Tala

Tala is a 37-metre steel vessel run by Red Sea Explorers out of Hurghada. The easiest way to pick her out in port is the name: “mv Tala” in green letters on the white superstructure, over a plain white hull with a narrow teak stripe along the side. The superstructure is wood and fibreglass, there are three decks, twenty-two guests and eleven cabins — and all eleven have a private bathroom and individually controlled air conditioning.

The operator deserves an introduction, because it defines the character of the boat. Red Sea Explorers has been running since 2005 and was founded by Faisal Khalaf, a GUE Fundamentals instructor and a UTD and INTD normoxic trimix instructor. The company has spent years on technical and exploration diving: over the past decade the team has supported dives to 180 metres and handled the logistics for several research and conservation projects. That explains the kit on Tala: a six-whip fill station with trimix and full helium/oxygen partial pressure blending, helium and oxygen analysers, a Coltri Sub compressor at 200 litres per minute, twenty-five single tanks, ten made-up sets of AL 11 L doubles, ten AL 6 L and twenty-five AL 11 L stages, an unlimited supply of lead and weight belts, underwater scooters and a stock of spare gear — backplates, wetsuits, computers, booties. You will not find that on an ordinary Egyptian recreational safari.

That does not make her a tech-only boat. The programme is the usual one: six days of diving, three to four dives a day, two or three on the first and last days, dive guides on board and instructors for anyone who wants to start or continue training. It simply means people will be assembling doubles and clipping on stages next to you on the dive deck, and that is normal background here.

The layout is simple and fully visible on the deck plan the operator publishes. The lower deck has eight cabins along a corridor, all twins, lit by portholes. The main deck holds cabin nine with separate beds and cabin ten with a double, plus the saloon, the galley and the dive deck. The top deck has cabin eleven with a double bed and a door straight out onto the deck, and the open lounging area. Eleven cabins, twenty-two berths, not a triple among them.

The saloon is bright after its refit: oak floor, grey and blue banquettes along both sides, tables for four by the windows on either side, a television, and a bar with a coffee station and a hot water urn. The windows are panoramic and you can see the sea from any seat. The top deck is an open lounge under awnings with mattresses, bean bags and wooden tables, and above it a separate sun spot with a double mattress and no shade, for anyone who wants the sun undiluted. The galley is industrial stainless steel; everything is cooked on board from scratch, three times a day.

The dive deck takes up the whole after end of the main deck: two rows of tank racks along the sides, a long bench table down the middle, a numbered station with a crate for every guest, rinse hoses and a separate rinse for underwater camera gear. Two ladders lead into the water from the teak stern platform, and a tender runs groups out to the more distant entry points.

The money is worth knowing about in advance. The week covers seven nights in a twin en-suite cabin, airport meet and assist and local transfers, full board with soft drinks, six days of diving, dive guides, a 12 L tank, weights and a weight belt. One charge is collected on board in cash: the route fee together with environmental taxes. It depends on the itinerary — 200 euro on the northern route, 250 on North and Dahab and North and Brothers, 320 on all the southern ones. The Egyptian entry visa costs 35 euro on arrival. Gratuities are described by the operator as recommended and put at 80 euro per guest for the week. Everything bought on board — rental, gases, courses, the bar — carries 10 per cent sales tax on top of the listed price, and payment is requested in cash. Insurance covering diving is not sold by the operator at all: arrange your own policy before you travel.

She runs year round out of two ports, Hurghada and Port Ghalib, on six itineraries, and some departures start in one port and finish in the other. That changes your return ticket, so every such date in the schedule carries its own note. When booking flights, bear in mind that the last dive is usually around midday on the day before departure and the operator asks you to allow twenty-four hours before flying. Check-in is at 4pm, check-out at 11am; depending on the boat’s schedule the first or last night may be spent in a 4-star hotel rather than on board.

Small things better learned now than on the jetty: shoes come off on boarding and are returned at the end of the week, so bring slippers; suitcases are stored away once you have unpacked; you get a towel for fresh water and a bathrobe for salt water, changed halfway through the trip; smoking is banned in the cabins and on the dive deck. Diving gloves and knives are illegal in Egyptian waters, as is feeding fish and anchoring in protected areas. The operator asks for passport details and flight numbers at least ten days before departure, and your passport must be valid for another six months.