Seafari Explorer 2, Malediven

Careless and Dangerous

Boat was broken when I arrived, so we got stuck in port an extra day while the crew sourced a replacement part from France. The first four dives were in industrial/biological waste dump sites. Not a great start to the trip. My first dive guide (B) didn't attend dive briefings, changed a dive plan at the last minute, failed to explain the change, and took our group into dangerous current conditions. I hadn't been assigned a dive buddy, so when I aborted the dive a few minutes in, I surfaced alone. I don't think B realized I was missing, and I had a nice long float (after completing a solo safety stop) because the surface boat didn't see me or pick me up for over 10 minutes. Changed guides after that. The new guide (T) changed a setting on my dive computer, but couldn't explain why he made the change, so I switched it back when he wasn't looking (that computer's worked perfectly and kept me safe for over 80 dives, I'm sure it didn't need his help). T frequently ignored his own dive briefings. Briefed limits of 30m, 60 minutes, or 50 bar were exceeded on most dives. Several dives exceeded 30m depth, in violation of Maldives law. Surface boat came within 1m of hitting me and my dive buddy at the end of a safety stop, when the pilot blew in directly through the middle of our group. Guess he wasn't looking for bubbles. I raised some of these issues with the crew during the trip, but got the distinct impression they didn't care. Don't dive with this crew. You can do better.

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Single cabin, good food, manta dives.

Awesome unforgettable leaving planning and wishing to return

Manta Cleaning statio Stunning abundance and diversity of marine life The mall deviant cultural experience on the last night with the traditional dinner and gastronomic cuisine prepared for royalty

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The attention the guides placed on safetyThe mall deviant cultural experience on the last night with the traditional dinner and gastronomic cuisine prepared for royalty security of clients in the water during the dive and return to Dhoanni

If you’re not francophone, look elsewhere

Positives: food was non-pretentious but honest, tasty and well-prepared, size of the boat was comfortable for 19 divers (though the maximum capacity is higher), the 2-week duration of the trip provided ample time to explore central and central-south area, staff was friendly & helpful. Negatives: overall maintenance of the boat and cabins; our cabin, which was the most expensive, had several issues known by management prior to departure, such as AC not functioning properly (too cold), cabinet drawer not functioning properly and curtains were detached from the rail (we had to fix ourselves), the bedlinnen has not been changed in 2 weeks (which is very cheap), there was no wifi in the cabin, and overall tidiness of the boat was not up to proper standards, e.g. shared areas were partially used for general storage of goods. Overall, if budget is a concern, Seafaring Explorer is a value for money solution. If not, there are better alternatives. One last note, we had underestimated some prior reviews about the predominance of francophone guests. During our trip, out of 19 guests only 3 were not francophone. Though guests were overall kind and friendly, inevitably the social component was totally absent for non-francophone guests for the entire duration of the trip.

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Food, friendliness of staff, duration of trip

Très bien dans l'ensemble

Tous les jours

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Confort cabine, nourriture excellente, sites de plongée

Great diving week

The boat was refurbished not too long ago and it shows :). Room and shower was better than my home. I could have stayed for a year :). Choice of dive sites were amazing. Boat crew was very friendly and gave us a great service overall.

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Crew, food, dives

Diving for more than 15 years

All are perfect!

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Friendly and helpful crew members,tasty food, professional guides