On Liveaboards - Timings
Understanding time scheduling.
Most Safari boats are going to wake you around 6am each morning.
The only exception to that rule is the first day based out of Port Ghalib where the permissions guys have rarely cleared you to go before 8 am. This would be the only day you might expect to have breakfast before diving. Sharm el Sheik is much more efficient . When I worked out of Sharm, we’d usually be pulling out at 6 am to pop around the corner for the check dive.
Generally at 6 am you are woken by a bell or a knock or, on some of the fancier boats, the voice of the guide coming through the intercom system. Briefing will usually be 15 minutes after wake-up. If you need more time than that, then you need to bring your own alarm and set it.
Coming late to a briefing is a discourtesy to your fellow guests who managed to get there on time only to have to wait around for you. It can also start to impact on the dive guides plans if every brief starts late.
Boats run on a reasonably tight time schedule. There are many factors that have to be taken into consideration
The chefs need to know when to have the food ready so its not cold when you sit down to eat.
There has to be a sufficiently large surface interval to keep you safe and maximize the amount of dive time you get per dive.
Tanks needs filling and as more and more people request nitrox then it takes longer to do this.
The southern Egypt dive safaris often involve large travel times between sites.
Typically most safari boats offer 3 day dive and a night dive (Night dives are not allowed by law in the marine parks - Brothers and Daedalus).
In the summer months with the longer days you might get an occasional 4th day dive. In the winter, its not going to happen. In fact the early start becomes more important after the clocks have gone back. By October if you are still in the water at 4pm the sun is low enough that there is very little colour left to be seen on the reef.
So, please turn up to briefings on time, analyse your gas and prepare cameras and other equipment ahead of time and respect the maximum dive times set by your guide.