Tala Liveaboard, Egypt

Fantastic

Abu Nuhas, seeing eagle rays and enjoying water life

Recommended for

Stunning Red Sea, boating life and friendly crew!

05 Feb, 2022

Long review for those who like the details -- Definitely go with the Tala and Red Sea Explorers!

My partner and I went diving the week of Christmas 2024 and we are from the USA. We were concerned about cold and safety in the Red Sea in general, and have to say that our fears were allayed and we enjoyed everything about being aboard the Tala with Red Sea Explorers and will definitely be back to dive with them again. The boat, the crew, the food, the diving, the cabins...all were fantastic. SAFETY: the Tala looks great and RSE seems to have an eye on safety. We switched last-minute from another operator/boat to this one, so we could only get a lower deck cabin, but it turns out we felt both super safe and comfortable there (we never had issues with noise from the engines, sleeping, etc.). Our guide Lu'reyce gave an excellent safety brief and we were able to test out the emergency escape hatch, try on our lifejackets, etc., on Day 1. RSE had lost a boat to a fire in Nov 2024, so I asked some questions and the crew answered openly and knowledgeably, and I felt comforted. There were no casualties from that accident, they even had a guest in a wheelchair on that trip, and the fire was between walls so the crew worked their best to stop it but some fluke prevented it from being put out -- really, it seemed RSE was the best team to handle such an emergency and I feel for them for the loss of that boat (the Nouran), which was home to many. Also, I was told the "newest" crew member on the Tala had been working with RSE for about 3 years...meaning many of the crew had been with the operator for 10+ years...something that I think is rare in Egypt. This longevity of the crew and their experience showed, as they maintained the boat in a great way and also helped us with everything from getting geared up, into the water, out of the water (and getting back into zodiacs, as needed...I am a big lady and if I had known the zodiacs didn't have ladders, I may not have signed up with the Tala -- but it's something you need not worry about...all of us, big and small, more fit or less fit, got into and out of the zodiacs just fine and I'm glad I got to learn that), and getting our gear off again...they made it so pleasant. Also a note about food safety, the Tala only washes its produce in bottled water, so we could even eat the fresh stuff without becoming sick...it was awesome. COLD: we are not drysuit certified, so I was worried the Red Sea would be too cold for us in December, but with hood, gloves, and a 5 mm wetsuit, we both felt good in the water. It's a little chilly up top once you're wet and it's windy, but we just changed quickly and then hopped into our very warm showers in our room, which always worked great. TECH VS REC DIVING: We are not tech certified and were worried that being only rec divers we might feel out of place, but I thought it was so cool how RSE accommodated all levels of diving. We did not feel out of place at all, most people were like us and also dove rec, and those who did special things (tech, double tanks, trimix, rebreathers, scooters, etc.) were free to do their own thing. In fact, as rec divers we could also choose to go with a guide or without, and we chose to dive twice on our own on the simplest sites. So I loved this flexibility -- we could have our hands held or be completely free...it was pretty cool! Overall, I loved diving in the Red Sea, with Red Sea Explorers, and aboard the Tala, and will absolutely do it again. I only have 3 small details to give you a heads-up about/ask the company to work on for IMPROVEMENT: 1) We received a lot of mixed info from Liveaboard vs. a PDF document the company sent shortly before our trip began...such as they only take cash on board vs you can use card, you could only pay with foreign currency (USD/euro) vs they accept Egyptian pounds too...while the confusion was stressful since we were already in-country when we got the "new" info, I found emailing the company cleared things up and all options were available to us. 2) The guy who does their transfers is a bit f

Recommended for

Hard-working crew. Lu'reyce's dive briefs. Delicious, hot showers.

20 Jan, 2025

A caring team

We had the chance to swim with dolphins thanks to the crew who purposely took us to them in zodiac when our dive was officially over. We also had a great time reading and watching the sky on the sundeck.

Recommended for

The crew was really lovely. Our cabin was very comfortable. We were able to be very autonomous during our dives.

26 Sep, 2018

Great value for money!

Just awesome! We could have had better luck on the dives but still beautiful and professionally expedited. Especially Numidia at Brothers was amazing!

Recommended for

The crew and dive guides. The dive sites. The food.

24 Oct, 2025

Diving in the North in December on the MV Tala: A review

I had an amazing first liveaboard experience on the Tala! 100% recommended :) I was originally booked to go with another company, but my trip was cancelled last minute and I ended up on the Tala, a bit by chance I must admit. And what luck did I have! The boat itself, although 30 years old, feels like it's in pristine condition; it's clearly very well maintained and everything in the cabins was working as it should (toilets, hot water, shower, lights...). I was privileged to get a cabin just for myself (they were lacking another male person to fit the remaining bed) and I greatly enjoyed that! The crew is lovely, helpful, present when you need it (put on your gear, get out of the water), but not overtly so. Our chef kept us well fed and happy with tasty meals throughout the trip. Special mention to our guides: Lereyce and Ahmed, who were absolute top notch all throughout! Lereyce gave us the best dive briefings I've ever had before every single dive, and was always helpful in so many small ways on the boat, Ahmed had a great, cheerful presence, onboard and underwater! I did the North route, and there were some very fun dive spots along the way! Of course the SS Thistlegorm stole a bit the spotlight (4 dives there), and there are some other really interesting other wrecks along the way, but Ras Mohammed and its incredible drops and reefs was equally amazing. I saw plenty of marine life; from barracudas to blue spotted rays to eagle spotted rays to dolphins to crocodile fishes, you name it! The boat caters to tech divers, so if you're into rebreathers, trimix and the like, they got you covered! It's actually fascinating to be surrounded by people who are really deep into diving and I asked loads of questions whenever I could. I'm a divemaster myself and felt every person diving had a great level. It was a good mix: "normal" recreational divers, but also some instructors, and other divemasters, besides the tech divers. What else? The ambiance onboard was good, there was a bunch of nationalities represented: German, French (me :P), Danish, Swedish, Italian, US... And conversations flowed naturally, whether on the upper decks or in the "lounge" / social area. I did the trip at the end of December (22-29) and although there was some chilly moments (getting out of the water after a night dive, brrr 🥶!), I'l was totally fine with a 5mm wetsuit + a 3mm short sleeves top to put under the wetsuit that Ahmed lent me. The water temperature for diving was very pleasant in my opinion, and I didn't feel it warranted the use of a drysuit (but quite a few people were using them), but hey, I guess that's up to how comfortable you wanna feel! All in all, fantastic first liveaboard experience, I'll definitely be back for more, hopefully on the Tala! (Ah, the only downside I can think of is that the Internet connection didn't really work well during the trip. The wifi setup died less than a day out, and we were relying mostly on our (spotty) mobile 4G connection to stay connected + Charging 10€ extra for each 500Mb chunk is a bit of a robbery tbh! anyways, we're all here to disconnect right? 😅)

Recommended for

The diving. The crew. The ambiance.

11 Jan, 2025

Value-packed experience

I wasn’t expecting such an awesome experience when I signed up for it. For such a price, you get 17 dives, sharks, turtles, octopus, sunsets, sunrises, Milky Way, amazing meals, 7 nights’ stay with rooms cleaned everyday, super friendly crews, great diving guides, friends from all over the world. I would say the highlight is definitely people. I know we weren’t the luckiest, the luckier divers who were on this same boat saw hamper heads, dolphins and dugongs. But still, even we weren’t luck enough to see those, it was still an enjoyable trip, because of the incredible staffs and the overall atmosphere. Highly recommended!

Recommended for

Diving guides and teachers are amazing (learnt Nitrox and scooter on board). Boat crew were super friendly and hospitable. Ocean animals, sunset, sunrise, Milky Way at night is stunning.

12 Oct, 2024