If you want a Red Sea luxury liveaboard to enjoy your scuba diving to the max, this article includes seven scuba diving liveaboards with all the onboard amenities you will need.
A Red Sea luxury liveaboard should include good diving facilities, comfortable cabins with aircon and ensuites, plus good food and drink. Diving from a liveaboard is also about other luxuries like onboard entertainment and comfort, plus the addition of non-diving activities to do in-between dives.
The best way to dive the Red Sea, and especially the best and more remote locations in the Red Sea, is by a scuba diving liveaboard. You can check the latest and best deals on Red Sea liveaboards using the following window:
The following Red Sea liveaboards have a Scuba Diving Earth Lux-Rating of 50 and above, which is explained below The maximum score any liveaboard can score using the Scuba Diving Earth Lux-Rating is 75.
Amelia Discovery Liveaboard: Lux-Rating 53.6 and a customer Review Rating of 8.4 from 18 verified customer review (Click to jump to Why this liveaboard).
Samira Discovery Liveaboard: Lux-Rating 53.6 and a customer Review Rating of 8.7 from 39 verified customer review (Click to jump to Why this liveaboard).
For more about how the lux-ratings have been calculated, please see the following list of what’s been included in creating the lux-rate. Plus take a look at the table below which gives a further breakdown for each luxury Red Sea liveaboard score too.
How the Red Sea liveaboard luxury rating (Lux-Rating) works
To arrive at the Scuba Diving Earth Lux-Rating for the above seven Red Sea liveaboards, I have reviewed all Egypt’s diving liveaboards that offer Red Sea Diving Safaris and analysed what each liveaboard boat has to offer.
The following headings have been considered in the luxury ratings:
Liveaboard boat size to guest ratio (Max 3): This ratio is calculated using the length of the dive boat vs the maximum number of guests onboard. The higher the resulting number, the better the boat, as the length of the liveaboard is divided by the number of maximum guests. Which means if the number is higher, there should be a feeling of having more space onboard, or in other words the liveaboard should feel less crowded.
Liveaboard design luxury (Max 9): The luxury scoring or Lux-Rating for design includes those Red Sea liveaboards with warm water showers, where the more luxury liveaboards have outside showers for rinsing off salt after each dive. The higher luxury rated liveaboards are custom built for diving, have a sun deck, a leisure deck and an observation deck, plus an indoor aircon saloon with charging stations.
Diver luxury (Max 15): The more luxurious Red Sea liveaboards are scored higher on their luxury rating if they have a dive deck, a shaded dive area and tenders for diving. The best Red Sea liveaboards offer nitrox diving, a private diving guide and dive courses, and will score higher for having these onboard luxuries. More luxury is on offer with some liveaboards, which is that they are underwater photographer friendly, with separate rinse hoses for cameras, a camera station and a camera room. The Red Sea liveaboard with more diver benefits on offer will score higher, which includes those that offer DIN adapters, tech diving, sidemount diving, rebreather support and scuba gear rental.
Onboard entertainment (Max 3): The entertainment luxury rating score is improved if the Red Sea liveaboard has a library, audio and entertainment and a bar that serves alcoholic drinks.
Onboard comfort (Max 5): Onboard comfort scores are luxury-rated with the inclusion of Wifi and internet connectivity, complementary toiletries, deck or beach towels and cabin towels, plus on those that have a laundry service too.
Non-diving activities (Max 15): The more non-diving activities on offer by the Red Sea liveaboard, the higher the luxury rating will be. The luxury scoring includes if the liveaboard has any of the following activities; kayaks, snorkel equipment, land excursions, wakeboarding, water skiing, stand-up paddleboards, a naturalist guide, a hot tub or Jacuzzi, onboard massage service, a spa, yoga, a sauna, fishing, a glass bottom boat and jet skis.
Cabin luxury (Max 7): Cabin luxury rating takes account of those Red Sea liveaboards that offer cabins with ensuite bathrooms and individually controlled aircon. The luxury-rating will be higher if the cabins also include daily housekeeping, there are non-smoking rooms on offer, seaviews are available, they have TVs and if they a balcony too.
Food and drink on offer (Max 18): The luxury rating of the Red Sea Liveaboard will be higher when there are more food and drink options available. This includes those liveaboards that offer western and local food options, with the choice of fine cuisine, vegetarian and vegan options and that cater for all other dietary requirements. The Red Sea liveaboard will rate higher on the lux-rating if the boat also offers a BBQ, outdoor dining, buffet style food, free wine with dinner, beer, wine and fine wines. The liveaboard will be lux-rated even higher if it offers welcome cocktails, all-day snacks, soft drinks, tea and coffee and drinking water.
With the above luxury ratings in mind, here’s a table of these 9 Luxury Red Sea Liveaboards, but if you want to view all Red Sea liveaboards, with the top seven luxury dive boats listed at the top of the table see towards the end of the article. Each Red Sea liveaboard has a luxury rating to help you choose the best luxury dive boat:
Red Sea Luxury Liveaboard - Lux Rating Dive Boats Table
Luxury Red Sea liveaboard Table notes:
1. Where the Red Sea liveaboard has a review rating of '0.0', this means that this dive boat has not yet been customer rated and reviewed at the time of writing. It doesn't mean you should not consider booking it for your scuba diving Red Sea safari.
2. The customer review rating for the liveaboard is correct at the time this table was prepared.
Red Sea Luxury Liveaboard in more detail
Now let’s take a closer look at each of these diving liveaboards and how each one faired in the luxury rating scores. In the following expanded detail, I list how each Red Sea liveaboard scored and where each one lost luxury points on the lux-ratings, which will hopefully make your choice easier. For the liveaboards below where the luxury headings have been scored maximum ratings, these are in green below.
I finish off with my recommendation at the end of this article and before you decide, you may like to take a look at the final table.
This final table lists all Red Sea liveaboards and the luxury rating I have given them, alongside the customer reviews they have each been given.
Aphrodite Liveaboard – Luxury Red Sea liveaboard – image courtesy of Liveaboard.com
1. Aphrodite Liveaboard – Luxury-Rating 56.6
The Aphrodite liveaboard scored 56.6 on the Scuba Diving Earth Lux-Rating, which is out of a possible total of 75. This means it lost 18.4 luxury points. See below for where these lux-points were lost.
The Red Sea Aphrodite liveaboard has an exceptional customer review rating of 9.5 out of 10 from 10 verified customer reviews. One such review is from a Canadian guest who scored it a 10 out of 10 and said the following:
“Amazing boat, crew and diving! One week trip to the Brother’s Islands with some modification based on weather changes that worked out well. Crew really went out of their way to ensure they could do everything possible including getting special milk for my wife and provided modified meals for people with any requests. Boat is quite nice with mix of covered areas, sun decks, in/outdoors etc. Diving was easily handled off the back of the large deck or with tenders. They arranged all rental equipment for us beforehand and made changes as needed. They provided the option of guided dives with instructor or independent diving with partner after briefing etc. Diving was excellent with good vis, coral, fish etc!” Recommended for: Caring crew, dive sites, nice boat.
Red Sea Aphrodite Liveaboard customer review by Richard O from Canada – courtesy of Liveaboard.com
From a diver’s perspective the Red Sea Aphrodite Liveaboard scores top points and offers all facilities you’d expect from a luxury liveaboard.
The Red Sea Aphrodite Liveaboard lost luxury points for the following reasons:
Size to guest ratio (1.6/3): The size to guest ratio for the Aphrodite liveaboard is based on a 35 metre (115 feet) length, divided by a maximum of 22 guests, which equates to the 1.6 and has lost 1.4 from a possible score of three.
Liveaboard design luxury (9/9): Top marks and scored 9 out of 9.
Diver luxury (15/15): Top marks and scored 12 out of 12.
Onboard entertainment (3/3): Top marks and scored 3 out of 3.
Onboard comfort (3/5): Lost two luxury points for no complimentary toiletries and there’s no laundry service.
Non-diving activities (3/15): Lost 12 luxury points for only having snorkeling equipment, a naturalist guide and a hot tub/jacuzzi out of the above list of luxuries.
Cabin luxury (6/7): Lost one luxury point for having no cabin balcony.
Food and drink (16/18): Lost two luxury points for no outdoor dining and no free wine with diner.
Red Sea Aphrodite is a great choice of luxury liveaboard if:
Languages spoken onboard include English, French, German and Russian.
Heaven Saphir Liveaboard – Luxury Red Sea liveaboard – Image courtesy of Liveaboard.com
2. Heaven Saphir Liveaboard – Luxury-Rating 55.9
The Red Sea Heaven Saphir liveaboard scored 55.9 on the Scuba Diving Earth Lux-Rating, which is out of a possible total of 75. This means it lost 19.1 luxury points. See below for where these luxury points were lost.
The Red Sea Heaven Saphir liveaboard has a fabulous customer review rating of 8.7 out of 10 from 3 verified customer reviews. One such review is from a German guest who scored it a 8.8 out of 10 and said the following:
“That was a very round thing :-)) One particularly has to emphasize the achievements of the kitchen crew. It really doesn’t get any better under these conditions. The support from the guides and the choice of dive sites were very good. The boat is no longer brand new but is still in good shape. The captain did a very good job. The only thing I have to complain about is the sometimes inattentive helpers on the dive deck. Overall, the liveaboard can and must be rated as a great experience with a great boat and great guests. Thank you for the wonderful week to everyone involved.” Recommended for: The kitchen, guides and dive sites were excellent.
The English translation from the following customer review by Thomas N from Germany
“Das war eine ganz runde Sache :-))Besonders hervorheben muss man auf jeden auf jeden die Leistungen der Küchencrew. Besser geht es unter diesen Voraussetzungen wirklich nicht. Die Betreuung durch die Guides und die Tauchplatzauswahl waren sehr gut. Das Boot ist nicht mehr ganz neu aber dennoch gut in Schuss. Der Käpt´n machte einen sehr guten Job. Zu bemängeln habe ich einzig die zum Teil unaufmerksamen Helfer auf dem Tauchdeck. Insgesamt kann und muss man die Tauchsafari als tolles Erlebnis mit einem tollen Boot und tollen Gästen bewerten. Vielen Dank für die schöne Woche an alle Beteiligten.” Recommended for: Die Küche, die Guides und die Tauchplätze waren hervorragend.
Red Sea Heaven Saphir Liveaboard customer review courtesy by Thomas N from Germany courtesy of Liveaboard.com
From a diver’s perspective the Red Sea Heaven Saphir Liveaboard scores nearly top points and offers all facilities you’d expect from a luxury liveaboard.
The Red Sea Heaven Saphir Liveaboard lost luxury points for the following reasons:
Size to guest ratio (1.9/3): The size to guest ratio for the Red Sea Heaven Saphir liveaboard is based on a 36 metre (118 feet) length, divided by a maximum of 19 guests, which equates to the 1.9 and has lost 1.1 from a possible score of three.
Liveaboard design luxury (9/9): Top marks and scored 9 out of 9.
Diver luxury (15/15): Top marks and scored 15 out of 15.
Onboard entertainment (3/3): Top marks and scored 3 out of 3.
Onboard comfort (4/5): Lost one luxury point for no laundry service.
Non-diving activities (3/15): Lost 12 luxury points for only having snorkeling equipment, land excursions and a naturalist guide out of the above list of luxuries.
Cabin luxury (5/7): Lost two luxury points for having no cabin TVs and no cabin balcony.
Food and drink (15/18): Lost three luxury points for no buffet, no free wine with dinner and no fine wines.
Red Sea Heaven Saphir liveaboard is a great choice of luxury liveaboard if:
Languages spoken onboard include English, German and Russian.
Seven Seas Liveaboard – Red Sea luxury liveaboard – Image courtesy of Liveaboard.com
3. Seven Seas Liveaboard – Luxury-Rating 53.7
The Red Sea Seven Seas liveaboard scored 53.7 on the Scuba Diving Earth Lux-Rating, which is out of a possible total of 75. This means it lost 21.3 luxury points. See below for where these luxury points were lost.
The Red Sea Seven Seas liveaboard has an exceptional customer review rating of 1 out of 10, but this is from just one verified customer review. This review is from a German guest who score it 10 out of 10 and said the following:
“perfect tour! The tour was great. Both guides were great and the boat crew always friendly and helpful! It would be a week as you imagine it!” Recommended for: a week diving on a perfect boat.
The English translation from the following customer review by Oliver H from Germany
“perfekte Tour! Die Tour war klasse. Beide Guides waren super und die Bootscrew immer freundlich und hilfsbereit! Es wäre eine Woche so wie man es sich vorstellt!” Recommended for: eine Woche tauchen auf einem perfekten Boot.
Red Sea Seven Seas liveaboard customer review by Oliver H from Germany – courtesy of Liveaboard.com
From a diver’s perspective the Red Sea Seven Seas Liveaboard scores top points and offers all facilities you’d expect from a luxury Egypt liveaboard.
The Red Sea Seven Seas Liveaboard lost luxury points for the following reasons:
Size to guest ratio (1.7/3): The size to guest ratio for the Red Sea Seven Seas liveaboard is based on a 41 metre (135 feet) length, divided by a maximum of 24 guests, which equates to the 1.7 and has lost 1.3 from a possible score of three.
Liveaboard design luxury (9/9): Top marks and scored 9 out of 9.
Diver luxury (13/15): Lost two luxury points for having no tech diving and no camera room.
Onboard entertainment (3/3): Top marks and scored 3 out of 3.
Onboard comfort (4/5): Lost one luxury point for having no laundry service.
Non-diving activities (1/15): Lost 14 luxury points for only having snorkeling equipment.
Cabin luxury (6/7): Lost one luxury point for having no cabin balcony.
Food and drink (16/18): Lost two luxury points for no wine with dinner and no fine cuisine.
Red Sea Seven Seas liveaboard is a great choice of luxury liveaboard if:
You require rebreather support.
You like sidemount diving.
You want a private charter luxury liveaboard.
Nitrox onboard.
Free internet.
A larger and more stable dive boat at 41 metres (135 feet).
Languages spoken onboard include English and German.
Amelia Discover liveaboard – Image courtesy of Liveaboard.com
The Amelia Discovery liveaboard scored 53.6 on the Scuba Diving Earth Lux-Rating, which is out of a possible total of 75. This means it lost 21.4 luxury points. See below for where these lux-points were lost.
The Red Sea Amelia Discovery liveaboard has a very good customer review rating of 8.4 out of 10 from 18 verified customer reviews. One such review is from a diver from the UK guest who scored it a 8.8 out of 10 and said the following:
“I thoroughly enjoyed my week on the the Amelia. We were very lucky during our dive on the south side of Elphinstone. Sharks and Dolpins in one dive. This more than made up for the north side and some of the other relatively mundane dive sites. In general if you like diving on reefs with coral gardens / pinnacles or through cave systems that are open to light above then this is the trip for you. The deep south tour is not something you should take if you are more interested in just seeing some sharks.” Recommended for: The crew were really very helpful, a very nice mix of divers from other countries, and some very nice dives.
Red Sea Amelia Discovery Liveaboard customer review by Christopher T from the UK – courtesy of Liveaboard.com
From a diver’s perspective the Red Sea Amelia Discovery Liveaboard scores top points and offers all facilities you’d expect from a luxury liveaboard.
The Red Sea Amelia Discovery Liveaboard lost luxury points for the following reasons:
Size to guest ratio (1.6/3): The size to guest ratio for the Amelia Discovery liveaboard is based on a 32 metre (105 feet) length, divided by a maximum of 20 guests, which equates to the 1.6 and has lost 1.4 from a possible score of three.
Liveaboard design luxury (8/9): Lost one point for not having charging stations.
Diver luxury (15/15): Top marks and scored 12 out of 12.
Onboard entertainment (3/3): Top marks and scored 3 out of 3.
Onboard comfort (4/5): Lost one luxury point for no laundry service.
Non-diving activities (1/15): Lost 14 luxury points for only having snorkeling equipment out of the above list of luxuries.
Cabin luxury (5/7): Lost two luxury points for having no TVs in the cabins and no cabin balcony.
Food and drink (16/18): Lost two luxury points for no fine wine and fine cuisine.
Red Sea Amelia Discovery is a great choice of luxury liveaboard if:
Carlton Queen – Luxury Red Sea Liveaboard – Image courtesy of Liveaboard.com
5. Carlton Queen – Lux-Rating 53.6
The Red Sea Carlton Queen liveaboard scored 53.6 on the Scuba Diving Earth Lux-Rating, which is out of a possible total of 75. This means it lost 21.4 luxury points. See below for where these luxury points were lost.
The Carlton Queen liveaboard had no customer review ratings at the time of writing this article, but this doesn’t mean it’s not a contender for a Red Sea luxury liveaboard.
From a diver’s perspective the Red Sea Carlton Queen Liveaboard scores top points and offers all facilities you’d expect from a luxury liveaboard.
The Red Sea Carlton Queen Liveaboard lost luxury points for the following reasons:
Size to guest ratio (1.6/3): The size to guest ratio for the Red Sea Carlton Queen liveaboard is based on a 33 metre (108 feet) length, divided by a maximum of 18 guests, which equates to the 1.6 and has lost 1.4 from a possible score of three.
Liveaboard design luxury (8/9): For design the Red Sea Carlton Queen lost one luxury point for not having an observation deck.
Diver luxury (13/15): Lost two luxury points for not having technical diving facilities and a camera room.
Onboard entertainment (2/3): Lost one luxury point for not having a library.
Onboard comfort (3/5): Lost two luxury points for having no complimentary toiletries and no laundry service.
Non-diving activities (9/15): Lost six luxury points for not having land excursions, a hot tub/Jacuzzi, no massage, spa, yoga and sauna out of the above list of luxuries.
Cabin luxury (4/7): Lost three luxury points for having no sea view, no cabin TVs and no cabin balcony.
Food and drink (13/18): Lost five luxury points for no wine with dinner, not having wine onboard nor any fine wines and no fine cuisine, plus no welcome cocktails.
Red Sea Carlton Queen liveaboard is a great choice of luxury liveaboard if:
The Samira Discovery liveaboard scored 53.6 on the Scuba Diving Earth Lux-Rating, which is out of a possible total of 75. This means it lost 21.4 luxury points. See below for where these lux-points were lost.
The Red Sea Samira Discovery liveaboard has a fabulous customer review rating of 8.7 out of 10 from 39 verified customer reviews. One such review is from a diver from the UK guest who scored it a 9.2 out of 10 and said the following:
“Very enjoyable Red Sea Safari. Food on-board was very good, excellent dive guides prioritised safety and generally were very helpful and considerate throughout. Boat overall was comfortable and had a lovely relaxed feel all week. The only minor criticism I can make is they have no library on board apart from fish ID books – so take plenty of reading, and the seating on the open deck was not very comfortable for me. Overall a very enjoyable trip and I we will certainly be booking onto a Discovery liveaboard again.” Recommended for: Diverse guest group, relaxed atmosphere, good diving.
Red Sea Samira Discovery Liveaboard customer review by Michael B from the UK – courtesy of Liveaboard.com
From a diver’s perspective the Red Sea Amelia Discovery Liveaboard scores top points and offers all facilities you’d expect from a luxury liveaboard.
The Red Sea Samira Discovery Liveaboard lost luxury points for the following reasons:
Size to guest ratio (1.6/3): The size to guest ratio for the Samira Discovery liveaboard is based on a 35 metre (115 feet) length, divided by a maximum of 22 guests, which equates to the 1.6 and has lost 1.4 from a possible score of three.
Liveaboard design luxury (8/9): Lost one point for not having charging stations.
Diver luxury (15/15): Top marks and scored 12 out of 12.
Onboard entertainment (3/3): Top marks and scored 3 out of 3.
Onboard comfort (4/5): Lost one luxury point for no laundry service.
Non-diving activities (1/15): Lost 14 luxury points for only having snorkeling equipment out of the above list of luxuries.
Cabin luxury (5/7): Lost two luxury points for having no TVs in the cabins and no cabin balcony.
Food and drink (16/18): Lost two luxury points for no fine wine and fine cuisine.
Red Sea Samira Discovery is a great choice of luxury liveaboard if:
Oceanos Liveaboard – Red Sea luxury liveaboard – Image courtesy of Liveaboard.com
Oceanos Liveaboard – Lux-Rating 53.5
The Sea Legend liveaboard scored 53.5 on the Scuba Diving Earth Lux-Rating, which is out of a possible total of 75. This means it lost 21.5 luxury points. See below for where these luxury points were lost.
The Sea Legend liveaboard has a fabulous customer review rating of 8.6 out of 10 from 5 verified customer reviews. One such review is from a German guest who scored it a 8.8 out of 10 and said the following:
“Challenging but brilliant dives. I was traveling alone, but had luckily many English speaking divers onboard. So I met plenty of other divers I could talk with. The food onboard was very good and definitely enough. The first dive was a test dive to check if weights are enough and every diver is able to use the SMB properly. This is mandatory as every buddy team has to set the SMB at the end of every dive. Most dives starts from the Zodiac and also the pick up is mainly from the Zodiacs. As the dive sites are in the ocean current can occur. This makes the dives sometimes challenging, but still great. As I had not the deep diver specialty certification before (dive to 40 m) I did my course onboard. The instructor (also the owner of the board) was a great teacher, as safety was for her most important. I had a great trip and would do the journey again.” Recommended for: Friendly staff, well organized, good food.
Red Sea Oceanos Liveaboard customer review by Danny A from Germany – courtesy of Liveaboard.com
From a diver’s perspective the Red Sea Oceanos Liveaboard scores top points and offers all facilities you’d expect from a luxury liveaboard.
The Red Sea Oceanos Liveaboard lost luxury points for the following reasons:
Size to guest ratio (1.5/3): The size to guest ratio for the Red Sea Oceanos liveaboard is based on a 39 metre (128 feet) length, divided by a maximum of 26 guests, which equates to the 1.5 and has lost 1.5 from a possible score of three.
Liveaboard design luxury (9/9): Top marks and scored 9 out of 9.
Diver luxury (14/15): Lost one luxury point for having no camera room.
Onboard entertainment (3/3): Top marks and scored 3 out of 3.
Onboard comfort (3/5): Lost two luxury points for having no deck towels and no laundry service.
Non-diving activities (2/15): Lost 13 luxury points for only having snorkeling and a hot tub/jacuzzi from the above list of luxuries.
Cabin luxury (5/7): Lost two luxury points for having no cabin TVs and no cabin balcony.
Food and drink (16/18): Lost two luxury points for no wine with dinner and no vegan option (although this liveaboard will cater for all dietary requirements that are requested at the time of booking.
Red Sea Oceanos liveaboard is a great choice of luxury liveaboard if:
You are a tech diver.
You require rebreather support.
You like sidemount diving.
You want a private charter luxury liveaboard.
Free nitrox onboard.
Free internet.
You like to jump in a hot tub after scuba diving.
A larger and more stable dive boat at 39 metres (128 feet).
Languages spoken onboard include English, French and Dutch.
Sea Legend Liveaboard – Red Sea Luxury liveaboard – Image courtesy of Liveaboard.com
Sea Legend Liveaboard – Lux-Rating 53.5
The Sea Legend liveaboard scored 53.5 on the Scuba Diving Earth Lux-Rating, which is out of a possible total of 75. This means it lost 21.5 luxury points. See below for where these luxury points were lost.
The Sea Legend liveaboard has a very good customer review rating of 8.1 out of 10 from 3 verified customer reviews. One such review is from a Swiss guest who scored it a 10 out of 10 and said the following:
“Amazing Safari on Sea Legend. We’ve just been on the dive Safari on the boat SeaLegend and it was absolutely amazing!! I can recommend this Safari to a 100%. We stayed in a honeymoon Suite which is really big, defenitely bigger than it looks on the pictures. We had a queen size bed which was very confortable and enough room to store all our belongings, which were quite some (we had two big suitcases).
The boat itself was very very nice, with also a lot of space and modern design. The staff on the boat, the instructors and also the owner Ali who was with us on the boat, we’re extremly friendly and helped wherever they could. THey always had a smile on their face and we felt like our own family is welcoming us. The food on the boat was absolutely outstanding, from a whole turkey or duck, to great lamb, fish, crabs, just everything was delicious!! It incredible that it is possible to make such nice food with so little space, huge compliment to the Chef.
Also if you had any allergies or were for ex. vegan, you didn’t have any problems, because the Chef made special meals for those people. The divesites were (concerning the shark triangle) the ones that we expected to go and we haven’t been disappointet, saw hammer head sharks, cuddly napoleons and a lot more (one group even saw a Mola Mola Wow!) The dive guides we dove with took very good care of us and we always felt safe.
I still recommend this trip to more advanced divers and not to beginners, as currents can occur (but that’s were a lot of the sharks are) Also the further divesites were very well chosen and really beautiful (for ex. Abu Dabbab 2-4). What was great was that the team was still very flexibel, so as we spotted around 20 dolphins close to the boat, we could follow them with the zodiac and just go into the water right where they were (A dream has come true!!).
We also did our deep diver with Khattab on the boat, which was very well done by him. As said we alwaysd felt safe and secure, but also educated well about the risk of deep dives etc. Khattab defenitely did a great job on that so thank you very much!! I think we defenitely improved our diving skills again.
We totally enjoyed our safari, also the evenings after the dives, were we sat all together, were hearing music having a lot of fun and just had a great time together! Therefore I want to thank the whole Team of the Sea Legend the instructors, Dive Pro and the operator Ali for this wonderfull time, we will defenitely come back! All the best from Michèle, Philipp and Nadia.” Recommended for: Boat Cabin, Divesites, Food.
Sea Legend Liveaboard customer review by Philipp A from Switzerland courtesy of Liveaboard.com
From a diver’s perspective the Sea Legend Liveaboard scores top points and offers all facilities you’d expect from a luxury liveaboard.
The Sea Legend Liveaboard lost luxury points for the following reasons:
Size to guest ratio (1.5/3): The size to guest ratio for the Sea Legend liveaboard is based on a 42 metre (138 feet) length, divided by a maximum of 28 guests, which equates to the 1.5 and has lost 1.5 from a possible score of three.
Liveaboard design luxury (8/9): For design the Sea Legend liveaboard lost one luxury point for not having an observation deck.
A larger and more stable dive boat at 42 metres (138 feet).
Languages spoken onboard include English, German and Swedish.
Sea Serpent Serena – Luxury Red Sea liveaboard – Image courtesy of Liveaboard.com
Sea Serpent Serena – Lux-Rating 51.8
The Sea Serpent Serena liveaboard scored 51.8 on the Scuba Diving Earth Lux-Rating, which is out of a possible total of 75. This means it lost 23.2 luxury points. See below for where these luxury points were lost.
The Red Sea, Sea Serpent Serena liveaboard has a superb customer review rating of 9.3 out of 10 from 5 verified customer reviews. One such review is from a Polish guest who scored it a 10 out of 10 and said the following:
“Excellent diving trip. Every aspect of our trip was just great. The best thing about Serena is that this boat is not so big, around 18 divers. This means that underwater there will be no croud. Food was better than in 5 star hotel – honestly. Crew very helpful and nice. Gas blender (nitrox) all in norm, tanks always ready before dive. We enjoyed high standard of this liveaboard – all new and fresh. Dive guides (instructors) all professional. Rooms clean and tidy. Bed very comfortable which is important !! We go diving safari every year and for sure we will come back to Sea Serpert Fleet. We were also very satisfied with liveaboard.com communication before trip. Overall, around many safari trip we had, this trip was definitely the best! It is worth to pay a little bit more but have superior vacation with this fleet.” Recommended for: Gorgeouos food, superb service, brand new boat.
Red Sea Sea Serpent Serena Liveaboard customer review by Tomasz K from Poland – courtesy of Liveaboard.com
From a diver’s perspective the Sea Serpent Serena Liveaboard scores top points and offers all facilities you’d expect from a luxury liveaboard.
The Sea Serpent Serena Liveaboard lost luxury points for the following reasons:
Size to guest ratio (1.8/3): The size to guest ratio for the Sea Serpent Serena liveaboard is based on a 33 metre (108 feet) length, divided by a maximum of 18 guests, which equates to the 1.8 and has lost 1.2 from a possible score of three.
Liveaboard design luxury (8/9): For design the Sea Serpent Serena lost one luxury point for not having an observation deck.
Diver luxury (14/15): Lost one luxury point for not having a camera room.
Onboard entertainment (3/3): Top marks and scored 3 out of 3.
Onboard comfort (4/5): Lost one luxury point for no laundry service.
Non-diving activities (1/15): Lost 14 luxury points for only having snorkeling equipment out of the above list of luxuries.
Cabin luxury (5/7): Lost two luxury points for having no cabin TVs and no cabin balcony.
Food and drink (15/18): Lost three luxury points for no BBQ, no outdoor dining and no welcome cocktails.
Sea Serpent Serena liveaboard is a great choice of luxury liveaboard if:
Languages spoken onboard include English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish.
Luxury rating for all Red Sea liveaboards table
The following table lists all Red Sea liveaboards with their corresponding Scuba Diving Earth Lux-Rating, together with their customer review rating. You may want to sort this table by customer review rating and compare these with the luxury rating, and then use this to find the perfect luxury Egypt liveaboard.
To help you with this decision, this article: The best Red Sea liveaboards has a handy table that includes where each liveaboard visits, which include popular sites like The Brothers, Elphinstone Reef and Daedalus Reef. I’ve set this one to open in a new window, which may help you to compare luxury ratings vs Red Sea diving locations.
Choosing the dive sites first may mean you compromise on some luxuries in order to find the right diving liveaboard, and one that visits the dives sites you want to dive in the Red Sea.
Red Sea liveaboard Table notes:
1. Where the Red Sea liveaboard has a review rating of '0.0', this means that this dive boat has not yet been customer rated and reviewed at the time of writing. It doesn't mean you should not consider booking it for your scuba diving Red Sea safari.
2. Flexible booking will give you peace of mind to book with confidence should something go wrong after booking - for more about how flexible booking works, please visit this page Flexible Booking Liveaboards.
3. "Diet" - this means that the Red Sea liveaboard caters for any specific dietary requirements you have whilst on-board your Red Sea liveaboard dive boat, you can add this to your special requests on step 2 of the booking form. It is advised that you limit these requests to religious beliefs or food allergies.
4. The Customer review ratings were correct at the time of writing, which may change when you view your chosen Red Sea liveaboard.
The best choice for a Red Sea luxury liveaboard
The best luxury rated Red Sea liveaboard is the Red Sea Aphrodite Liveaboard, and is a dive boat that is also highly rated by customers too. If you are looking to dive Ras Mohammed, the northern wrecks and the straights of Tiran, you should choose this luxury liveaboard.
But I think you should also consider choosing the Carlton Queen liveaboard. The Carlton Queen has yet to be customer rated, but this Red Sea liveaboard scores high on the luxury ratings, as it scored 53.6 out of a possible 75.
The Carlton Queen liveaboard visits the Red Sea’s Golden Triangle, which includes The Brothers, Elphinstone Reef and Daedalus Reef, but it also has some of the best non-diving activities to enjoy between dives.
The non-diving activities include kayaks, water skiing and wakeboarding, fishing, jet skis, stand-up paddleboards and a glass bottom boat excursion, which are also great for any non-diving partners onboard.
Another way to sort this list is to use the diver luxury column as your score. One highly rated Red Sea liveaboard is the Blue Fin liveaboard, which has been customer rated 9.2 out of 10 by 13 customer reviews and it visits the deep south, Daedalus Reef, St. Johns, The Brothers and the north wrecks of the Red Sea.
Despite the overall lower luxury rating of 46.6 for the Red Sea Blue Fin liveaboard, it has scored highly where it needs to as it scores 15 out of 15 for diver luxury.
What dragged the luxury score down is what non-diving activities are available, which only includes snorkeling. The Luxury-rating is also affect by the onboard food and drink, where no wines are on offer and there are no welcome cocktails, there’s no outside dining and no BBQ. Also, the only language spoken onboard is English, but if non of these are a problem for you, then the Blue Fin Liveaboard is a serious contender for the best Red Sea luxury liveaboard.
You can also search for your favourite luxury Red Sea liveaboard using the following table too.
Red Sea dive liveaboards table
This list of Red Sea liveaboards is in descending customer rating order, followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see below), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.
The Scuba Diving Earth Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating) is explained on each liveaboard review when you click the “Discover Liveaboard” link, and is my own Liveaboard Luxury Rating I’ve assigned to all liveaboards. Choosing between liveaboards is helped by customer scores, and if you get stuck choosing between two or three liveaboards, where each one has a high customer score out of 10, you can use the SDE Luxury Rating to help narrow down your choice.
Think about it like using Booking.com when searching for the best hotel. Booking.com also use a customer score where each customer rates hotels out of 10. This is similar to the liveaboard customer rating, which is also rated out of 10. But let’s say you only like to stay in hotels rated 8 and above on Booking.com, but you also want the hotel to have WIFI or parking, or to have a swimming pool etc. The features each hotel has is usually secondary to the score out of 10.
Finally, when divers search for Red Sea luxury liveaboards, they also search the Red Sea MY Odyssey liveaboard too. If you would like to find out more, please take a look at this article Red Sea MY Odyssey Liveaboard Review: Luxury Rating 45.5. Even though the luxury rating is lower for this Red Sea liveaboard, it is one that is loved by divers, as it’s been rated 9.2 out of 10.
I hope you enjoyed this page about Red Sea luxury liveaboard
If you have more questions either about snorkelling or scuba diving (or specifically about Red Sea luxury liveaboard), please comment below with your questions.
Please share your experiences, plus dive sites, resorts and liveaboards you recommend. Share the time of year of your trip together with what you saw, the visibility, currents and dive operator, as this will help others who read this page.
There will also be many more pages and articles about scuba and scuba diving safety tips (and on snorkelling too) for you to read and learn about this fabulous sport.
Have fun and be safe!
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Article written by Russell Bowyer who has been a scuba diver since diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia in 1989. After his first dive he trained as a BSAC diver in the UK. He attained his Diver Leader certification with BSAC. He then went on to become a scuba diving instructor, teaching others how to dive and was voted as Diving Officer and Treasurer for the Saffron Walden BSAC club too. Russell has dived all over the world, including the UK, on liveaboards in the Red Sea, the Caribbean, South Africa and the USA. Russell is experienced in all dive types, including drift diving, deep dives that involved decompression stops and recreational dives too.
