Ocean One 船宿, 马尔代夫

Good week but too French

DIVING/GUIDING - the visibility during this week was poor to bad to very bad. Unfortunate. - The manta rays and sharks were impressive. Whale sharks’ visit was amazing. - Quite a few dives sites are obviously over-dived with very damaged coral everywhere. Sometimes we would be the 5th or 7th boat to anchor at a site. Super crowded under the water. - Out of the four dive masters, Luli, the English spreading guide, was the most responsible in making sure all the divers at both OW and Adv were well looked after. She also worked hard to find interesting things for the group to see. - Salume was also good n helpful. - Francesco would find a few things per dive to show and switch off for the remaining dive. He assumed everyone was advanced, which was not true since the minimum level for this tour was just OW. He would be the first one to board the dhoni after a dive. - Tony is the most experienced on this boat but he showed no interest in showing the group anything at all during the dives. He crossed his arms from the beginning to end and did not work at showing the group anything. Nothing changed even after repeated complaints. Very disappointed. FRENCH BOAT - this’s a French boat with French signage, French culture norms. - Out of 24 guests, 16 were French and only 3 of them would communicate with the English speaking group of 8. The rest couldn’t speak English. 5 of the 8 English speakers came to this boat due to a last minute cancellation of a different boat. Otherwise, it would have been a very lonely week for the 3. - At the airport arrival pickup, there was No sign saying Ocean One. The sign was the name of the French company who owns the boat. There probably was an email somewhere saying one should look for this French company name. How hard is it to just make a sign to say Ocean One which is what this tour is known for on Liveaboard .com ? This would really help the guests just coming off a long flight to find the group easier among the utter chaos at the airport. - Would recommend English speakers to either come with your own group or come if you speak French. FOOD/BAR - At all the 15 lunch/dinners I attended, there was only one main entree per meal; 6 of which were tuna. That got old very quickly. Salad and fruit were usually the same/similar everyday. The entrees were simple like deep fried calamari, deep fried scampi, … etc. - the lasagna was good. - Except for one or two meals, vegetarians could only eat the sides like salad and rice and potato. There was no entree for them. - The BBQ was good with excellent steak. - the bar was good. Tea n coffee available all day. OTHER SERVICES - the staff made a video of the trip n would give to the guest free of charge. That was much appreciated. - There’s no place for the guests to wash their wetsuits after dive. The best they offer is a shower one could rinse off. - There are two short racks in the dhoni where everyone hangs their wet suits. Nothing ever dries there. - The WiFi is bad. The only strong signal is right outside the office. Luckily, when we moor near island, they usually have cell service. - The supporting staff in the dhoni worked hard and were helpful. Much appreciated that Mostaff found my GoPro after it came off my wrist during a night dive. - Need designated smoking area. People lit up anywhere outside they like, sometimes right next to you having dinner. Very annoying. - Beach party was very nice. The island was beautiful. Would love to have some tiki to light up after dark.

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1. The whale shark visit 2. Manta encounter 3. Free video of the week

Wow! What an amazing experience!

I had such an amazing trip with Ocean 1. From start to finish, the crew and intructors were exceptional. So friendly and cannot do enough to make your experience the best it can be. For the few English speakers onboard (majority French onboard), attention was taken by all, but particularly by Luli who looked after us and made sure we understood our briefings and itinerary. She guided us on most of our dives and was very caring, helpful, and fun. I love her respect for the ocean & only wished every diver could appreciate marine life as much as her. The diving was insane... we seen so much and the majority of the dive sites were amazing. Even from the back of the boat on an evening- we had mantas, whale sharks, nurse sharks and dolphins. The dives were occasionally challenging however, therefore not suitable for those who don't have much experience- advanced minimum. The Donhi crew were great, very helpful and friendly. Special mention to Akram, super attentive and talented barman who kept the fun going throughout the evenings with his tasty cocktails. The jacuzzi- coupled with incredible shooting stars most evenings was a great addition. The cabins were very comfortable, though would benefit from some reef safe shower gel/ shampoo etc. dispensers. The food was lovely, there was so much of it! Fresh fish dishes caught from the boat, chicken and vegetarian options. We had additional activities like kayaking to a local island and beach time, and a trip to a sandbar for apero time which was brilliant. All in all it was a fabulous trip! And one I would definitely recommend to other diving friends! Thanks again to Luli & Checco who made this trip as fun as it was x

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The diving, the crew & the fun times