Dive trip with Iceberg - 1 night

Boat

M/Y Iceberg offers something increasingly rare in the Red Sea: the range of a liveaboard without the scale of a floating hotel. The current operator presents her as a 24-metre mini safari yacht for no more than eight guests. A detailed exact-vessel record measures 22.85 metres by 6.15 metres, identifies a 2012 build and 2023 renovation, and confirms four cabins, three bathrooms and three working decks. The result feels closer to a private expedition yacht than a conventional 20- or 30-diver safari boat.

That small capacity changes the experience. Briefings happen around one group rather than several simultaneous teams; meal preferences are easier to understand; and the captain can organise the working deck without long queues at each entry. Iceberg is particularly well suited to a family, a circle of friends or a club seeking a full charter. Individual bookings remain possible, but the intimate layout means cabin choice and compatibility matter more than they would aboard a larger vessel.

The interior is finished in warm timber, with a joined air-conditioned salon and dining area surrounded by angled windows. Buffet-style meals combine Egyptian and international cooking, and current seller information confirms vegetarian and vegan options when requested in advance. Water, soft drinks, tea, coffee and between-dive snacks are included on the featured safari. The room also provides a library, entertainment equipment and Wi-Fi when the offshore connection allows.

Above, a shaded upper lounge uses fixed cushioned seating, tables and an open view over the anchorage. A separate open deck provides sun space, while the forward working position and observation areas offer a clear sense of the route as Iceberg moves among the northern islands. Outdoor dining and barbecue facilities are published, although where and when meals are served remains a crew decision shaped by wind, passage and the day’s diving.

The stern is deliberately open and uncomplicated. Divers prepare beside the platform, use the assigned storage area and can enter from the main vessel or its tender according to the site. The current specialist record lists a shaded diving area, DIN adaptors, rinse hoses, a separate camera rinse, outside showers, charging stations and support for sidemount or technical configurations. Specialist gases, cylinders and components still require written confirmation before travel; a capability label is not an automatic equipment order.

Iceberg is a wooden, twin-engine yacht. The detailed specification lists two 850 hp V10 motors, 15-knot cruising, a 24-knot published maximum, 4,000 litres of fresh-water capacity, 6,000 litres of fuel and approximately 50 m² of deck area. Navigation and emergency equipment includes radar, depth sounder, GPS, VHF/DSC/SSB radio, satellite and mobile phones, emergency rafts, life jackets, fire alarms and extinguishers, oxygen, first-aid kits, flares, searchlight and a bilge-pump alarm. Every guest must still attend the boat briefing and learn the actual exits, life-jacket position and muster procedure.

Cabin

Iceberg accommodates eight guests in exactly four lower-deck, air-conditioned cabins. The current operator inventory names every room and even publishes the bed measurements:

• 1 Privilege Cabin / Suite — approximately 13 m²: one 160 × 200 cm double bed; porthole; individually controlled air conditioning; private ensuite shower and WC; maximum 2 guests
• Twin Cabin 1 — approximately 6.5 m²: two parallel bunk beds measuring 120 × 210 cm above and 110 × 210 cm below; forward lower-deck position; porthole; individually controlled air conditioning; shared corridor bathroom; maximum 2 guests
• Twin Cabin 2 — approximately 6.5 m²: the same parallel-bunk arrangement, 120 × 210 cm above and 110 × 210 cm below; forward lower deck; porthole; individually controlled air conditioning; shared corridor bathroom; maximum 2 guests
• Twin Cabin 3 — approximately 4.8 m²: two perpendicular bunks, with a 120 × 210 cm lower bed and a narrower 75 × 230 cm upper bed; porthole; individually controlled air conditioning; shared corridor bathroom; maximum 2 guests

The arithmetic is complete: one Suite plus three twin cabins equals four rooms and eight berths. There is no unlisted fifth cabin, and none of the rooms accepts a third person. All are on the lower deck and use portholes rather than full-height windows.

Bathroom wording deserves particular precision. Only the Privilege Cabin has a bathroom inside the room. The three bunk cabins use shower/WC facilities in the corridor. The current detailed vessel record lists three bathrooms in total, which is consistent with one private ensuite and two shared facilities, but the operator does not promise a particular corridor bathroom exclusively to a numbered twin cabin. Broad reseller labels such as “ensuite bathrooms” should therefore not be applied to all four rooms.

The Suite is the clear couple option and is roughly twice the published floor area of Cabins 1 and 2. Its 160 cm bed and private shower/WC justify the premium category without inventing a balcony, separate lounge or panoramic window. Cabins 1 and 2 are compact, near-matching rooms for dive partners comfortable with parallel bunks. Their published widths are generous for boat bunks, but one person still climbs to the upper berth.

Cabin 3 is both smaller and more asymmetrical. Its perpendicular layout makes the lower berth wider, while the 75 cm upper berth is long but notably narrow. That difference should appear in the booking conversation, particularly for larger guests or travellers with limited mobility. A group reserving the whole vessel can allocate rooms transparently before arrival instead of discovering the contrast during embarkation.

The current five-day diving package confirms cabin linen and towels. Storage, headroom, stair angle and the practical access to an upper bunk are not published as measurements. Guests with mobility, size or sleep concerns should request current photographs and a numbered-room confirmation rather than relying on the general phrase “twin cabin.”

Diving

Iceberg’s signature diving product is a five-day / four-night Northern Red Sea safari with up to 14 dives. It leaves Hurghada on Sunday afternoon and returns Thursday morning, linking dolphin territory, island walls, historic wrecks and deeper coral pinnacles. Open Water or equivalent is the published minimum, but individual dives remain subject to depth, current, recent experience and guide approval.

The route begins around Sha’ab El Erg and Umm Usk before working toward Siyul, Blind Reef, Small Gubal and the Ulysses. Abu Nuhas is the structural centrepiece: Giannis D, Carnatic, Chrisoula K and Kimon M lie around the same reef, allowing the guide to choose very different wreck profiles without a long relocation. The return sector includes Umm Gamar and Carless Reef, where coral towers, drop-offs and moving water shift the visual emphasis back from steel to reef life.

Night dives are part of the published plan where conditions allow. They are not guaranteed at every named site, and wreck penetration after dark is never implied. A night entry depends on a legal and secure mooring, group competence, weather and the guide’s chosen route. Similarly, dolphins at Sha’ab El Erg are a natural possibility. Guests may encounter the resident population, but the crew cannot summon, feed or promise an interaction.

For the featured route, the operator includes a professional dive guide, standard tanks and weights, the planned diving programme and Nitrox. Full recreational equipment is optional at a published €150 for the trip. A separate current exact-vessel list gives examples for individual pieces and 15-litre cylinders, but stock, sizes and valve configuration must be reserved. Courses and private coaching are not included.

Other Information

• Destination: Northern Egyptian Red Sea
• Operating base: Hurghada
• Featured duration: 5 days / 4 nights
• Current operator length: 24 m; detailed exact-vessel measurement 22.85 m
• Beam: 6.15 m in the detailed record
• Construction: wood
• Build / renovation: 2012 / 2023 in the current detailed record
• Guest capacity: 8
• Guest cabins: 4 lower-deck cabins
• Cabin split: 1 Privilege double Suite, 2 parallel-bunk twins and 1 perpendicular-bunk twin
• Bathrooms: 3 total; only the Suite is ensuite
• Engines: 2 × V10, 850 hp each
• Published cruising / maximum speed: 15 / 24 knots
• Internet: Wi-Fi, subject to offshore coverage
• Languages currently listed: English, French and German
• Diving: shaded preparation area, main-platform/tender access, Nitrox, rinse hoses, camera rinse and rental equipment by advance request

Confirmed for the current five-day diving safari: four nights’ cabin accommodation; transfer from a Hurghada hotel or airport; all meals and non-alcoholic drinks; up to 14 planned dives; eligible night dives; professional dive guiding; standard tanks and weights; Abu Nuhas wreck-reef access; the operator’s listed onboard reef-site fees; cabin linen and towels; and Nitrox under the operator’s all-routes inclusion statement. “Up to 14” is a maximum plan, not compensation-triggering entitlement when weather, port direction, safety or a guest’s fitness changes the programme.

Required extra for that route: €150 per person in marine-park and government fees. The page also says Abu Nuhas access and onboard reef-site fees are included. These are separate labels: customers should budget the explicit €150 compulsory payment and should not add another generic reef fee unless the dated invoice identifies it.

Optional or excluded on the current route: international and domestic flights; full diving-equipment hire (€150 per person for the five-day trip); alcoholic drinks; private dive coaching or courses; crew gratuity, which the operator leaves to the guest’s discretion; and personal purchases. The general operator FAQ also excludes personal items. No unlisted visa, insurance, cylinder or transfer fee has been invented here; any additional charge must appear on the dated offer.

Check-in is published for Sunday at 15:00, with return to Hurghada on Thursday at 10:00. The route page also advertises a sunrise dive on the final morning. This means checkout time must never be treated as permission to fly immediately. Guests must follow their dive computer, agency guidance and the operator’s required no-fly interval, and may need an additional Hurghada hotel night.

The included transfer is stated from a hotel or airport, but the operating context is Hurghada. Customers should send the exact flight or hotel, obtain the pickup time and marina in writing, and not assume collection from another Red Sea resort. Late arrival can affect sailing clearance and the first dive.