Liveaboard Saudi Arabia, Farasan Banks. Diving trip and shark special, November 2025

Liveaboard Saudi Arabia, Farasan Banks. Diving trip and shark special with Klas Malmberg, November 2025

Experience - A diving trip with liveaboard to Saudi Arabia and the Farasan Banks. The red sea is a favorite for many and many go here again and again. Now we run a liveaboard to Saudi Arabia and the fantastic and next to magical Farasan Banks. A destination that has been talked about for many years but has not been available for tourism. Now we are running a diving trip to Saudi Arabia and to make it extra special, Klas Malmberg will be on the trip and hold a special course about sharks and other cartilaginous fish on board. A unique opportunity to learn more about these beautiful and misunderstood animals. After the trip, you will receive a diving certificate with Kla's self-written shark specialty course sanctioned by PADI. 

Experience the fabulously beautiful and pristine coral reefs, hang from the dramatic drop-offs and marvel at the Red Sea's splendor of form and color at its best. Sharks are common, reef sharks, white tip, black tip, gray, silver tip, silky, hammerhead are all common to see. If you're lucky, whitetip sharks, which are often called longimanus or oceanic whitetip sharks, thresher sharks, tiger sharks, bull sharks, guitar sharks and whale sharks appear in the big blue. Other cartilaginous fish that are seen regularly are eagle rays, stingrays and mantas and maybe the occasional electric ray can shock you by lying hidden in the sandy bottom. Farasan banks offers perhaps the Red Sea's best diving in terms of marine diversity, abundance of sharks and thriving coral reefs.

Your accommodation - On your diving trip and Liveaboard to Saudi Arabia en route to and from Farasan Banks you will have two* hotel nights in Jeddah. You will stay on board for the majority of the trip the Almonda liveaboard which offers all the comforts and cabins with their own shower and toilet as well as air conditioning. Full board included on board including drinks (no alcohol)
* the flight arrives in the middle of the night on the outbound journey so it won't be a full night but you have time to rest and have breakfast before the transfer to the liveaboard. On the way home, there is a transfer from your liveaboard to the hotel and the flight leaves early the next morning, but you have time to rest after the transfer and sleep for a few hours before the journey home. Thus, full hotel nights are not included.

Along for the ride - Along for the trip, Klas Malmberg will go and be your ciceron and shark specialty instructor on board. Klas will liveaboard Almonda to teach you a lot about sharks, rays and cartilaginous fish, behavior, appearance, characteristics. After the trip, when you get home, a PAD Shark specialty diving certificate will be given to you who are on the trip. This is Kla's own course that he has written and is sanctioned by PADI. Be prepared that it may take a few weeks for your diving certificate to arrive.

About Saudi Arabia and Farasan Banks

A liveaboard in Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea is for those who want to experience the best of the Red Sea, for those who have dived in Egypt several times and for those who find a new destination. There are several liveaboards and the tours go to different parts of Saudi Arabia depending on the time of year. You can go to Saudi Arabia and diving all year round. For those of you who have dived in the Red Sea before, you now have the opportunity to dive in Saudi Arabia and experience perhaps the Red Sea's most spectacular diving and best dive sites. However, it can be good to know that there are certain restrictions or recommendations on some tours.

The Farasan Banks are a group of reefs and smaller islands in the southern parts of Saudi Arabia, on the other side of the Red Sea is Sudan. You go here during the winter months to experience almost completely untouched and unsinkable coral reefs. Islands with a rich birdlife and mangroves and in the sea there are lots of sharks and other large fish. To get the most out of your diving trip to Saudi Arabia, we recommend a minimum of Advanced Open Water or equivalent. You should have logged at least 30-50 dives.

Before your trip with liveaboard to Saudi Arabia and Farasan banks, you must have a visa, which you arrange directly online in advance. (It can also be resolved on arrival but takes longer) Note that you can only pay Evisa online with a Visa card! If you need assistance with a visa, we can help for a fee. We recommend that you have your visa ready no later than 14 days before departure.

Itinerary - Day by day

Day 1
You leave Scandinavia and fly to Saudi Arabia and Jeddah, which is on the coast of the Red Sea. On arrival early the next morning we have a transfer to the hotel.
 
Day 2
Arrival early morning and transfer to hotel for a few hours of sleep and rest. Next, you will be picked up and transferred to your liveaboard, Almonda, which will be your home for the coming week.
 
Day 2 - 9
07 nights accommodation on board, part in double room including full board. Dive days with two to four dives / day except the last day, Friday when two dives are made. Full board on board and some excursions to sandbars and islands with mangroves can be arranged on site if time permits for those who want and have the energy.

Day 9
After Friday's last two dives, you have now returned to the mainland and here you have a transfer to your hotel in Jeddah again. Here you have a few hours to rest, go through your packing and prepare for an early transfer the next morning to the airport and flight home. 

Day 10
Early morning check-out, loading of cars and transfer to the airport in Jeddah and flight home to Scandinavia.

Please note!
Our program is only a preliminary plan that is influenced based on the external conditions that the weather gods reward us with. This means that we may have to move activities and dive sites to other days and also replace planned activities with alternatives if required. We ask you to be flexible.