Dive Review of Heaven Saphir/None in
Red Sea/Southern Egypt

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Heaven Saphir/None: "High level of service on a very comfortable boat with great diving", Nov, 2019, by Hugh E Aaron, FL, US ( Sr. Contributor 26 reports with 20 Helpful votes). Report 11205 has 4 Helpful votes.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We were on the Heaven Saphir the week of October 5 through 12, 2019 as part of a one month trip to Egypt. We did the Deep South, St. Johns itinerary. We selected that itinerary because we heard good things about the southern section of the Egyptian Red Sea (which turned out to be accurate) and because that itinerary is more focused on reef dives and less focused on wreck dives. The boat leaves from and returns to Port Ghalib, a European style marina resort complex in the middle of no where. If you are looking to experience anything that is authentically Egyptian, you will not find it in Port Ghalib. But it is a handy place to leave from as there are a lot of stores (including a pharmacy) to pick up any last minutes supplies. Heaven Saphir is a large (36 meter) motor vessel. The maximum capacity is 18 guests. The boat was full our week. Even with a full boat, we never felt crowded. One thing they do that is smart is divide the passengers into two groups for purposes of gearing up. One group gears up and then ten minutes later when the first group has moved to the swim platform or hit the water, the second group gears up. They rotate this daily so the group that starts first on one day starts second the next day. To say that the operation is well thought out and well run would be an understatement. The dive deck is well designed with each guest getting a dedicated tank and gear storage box. The tanks are filled at each diver’s station, which is nice. The diving (and the entire operation for that matter) is very guest service oriented. It is probably best described as concierge or luxury diving. The boat has 10 crew members and there is always a crew member standing by to assist with everything. They aren’t in the way, but they show up when needed. While we tend to be self service types, we quickly acclimated to the high level of service and found we really enjoyed being pampered. The high level of service also made the operation seem very safe. We later learned that the crew spilts the tips evenly so that everyone from the dive master to the captain to the deck hands get the exact same tip. We liked that a lot. There are two dive masters. The lead dive master on our trip, Tarek, seemed to coordinate all guest services on the boat. Tarek is not some kid taking a gap year. He is an experienced dive professional. Like many Egyptians, he is easy going and great fun. But he is very serious (in a pleasant way) about making sure that everyone has a great experience and stays safe. The dive briefings were very thorough with detailed, pre-prepared maps shown on the large flat screen TV in the main salon. Divers can dive on their own if they like, but most stayed with one of the dive masters. We often prefer to dive on our own but found Tarek to be so pleasant that we did almost all our dives with him. It was like diving with a friend. We found the diving to be very relaxing. Most of our dives had little to no current and good to great visibility. One thing that surprised us was the number of live aboard dive boats. I have never seen anything like it. No mater how remote we got, there was always another (or five other) dive boats on the same site. That is probably due to the proximity to Europe and the high value offered by Egyptian live aboard dive boats. Heaven Saphir is probably the best value we have ever experienced in a live aboard. We were told that some of other boats are even less expensive but not as nice. Given the cost and hassle of flying to Egypt, I can't imagine compromising on the boat or level of service to save a few bucks. The large number of boats meant that there were almost always other divers in the water with us. It would have been nice to have had fewer divers on most sites, but we got used to being in the water with other divers. One plus is that all of the boats use mooring lines rather than anchoring. That probably contributes to the health of the reef which is generally better than most of the other places we have been in the last few years, including the Great Barrier Reef off of Cairns. Given the number of divers, the healthy reefs were a very pleasant surprise. In early October, the water temperatures were quite comfortable. We never wore wetsuits although everyone else on the boat did except one European who wore a dry suit. Most days, we did four dives including a night dive. Our cabin had two single beds, an ensuite bathroom with an enclosed stall shower, a lot of storage space and even a small refrigerator. The room also had individually controlled air conditioning. Our cabin was comfortable but showed some wear and tear. in general, the rest of the boat seemed to be in better shape than our cabin. Although, our cabin issues were all minor and mostly cosmetic. In talking with the owner, it sounds like the cabins are going to be updated soon as part of the on-going maintenance cycle. The main salon has a nice lounge area and four dining tables. The meals are all served family style at the dining tables. Each table seats four or five people. The guests tended to rotate tables to talk with different people. The food was high quality, with a nice variety of dishes. It was all you could eat and I ate too much. Snacks were also available 24 hours a day. Soft drinks were included. Beer and wine were extra, but inexpensive. The outdoor second level lounge was one of the highlights for us. It is covered from the sun but offers great views, nice breezes and super comfortable cushioned teak furniture. Like the rest of the boat, the second level lounge is well thought out. There is also a third floor lounge area but we hardly used it as it had less sun cover and the we never felt crowded in the second level lounge. We never got hot on the boat while at sea (mainland Egypt in early October was another story). Unfortunately, guests were allowed to smoke in the outdoor lounge areas. People were generally considerate of us non-smokers but we would have preferred that smokers be separated from the non-smokers. Also, smoking was prohibited on the dive deck, which we really appreciated. The guests were an interesting international crowd including two Israelis (although one had emigrated to Perth), many Europeans, two Chinese, two Canadians and four Americans, including us. They were mostly an under-40 crowd. At 58, we were the senior citizens of the group. We really enjoyed the other guests and their youthful enthusiasm. Our week, the owner, Dmitry, was on board celebrating a milestone birthday. We enjoyed getting to know him. He is not a hands-off investor. He only owns one boat and is very involved in the operation. While he has local management in Egypt (he lives in New Jersey), he personally handles most of the booking arrangements. He takes great pride in providing his guests with a “premium” experience. He is also very proud of his team. And rightfully so. In summary, we had a great time on board the Heaven Saphir. She is a comfortable, even luxurious, boat with a great dive operation, terrific food and a very high level of service. All at a affordable price. We would definitely book a trip on the Heaven Saphir again.
Websites	Heaven Saphir
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	USVI, BVI, California, Hawaii, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Caymans, Curacao, Dominica, Roatan, Belize, Saba, St, Barths, St Kitts, Nevis, Saint Martin, Culebra, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Bahamas, Bonaire, Thailand, Australia
Closest Airport	Marsa Alam	Getting There	Fly into Hurghada or Marsa Alam direct from Europe or through Cairo from other international areas. We flew Air Italy (not great) from Miami to Cairo with a layover in Milan. We spent some time in Cairo and then flew to Hurghada on Air Egypt (good).
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, no currents
Water Temp	81-86°F / 27-30°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	It theory, dive time was limited to 60 minutes, but they were very relaxed. Most of our dives were a little longer.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	I'm not an expert photographer so it is hard for me to rate photo facilities. I used a GoPro knock off. The facilities were fine for me. I took hundreds of photos and was pleased with quite a few of them.

Report currently has 4 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Heaven Saphir/None in Red Sea/Southern Egypt

Heaven Saphir/None: "High level of service on a very comfortable boat with great diving", Nov, 2019,

Photos Submitted with this Report

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Heaven Saphir/None in
Red Sea/Southern Egypt