Emperor Serenity, Maldivas

Cons outweighed the Pros

The diving was good, but not as great as I was hoping/expecting. I'm glad to check the Maldives off my wishlist, but Palau is better. We did see manta rays, which was a highlight. The first day of diving was also more challenging than I had expected. Aside from the first check-out dive, they started the trip with 100-ft dives with currents. One dive specifically STARTED with a strenuous swim into a challenging current. Fortunately, the second half of the trip consisted of more shallow (and interesting, IMO) reef dives. As a nonsmoker, I probably would not opt to go on a live aboard again unless I can find one that is completely smoke free. Even though smoking was restricted to one section of the boat, smoke travels! It wafted up to the hallway in front of our cabin, and there was a strong odor of cigarette smoke IN our cabin for the first 3-4 days. Also, the designated smoking area was a prime seating area just outside the main dining/lounge room. Since most of the smokers were staff/dive guides, this basically became a staff lounge. It was an area I could not enjoy 80% of the time because of cigarette smoke. The smoke also drifted into the dining room every time someone opened the door. Our second major issue was our assigned dive guide. She was a very skillful diver, and she was great at spotting macro-life like tiny nudibranchs. However, there were times when I or my dive buddy had gear issues or ear-clearing issues, and she seemed annoyed and impatient when anything came up. She was very quick to descend (I need to descend slowly), and she is a fast swimmer. And there was often current. So yes, I found it challenging to keep up with her. I did communicate this to her, and asked if it would be OK if my buddy and I ended up joining another group if we couldn't keep up with her in the middle of a dive (because there were other groups going at a pace that would have been more comfortable for us). Her response was that my buddy and I "didn't have to stay with the group" -- and we could do what we wanted. This was our first time diving in the Maldives, so no, we didn't want to go off on our own; we were hoping for a guide who would actually look out for us and not leave us in the dust. We also felt like we were in an awkward position because it was apparent that our assigned dive guide was the significant other of the trip manager. We tried to make the best of a less-than-ideal situation, but it definitely soured the experience for us. We did have a little bit of interaction with another dive guide, who was really lovely. The rest of the staff was great as well, especially the barman and waiter. And the food was great -- at least 3 salad options, 2 meat options, and sides for every meal! I ate well.

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The boat is spacious and generally comfortable. The meals were excellent, exceeded expectations. The waitstaff and chefs were outstanding. The boat crew was also great.

The diving was awesome and well organized.

Diving with the Mantas and beach barbecue.

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Close access to dive sites. Well organized dive boat. Crew was great!

Great trip

Night dive with mantas was excellent. Fish head dive site was full of fish life. I loved a dive that had 15 sharks swimming back and forth, with a squadron of seven eagle rays passing by. Kudos to our divemaster Deano for his ocean stewardship and his enthusiasm for finding sea life.

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Diving, food, crew

Far Exceeded our expectations!

The cabin was much larger than expected, the ship was very nice and in good condition, the main dive guide, Deano, was very knowledgeable, helpful, friendly and his main priority was safety. The food was plentiful and excellent. The dives were outstanding and we saw even more marine life than expected. I would highly recommend. We came all the way from New York and didn’t regret it at all!

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Main dive guide Deano, amazing dives, great food

Wonderful first live aboard experience!

The well planned, perfectly executed and thoughtful dives were the highlight of the trip. Each dive led us brilliant coral and remarkable sea life. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire trip.

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Dives, excellent food and interesting people

10/10 would do it again!

The dive guides’ respect of the ocean animals and willingness to help with new things (like reef hooks) was amazing. The food was great, the dining room team was friendly and knew our habits within a few meals.

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Diving, making new friends, new experiences