Explore Ancient Egypt

      Luxor City, Luxor, Egypt

      BP
      Blue Planet Scuba
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      142 reviews
      Oct 12 - 20, 2018
      Group size: 10 - 16
      Explore Ancient Egypt
      Luxor City, Luxor, Egypt

      Blue Planet Scuba
      • Email address verified
      • Facebook verified
      • Twitter verified
      142 reviews

      Oct 12 - 20, 2018
      Group size: 10 - 16

      About this trip

      Join Blue Planet for this bucket-list trip following our Red Sea liveaboard! Cruise down the Nile River on a floating hotel and learn more about the ancient sites and temples we stop at along the way. See the Pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.  We're cramming as much history and sight-seeing as we can into 1 spectacular week!


      Luxor

      As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-air museum." Here you will see the ruins of the temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor, and immediately opposite, across the Nile, lie the monuments, temples and tombs of the West Bank Necropolis, including the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens.  


      Nile River Cruise

      The Princess Sarah II is a 5 star deluxe Nile cruise ship, the perfect way to explore the historic sites along the Nile. With 70 cabins, a spacious restaurant, a lounge and bar, a sun deck with swimming pool and more, this floating hotel is our home base for 4 nights. We'll have our own Egyptologist guiding us through Luxor, Edfu, Kom Ombo and Aswan.


      Cairo

      After we leave Aswan, we'll spend 3 nights in Cairo at the Steigenberger Pyramids Hotel, right by Giza and the Pyramids and Sphinx. We'll also visit the Egyptian Museum, the Citadel of Saladin and Coptic Cairo before ending our journey.


      Other Activities

      One of our favorite activities that we added on last time was a sunrise hot-air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings. Spectacular!! We also had mint tea and tattoos in a Nubian village after swimming in the Nile near Aswan. There will be plenty of opportunities to pick up souvenirs and gifts too -- papyrus, alabaster, perfumed oils, spices, etc. It's a great place to get your holiday shopping done. 


      Travel

      We'll transfer from the liveaboard boat in Hurghada via private bus to Luxor on October 12th. From Luxor, we'll spend several nights on the Nile River cruise until we fly from Aswan to Cairo (flight not included, but we'll book it for you).  The tour ends on October 20th in Cairo, from where you can fly home.

      Cancellation Policy

      Upon cancellation of a reservation for any reason, the refund of the deposit and payments made or due will be contingent upon Blue Planet reselling the participant's reservation. Any refund may also be subject to a cancellation fee and payment of any non-refundable fees imposed by the tour company, dive operator or any other contractor associated with the trip. 


      Dive accident insurance is required for all divers on this trip. We strongly recommend travel insurance to protect your vacation investment. Contact us if you need more information. 

      What’s included

      • 8 nights accommodations
        1 night in Luxor, 4 nights on the cruise and 3 nights in Cairo
      • Transfers
        excluding domestic flight from Aswan to Cairo
      • Guided tours
        with licensed Egyptologists
      • Most meals
        as outlined in itinerary
      • Entrance fees to sites

      What’s not included

      • Flights
        international flights to Egypt or domestic flight from Aswan to Cairo
      • Tips
        Tips for the excellent guides
      • Meals not specified

      Available Packages

      Double Occupancy

      Double occupancy in hotels and on cruise. 

      $1,425
      Deposit: $500
      Single Occupancy

       Double occupancy in hotels and on cruise.  

      $1,985
      Deposit: $500


      Itinerary

      Friday, October 12th
      Transfer to Luxor

      Breakfast on the dive liveaboard boat. Transfer to Luxor. Overnight at Sonesta St. George hotel in Luxor. (B) 

      Your Organizer


      BP
      Blue Planet Scuba
      142 reviews
      Blue Planet is a different kind of scuba diving organization — aimed at providing the best education and experiences to divers in the Washington, DC area and beyond, while harnessing the excitement and adventure of scuba diving to help protect our fragile oceans.

      Reviews

      Heather & Jonas were excellent trip leaders making sure everyone was well taken care of. The Galapagos Aggressor had a super crew and the diving was challenging and stunning! We saw hammerheads, penguins, seals, sea lions & dolphins! I really appreciated the personal touches like our matching jackets and a cake for my birthday. I would highly recommend this trip.
      By Catherine W for Explore the Galapagos on Mar 02, 2024
      This review is belated, I know... ...But that only means I took **serious*** consideration into reviewing my experience with Blue Planet DC, and ranking them very highly. Its been almost a year since I was OW Certified with Blue Planet in Cozumel - my training during that trip was thorough enough to provide me with a solid foundation to continue scuba diving afterwards many, many times. The trip itinerary, accommodations, and overall pacing of the scuba lessons were incredibly well organized. The instructors were patient and attentive - at various times I was provided specific one-on-one, actionable feedback regarding things like my trim or my breathing rhythm impacting my buoyancy and what I could do to improve my technique. They made sure we knew our stuff before letting us loose into the ocean, and during our checkout dives they stayed closeby and kept a watchful eye on us, so I felt more at ease and safe. (Even with the drift moving us around!) My main priority for this trip was to learn how to scuba, but that said, there were opportunities at Cozumel to (after the day's lessons are done) be a tourist and explore the area. The resort itself is a very beautiful spot with relaxing, open air dining, lounge, and balcony areas as well as a fantastic view of the ocean horizon. I also really appreciated that lodging AND meals were included in this travel package - it saved me the trouble of having to figure that out on my own, which made a big difference by freeing up more time after each full day of lessons to just relax and chill. I know each trip is always different of course in terms of other group trip attendees you may end up with, so of course this can just be sheer dumb luck, but everyone else on this trip was chill. Even the more seasoned divers who were already certified and doing this for years were friendly and happy to drop useful advice or recount from their personal experiences how it was like them becoming certified the first time. The time I did this it was "drift diving" and of course that scared me a ton. But the PADI material that is mandatory to study goes over what drift diving is. When doing my checkout dive the drift didn't like, wash me away from the group dive route. You'll be under instructor supervision so people are keeping an eye on you, and the drift itself is mild - I didn't have to struggle against the current (if you've ever surfed, you'll see that this isn't at all like a riptide or undertow). If anything, managing your buoyancy will end up your primary concern or worry during the checkout dive. Hope this review helps anyone considering who to go with for getting certified on their first ever scuba trip! I'm very glad I went with Blue Planet.
      By M T for March Certification Weekend in Cozumel on Feb 19, 2024
      EM
      This was my first liveaboard! 🛥️ Anthony was a fantastic trip leader and teacher, as always! The Aquacat crew was fun, the food was delicious and the diving and excursions were great! I would definitely recommend this trip with Blue Planet, especially as a first liveaboard experience! I had a good time learning about sharks, too! 🦈
      By Elsbeth M for Ring in 2024 on a Liveaboard in the Bahamas! on Jan 15, 2024
      Thanks for joining on another amazing trip! Hopefully we will be on another fun trip in sharky waters soon.
      By Anthony White on Jan 17, 2024
      AW
      This was my first trip with Blue Planet and my first liveaboard - both were a great experience! The communication and prep from Blue Planet was excellent (pre-trip meeting was really helpful, paperwork was clear and organized). My husband and I are new divers and Anthony (trip lead from Blue Planet) was an invaluable resource - we learned a lot during the dives and felt safe with him looking out for us. The liveaboard itself was amazing. The bed was comfortable, the food was amazing, the staff were wonderful. This was one of the best trips of my life - it's going to be hard to top with the bar now set so high!
      By Rachel L for Ring in 2024 on a Liveaboard in the Bahamas! on Jan 08, 2024
      Thank you so much, Rachel! I am glad you and Ben had such a good time on the trip. You were both great divers, and I can't wait to see you on more of our trips. I look forward to diving with you some more!
      By Anthony White on Jan 13, 2024
      AW
      JR
      Had a great time diving, wonderful people and nice accommodations; hotel was super convenient to dive boats.
      By Jennifer R for December Certification Weekend in Cozumel on Dec 11, 2023
      Thank you so much, Jennifer! We’re so happy to hear how much you enjoyed the dive experience with Blue Planet in Cozumel. We look forward to you joining with us on a future trip!
      By Blue Planet Scuba on Dec 12, 2023
      BP
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