Seascope semi-submarine, Royal Seascope or glass-bottom boat in Sharm: see the reef without getting wet
6 min read
For most people, book the Seascope semi-submarine: 90 minutes with hotel pickup, from €32.65 per person, rated 4.4 from 1,305 reviews. It is the only one of the four dry options with enough reviews to trust. The Royal Seascope costs €13.87 more and is rated lower. The two glass-bottom boats are cheaper or longer, but have 7 and 31 reviews between them, which is a first impression, not a verdict. If you swim and have a free day, a snorkelling boat is a better use of the money than any of these (more on that below). The family angle is in our guide to Sharm with children; this page is only about which boat to buy.
The four, side by side
| Tour | Duration | From | Rating | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seascope Submarine boat cruise with pickup | 1.5 hours | €32.65 | 4.4 (1,305) | almost everyone who wants to stay dry |
| Royal Seascope Submarine Cruise with Pickup | 1.5 hours | €46.80 | 3.9 (89) | guests who want a guide in German, French, Italian or Russian |
| Coral Reef Glass-Bottom Boat Tour | 1 hour | €32.25 | 3.7 (7) | the tightest budget, short attention spans |
| Glass-Bottom Submarine Tour & Transfer | 2 hours | €24.26 | 3.5 (31) | people who accept some uncertainty about the boat |
What you actually get
Semi-submarine versus glass-bottom boat. In a glass-bottom boat you sit at the surface and look down through windows in the floor. In a semi-submarine the boat stays on the surface, but passengers go down into a glass-walled deck below the waterline and look out sideways, as through the windows of an aquarium. Both listings for the Seascope describe exactly that, with air conditioning on the deck. That sideways view is the whole reason to pay more than for a plain glass-bottom boat.
The Seascope semi-submarine. According to the booking page, the trip starts with a roughly 25-minute bus ride from your hotel, then about 15 minutes by boat from the marina to a reef, then roughly 45 minutes in the observation deck, then 15 minutes back. So you spend about three-quarters of an hour looking at coral, not ninety minutes. The deck is described as about three metres below the surface in the highlights; the short description says four, so treat the exact depth as approximate. Pickup is roughly 45 minutes before the trip time, and you need to enter your hotel and room number when booking. The guide speaks English, and the listing is operated by Egypt Sun Marine Fleet.
Recent reviewers praise the coral and fish, and several say it suits children and non-swimmers. The complaints are consistent: a wait at the harbour before boarding, sellers at the quay, and a hard sell for on-board photo packages. One reviewer mentions pricing of about £100 for the photo package. You can simply say no.
See availability and prices for the Seascope Submarine boat cruise
The Royal Seascope. Same programme on paper – a 15-minute crossing, about 45 minutes in a glass-walled air-conditioned deck – and the same operator, Egypt Sun Marine Fleet. What the page adds is language: guides in German, English, Russian, French and Italian, and an audio guide in English, German and Russian. It also carries a “wheelchair accessible” label, where the standard Seascope lists wheelchair users as not suitable. Whether that makes boarding step-free is a question for the operator, not something the label settles.
What it does not add, as far as the page shows, is a different reef or a different view. It has 89 reviews at 3.9, and the page’s own sub-scores are lowest for guide (3.5) and value for money (3.5). Reviewers describe a good trip with salesmen at the port, and one calls the coral “somewhat bleached” – a fair warning that the reef you see depends on the day and the site. If you do not need the language options, the €32.00 boat gives you the same idea for less and with more evidence behind it.
See availability and prices for the Royal Seascope Submarine Cruise
The one-hour glass-bottom boat. From €22.12, with hotel pickup and a guide who speaks English and Arabic, cruising from Naama Bay to the Near Garden and Far Garden reefs. It is tagged wheelchair accessible. It is also the least tested: seven reviews, 3.7 stars. The reviews we can read call the coral view spectacular, but also mention a half-hour wait at the port and a boat in need of some care. Seven reviews cannot tell you whether that is typical. Book it if price is the deciding factor, and expect a simpler experience than the Seascope.
See availability and prices for the Coral Reef Glass-Bottom Boat Tour
The two-hour “glass-bottom submarine”. At €24.26 it costs about the same as the Seascope and lasts longer, but 31 reviews at 3.5 are mixed. The listing describes a boat from Naama Bay to the same two reefs, with optional snorkelling. Reviewers are split: one Italian guest was pleased that it turned out to be a submarine rather than a glass-bottom boat, while a British guest complained that the small glass-bottom boat they had expected did not exist and they were put on the yellow submarine with large crowds. Treat the type of boat as unconfirmed, and read the most recent reviews before paying. Only two things on the page are concrete: the length, and the instruction to bring a passport valid for at least six months.
For whom none of these is right
- You swim and you are in Sharm for a few days. A dry cruise is a one-hour look at a reef you could be swimming over. The six-hour White Island and Ras Mohamed snorkelling trip costs from €20.69 and is rated 4.7 from 3,870 reviews. It is cheaper than the Seascope, though you give up most of a day. If you have never snorkelled, snorkelling for beginners in Sharm covers what the jetty entry involves.
- You want to see turtles, rays and big animals on demand. Every listing here says “marine life” or “maybe even turtles”. Nobody can promise a particular animal, and the Royal Seascope reviewer who saw a ray also saw bleached coral.
- You get queasy on boats. All four spend time on open water, and the cruise out and back takes about 15 minutes each way on the Seascope listings. If motion is a worry for you or a child, ask a pharmacist or doctor before booking; none of these pages offers a remedy.
- You need step-free access. The Seascope lists wheelchair users as not suitable; the Royal Seascope and the one-hour glass-bottom boat are labelled wheelchair accessible. Confirm boarding details with the operator before paying.
More ways onto the water are under snorkelling and boat trips.
Our recommendation
Book the Seascope semi-submarine, from €32.65, 4.4 from 1,305 reviews. It has the sideways underwater view, hotel pickup and by far the largest body of reviews, and the cheaper glass-bottom boat saves you €9.88 only by giving you a lot less certainty. Go with realistic expectations: about 45 minutes under the surface, a wait at the harbour, and a polite no to the photo package.
See availability and prices for the Seascope Submarine boat cruise
