About diving

How many dives per day will I be able to do?

The average is three dives per day, but often four is possible. Night dives are restricted in certain areas such as the marine parks Brothers and Daedalus in Egypt.
It is always the decision of the captain and the dive guides as to how many dives are allowed.

Can you tell me about the dive guides?

Normally there are two dive guides onboard the boats. These guides have extensive dive experience, and a wealth of knowledge of the sites that you will be visiting.
The nationality of the guides is quite blended with Egyptian, Australian, Swedish, Swiss and British among others. We cannot guarantee any of the guides on a particular boat at a particular time.

The dive guides provide guests with a full briefing before each dive.  The guides are not responsible for each diver, but are in the water to guide the way and to point out interesting bits underwater.  As dive guides do extensive diving on a weekly basis, it is often that only one guide will be in the water at certain dive sites.  Please keep in mind that it is also an important part of a dive guides job to have surface control.

What are the dive requirements in order to go on a liveaboard?

The area around Brothers Islands and Daedalus reef in Egypt are a marine park and are therefore regulated by the government. A minimum of 50 logged dives and an Advanced Open Water or equivalent certificate is necessary.
For all other areas we highly recommend a minimum of 35 logged dives and an Advanced Open Water or equivalent certificate.

I haven’t been diving in a while. Will we do a check-out dive?

All divers, regardless of the level of certification or last date of dive, will need to perform a check-out dive. This is when a dive guide from the boat will check to see that you are properly weighted and that you can control your buoyancy.
Emperor Divers requires all divers that have not been diving in the past year, to partake in a Scuba Refresher.  The cost is aproximately 65 euros per diver.  We recommend that you contact your local dive school before your trip in order to do a refresher with them.  The average cost in Sweden is 350 SEK.  Do make sure that the dive master/ instructor signs and stamps your logbook.

What does a typical day on the boat look like?

Here is an example of what you might experience on the boat:
05:30  Wake up call! Time for a little coffee and briefing
06:00  First dive to see sharks and other earlier risers
07:45  Breakfast
10:00  Second briefing
10:30  Second dive
12:00  Lunch
14:00  Third briefing
14:30  Third dive
16:00  Snack time
17:30  Fourth briefing
18:00  Fourth dive
19:30  Supper time

Will all the dives be done in a group or will we be able to dive in pairs?

This is up to the dive guides and you as divers to decide. All divers are recommended to dive in pairs and then may choose to follow in a group or leave some space in-between. Generally the RIB´s that leave the main boat take a third of the group each time, therefore allowing for the group to spread out underwater.