Longimanus

Do you desire to dive with oceanic whitetip sharks in their natural environment? Then maybe the M/Y Longimanus Red Sea liveaboard is the right choice for you! It's certainly been the right choice for many scuba divers over the years as testified by its winning multiple times of the German dive magazine "Tauchen" Best Liveaboard of the year award.

Longimanus is a 36m long wood hull motor yacht. It was designed and constructed in 2003 specifically for highly challenging dive safaris, and as such attracts many experienced divers. On board you will find the latest in diving, navigational and high-tec safety equipment. 2 powerful engines take you to the most remote sites in next to no time. The width and layout of Longimanus provide a smooth and comfortable voyage even in rough seas.

One of the great features of Longimanus is its professional crew of 10 who have very high standards. They have almost 20 years of experience in providing a first class service and endeavour to make your Red Sea diving vacation a very special one. Many divers confirm that they arrive as a guest but leave as part of the Longimanus family.

Longimanus has guest cabins, both on the lower deck, and upper deck with seaviews. Every cabin is equipped with a private bathroom, and nice touches like towels and bathrobes, a music channel, a minibar and individually controlled air-conditioning. Freshly prepared full board meals are provided buffet style in the dining area of the main deck saloon. Between dives the crew serves snacks, drinks and fruit.

In the lounge section of the saloon you will find the guest entertainment, such as DVD player, 60" Plasma TV, and a Dolby Surround Sound system. There is also a bar service for cold drinks. The upper deck outdoor social area in teak panaelled with fitted seating, and their are bean bags for lounging if guests prefer.

Divers can rinse off after dives with the 2 fresh water showers on the dive deck. There are plenty of lockers on deck with power plugs for charging cameras and torches. Dives are conducted either direct from the dive platform or ffrom 2 40 HP Zodiacs, depending on access to the sites. Enriched air nitrox is provided, and divers will appreciate the added safety of the ENOS lost diver tracking system.

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Dive experience: To dive in the marine parks of Brothers, Daedalus Reef, Zabargad and Rocky islands, you must be a certified diver and have a minimum of 50 logged dives, elsewhere: a minumum of 30 logged dives. The tour is for experienced scuba divers and you are expected to dive in your buddy team after a thorough briefing from the guide. A diver that fails to meet these entry requirements may have to sit our more challenging dives if the guides assess that he/she lacks the ability to complete the dive safely.

Cruise price per person includes: Cabin accommodation with air-conditioning, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, soft drinks, drinking water, hot drinks (e.g. coffee, tea), return transfers from Marsa Alam airport to Port Ghalib, dives (as detailed in the trips above), ENOS diver location safety system, 2 experienced English-speaking divemasters (up to 10 divers per DM), tanks, weights, all taxes.

Cruise price per person excludes (mandatory, unless customer provides own): Scuba equipment (incl. dive computer US$ 27 per week), SMB, port and park fees: North & Wrecks area US$ 164, St. John's US$ 164, Brothers, Daedalus, Zabargad, Rocky US$ 197. Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival (cash only - EUR, USD, EGP).

Optional extras: Transfer from Hurghada to Port Ghalib (US$ 22 per person per way), alcoholic drinks (beer and wine), nitrox fills for enriched air certified divers (US$ 71 per week), torch (US$ 7 per day), 15 litre tank (US$ 33 per week, diving insurance. Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival. Note: prices of items purchased onboard are subject to change.

How to get there: M/Y Longimanus liveaboard diving expeditions depart from either Safaga or Port Ghalib. A staff representative will be waiting for you in the Hurghada or Marsa Alam arrivals hall, holding a sign with your name on it. For more details, including airlines, see our Red Sea travel information section. Return transfers are provided to the yacht from Marsa Alam airport to Port Ghalib. Return transfers from Hurghada airport to Port Ghalib can be arranged in advance with extra cost. The approximate transfer times are Hurghada Airport to Safaga - 45 minutes, Hurghada Airport to Marsa Ghalib - 3 hours, Marsa Alam Airport to Marsa Ghalib - 15 minutes. Check in time starts at 6 pm on the first day (boat departs port the next morning). A day room with pool use at nearby hotel can be arranged for early arrivals.
The last dive of the trip will be during the morning on the second last day of the trip. The yacht then returns to port in the afternoon. Check out is at 9 am on the final day. Please wait at least 18 hours before flying after diving.

Non-diver rate: Low season: US$ 927, high season: US$ 981.

Single supplement (if you do not want to share accommodation): This is optional - single travellers may choose to share a cabin or pay a supplement of US$ 546 for their own private cabin.

Dive clubs and group discounts: Please ask us for the rates for groups of 10+ guests (discount equivalent to approx. 10%).

Whole boat charter rate (per night): Ask us for details.

Add-on package: If you have time, we strongly recommend that you consider some of the wonderful antiquities tours in Egypt which can add a whole new dimension to your Red Sea diving trip.
Cairo museum's royal mummies, the pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx, a glorious cruise down the Nile staying in a luxury cabin, The Valley of the Kings, all of these and more can be seen in packages starting at 6 nights' duration. Other activities such as 4x4 safaris and camel tours are also available as are custom-made packages to suit your needs.

Brothers, Daedalus & Elphinstone (8 Days / 7 Nights - 17 Dives)

Trip highlights: hammerhead sharks, shark action, manta rays, schooling fish & big pelagics

Diving environment: advanced divers, beginner divers, cage diving, caverns, drift diving, healthy reefs, off the beaten track, very popular, wall diving, wreck diving

Dive sites and activities: Brothers, Daedalus, Elphinstone

Day 1
You will be met at Hurghada Airport at the arrivals hall by a representative of Longimanus liveaboard and transferred in a minibus to Safaga for boarding. The crew will greet you on board with a welcome cocktail, show you to your cabin and allow you time to unpack and prepare your dive gear in the box that will be allocated to you. Dinner will be served inside the saloon and this will be a great opportunity to get to know the other guests on this cruise in the Red Sea. After dinner, the tour leader will provide a detailed boat safety and dive briefing for the next week. The yacht will leave port early morning for the first day of diving.

Days 2-7
The Brother Islands are 2 small exposed promontories in the middle of the sea, with a very high concentration of marine life. The walls feature sponges, anemones and hard and soft corals, giving an astonishing variety of colour to the underwater world. It's very common to see sharks at the dive sites around the islands. Scalloped hammerheads and grey reef sharks, silvertip and whitetip reef sharks. At Big Brother there is a wreck that can be dived when the conditions are right, especially if it's not too windy. It's the Numidia that lies between 5-8m, completely covered with hard and soft corals. and gorgonians. The reefs at Daedalus and Elphinstone are home to schools of surgeonfish, fusiliers, trevallies and colourful reef fish. Hammerheads, oceanic whitetips and thresher sharks can be seen here, as well as manta rays, usually during the summer months.
3 dives a day are the norm in the Red Sea marine parks, with a couple of morning dives followed by a 3rd dive in the afternoon. After a detailed briefing from the guide, you and your buddy will plan and execute your dives. Of course, you are welcome to join the guide for some of your dives. In order to reduce wait times the liveaboard will cover large distances overnight where possible. Maximum diving depth is 40m; decompression dives are not allowed. There will only be 2 dives on the last day of diving as the boat will then sail back to port for the final evening. You can then take a look around the marina or go for a drink.
There will be a buffet in the saloon 3 times per day. Breakfast consists of pita bread, toast, pancakes, marmalade, honey, Nutella, cheese, eggs prepared how you like, and yoghurt. The main meals consist of chicken, beef or fish, rice, pasta or potatoes, and several kinds of vegetables and salad. At dinner, soup will be served as a first course, and a desert in the form of pudding, cakes or fruit. Before the early morning dive and at teatime, cakes will be available. Bottled water is used to prepare salads, drinks and other food, so you can enjoy everything on Longimanus without worrying about stomach complaints.

Day 8
Disembarkation starts after a final breakfast on the yacht. You can arrange with the crew to be transported back to the airport or to a local hotel.
Note: these cruises sometimes use Port Ghalib instead of Safaga so please check the ports of departure and return. Transfers are always provided from Hurghada.

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St. John's Reefs (8 Days / 7 Nights - 20 Dives)

Trip highlights: dolphins, manta rays, dugongs/manatees, turtles, schooling fish & big pelagics

Diving environment: advanced divers, beginner divers, cage diving, caverns, drift diving, healthy reefs, off the beaten track, very popular, wall diving, wreck diving

Dive sites and activities: St John's, Fury Shoals Wadi Gamal, Elphinstone

Day 1
You will be met at Marsa Alam Airport at the arrivals hall by a representative of Longimanus liveaboard and transferred in a minibus to Port Ghalib for boarding at 6 pm. The crew will greet you on board with a welcome cocktail, show you to your cabin and allow you time to unpack and prepare your dive gear in the box that will be allocated to you. Dinner will be served inside the saloon and this will be a great opportunity to get to know the other guests on this cruise in the Red Sea. After dinner, the tour leader will provide a detailed boat safety and dive briefing for the next week. The yacht will leave port early morning for the first day of diving.

Days 2-7
In the deep south of Egypt you will have the chance to dive St. John’s Reefs, the healthiest and most colourful in the Red Sea, with their fantastic drop offs, pinnacles, canyons, caves and tunnels, and amazing hard-corals. There is a lot of marine life too, such as barracuda, different types of reef shark, sometimes even turtles, Napoleon wrasse, dolphins, dugongs and mantas.
The Fury Shoals is a vast reef system. Sha'ab Claudio is a classic dive with its famous swim-throughs and huge porites corals, Malahi with its mazes and friendly turtles, and Abu Galawa Soraya with its fantastic coral garden and a wreck of a private sailing boat smothered with glassfish. Sataya, with its resident spinner dolphin population, is a must for snorkelling between dives, as well as having some good underwater offerings.
4 dives a day are the norm in the Red Sea, with a couple of morning dives followed by a 3rd dive in the afternoon, and a sunset or night dive. After a detailed briefing from the guide, you and your buddy will plan and execute your dives. Of course, you are welcome to join the guide for some of your dives. In order to reduce wait times the liveaboard will cover large distances overnight where possible. Maximum diving depth is 40m; decompression dives are not allowed. There will only be 2 dives on the last day of diving as the boat will then sail back to port for the final evening. You can then take a look around the marina or go for a drink.
There will be a buffet in the saloon 3 times per day. Breakfast consists of pita bread, toast, pancakes, marmalade, honey, Nutella, cheese, eggs prepared how you like, and yoghurt. The main meals consist of chicken, beef or fish, rice, pasta or potatoes, and several kinds of vegetables and salad. At dinner, soup will be served as a first course, and a desert in the form of pudding, cakes or fruit. Before the early morning dive and at teatime, cakes will be available. Bottled water is used to prepare salads, drinks and other food, so you can enjoy everything on Longimanus without worrying about stomach complaints.

Day 8
Disembarkation starts at around 9 am, after a final breakfast on the yacht. You can arrange with the crew to be transported back to the airport or to a local hotel.

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Red Sea North & Wrecks (8 Days / 7 Nights - 19 Dives)

Trip highlights: dolphins, turtles, schooling fish & big pelagics

Diving environment: advanced divers, beginner divers, cage diving, caverns, drift diving, healthy reefs, off the beaten track, very popular, wall diving, wreck diving

Dive sites and activities: Hurghada, Ras Mohamed, Thistlegorm, Abu Nuhas wrecks

Day 1
You will be met at Hurghada Airport at the arrivals hall by a representative of Longimanus liveaboard and transferred in a minibus to Safaga for boarding early evening. The crew will greet you on board with a welcome cocktail, show you to your cabin and allow you time to unpack and prepare your dive gear in the box that will be allocated to you. Dinner will be served inside the saloon and this will be a great opportunity to get to know the other guests on this cruise in the Red Sea. After dinner, the tour leader will provide a detailed boat safety and dive briefing for the next week. The yacht will leave port early morning for the first day of diving.

Days 2-7
This route visits the famous wrecks in the northern Red Sea, along with some stunning reef diving. The most famous wreck, the SS Thistlegorm, will leave you in awe: it was sunk in 1941 after being bombed by the German Luftwaffe! With its historical cargo of World War II machinery and equipment, all neatly stowed in its open holds, the wreck of the Thistlegorm would be a highlight of diving anywhere in the world. 4 wrecks will be the highlights of diving at Abu Nuhas, all offering spectacular dives and plenty of marine life. Ras Mohamed, at the southernmost tip of the Sinai, is one of the best kept national parks in Egypt. Its waters are rich in nutrients, attracting pelagics.
4 dives a day are the norm in the Red Sea, with a couple of morning dives followed by a 3rd dive in the afternoon, and a sunset or night dive. After a detailed briefing from the guide, you and your buddy will plan and execute your dives. Of course, you are welcome to join the guide for some of your dives. In order to reduce wait times the liveaboard will cover large distances overnight where possible. Maximum diving depth is 40m; decompression dives are not allowed. There will only be 2 dives on the last day of diving as the boat will then sail back to port for the final evening. You can then take a look around the marina or go for a drink.
There will be a buffet in the saloon 3 times per day. Breakfast consists of pita bread, toast, pancakes, marmalade, honey, Nutella, cheese, eggs prepared how you like, and yoghurt. The main meals consist of chicken, beef or fish, rice, pasta or potatoes, and several kinds of vegetables and salad. At dinner, soup will be served as a first course, and a desert in the form of pudding, cakes or fruit. Before the early morning dive and at teatime, cakes will be available. Bottled water is used to prepare salads, drinks and other food, so you can enjoy everything on Longimanus without worrying about stomach complaints.

Day 8
Disembarkation starts after a final breakfast on the yacht. You can arrange with the crew to be transported back to the airport or to a local hotel.

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Daedalus Reef & St. John's (8 Days / 7 Nights - 18 Dives)

Trip highlights: hammerhead sharks, shark action, dolphins, manta rays, dugongs/manatees, turtles, schooling fish & big pelagics

Diving environment: advanced divers, beginner divers, cage diving, caverns, drift diving, healthy reefs, off the beaten track, very popular, wall diving, wreck diving

Dive sites and activities: Daedalus Reef, St. John's, Fury Shoals, Shaab Shona

Day 1
You will be met at Marsa Alam Airport at the arrivals hall by a representative of Longimanus liveaboard and transferred in a minibus to Port Ghalib for boarding at 6 pm. The crew will greet you on board with a welcome cocktail, show you to your cabin and allow you time to unpack and prepare your dive gear in the box that will be allocated to you. Dinner will be served inside the saloon and this will be a great opportunity to get to know the other guests on this cruise in the Red Sea. After dinner, the tour leader will provide a detailed boat safety and dive briefing for the next week. The yacht will leave port early morning for the first day of diving.

Days 2-7
Daedalus Reef is a popular choice for experienced Red Sea divers, especially photographers and lovers of sharks. Photographers will appreciate the colourful fans and corals on the reefs and drop-offs. Larger creatures include turtles, Napoleon wrasses and manta rays. Shark lovers will appreciate threshers, oceanic whitetips, hammerheads, and whitetip reef sharks.
In the deep south of Egypt you will have the chance to dive St. John’s Reefs, the healthiest and most colourful in the Red Sea, with their fantastic drop offs, pinnacles, canyons, caves and tunnels, and amazing hard-corals. There is a lot of marine life too, such as barracuda, different types of reef shark, sometimes even turtles, Napoleon wrasse, dolphins, dugongs and mantas.
The Fury Shoals is a vast reef system. Sha'ab Claudio is a classic dive with its famous swim-throughs and huge porites corals, Malahi with its mazes and friendly turtles, and Abu Galawa Soraya with its fantastic coral garden and a wreck of a private sailing boat smothered with glassfish. Sataya, with its resident spinner dolphin population, is a must for snorkelling between dives, as well as having some good underwater offerings.
4 dives a day are the norm in the Red Sea (but only 3 when inside the marine parks), with a couple of morning dives followed by a 3rd dive in the afternoon. After a detailed briefing from the guide, you and your buddy will plan and execute your dives. Of course, you are welcome to join the guide for some of your dives. In order to reduce wait times the liveaboard will cover large distances overnight where possible. Maximum diving depth is 40m; decompression dives are not allowed. There will only be 2 dives on the last day of diving as the boat will then sail back to port for the final evening. You can then take a look around the marina or go for a drink.
There will be a buffet in the saloon 3 times per day. Breakfast consists of pita bread, toast, pancakes, marmalade, honey, Nutella, cheese, eggs prepared how you like, and yoghurt. The main meals consist of chicken, beef or fish, rice, pasta or potatoes, and several kinds of vegetables and salad. At dinner, soup will be served as a first course, and a desert in the form of pudding, cakes or fruit. Before the early morning dive and at teatime, cakes will be available. Bottled water is used to prepare salads, drinks and other food, so you can enjoy everything on Longimanus without worrying about stomach complaints.

Day 8
Disembarkation starts at around 9 am, after a final breakfast on the yacht. You can arrange with the crew to be transported back to the airport or to a local hotel.

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Egypt Red Sea - Route Open (8 Days / 7 Nights - Dives)

Trip highlights: hammerhead sharks, shark action, dolphins, manta rays, turtles, schooling fish & big pelagics

Diving environment: advanced divers, beginner divers, cage diving, caverns, drift diving, healthy reefs, off the beaten track, very popular, wall diving, wreck diving

Dive sites and activities: Route not yet decided. First booking of 2 customers will determine the route: Ras Mohamed & Tiran; North & Wrecks; Brothers; Brothers, Daedalus Reef & Elphinstone; or St. John's.

Itinerary details dependent upon route selected.

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[Information is best estimate in ideal circumstances and subject to changes beyond our control. The itinerary is a guide only and may be adapted to best suit the weather, tides, currents, availability and other prevailing events. Price is for the cruise, not for an exact number of dives].

Longimanus has 10 guest cabins, all with private en-suite bathrooms. There are 2 upper deck suites with double queen-sized beds, and 8 twin bed cabins on the lower deck.

All the cabins have: No. of bathrooms / showers - 10 / 10 - hot water