ORION

38m / 125ft MAX 26 NITROX WIFI

PRICE PER DAY FROM USD 0

LOWEST PRICE GUARANTEE

At a glance:

Tours northern and southern Red Sea
Low budget dive cruises
Cabins with ensuite bathrooms
2 indoor lounges
Large boat

Orion is a large, modern Egyptian liveaboard with a length of 38m. You can join their cruises to the leading Red Sea destinations like the Brother Islands and Daedalus Reef and south to St John’s and Fury Shoals. With twin 610 HP engines, it motors at 15 knots on week-long dive cruises to all of the Red Sea marine parks.

Guests are accommodated in 13 air-conditioned cabins, each with private bathrooms, meaning a maximum of 26 divers. The main social areas are the 2 indoor air-conditioned saloons which have entertainment facilities: TV, music system, and even a self-service bar! Meals are served on a service counter and then guests dine at 6 tables in the dining area. Sun lovers can enjoy the bridge area whereas shade-seekers can relax in the upper deck. Here you can sit in the open-air on comfortable padded benches or soft seats. Listen to some soothing tunes on the music system and sip sunset cocktails from the bar.

On the dive deck you will find a nitrox blender and 3 compressors. The kit up area has individual diver stations with equipment storage crates, and freshwater showers for rinsing off the salt after each dive. Dive sites are accessed via 2 motorised tenders that will transport your dive group there and back in no time. There are many good features on Orion, however the very budget-friendly prices are possibly its greatest strength. This a real value-for-money option.

There are 13 twin bed cabins: 9 cabins on the lower deck, 2 cabins on the main deck toward the bow, and 2 cabins on the upper deck toward the bow. All cabins have private bathrooms.

All the cabins have:

Individual climate control air-conditioner
Private bathroom with hot water shower, hand basin, and soap
Portholes on lower deck, windows on upper deck
Reading lights
Towels and bedding
Bedside cabinet

Wardrobe and mirror
24-hour, 220v electricity supply
European-style 2-pin plugs
Fire warning system and extinguishers
Life jackets

No. of bathrooms / showers - 13 / 15 - hot water

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, caverns, drift diving, healthy reefs, very popular, wall diving

Dive sites and activities: Big Brother, Little Brother, Aida II wreck, Numidia wreck, Daedalus Reef and Elphinstone

Day 1
You will be welcomed at the arrival terminal of Hurghada Airport or Marsa Alam Airport by the Orion staff. You will then be transported via air-conditioned van to Port Ghalib or Hurghada marina where the dive cruise ship is moored. Hurghada to Port Ghalib takes around 4 hours. Otherwise Marsa Alam airport to Port Ghalib takes only a few minutes, as is Hurghada Airport to Hurghada Marina. After boarding the liveaboard you will be met by the boat crew and the tour leader, be assigned your cabin and be given a briefing on safety and the week ahead. Dinner is served in the air-conditioned saloon before going to bed. Diving begins the following morning.

Core Days
The Brothers Islands are 2 small exposed islands in the middle of the sea, where marine life proliferates. The walls are decorated with hard and soft corals, sponges and anemones adding an astonishing variety of colour to the underwater world. Sharks are commonly sighted at the dive sites around the islands. These include grey reef sharks, scalloped hammerheads, whitetips and silvertips. At Big Brother there is a wreck called the Numidia that can be dived when the conditions are right, meaning not too windy. It lies between 5-8m, and is entirely covered with hard and soft corals and gorgonian fans. Daedalus and Elphinstone's reefs are home to schools of trevallies, fusiliers, surgeonfish and colourful reef fish. Hammerheads, threshers and oceanic whitetips can be seen here, plus manta rays, normally seen in the summer months.
3 dives a day are standard in the Red Sea marine parks. Your typical day will be: a morning dive at 7 am, breakfast at 8 am, 2nd dive at 10 am, lunch at noon, 3rd dive at 2 pm, snacks at 4 pm, night dive when permitted at 7 pm. Dinner is served at around 8 pm. The last day will see only 2 dives as the boat returns to port.
There will be 3 delicious meals every day. Main meals are buffet style. Breakfast is normally eggs (omelette, fried, or scrambled), hot coffee and tea, bread, pancakes, toast, cheese and sausages, fresh fruit and veggies, cereals and milk or yoghurt. Lunch and evening meals usually include fresh vegetables, rice, noodles, various meats and fish. There are both international dishes and local Egyptian delicacies. Snacks such as cookies, juice and fresh fruit are served every mid-afternoon. Around the clock you have enjoy self-service tea, coffee, snacks and drinking water.

Day 8
Check out time is usually after breakfast. After disembarking you will be transferred either to the airport or your local hotel. Note that these trips use either Hurghada marina and Port Ghalib for embarkation and disembarkation - check above for details.

[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].

DEPARTURE SCHEDULE & PRICES

MORE TRIP DETAILS

Dive experience: All routes require advanced open water diver certification, but guests can take their advanced course onboard if necessary (need to book before the trip). When not having sufficient logged dives, guests can also join the trip by hiring a private dive guide for the week (USD 407 per dive guide).

Cruise price per person includes: Cabin accommodation with air-conditioning, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinking water, hot drinks, scheduled return transfers from Hurghada or Marsa Alam Airport to the boat, dives (as detailed in the trips above), 2 experienced English-speaking divemasters, tanks, weights and weightbelts, all taxes.

Cruise price per person excludes (mandatory, unless customer provides own): Scuba equipment rental (incl. dive computer and torch: USD 256 per week), dive insurance (and standard medical insurance), port fees USD 29 per week (to be paid in advance), environmental tax USD 81 per week. With effect from 1 January 2023, a fuel surcharge will apply to all cruises (7 nights USD 58). Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival (cash only).

Optional extras: Soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, nitrox fills for certified enriched air divers (USD 81 per week), 15 litre tank (USD 41 per week). Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival (cash only). Note: prices of items purchased onboard are subject to change.

How to get there: Orion liveaboard diving safaris depart from Hurghada or Port Ghalib. Boarding takes place at 5 pm. Return transfers are provided from Hurghada and Marsa Alam airports, and from Hurghada hotels (main city only). Scheduled transfers from Hurghada to Port Ghalib take approx. 4 hours and operate between 2-6 pm. There is also a guest collection at Marsa Alam Airport at 5 pm. For more details visit our Red Sea travel information section.
The first and last night of each trip are spent in port/marina. Disembarkation on the final day is at 10 am, when there is a transfer service to the local airport. Transfers from Port Ghalib to Hurghada depart between 8-10 am. The last dive of the trip will be at around 12 noon on the penultimate day. Please wait at least 18 hours before flying after diving.

Non-diver rate: None.

Single supplement (if you do not want to share accommodation): This is optional - single travellers may choose to share a cabin or pay a 100% supplement of the normal published price for their own private cabin.

Dive clubs and group discounts: 5% off for groups of 5+ divers during the summer weeks from June to August.

Whole boat charter rate (per night): On request only.

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 holiday. 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.

Click to view product. Special discounted trips highlighted in yellow

Blue

From USD 166 per day

Customer rating: Excellent!

LIVEABOARD SEARCH

ORION

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

DEPARTURE SCHEDULE & PRICES

MORE TRIP DETAILS