Regaldive - The Diving Holiday Specialists - Alresford

Marion D.

I used Regaldive to arrange a liveaboard dive week in the Red Sea with Emperor Divers. The planning and communication carried out by Jobi before the holiday was excellent and their local rep Ahmed in Egypt was extremely efficient and friendly. I would highly recommend both Regaldive and Emperor Divers based on my recent experience.

Alex B.

My husband & I have travelled numerous times with Regaldive and having read some of the poor reviews we felt compelled to write this review, as we have always received excellent care and communication from all of the Regal Team.

Whenever we call to discuss a potential trip, the representatives always have personal knowledge of the area we wish to visit and are pleased to offer recommendations.

Travelling in July this year the Regal Team put together a three week itinerary for us to Egypt, comprising a week liveaboard, a hotel stay, then a further week liveaboard. Unfortunately our date of travel was on the Saturday of the 'Global IT outage'. That morning we had a call from Regal to make sure our flight was still scheduled and to ensure us that the local Egypt Manager was aware of our potential delay - he then kept in contact with us directly, via whatsapp.

Eventually, on the Sunday, and through no fault of Regaldive, our flight to Egypt was cancelled.

On Sunday we called the Regaldive 24/7 support helpline. Our call was answered immediately and the very helpful Regal representative took control of the situation for us. That same Sunday we had a further call from one of Regaldive's Directors, who explained our options in full and couldn't have been more helpful and empathetic.

After managing to secure us an alternative flight the Regal Team supported us in liaising with our insurance company, to ensure we recovered any loss, after missing the first weeks liveaboard.

We cannot recommend them highly enough and will continue to book with Regal who provide seamless communication and experiences.

The Global IT outage gave us the (unfortunate) opportunity to test all the aspects of the Regal Team (UK & Egypt) and we were pleased to have them as our holiday support!

As an aside, the week on the Emperor Liveaboard (Southern Solitude) was great and a fantastic experience both above and below water. A very professional & safety conscious Emperor team.

Frederick W.

An absolutely superb dive liveaboard holiday on the Mermaid II in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Straightforward travel arrangements (3 flights to get to destination and hotel stays on route to break up the journey), a friendly & professional crew on the boat itself, great food and comfortable accommodation. The diving was superb - beautiful coral reefs in multiple different dive sites, diverse marine life (including manta rays, mobila rays, reef sharks, octopus, turtles, sea snakes, a huge array of different fish species). Phil and the Regaldive team were excellent in their organisation and communication about the travel arrangements. I will definitely use their services again in the future! Thank you!

Michael A.

Poor customer service, poor communication, terrible overall. Booked as a group of 9 and all are in agreement that we would not use again

1. Removed our originally booked/agreed day room on the final day of our trip, after our booking was made. Many of us had to pay for a day room out of our own pockets, in spite of this being included at time of booking. Regal state they made us aware of this change, however removing an element of the holiday after booking has been made is unaceptable, greatly incovenienced us and put us out of pocket. A single email stated an essential part of a trip has been removed is not good enough.

2. Our flights were changed to a later and less convenient time after the initial booking, firstly making the need for a day room greater, and secondly greatly inconveniencing us. There was an Easyjet flight leaving the same departure airport and arriving in the same arrival airport an hour or so earlier on the same day- which was presumably not booked by Regal as it was slightly more expensive, despite the fact it would have made our day of waiting to return slightly shorter. Though still not as suitable as the original flights, this would have helped.

3. Communication in general was not up to scratch- difficult to deal with, and at times not particularly polite or helpful on the phone.

4. The boat itself was not of a great standard, and could definitely do with a refit. Extortionate pricing of alcohol (more expensive than UK prices, let alone Egyptian), only being offered red wine with dinner (no beer as stated), having to pay a fee for any coffee other than instant, only two dives on the last day (in the past we've had 3). There were also lots of filler dives in place of other sites that would have been expected on this itinerary (Tile Wreck was notably missing). Whilst I understand that intinaries change and adapt depending on many circumstances, a lot of this itinerary felt like it was planned for the boat's convenience above our enjoyment. The boat refueling whilst we were on board took a lot of our time.

5. I was continuously hounded for insurance details (which I did not initially provide as my insurance would have renewed before the trip start date), which I did provide once I had my new policy number. The boat did not have these details to hand on arrival, whereas it did for most other passengers. The same can be said for my diving certifications and other details. Whilst this is not a major issue, the fact that such a fuss was made about providing them in the first place compounds the issue.

Nigel B.

My Wife and I have just returned (Dec'24) from a three week trip in Thailand with great diving.
Thank you to Jobi at Regal Dive for organising and her local knowledge which we found most useful. The trip involved land based diving with Sea Bees from Chalong staying at the Sea Bees Palm Garden resort. Followed by a Sea Bees 4 day liveaboard (MV Marco Polo) and then a land based hotel in Krabi.
All our connections and transfers went smoothly and were well organised.
Palm Garden Resort - Well located (walking distance to the dive shop / local restaurants / bars and the Chalong Pier) great food (with European options if required) great team and accommodation. The pool was inviting and looked well set up as a dive training pool.
Sea Bees day diving - Well organised and professional team. Excalibur 2, the boat used was well laid out for divers with excellent food. The guides were attentive and the dive sites provided good variety. Whilst we were there it was overcast and the vis wasn't too great, but we still enjoyed the abundance and variety of life.
MV Marco Polo - Small but beautifully formed liveaboard. The cabin whilst only bunk beds was one of the best we have been in.
Great dive deck and rest areas. The team on board were exceptional as was the food, and the crew were very safety conscious.
We felt the diving was better than the day diving due to the large shoals of fish, the remoteness and better visibility. Thanks to Canadian Chris (our guide) and leader Thomas.
Top Tip - Make sure you are able to do the last dive "Boonsung Wreck", as some on our trip missed it due to flight times.

Ben B.

I have used Regaldive for my dive trips for a number of years and have always been very happy with their knowledge and service.

Kevin M.

I can only concur with Phil's feedback from two years ago. Thought we would try these guys and would not recommend at all. This dive company does not put customers first. Under NPS it net promoter score I would be a detractor. I know they can't control the weather but where value has not been delivered and a number of diving days cancelled then refund of diving not received should be automatic. Bit like winter skiing hols where pieste closures mean a refund pro rata is given. So I would not use Regal dive ever again and as a veteran diver of decades of holidays I could never recommend them. Best to contact the dive centre direct to book and also check they have spaces. On this occasion that was also a big issue and had we not checked beforehand we would of arrived and no capacity to accommodate the dives as boat full.
Also dive centre shut on a Sunday which was not flagged at booking. So, you take your chances with Regal dive. Me, I'm a detractor and will never use or recommend them and ask them to remove me from any mailshots etc.
If you do use them then just go in eyes wide open to the risks.

In response to the Regal Dive reply...

If you look at the email chains and telephone recordings you should have, the diving schedule was provided post booking not pre booking. This ended up giving zero flexibility and there was a likelihood the dive packages could not be met as boat full or one space only or centre closed.

Also the lost dives refund due to the weather (gales) has not been instigated by Regal but by the dive centre before we came home.
At the airport awaiting our delayed return flight I received a very curt and what I consider insulting email at 21.48 which included......
"The dive centre  have kindly offered to refund you for these dives rather than asking you to claim on your insurance, and this refund has been passed back to you"...
The Dive center freely offered a refund. The insurance comment is not their comment. You have put words into print that they did not use.

Furthermore your next email stated....
"As per Regal booking terms, dives lost to weather or other factors beyond our control would normally be a matter for insurance, however we are only too happy to pass on the refund offered on this occasion by the dive centre".
I'm not sure you could legally hold onto the refund.

So please do not suggest in your reply below that Regal Dive have instigated the refund as they did not. Whether we have the full amount refunded to you by the dive centre remains unconfirmed.

We have read all your booking T&Cs several times over and are unable to locate the condition that states lost dives due to bad weather requires customers to claim on their travel insurance !

I stand by my comments and only reply openly as your response below is a slight of hand that does not reflect the facts supported by email chains and recorded voice calls.

Customers need to know where they really stand when they book with Regal Dive.

Phil J.

It's so disheartening when a company that has such good reviews, display their real, illegal and unethical customer support.
Due to Covid lockdown, my liveaboard was cancelled 3 days before departure. Although due a full refund, as stipulated in Regal Dive Terms and conditions, they 100% refused a refund of any kind. (As has been the norm with some other immoral travel agents). Only eventually offering a refund on the flight.

Full costs eventually received by a successful Credit card chargeback request.
I am sure that you could get a fantastic holiday. Its the BUT, what they do, and how they respond if things go wrong!! In this present climate, and not knowing if there will be further travel restrictions, I recommend that you strongly consider how you would be treated if your booking has to be cancelled. Please proceed with extreme caution if considering reserving a holiday with Regal Dive.