Recommended AOW courses in Egypt along with live boards?

[BigAladdin]

Looking to book a trip to Egypt in September. I’d like to pull the trigger and get my AOW completed along with being a part of a live board for daily dives.

Rather than going on the web and scouring for details I wanted to start here first before singling out some spots. Any recommendations?

 

[Parlem]

Hello! Good on you for aiming to do an AOW course.

I've been on several Red Sea liveaboards with OW divers doing their Advanced course on the fly, so to speak. In short: they seemed to be rushed, low-value courses, mainly aimed at being able to include those divers in deeper than 18 m. dives or specialty dives (night, wreck) which feature on the boat's itinerary. The instructor will usually be one of the dive guides and, believe me, they are busy as it is without any teaching (compass use, orientation, etc) duties. My advice would be to get qualified land-based, before your trip and make the most of your money.
In contrast, land-based dive ops in Sharm, Hurghada or Marsa Allam will often provide one-on-one tuition, simply because business is slow and the odds of finding other divers wanting the same course on the same dates are small. This is usually much better value training, in my opinion.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

I hope you find this useful.

 

[scubajasonr]

My daughter did her JAOW a week or two ago on a liveaboard with Deep Blue Cruises. There was her and one other doing the course on the boat. We were doing a northern Wrecks & Reef trip so it was very easy to fit the required AOW dives into the route, and she got to do her training dives on some great sites. For the AOW dives her and the other student with go off with the instructor and do the briefing and dive. They would also spend an hour each evening going over the knowledge reviews. We were lucky to have a couple of very experienced instructors on the boat (and not many guests), and they included more course content then needed by PADI. Overall I was impressed with the standard and it worked well for us.

I would agree with Parlem that often course content on liveaboards can be vey minimal. A small amount of classroom work, then do the dives, then get the badge. Also I think it is better value doing the AOW shorebased, as on the liveaboard you have already paid for your dives.

I am not sure from your post if you are planning to be shorebased from the liveaboard, or go straight onto the boat. If you are planning to be shore based for a bit I would recommend Orca at Soma Bay for the couse. A good size setup, and while I haven't done any courses with them all the guides and instructors I have met have seemed professional.

So many options for liveaboards, all of them generally good. It really depends on what you want. If you want to do the course on the boat I would suggest one of the ones like Emperor who do have a good reputation for teaching.

 

[jborg]

I don't have any experience of taking AOW on a liveaboard, though what's said above sounds reasonable. I have another thought, though.

I think, for most people, going on a liveaboard somewhere or just generally taking a dive trip to a tropical destination is about seeing the sights and enjoying the experience: the great reefs, the colourful fish, impressive sharks & rays, whatnot. Stuff you presumably don't see when diving at home (I think you are near a body of water).

Now, AOW may not be the most intense course out there, but there are exercises in navigation, buoyancy, etc, that should happen, and you should be task loaded. I would be sad to pay for travel to a great diving destination and then spend the dive counting fin kicks while looking at a compass over a patch of sand while the other divers are out frolicking with the turtles. I would much rather do those exercises at home in the cold with crap viz and then be able to just enjoy the diving when I'm in the Red Sea.

 

[BigAladdin]

Looking to book a trip to Egypt in September. I’d like to pull the trigger and get my AOW completed along with being a part of a live board for daily dives.

Rather than going on the web and scouring for details I wanted to start here first before singling out some spots. Any recommendations?

Sorry I got everyone confused. I didn’t even know liveboard was possible while doing AOW. But I plan to be in Egypt for a while. Land based AOW completion is what I aim for. Was just also looking for liveboard recommendations after I complete the AOW course there somewhere shorebased. Sorry for the confusion. Looking for two things here. A great AOW Padi course provider, and a great liveboard provider.

 

[Parlem]

Ok. In order for people to recommend land-based dive ops, we really need to know if you'll be based in Sharm, Hurghada or Marsa Alam/Port Ghalib.
In Sharm I can recommend Oonas Dive Club and Umbi Diving. I've also heard good things about Circle Divers.

 

[scubaozy]

I recommend you to get the nitrox ticket along with aowd, you will be happier, especially on a LoB.

 

[Parlem]

I recommend you to get the nitrox ticket along with aowd, you will be happier, especially on a LoB.

I couldn't agree more.

 

[shenanigans007]

@BigAladdin we are also looking at Egypt but in December in the area of Sharm El-Sheikh. There are two main diving organizations that we focused in on: Umbi Sharks Bay and Sunshine Divers. I reached out to both and they quickly responded with great options. My wife and I are focused on SSI AOW with a focus on buoyancy, wreck, Deep dive and based on the area and options available we will decide on the 2 more specialties on the fly. The area seems cool and the Ras Mohamed National Park being protected since the 80's looks like a great dive destination. They offer liveaboard options that we are also considering but only after achieving our AOW certification. Practicing our newly honed skills will be great fun.

 

[divezonescuba]

We have always avoided the Red Sea in the winter months. It is much colder and the seas have a general tendency to be rougher. This is an issue with liveaboards. July/August is our favorite time to dive. There is reputed to be more abundant fish as well during the summer. The air temperature is definitely hotter, but not excruciatingly so.

Last month, we used Scorpion divers in the Grand Rotana resort in Sharm. They are right in Sharks Bay and we were very happy with their operation. We did four dives there before going on the safari boat.

As others have said, you will be much happier doing your AOW and nitrox courses prior to the liveaboard. Check with the liveaboard, not all have free nitrox. It definitely narrowed the liveaboard candidates for us.