Andromeda — a spacious liveaboard for remote Saudi Red Sea diving

Andromeda is for divers who want the Farasan Banks rather than another familiar Red Sea week. The Saudi coast here is reached as a liveaboard destination: remote reefs, volcanic islands and walls that are not practical from shore. The boat suits a mixed group too. Divers have a proper working deck and two tenders, while non-divers can swim, snorkel or stay on the sun deck without treating the trip as a waiting room. The appeal is distance, space and access to water that is still off the standard day-boat circuit.

Andromeda makes a substantial first impression: a 40-metre steel vessel with the broad, practical feel of a boat built to spend serious time offshore. She was renovated in 2022, and the layout is shaped around long diving days rather than a hotel lobby. The common areas spread across an air-conditioned saloon, dining room, open-air saloon and sun decks, so 26 guests are not forced into one shared space. Once aboard, the dive deck becomes the working centre, with the living areas kept separate from wet equipment. It is a large boat, but the arrangement gives the week a clear rhythm.

Andromeda’s atmosphere is shaped by a crew that passengers describe as quiet, professional and ready to help without hovering. Arabic and English are spoken on board. Over a week, the same crew handles the practical details repeatedly—moving the day from breakfast to briefing, from the dive deck to the next meal—so assistance becomes familiar rather than formal. In the evening, the shisha room changes the pace. It is the boat’s social centre, where divers can sit with a coffee, listen to Arabic music and talk through the day’s dives.

The guides and crew speak Arabic and English, and the same dive guides remain with the group through the safari. Briefings organise the entries from the dive deck and tenders, with the boat able to work in smaller groups rather than sending everyone into the water as one mass. Emergency oxygen, first-aid equipment, a satellite telephone and the NAUTILUS Lifeline radio safety system are carried on board, alongside the vessel’s wider safety equipment. The published information does not set out a guide-to-diver ratio, minimum logged dives, instructor qualifications or courses, so those points should not be assumed for this itinerary.

The dive deck is large enough to keep the working parts of a dive separate from the living areas. Andromeda carries 12-litre aluminium tanks and 15-litre steel tanks, with DIN adaptors available; weights are provided, while rental gear is not kept on board and must be arranged in advance. Two Power compressors fill the tanks, and a membrane system provides 31% Nitrox for an additional charge. Two tenders take divers to the sites for most dives, leaving the main platform clear for preparation and recovery. After the dive, there are warm-water showers on the platform and a bathroom with a shower and marine toilet directly off the deck. Photographers get a camera station, charging points and separate rinse tanks for cameras.

The 100-square-metre sun deck is the main place to disappear between dives, with room for both sun and shade. The open-air saloon offers a cooler place to sit without retreating indoors, while the air-conditioned saloon is there when the heat has caught up. The shisha room gives Andromeda a more particular evening space: an Arabic-style room for coffee, music and conversation rather than another row of deck chairs. Wi-Fi is free where the connection reaches the boat, but the better use of the gaps is usually a camera battery, a rinse, or a swim.

Meals are served buffet-style in the dining area, with both Western and local food. Dietary restrictions can be catered for, and hot and cold soft drinks, coffee, tea and snacks are available through the day. That matters on a diving safari: the table has to work around repeated entries into the water, not a single leisurely hotel meal. The buffet lets divers eat what they need, return for more after a dive, and keep the day moving without turning every meal into an event.

The cabins are air-conditioned and have private bathrooms with a sink, toilet and hot-water shower. Twin cabins suit friends or solo divers sharing without sharing a bed; queen cabins and the honeymoon suite give couples a double-bed option. The cabins are designed for a week aboard, with towels and bed linen provided. Between dives, the air conditioning matters more than decoration, especially after a warm-water entry and a climb back from the platform. At night, the boat offers a choice between the quiet of a closed cabin and the social life of the saloon or shisha room.

Saudi departures use the port at Al Lith, reached by road from Jeddah. The trip information describes a transfer from Jeddah to Al Lith before boarding, but does not state whether that transfer is included. Arriving in Jeddah the night before gives useful margin for the road transfer and boarding.