Seeking advice on certain red LOB operators

[Lukasvtrier]

Hi all,

Wondering if anyone here can lend some advice for a red sea liveaboard I'm hoping to organise at fairly short notice.

I did the BDE route last year and would like to explore further south this time (though BDE was amazing, I'm not super keen on spending again as much time hanging in the blue waiting/hoping for the big stuff to show up). I am keen to dive Zagharbad, (and Rocky Island) but for the dates I'm available, the options are limited to JP Marine, Seawolf Dominator or Sea Serpent Excellence. Each of these are quite critically reviewed in various places and trying to get a better sense before booking with them. Does anyone here have experience with (either of) them that they're willing to share?

If the feedback on all of these is below par (which often has some impact on safety and dive experience), I may just opt for BDE again, for which there seem to be plenty of options.

Thanks in advance for any insights! (including on the South itineraries)

 

[Mod63]

Stay away from Seawolf, the worst LOB we ever had.

 

[Searcaigh]

Stay away from Seawolf, the worst LOB we ever had.

Because ??????

 

[Mod63]

Because ??????

- claimed to have ENOS, then told us that ENOS was not available due to missing batteries. Have told the same story again and again over years, as reported to us by people we met on other trips
- minutes before leaving for the airport, they claimed that we had forgotten to report all beer that was consumed, interestingly enough it was 48 cans which is two pallets. We were forced to pay up to make sure we did not miss our flights. Again, same story reported by other people
- over all unsafe operations with a crew that was not up to task when conditions were not 100% smooth
- when mooring at the Thisthegorm, they managed to run one of the main mooring under a protruding beam. When going doing we already saw that due to the movement of the boat the line was chafing. When coming up, I stayed well clear of the line, but other did as told during the briefing and used the line for their accend. It happend as predicted, the line broke, then the crew pulled the dives that were doing their stop rapidly to the surface. Of course it was the divers fault...