What To Expect On A Red Sea Liveaboard

Liveaboards in the Red Sea have long been a divers favourite destination offering amazing scuba diving with healthy, colourful reefs and abundant marine life. Egyptian liveaboards have provided divers from around the world, some amazing dive experiences on some of the worlds best known dive sites. Numerous liveaboard itineraries are available which can visit remote reefs or wrecks from WWII.

The name 'Red Sea' is rumoured to come from the seasonal blooms of red coloured algae that appear near the surface at certain times in the year. But despite its name, the waters are an amazing blue water destination boasting comfortable water temperatures throughout the year, superb visibility and great dive conditions year round. As some of the best dive sites are far from shore a liveaboard dive cruise is the best way to visit the more remote areas of this region.

The Red Sea is actually a seawater inlet extending from the Indian Ocean and lays between Africa & Asia. It holds the title as one of the saltiest bodies of water on earth, due mainly to it's geological formation, leading to high evaporation levels. Due to the waters high salinity divers should be aware that they will most likely need to add extra weight to their normal amount to compensate for the extra buoyancy provided by these salty waters.

Whilst the Red Sea is primarily bordered by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, most diving liveaboards in the Red Sea operate directly from Egypt, with multiple well established tourist destinations located throughout the country from North to South. An Egypt dive liveaboard is certainly the best way to see this amazing dive and snorkelling area.

Diving areas/regions can be split between North & South, with different dive trip itineraries offered in both areas.

Northern Red Sea

The northern area of the Egyptian Red Sea is a divers paradise, offering amazing dive cruises at world famous dive sites such as the Straits of Tiran, Ras Mohammed National Park. If diving wrecks is your thing, then the SS Thistlegorm or Dunraven wrecks will surely be a must do on your dive list. A dive liveaboard departing from either Sharm El Sheikh, Safaga or Hurghada is an excellent way to fully explore the different dive sites available.

Southern Red Sea

To the south awaits some fantastic dive opportunities away from the crowds for those visiting on a liveaboard dive trip. Dive sites that are only accessible by overnight dive safaris can be explored. With well known sites such as Daedalus Reef, The Brothers, St. Johns, Elphinstone and Fury Shoals it will surely delight all divers. Most liveaboard itineraries that operate in this southern area will depart from either Port Ghalib (Marsa Alam), Hamata or Hurghada.

Getting There

Northern Red Sea - Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada both have their own international airports which have various international airlines flying directly to them. These would be a more convenient arrival port for dive liveaboard departures. Cairo is the main International airport in Egypt and will also offer domestic flights to most areas within Egypt.

Southern Red Sea - Marsa Alam International airport to the south is used by some international airlines, mainly from Europe and is located very close to Port Ghalib (Marsa Ghalib), so is a perfect arrival port for liveaboard trips leaving from this area. Domestic flights from Cairo are also available. Land transfers from Hurghada to Port Ghalib are also possible, the journey takes approximately 2.5 hours each way.