the dragons. But again, there's a difference between a shore excursion and docking overnight. The docking overnight thing--a "seafari"?--seems to be a rarity.
However, now that I think about it, when I was looking into diving in Scapa Flow (Scotland), some of the boats offered a semi-liveaboard itinerary, where they would return to a port at night, or some of the nights, and you had the option of lodging on shore.
However, now that I think about it, when I was looking into diving in Scapa Flow (Scotland), some of the boats offered a semi-liveaboard itinerary, where they would return to a port at night, or some of the nights, and you had the option of lodging on shore.
In Egypt it appears that you are not actually legally allowed to get off the boat at a location other than where you boarded. Our dive guide was quite adamant about that when we anchored at the temple dive site near sharm.
It is typical to go to a very sheltered area to anchor. You only anchor out overnight in the open water when conditions are very calm. Fortunately we were able to anchor overnight at the Thistlegorm and did a total of four dives on that wreck. The anchorages were so protected or calm that we could not otherwise know that we were on board a boat.
If you have to go to a dock every night for some reason, you can stay at a hotel and do day trips all week from Sharm. That does defeat a good part of the experience since you are traveling back and forth rather than diving.
One word of advice is not to go with a booking agency or dive shop unless there is a representative of the organization that you paid on board the vessel. The recent example of why not is the dive charter from Texas where the boat was replaced with another and with the replacement boat catching fire the first day is a good example of that. They ended up in a land based resort rather than a liveaboard that week.
It is typical to go to a very sheltered area to anchor. You only anchor out overnight in the open water when conditions are very calm. Fortunately we were able to anchor overnight at the Thistlegorm and did a total of four dives on that wreck. The anchorages were so protected or calm that we could not otherwise know that we were on board a boat.
If you have to go to a dock every night for some reason, you can stay at a hotel and do day trips all week from Sharm. That does defeat a good part of the experience since you are traveling back and forth rather than diving.
One word of advice is not to go with a booking agency or dive shop unless there is a representative of the organization that you paid on board the vessel. The recent example of why not is the dive charter from Texas where the boat was replaced with another and with the replacement boat catching fire the first day is a good example of that. They ended up in a land based resort rather than a liveaboard that week.
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