Discovery I, Egypt

Nice dive trip on a reasonable budget for advanced divers

We did a 8day/7night liveaboard on the North/wrecks/brothers itinerary, and our trip was 40% off due to a promo they were running which made this trip significantly cheaper than other options. We never made it to Brothers due to weather, there were heavy winds and surges in the last week of September. Food was really good and the crew were always very friendly and helpful. We stayed in an upstairs cabin and it was decent. The beds were pretty comfortable and it was nice to ventilate the room a bit since we could open our windows and doors. Overall the room was clean and they made it up daily. However we did have some mold around the sink area in our cabin and the floors were always wet since there’s no bath mats/towels on the floor. I can only recommend this tour if you are Advanced OW certified or equivalent. We were only OW certified and had to take the Advanced OW certification or done adventure dives to visit all the dive sites. While we did receive our advanced OW on the boat we felt we didn’t have as much 1:1 experience with the dive instructors as expected. They just gave us the online course, set aside maybe 10 mins max for the deep dive and navigation dive briefing that seemed a bit rushed since they were right before dives (and the instructors never showed when they said they’d meet us earlier). We did the compass navigation test/deep narcosis test on our dives and that was it. From what we heard from others, their instructors spent a lot more time improving their buoyancy and other dive skills when they did their advanced course in other locations.

Recommended for

Food. Crew. Thistlegorm.

A fantastic experience

It was a fantastic experience! Very friendly staff, good food, comfortable boat, and spectacular diving.

Recommended for

The boat was amazing. The diving equipment was really good. The dive sites were beautiful.

An unforgetable trip

Discovery 1 is like taking a 5-star luxury vacation on a budget! The staff was kind and professional and took us to some incredible dive sites. I felt like I saw the very best of the Red Sea over 7 days, and this liveaboard is well worth the money. I had my doubts as a solo female traveler about visiting Egypt on my own, but at no point along my journey did I feel unsafe.

Recommended for

Got to visit some excellent and memorable dive sites. Very clean and well-maintained ship. Professional, knowledgable and friendly staff.

Amazing Trip

The entire week was just perfect. Our guide Peter was amazing in planning the dives and I felt reqlly comfortable diving with him. The crew is really friendly and gives their best for you to have a great time. The food was more than I could eat very very good!

Recommended for

Diving Guide. Destinations & Flexibility. Crew.

Great value for money - would go again

The itinerary was great, featuring some really nice spots. The food was excellent, and most of the boat crew were outstanding—really helpful guys with a friendly attitude. The cabins were decent, but even with the AC on, it was still 30 degrees. It was manageable enough to get some sleep, though. The linen could use an upgrade as it felt a bit worn and coarse. I would consider bringing my own next trip. Security was a focus, and I always felt safe. They have oxygen on board, for example. However, other information could have been better communicated. For instance, we were out of cell phone coverage for a few days. We were told it would be three days without coverage, but I found out later they knew pretty much exactly when we would lose and regain coverage. It would have been nice to have known these details in advance so they could be shared with loved ones back home. Regarding diving, we did a lot of dives looking for pelagics, but I was also told it was not the best season for it, and we didn't see much. I think an option to explore reefs instead could have been nice, perhaps dividing the group into two. All in all, it is great value for money, but some small improvements could make the experience even better.

Recommended for

Food. Dive sites. Boat crew.

Nice group of divers, where are the fish

Overall experience was tarnished by the fact we did not see any big stuff, and the amount of boats at some dive sites. At Ephilstine we counted 61 other divers in the water, boats need to talk to each other to prevent bubble mania. Water very warm 30 degrees at 30mtres , hence no sharks but also no large shoals etc, very worrying. Food was fine and plentiful, Ruby the meal organiser was excellent. Khalid and Mohammed we good as guides, Cabins and beds on the small side. Some strange practices on out last dive they were stripping the tank off my back before I had even got off the ladder, very annoying caused my first stage to bang on the deck. We were told how much to give as tips?? and an envelope was left in out rooms with our names and room number on, they then held a ceremony to hand over the envelopes. Tips should be voluntary and not in named envelopes this was a first for me. One concerning aspect of the boat is that what they called life vests/ jackets are actually buoyancy aids, not life jackets. These are designed to help keep you afloat by treading water, where as a life jacket will keep you afloat and put you on your back.

Recommended for

The other divers. Only 8 divers on board. Dive guides.