Red Sea vs. Palau Liveaboards?

[Marty!]

First post on Scubaboard here as a longtime lurker.

I've done a couple of liveaboards (Belize Sun Dancer II and Kona Aggressor), and can't enough of the liveaboard life. For the next trip Wife and I have Palau at the top of the list, but we've been hearing good things about the Red Sea. I'm pretty well-versed in what Scubaboard has to offer by way of opinions on Palau (i.e. you basically can't lose, many people's top spot), but given the price differential of liveaboards in the Red Sea vs. Palau (which I understand to be substantial), what do you think offers the best value? We're pretty much only concerned with value as it concerns diving, topside activities don't interest us too much. Thanks very much for any advice you can offer.

 

[Ste Wart]

I've only done the one Liveaboard in the Red Sea; plus I was working on it, and wouldn't recommend it. That said. Look for Liveaboards that take in the 'Deep South' areas of Egypt; mainly the ones that start at Safaga and head towards Sudan (not too close though!!). From experience these less dived sites had the most amazing coral and fish life. While there is nice dives in the North areas it can be fight to enjoy a dive. I've had to share a Night Thistlegorm dive(not that much cop actually) with 7 other liveaboards. This give you an idea of how much diver throughput is occuring in the north. Of course the recent revolution has seen tourist numbers drop, so maybe these dive sites are a little emptier.
Seeing as 2 friends have booked different Blue O two trips this year I would have a look at them.

But I'd really rather go to Palau!

 

[Doubler]

My issue with the Red Sea right now would be the on-going political situation. I'd go to Palau and wait until the government in Egypt calmed down.

 

[richh32]

save your money. do land based scuba in palau. all the main dive sites are accessable from land. Ulong, Blue Corner etc. I just got back 3 weeks ago.

 

[large_diver]

Agree with comments above regarding Deep South. In general, the further south you go in Egypt, the better the diving becomes and the fewer boats (liveaboard and day boats) you will see. If you prefer wreck diving, different story. I was on a Blue O Two Deep South charter last year and loved it. Great boats that are apparently on par with some of the Aggressor boats (at least Blue Melody and Blue Horizon). I've never been on an Aggressor boat - this was from comments from a friend who has done 1 Blue O Two and several Aggressor liveaboard trips.

I can't compare Egypt vs. Palau, but based on feedback from others that have done both, Palau would win hands down in terms of diving quality and diversity. Egypt is an incredibly easy to get to and cheap destination for European divers.....a little bit more of a haul from the US. If this is your first time to Egypt, the recent unrest my be a little off-putting. If you are on a liveaboard itinerary to southern Egypt, you won't even notice it. There obviously might be more "noise" if visiting Cairo. The ability to see the pyramids and other historical sites might pull Egypt up in terms of attractiveness.

Chris

 

[Shasta_man]

Liveaboards only way to go for me as well. Depends on whether you need to mix land and sea activities. I do all my diving and THEN everything else. However, for Palau, the travel times out to the sites add an extra penalty. While the land is nice too in Palau, the beauty of anchoring in German Channel and amongst other beautiful spots is night and day from what you'll see on land. Just as important to me, is it is much cooler on the water. There are some specials running for Palau.

I'm not sure which location would be shortest from your location.

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

Blue O Two is the way to go in the Red Sea. My dive shop booked a private charter 10 day trip reserved for June 2013 on the Blue Horizon totour both North and South Red Sea so we can hit the best reefs and wrecks. WE booked the trip through Learning Through Travel who speicalizes in Red Sea dive travel for Americans. Blue O Two's fleet is impressive and I have sailed liveaboards all over the world. The Red Sea has some of the best diversity of hard and soft corals outside of Palau. There really is no comparing the destinations since the travel logistics involved are so different. I recommend go to Egypt- check out Cairo and Luxor- everything is fine..I was there in March. Book a Deep South route out of Marsa Alam if you are into colorful pristine corals on less frequented dive sites or a North Route out of Hurghada if you want to see more wrecks. Simply the Best is a famous Southern Route with large coral walls, pinnacles and numerous shark sightings but the route includes longer open water transits. Famous Five is a route out of Hurghada where you will dive the famous sites of the North and visit the famous walls of the Brothers for sharks in the South. Enjoy your trip!!