Experiences with the Princess Basma Diving Boat, Red Sea
In early 2023, we arranged a week of diving in the Red Sea. Our Egyptian organizer had trouble finding an available boat. Eventually, he proposed the Princess Basma. As the online reviews of this boat from 2020 were negative, we alerted him to the issues. He further spoke with the boat owner, who assured him that all the deficiencies had been addressed.
On October 21, 2023, we boarded the Princess Basma in Marsa Alam. The initial impression was that it was an old and poorly maintained boat.
The dining salon was decent, and the food was quite good – in fact, the best part of the boat.
The upper deck, used as a common area, was spacious with suitable couches. However, the usual water dispenser for hot or cold water, glasses, and drink shelves were absent. If someone wanted a drink or coffee, they had to go downstairs to the dining salon.
There was only one water dispenser present, which was extremely dirty.
In my cabin, the door handle on the inside was broken. In another cabin, the doors couldn't be opened from the inside at times.
The water in the washing and shower system was mostly dirty brown.
Now, let's address more significant problems. We were the last boat to depart from Marsa Alam on the first day, so we didn't have any dives on that day. We regularly delayed our morning departures for diving because the crew struggled to anchor the boat to the reef. They usually took 45 to 60 minutes to anchor the boat. Once, the captain made a mistake in identifying the reef we were supposed to visit.
However, these were all minor issues compared to the following:
- The second engine on the boat quickly broke down (if it was even working when we started).
- Both of the two zodiacs were often out of order, and around halfway through the week, they brought another motor from somewhere, so we had only one functioning zodiac. Once, we went for a dive with one zodiac full of divers pulling another zodiac full of divers.
- The next problem was that the electrical current was connected to all the metal parts, causing electric shocks on the stairs and, especially, when hanging the suits for drying. They addressed this problem by turning off the generator when we went on the deck.
Due to all these issues, we agreed with our Egyptian organizer not to go South towards St. John. We stayed near Marsa Alam.
Lastly, as we disembarked on the last day, they brought a load of groceries for the next group of unlucky individuals who would embark on a cruise with the malfunctioning boat.
In conclusion, the Princess Basma boat should be avoided.
