1899 Dahabiya Kingfisher
Dahabiya. Operated by Dahabiya 1899 (Luxor).
Not verified as sailing checked 12 Sep 2026
We have not confirmed that this vessel is currently in service. That is a statement about our checking, not a claim that it has stopped.
Our view
An 1899 iron hulled boat for seven people, which is a genuinely unusual thing to be able to book, and simple is the right word for it rather than a criticism. The unanswered question is air conditioning, because the site describes its facilities carefully and never mentions any. Confirm that and the current operating season by email before you go further, because nothing on the site shows a bookable date.
Who it suits
- A family or group of up to seven taking the whole boat
- Travellers who came for a genuinely historic hull rather than a replica
- Anyone who wants every tour private and every entrance ticket included
Who it does not suit
- Anyone who needs air conditioning, the site lists its facilities in detail and never mentions it, which on a four cabin boat in Egypt is a question and not an oversight
- Travellers who want a price, both itineraries say rates on request and no figure is published anywhere
- Anyone who wants to confirm it is running, there are no dated departures, no calendar and no readable review dates
- Couples wanting a shared departure, this is a charter and the fourth cabin is a single
- Guests who want a restoration they can date, the last one recorded was in 2000
- Service style
- Four cabin 1899 iron hull sold as a private charter with a private chef and a private Egyptologist, run by a Luxor travel company.
- The cabin we would book
- One of the three doubles. The fourth is a single and the operator publishes nothing that separates the three from each other.
- Nearest alternative: Set Nefru
- Two small historic hulls run privately rather than by a cruise company, neither with a published rate. Kingfisher is the older and plainer at 26.3 metres and seven guests, restored in 2000. Set Nefru is 37 metres, takes eight, and has been restored recently to a much higher finish. See its record →
Identity · 3 of 4 on file
The vessel · 7 of 13 on file
How it operates · 5 of 9 on file
Price · 2 of 5 on file
Reputation · 0 of 3 on file
What we could not establish
Every empty cell above has a reason. These are the reasons for this vessel, written down at the time the record was made, including the places where published sources contradict each other.
The boat is run by Dahabiya 1899 of Luxor, https://www.dahabiya1899.com/. The site footer describes this as a branch of Far and Beyond Travel, https://www.farandbeyondtravel.com/, licensed by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism since 2008 under number 1657. The operator recorded against this vessel on the site remains the placeholder "unknown" and has not been updated.
The starting rate is empty. Both itinerary pages state "Rates on request, contact us." No figure is published anywhere on the operator's site.
Operating status could not be verified. There are no dated departures, no calendar and no bookable dates. The reviews page loads Google reviews through a script, so no review dates could be read, and the Google Maps link behind it requires JavaScript. No third-party listings or TripAdvisor entries were located. The Google business listing at https://g.page/r/CZAAYbYNv82zEAI/review and the Instagram account at instagram.com/dahabiya1899 are the most likely places to find current activity.
The flag and registration are not found. The number 1657 on the site is the travel company licence, not a vessel registration.
Air conditioning is not mentioned. The site lists facilities in detail and never refers to air conditioning or heating. On a four-cabin dahabiya that silence is not resolved by a guess.
The following are not published anywhere on the operator's site: crew count, deck count, pool or jacuzzi, operating season, minimum age and any accessibility statement. Suites are not mentioned. The vessel has three double cabins and one single cabin.
The operator's vessel page states she was built for the Thomas Cook company around 1899, has an iron rather than a wooden hull, is one of six surviving original dahabiyas, was restored in 2000 by Dr Kent Weeks, and was featured in New York Times Great Homes. None of that is confirmed by a second source.
Recorded 12 September 2026. If you can settle any of these, tell us and we will correct the record in public.
Something here wrong? Say so and we will correct it in public, with the old value left visible. See the corrections log.