Question Red Sea Recommendations

[ScubaSpaniel]

Hello! I am starting a early search for 2025 over the Dec/Jan holidays for dive options in the Red Sea. I will admit that I am a bit of a snob when it comes to accommodations. We are doing ScubaSpa Zen in Raja this year, and looking at liveaboards in the Red Sea, I dont really see anything comparable. Also, when looking at land based options, it seems that the resorts in Saudi are much more lux than those in Egypt.

So my questions are:

• Red Sea in December, are liveaboards the way to go? If so, what are the "most lux" ships??
• If sticking to land based, is it ok to stay in Saudi to dive or is Egpyt side diving much better?

Thanks so much and happy diving!!!

 

[Edward3c]

There are spaces on the BSAC Egypt liveaboard, see here.

You would need to be a BSAC member adding £78.50 on top of the £890 as advertised here.

PM me any questions.

 

[Parlem]

Hello! I am starting a early search for 2025 over the Dec/Jan holidays for dive options in the Red Sea. I will admit that I am a bit of a snob when it comes to accommodations. We are doing ScubaSpa Zen in Raja this year, and looking at liveaboards in the Red Sea, I dont really see anything comparable. Also, when looking at land based options, it seems that the resorts in Saudi are much more lux than those in Egypt.

So my questions are:

• Red Sea in December, are liveaboards the way to go? If so, what are the "most lux" ships??
• If sticking to land based, is it ok to stay in Saudi to dive or is Egpyt side diving much better?

Thanks so much and happy diving!!!

Check out Omneia Fleet:

Omneia Safari Fleet | Premium Liveaboard in the Red Sea / Egypt

They cater mostly to a German speaking clientele and I think they are the closest you'll get to understated luxury as far as Red Sea liveaboards are concerned. Disclaimer: I've never dived with them, so I cannot personally recommend them as such. You cannot book their boats via liveaboard.com and need to book directly or through one of their agents.

The two Aggressor boats in the Red Sea can be pricy (unless a particular trip is heavily discounted, which is not unusual in the low season) and are mostly aimed at US divers who recognise and trust the brand name. They offer up to 5 dives per day, I think, which is in line with American expectations from a liveaboard. Again, I've never dived with them, but I'm not so sure they'd be good value for me. I don't care for crew wearing fancy uniforms and my experience with mid and low-end liveaboards in Egypt has always been satisfactory or very good.

Finally, I think you'll struggle to find Red Sea liveaboards that are on a par with Asian luxury boats. It's a totally different market and target diver.

While I have no experience diving in Saudi Arabia, I would not consider diving land-based in Egypt if a liveaboard was an option, personally.

Hope this helps.

 

[Mod63]

Both Omneias are nice, speaking from personal experience, but are not in a league with the high price boats in Indonesia. E.g. you have to take care of you're dive gear yourself and there is only 3 guides for all divers. Egypt caters to the "real" divers and not to the ones that need their every whim catered to . And that is a good thing and I hope it stays that way, sad enough that the Maledives are more and more unaffordable.

 

[Etmutt]

for Saudi Arabia, if you are looking for “lux” experience then you can only aim at the new resort open near from umluj. beware though, they opened recently so i don’t know how well organized they are at the moment and price is about 650$/night

otherwise, what you will find in jeddah won’t be luxury stuff; and you will find better options in egypt for sure

 

[frogfish]

Difficult to compare Indonesia to Red Sea Liveaboards as they cater to different type of divers as pointed above (and budget when you consider the luxury ones in R4 or Komodo). However there are some nice boats, for example :Nautile Evo – Anthias plongée - Nice cabins, excellent food, excellent crew but mostly French speaking guests.

Also beware that the Red Sea in Egypt will be much colder in December than the tropics, although outside temperatures are still very nice

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

[...] for example :Nautile Evo – Anthias plongée - Nice cabins, excellent food, excellent crew but mostly French speaking guests.

You won't find any LOB more French in the Red Sea than this one.
I love the statement on their site "As French, what is more normal than to put all our attention on the content of our plate."