Our Egypt tour and Red Sea Live Aboard are open for registration, using the waitlist feature. If booking as a couple you'll be confirmed almost immediately. If traveling solo and you want us to room you with someone we'll match the singles and then confirm. We'll have a week aboard the fantastic Emperor Elite and a week and a half tour hitting the hottest spots in Egypt - tombs, pyramids, sphynx, museums and a very special Nile river cruise. If your non diving partner or family members would like to join the tour, go ahead and have them fill out the registration, then I'll modify the invoice to reflect just the tour portion.
Diving highlights:
- The top 3 sites in the southern Red Sea: Brothers, Daedalus Reef and Elphinstone
- Sheer walls draped in colorful soft corals and gorgonian forests.
- Wrecks of Aida II and Numidia richly covered with soft and hard corals.
- Strong currents bring a diverse range of marine life such as tuna, barracuda, jacks and reef sharks. Occasional hammerheads, silky and oceanic white tips, dolphins and mantas.
These are the best of the Red Sea but require advance dive skills, including back roll negative entry off a zodiac, then getting back on in choppy waters. Be comfortable diving in currents and ascent and safety stop without a reference. If you are concerned the trip may be too advanced for you we may have a few spaces on an optional post-land tour liveaboard. Contacting me if interested.
The Egypt Tour:
After diving the fantastic Red Sea, experience the wonders of Ancient Egypt on our exclusive private LGBTQ+ Nile cruise aboard the historic and unique S.S. Karim steamship!
From our Emperor Elite dive week, we'll be transferred across the desert to Luxor, where you'll be amazed by the Temple of Karnak, the Valley of Kings, and the temple of Queen Hatshepsut. There we'll board an authentic steamship, the S.S. Karim, for a seven-night adventure up the Nile accompanied by our own English-speaking Egyptologist, stopping along the way at stunning temples built on the banks of the river. This steamship was the private yacht of Egypt's former King Farouk. After our cruise, you'll return to Cairo to visit the Giza Pyramids, the Egyptian Museum, and Islamic Cairo
"All Egypt is the gift of the Nile." - Herodotus
Travel with us to experience Egypt in comfort, safety, and style!
Luxor to Aswan Nile Cruise Highlights:
The Temple of Karnak
Built in the 20th century B.C., it is the biggest of the ancient Egyptian temples and was the seat of the god Amun, and the administrative capital of the country. A visit to the temple begins at the sacred quay, decorated with a Nilometer showing flood levels of the Nile and then passes through an avenue, bordered by statues of ram-headed sphinxes, to the temple itself. Inside the temple there is an open courtyard with a smaller temple on the left-hand side. Then there is a large hypostyle hall, built during the reigns of Seti I and Rameses II, containing 134 pillars, twelve of which are topped with capitals in the form of open papyrus flowers.
The Luxor Temple
Built by Amenhotep III as a private residence for god Amun, but Rameses II later added statues of himself to either side of the temple: two seated and two standing. Inside there is an open coutyard built by Rameses II, comprising a pillared colonnade; and a second courtyard by Amenhotep III with pillars decorated with papyrus designs. The Luxor Museum contains a remarkable collection of ancient Egyptian sculpture found during the course of restoration at the Karnak and Luxor temples.
The Valley of the Kings
This site contains a large number of tombs of the Kings and Pharoahs, including the tombs of: Seti I, Rameses II, Horemheb and Tutankhamun, which was the only tomb to be discovered intact.
The Temple of Edfu
This temple dates to the Ptolemaic period and is the largest and most complete of the different temples situated along the banks of the Nile. It is located in the city of Edfu. It was a center of the cult of Horus.
The Temple of Kom Ombo
The double temple dates to the Ptolemaic period and its inscriptions contain references to the Ptolemies and to the Roman Emperors, Domitian, Trajan, and Caracalla.
Optional Abu Simbel:
Visit the stunning temple of Abu Simbel, an entire mountain face moved above the rising waters of Lake Nasser after the completion of the Aswan High Dam.
Followed by Cairo Highlights:
- The Great Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu) – The Great Pyramid is situated in Giza and is one of the Seven Wonders on the World. Cheops, the second Pharaoh of the IVth Dynasty, built it. It once rose to a height of 146 meters. Owing to natural wear and tear, however, its present height is 137 m.
- The Sphinx – The Sphinx is one of the most famous monuments of ancient Egypt. It stands as a guardian of the ancient necropolis.
- The Egyptian Museum, including the golden mask of King Tutankhamen
Live Aboard Prices
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Lower Deck Cabin Dbl or Twin Share $1750 pp
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Upper Deck Cabin Dbl or Twin Share $1875 pp
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Executive Suite Dbl or Twin Share $2100 pp
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$500 Deposit, $1000 Dec 31, Balance Mar 31
Egypt Tour Prices
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Deluxe cabin, Double or Twin share $3995 pp
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Balcony Cabin, if available, Double $4595 pp
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$500 Deposit, Balance March 2023
Included
The Northern California Rainbow Divers (NCRD) strives to provide high quality, good value, safe and fun trips to club members in relaxed and non-threatening environments and that respect the natural beauty underwater.