Maldives Liveaboards

Mariana

"Been on this liveaboard twice and highly recommend it, Joerg knows the dive sites and puts you in with the current not against it so this prolongs bottom times. Rattana his partner also is a superb dive guide and supervises the awesome Thai food on board . Both of them and the crew make this liveaboard a brilliant dive holiday "

Mary Campbell - N.ireland

The Diving was Spectacular with Sharks on Most Dives

"I had a really good time on the Ari Queen. The diving was spectacular and it was a good bunch of folks on the boat. The itinerary was great, very varied, and ticked all the boxes – plenty of sharks, a couple of dives with mantas, including one with whale sharks.  We were lucky enough to have sharks on most dives and I really enjoyed the massive schools of fish which we got on a couple of dives. The crew were good and the dive guides were excellent."

Mr W - UK

Favourite Memory was the 'Animal City' Dive Site!

"I had a really good time on the Ari Queen. We had unseasonably good weather with only an hour of rain over the entire week. The diving was spectacular and it was a good bunch of folks on the boat.

The boat wasn’t quite as good as the two red sea liveaboards I’ve been on, but it was still very good for the money, and I was lucky enough to get a double room to myself due to low occupancy on the boat, so that really did make it. The top sun deck of the boat wasn’t particularly inviting so wasn’t well used, so was a bit of a waste of space really – that was probably the most disappointing aspect of the boat, otherwise very good. There were no problems and the crew were very responsive. The transfers and ground arrangements were very easy.

- The cabin I was in was spacious and the bathroom was a good size.

- The food was very good and the fish was caught off the boat each day, which was great. Liveaboard food is never particularly superb, but it’s always more than just okay and it does always amaze be what they rustle up for so many people in such a small space.

- The itinerary was great, very varied, and ticked all the boxes – plenty of sharks, a couple of dives with mantas, one with whale sharks, etc. We were lucky enough to have sharks on most dives and I really enjoyed the massive schools of fish which we got on a couple of dives.

- The crew were good and the dives guides were excellent.

Favourite memory was probably the dive site they nicknamed animal city due to the sheer massive number and variety of life on the reef. The manta feeding station was great and the first night dive with dozens of nurse sharks was also very special. Really enjoyed seeing one of the local islands and the trip to Male on the last day.

I was very happy with Regaldive and would book through you again."

Mr W. - UK

A Favourite Memory Was Seeing the Mantas at the Feeding Station

"For the price paid, everything was as expected, I wasn't expecting anything luxurious - more along the lines of some of the cheaper liveaboards in the Red Sea.

It was a big boat but there wouldn't have been enough space for everyone to sit in sun loungers if the boat were full.

The transfers and ground arrangements were fine - I was met at the airport as arranged and everything went smoothly. The rooms were bigger than in some liveaboards I have stayed on. The deluxe rooms were much nicer than standard rooms below deck, as they had window views, TVs and fridges, although they are only available for couples and not two sharers. They seemed to be sprucing up the liveaboard whilst we were there e.g. They replaced the carpets in the rooms midweek with new ones as the old ones were a bit tired; they also installed a new drinks machine.

The food was basic, but that was probably to be expected due to the price paid. There was always enough food and a good variety (although more limited choices for vegetarians). I really enjoyed the BBQ on the island - the choice of BBQ food available was very tasty and there was a lot of it.

We had snacks in the afternoon (fresh cakes) every day, but it would have been nice if they had left out biscuits all day. There was a good selection of alcohol on the boat which appeared to be reasonably priced (by Maldives standards). The boat information says that towels are changed midweek, but we had to ask for the towels to be changed on the Thursday (and they were changed on the same day).

The dive sites were varied for the itinerary. They were also willing to change the sites based on comments from the guests (i.e. we wanted to see more mantas and look for whale sharks so they accommodated that request). All staff and crew were very friendly and helpful and when asked were very responsive. They helped with fixing some of my dive kit.

The dive briefings could have been a bit clearer though. When we started the diving, we were split into two groups of four. Later in the week we dived as a whole group, as one of the dive guides had problems with their ears. We always had to come up as a group at the end of the dive, but one of the divers had poor air consumption which meant most of us had shorter dives than we were used to. That was very frustrating and not how most of us have dived before (i.e. we come up in buddy pairs). I have given them feedback on this in the feedback form. A couple of guests weren't happy with one of the dive guides on the last dive but I did not have any problems with the guide.

My favourite memory from the holiday was seeing the mantas at the feeding station and the last night dive, when we got up very close to nurse sharks and stingrays, was fantastic.
"

Ms N (this guest has chosen to remain anonymous) - UK

Thanks for this Recommendation

"Our trip on the Ari Queen was everything we hoped it would be. We were indeed very well looked after. Our main concern on booking was to be assured we could have confidence in the dive guides to ensure our safety and provide support should it be required. I had no doubt we were in good hands with our guides. I would report the food provided was most acceptable. Our thanks for this recommendation.

Regarding our days in the resort, this is of course a very different type of holiday and would rate the hotel a little lower, however our room was changed on request because of problems with the postilion of the sun beds. The dive centre was very helpful regarding hire of fins and instruction about currents and access to snorkelling. We did take one dive, and again was very pleased with the service. Our transfers and travel was all spot on. "

Denise Beckley - UK

An Amazing Experience!

"The staff and the crew were very nice and always helpful. Service was really good.

The boat was nice (especially for the price), my main disappointment was not getting towels & linens changed midweek, as we expected. Other than that, it was mostly clean, even if they had a bit of a bug problem (with some flying ants).

The food was wonderful! We loved the cooking and there was plenty of food and variety. Each meal offered a choice of meat (which I really didn't expect, given that the Maldives is an island nation and everything is to be imported) and vegetarian options.

We did some great diving - we saw so many turtles everywhere (always a plus!). We nearly got tired of sharks and turtles :) The reef is really colourful, even though they say it's currently not very lively, we found it quite untrue - I'd say the reef may be better than the GBR (we went there last year). The variety of fish life (and sharks, and rays ;) is really amazing! We loved the mantas, truly incredible creatures!

The best part of our vacation was actually the most amazing night dive ever! After diving on the liveaboard for a week, we stayed for another week on Maafushi and our dive instructor from the liveaboard recommended a dive centre on the island, should we decide to dive more. Those guys arranged a night dive just for me and my buddy! It was the best experience ever! I have never been on a night dive where there was only our diving boat, with no projector in sight. In the water there was only me, my buddy and our divemaster, with our three lights - it truly becomes a different world.

The hotel staff was very nice and insisted on taking us to the peer and finding where our boat staff would meet us. Upon leaving, the boat staff was again extremely accommodating, arranging to take all guests wherever was most convenient for them.

Everything was as expected, you had provided us with all the necessary info beforehand. No problems at all. I'm glad I found your company and I will recommend Regaldive, as well as book our diving with you from now on.

Thanks again for your assistance and helping make our trip such an amazing experience! We had lots of fun - thank you taking care of us :)"

Ogniana Rainova - UK

A Great Time with Lots of Big Fish - Even a Whale Shark

"Accommodation was adequate, little tired and the bed was very hard, (we are softies) but otherwise brilliant: food was delicious, and plenty of it, tanks and services were great too: dive sites were superb, lots of variety and lots of big stuff: Staff and crew were very helpful and very professional.

The boat is getting tired, but I believe it's going to dry dock for a refurb, but it is great value for money.

Favourite memories were seeing a Whale Shark and getting my new wife to do a night dive, only to be treated to 6/7 nurse sharks close up. We did two night dives and the second was superb too, with sharks, sting rays, a pair of moray hunting in the coral, and there was a lonely cuttlefish too.

Regaldive did a sterling job, we will book again. Many thanks for a memorable honeymoon."

Joe & Corrine - UK

Excellent diving experience | Manta, sharks and more!

"I thought I'd give you some feedback after my third trip on the Ari Queen. As always, the diving was excellent and the dive guides chose a good range of dive sites from Manta feeding/cleaning stations, channels where lots of sharks roamed and beautiful national parks.

This year, there were three dive guides on board, so there were three groups of 7 divers which worked very well. Two of the dive guides were the same as last year.

They have invested in a new Dhoni, which is a big improvement over the old traditional one - much more room etc. The staff on the Dhoni were very helpful during the kitting up process and on return from the dive. Mostly the same Dhoni staff as last year with a different captain.

On board the Ari Queen, I shared a standard cabin. It looked like the cabins had been decorated since last year. The cabin was spacious enough, had a good amount of storage and the bathroom/toilet was clean and adequate.

Food was adequate but not top end - as expected. All in all, this was another excellent diving trip. I have no complaints with the Ari Queen. It is a budget boat, but the diving experience is excellent."

Richard Awbery - UK

Wonderful Night Dive with Stingrays and Nurse Sharks

"The trip went very well. Everything was very clean and the staff did an excellent job. The ship had a refit earlier this year and the cabins on the lower deck now just have two twin beds instead of the advertised double bed with bunk, much better configuration and very comfortable. The crew on the Dhoni also did an excellent job and there was plenty of room for the 21 divers.

There is no restriction on the amount of water available. You can refill your bottle from a dispenser at any time with no charge. In addition, tea and coffee was also freely available at no charge. An extra facility is Wifi, and all of the guests seemed happy with the availability.

There were plenty of mantas and sharks, and the night dive with stingrays and nurse sharks was wonderful."

Donald K - Cheshire

Best week diving I've ever had

"We've just returned from a fantastic week on Blue Horizon II.

The crew, the dive guides and the other guests were amazing. The diving was really good. I never thought I would be enthusiastic to get out of bed at 5.30 every morning!"

Karole Dwyer - Carmarthen

Carpe Diem - Had a whale of a time - literally!

"Hi Michaela,

Happy New Year to you and all at Regaldive. Some feedback for you...

We got back from the Maldives just before Christmas and had a whale of a time (literally) on board Carpe Diem. Great boat, dive guides and hospitality.

The diving in the Maldives was really good but challenging with some strong currents and rough seas. So we learned how to get in and out of a pitching and yawing boat and to use a hook to prevent being swept away whilst waiting for sharks and mantas at cleaning stations. The highlights were snorkelling with Whale Sharks and watching a huge manta being groomed by wrasse.

The Whale Shark just came swimming past the boat at a depth of about 5 metres. No time to get diving gear on so we jumped in just with fins, mask and snorkel. It was a juvenile about 6m in length. There were actually two sharks both about the same size and we managed to snorkel with them for about 20 mins and get down beside them about 5 or 6 times.

We also had a great couple of Manta Ray experiences, the best of which was a huge specimen about 4m across which we saw coming towards us from the blue. We were at about 20m deep and it came so slowly and gracefully right over the top of us like the starship Enterprise and I went all shivery, it just needed the 'Thus Spake Zarathustra' music! Great crowd on board the boat too. A really memorable diving experience and holiday.

Thanks for your excellent organisation of the trip.

Cheers,

Bob S."

Bob S - UK

Great diving holiday

"Just had a great diving experience on the Carpe Diem. We saw whale sharks. We had Mantas dive bombing us in a friendly way. Saw grey reef sharks turtles and much more. The team on the boat very great. The food was very good. I spent two days at the Thulgari Resort at the end. All the transfers went like clock work. Thank you."

John Stalker - UK

Fantastic Dive Boat

"I have just finished my second trip on board the Carpe Diem and this is definately a fantastic boat to dive the Maldives. The staff and crew are brilliant, very cheerful and friendly and immensely helpful. The dive guides were amazing, they really know these sites and try to make the diving as easy as possible when dealing with the currents. This is one of the best dive boats I have stayed on - the facilities are first class and the food was delicious, particularly the Mas Huni. The crew work really hard so please leave them a good tip at the end!

The diving was great. No whale sharks this time around but several manta, plenty of turtles and an exhilarating night dive with nurse sharks. "

William Colledge - UK

Feedback

"Hello Helena,

Our trip went very well and the diving was the best I ever experienced and I have been around for a good while.

The boat (the Amba) is lovely and the owners run and manage it - a German and an Italian, so all runs like clockwork, the food is great and no bad tummies at all. I can strongly recommend with a few points to be noted.

1. They are the only boat way up north at the very top of the Maldives. So you are diving on pristine coral.....down side you are very far from help if you have a problem so only for very experienced divers.
2. A MUST… there are very strong currents, so strong that you must use a hook to fix yourself to the rock in strong currents. You stay there in the one place watching out into the blue for Sharks and Rays going past feeding in the current.
3. Like the Red Sea and elsewhere they do not look at tide tables..... so you may well dive on the third hour of the tide on Springs (we did and it was very unpleasant without a hook).

So it was a really good boat and a good trip - so good that I hope to return some day.

Regards

Peadar Farrell
"

Amba

"Hi Iain,

Michael and I had a fantastic time in the Maldives. Thank you for all of your help in making it possible. Thank you as well for the bottle of wine that was waiting for us in our cabin.

The crew of the Amba were all great and it was so nice to have dive sites all to ourselves. We did get to see mantas and a lot of different sharks. There was just so much to see, it was beautiful. We'd both love to go back!

Many thanks again,
Helen
"

Maldives - Amba trip

"Dear Claire,

Thought it was about time we got in touch to say what a wonderful two weeks we had doing the Northern Itinerary in the Maldives on MV Amba.

Everything went ahead as planned, without too much delay at Mali airport. The boat is huge and very comfortable, designed with stability in mind. Franco and Nicole as dive guides and hosts were fantastic and very accommodating.

The diving was excellent. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend this trip to others but they need to be aware that the divers were mostly German, Austrian and Swiss, not British, and language was a barrier at times. But with good will among the guests, this can be surmounted.

We had a great time and the food was wonderful.

Thank you

John Ramsay and Judith Richards
"

Maldives

"Thank you all so much for your help and advice, and for making my husband 50th birthday so very special.

Absolutely first class service from the office and from the rep at Male, best we’ve ever had.

Nikki Wheetman
"

Highly Recommended

"We had a delightful weeks diving on MV Amba. The owners Nicole and Franco were charming as were all the crew. The diving was excellent, well guided and well organised.
This was our fourth liveaboard in the Maldives and I would highly recommend this boat.
"

The Williams Family - UK

Amba

"I had a week on Amba and a week on Sheena in early January 2015 and can recommend both, though I thought Amba had the edge on food, boat, diving, and service. I started going to the Maldives in the mid-nineties and have visited 17 times, but in the last decade the experience has been less good than the first. The diving in the far north reminded me of my memories of the Maldives at their very best: abundant life, including lots of big stuff; superb corals; sometimes strong currents but that's what you need for the best life; awesome visibility with incoming current. The owners pair for guiding (he takes the group, she spots and signals from shallower depth) and this works extremely well. As far as I recall we never saw another dive boat on the whole trip. Life on board? I'm a middle-aged geezer and I like my comforts; Amba has those and I recommend it without reservation."

Rab - Maldives

An Enjoyable Trip with Some Excellent Diving

"We had a good week, Amba is a very comfortable and well run boat and the cabins are a good size, common areas are comfortable and the food was first class and very varied. The Dhoni used for the diving is very well planned and gives plenty of space for gearing up.

Diving is described as “challenging” and that turned out to be true with some hard swimming against the current at times, a reef hook is an absolute must. Nevertheless an enjoyable trip with some excellent diving.

As mentioned by another reviewer it should be noted that most the other divers were mostly German, Austrian and Swiss, not British, and language was a barrier at times, but this is no way affected the trip.

Melvyn and Ian"

Melvyn Hill - UK

Amba in North Maldives

"Just got back from a week with Amba. Firstly a week is not enough for a long trip from London (3 days traveling, 5 days diving).

The Amba is a family business is run by a nice couple (Nicole and Franco). Franco and Shazeel are the dive guides. The boat is German and on my trip had 1 Brit (me), 1 Irish, 1 American and the rest were German / Swiss / Danish (8). The guests were friendly and took special care to speak in English when English speakers were around and so were inclusive.

This boat is for experienced divers only. The currents are often strong and you need a reef hook. The sites that Amba have discovered are superb and this is the single strongest reason to book with them. They know their diving. Being German they are not shy about telling you bluntly about any errors you make and any behavior they want you to modify. The accommodation was good in my view - the en-suite was large and kept shower well segregated.

The tanks are all DIN and they can provide inserts for Yoke adaption. Don't leave your tank unhooked - mine fell over. There is no tank well on the diving dhoni. Also good idea to go to top of dohni after dive to get away from diesel smell and noise. The sun deck is fab - lots of covered space with mattresses laid out to lie on as well as sun beds.

Not a huge amount of space to lounge around in if the boat is full but quite ok when not full. Boat is generally quiet and moves almost imperceptibly from mooring point to mooring point. We travelled a lot, but I hardly noticed.

Bottom line: Diving sites are great - manta / sharks [reef / whitetip / guitar / leopard] / turtles / moray / eagle ray / marble ray / Napoleon / Lobster. One dive had spectacular glass fish clouds you had to swim through. 6 Manta seen reasonably near - 3 of them at once - dancing. Turtle Farm (I would call it turtle hotel) is an amazing dive on a wall in which 60 turtles bed down. Franco has done an amazing job of discovering new sites over the years.

Non-diving - adequate - comfortable - quiet."

Joshua Green - London UK

Fantastic 2 Weeks on Sheena

"I have just returned from a fantastic 2 weeks on the Sheena. The staff were so friendly and professional. From turning our wetsuits the right way around before every dive to sourcing some fresh coconuts from one of the islands they did everything with a smile. Of course the diving was excellent and the Divemaster did his best to accomodate everyone's different requests."

Helen - London

Sheena

"I had a week on Sheena after a week on Amba and very much enjoyed the trip. The boat is quite a bit smaller than Amba, but it is well set out and the food, cooked in a tiny galley, quite excellent both in variety, quality, and quantity. Diving is great too: Werner Lau run good operations and the boat criss-crossed the southern atolls in search of the best experiences. The dive guide on our trip in mid-January, Holger, is also the boat manager and has a very good way with the guests. You really need to be experienced in currents and open-ocean diving to get the best out of this safari, but if you do you will certainly be rewarded."

Rab - Maldives

The best ever diving holiday!

"Richard and I have just returned from a week aboard the Emperor Voyager in the Maldives. We had a terrific time and I thought you’d appreciate some feedback. Richard and I have jointly and severally taken a large number of liveaboard diving trips and this one was by a considerable margin, the best ever.

The flights were perfect. We flew with Qatar Airlines via Doha with just over an hour transfer time. The airline is justly proud of its quality of service and the courtesy of the crew. As a diver, I really appreciated the 30kg weight allowance and the safety net of an extra 10kgs if needed. All flights departed and arrived on time and without a hitch.

The transfers to and from the airport were perfect. The boat crew undertook all the heavy lifting for us.

The Emperor Voyager is a beautiful boat, well fitted out, clean and spacious. We were made to feel at home immediately. One unfortunate note was that initially and contrary to our booking, Richard and I were offered a cabin with a double bed, but this was quickly resolved.

The dive Dhoni that accompanies the Voyager would put many commercial dive day boats to shame. It is a very modern, fast and well equipped vessel and especially comfortable for large groups of divers.

The quality of meals was exceptional and the crew simply could not do enough to make our stay as comfortable and effortless as possible; even to the extent of cleaning and drying all our gear at the end of the week. We enjoyed a memorable barbecue dinner that they set up for us on a desert island as well as excursions to a “local” island and to Male.

But of course the most important aspect was the diving. We received excellent pre-dive briefings, and all equipment provided was of the best quality. The crew took care of all fills etc. In over 15 years of diving all over the world, I saw more sharks in one dive than I had ever seen in total. We had a Manta Ray display at cleaning stations over three dives, two days of whale shark sightings and no end of other memorable encounters throughout the week. My impression is that the dive team had carefully planned every day in the light of their extensive local knowledge and weather reports, to ensure that we stood the best possible chance of some unbelievable dives. I’ve attached a couple of my photos just to show you how amazing the whole experience was.

To say that we are satisfied customers would be a gross understatement. We will be booking to return again very soon.

Please kindly forward our grateful thanks to everyone involved!"

R Pengelly - UK

Great Week on Emperor Voyager

"We have just returned from a week aboard Emperor Voyager in the Maldives and it is really hard being back at work after such a great week!! We had a lovely time with good diving, excellent guides (Mario, Rauf and Helen) and a great, hard-working crew.

Double cabin was comfortable and food was good although some nights the meat could have done with a little less cooking and a starter might have been nice but overall not bad at all - we certainly didn't go hungry. Excellent food provided on the beach BBQ.

The diving was lovely with warm water and good pre-dive briefings with safety always at the forefront. Unfortunately we missed the Hammerhead but the night dive with the Nurse sharks and the Manta dive was exceptional and will always be remembered.

Would we return - oh yes - definitely.

Thanks to you all. "

Sandra Harsant - United Arab Emirates

One Word Says it all.....Fantastic!

"One word says it all.....fantastic. Apart from a rushed transfer in Doha on the way out, everything was spot on. Flights were good, plenty to pass the time, food, drinks and films. Boat was good,food and staff excellent (BBQ on the island was excellent), diving superb (UK quarries will never be the same again!), guides were excellent and knew their sites and points of interest.

Dohni and crew made everything so effortless. I thought I might struggle with 3/4 dives every day, but the system of leaving kit permanently set up on the Dohni made it all so easy. Got to see both Mantas and Whale Sharks which were the two things I went for, plus loads more bonus things.

Diving was well organised,night dives especially so. They practically guarantee Mantas the way they set up a feeding point to draw them in, safety was very good, dive briefs were clear and detailed, Nitox was analysed in front of you by Dohni crew every time, depth and time limits reinforced every dive, current checked by guide before we entered the water.

All three of us had a superb week and couldn't fault a single thing, it was buy one, get one free this year wasn't it! We would all like to take this opportunity to thank all involved at Regal, MV Voyager, the Dohni and Qatar airways for making the holiday such a fantastic and unforgettable experience."

Steve - UK

An Amazing Week

"We had the most amazing week on the Emperor Voyager. The boat is a bit tired now, but still very comfortable and relaxing. The crew on both the Emperor and the dhoni were very friendly and helpful, which made the diving so much easier. The food was good and there was plenty of it, the afternoon snack of cake or toastie were a nice touch. The guides were very good, knew their stuff, and showed us lots of interesting things big and small.

A real effort was made to show us mantas and whale sharks both of which we saw, despite their unpredictability. I liked the fact our journey was drawn on a map as we finished each day so we knew where we had been. We would definitely go back. Big thanks to everyone.

When I planned the holiday, I had an idea I wanted to go to see whale sharks in the Maldives, I had spent some time trying to work out what I wanted, which island, which liveaboard etc etc, but had really got nowhere other than a time of year to go. So, I contacted Regaldive who promptly sent a quote for a liveaboard and an Island where I had a good chance of seeing whale sharks. I then changed my mind and decided I would like to see the whale sharks on the liveaboard but find an island with a wreck close by. I found an island and Regal Dive sent me another quote. I then changed my mind on accommodation and again Regal Dive sent me another quote. They did not seem to mind that I kept changing my mind and I even phoned up to question the price and they were very happy to go through the quote with me.

In the end I was happy and we confirmed our holiday, every time I asked a question Helena was very happy to help. The holiday was excellent and all the paperwork provided made it a very smooth, very well organized holiday. Now I have been to the Maldives I can also see that the first recommendation was perfect for whale sharks.

Our Flights changed at Dubai, I would recommend checking in online. Although at Heathrow you stilled queued in the same long queue the connection at Dubai was very smooth. On the way back the guy at Male airport didn't seem to be able to check us in all the way through and we did get a bit lost in Dubai airport trying to find the connection check in desk. If the flights are delayed this can make the connection quite fraught. The other useful info is the flight to Male, also goes to Colombo, so Male is not detailed on the gate information.
"

Karen Brown - UK

The Diving was Superb!

"Emperor Voyager Liveaboard Trip and a Land-Based Stay in Sri Lanka

Maldives Di & I last went to circa 20 years ago when there was about 5 liveaboards and did a similar route, now there is more like 75-100 liveaboards, so much busier and more like the Red Sea. However, the diving was superb and even Heather enjoyed her time on the boat. A lot of the dives were better than 20 years ago.

The transfers and ground arrangements were excellent. The accommodation was also excellent. The boat was only half full (11/20), so that helped as well. The food was excellent. The catered for both a vegetarian and a guest with a fish allergy on the boat. The liveaboard Staff and Crew were excellent.

The dive sites/itinerary were excellent. Few years ago went to Cocos on Aggressor on what turned out to be Jim Churches’ last photo trip. Simon was on the trip with us and bracketed his shots which meant he took about 200 pics on one dive. Jim commented it was the most he had ever known anyone take. Think we broke this record somewhat, as managed 401 pics without any bracketing in a one hour dive!!

Sri Lanka very good, although the traffic is same as India so plenty of eye-closed moments although remarkably only saw 2 collisions.

A favourite memory from the holiday was the Mantas and elephants (but not together obviously!). Night dive with Mantas was awesome."

Andy Colls - UK

Dive Boat and Crew Were Brilliant

"It was lovely holiday.

My room was good, dive boat and crew were brilliant and we had a great time. The only minus from the boat we had was that they were doing maintenance on the crew room and there was a smell of paint upstairs and when underway we seem to get a smell of faint smell of oil in our room. The accommodation was fine apart from the issue mentioned above.

Everything was ran smoothly - transfers were good, airport meeting staff organised a taxi and the tender came to get us.

Food was good, the only slight minus was that crew forgot about Zoe and that she was vegan though they fixed it from day 2

Regarding the itinerary, the dive sites were great, really a great tour of the Maldives, would come again and do the south atoll trip. The only minus was that the first and last night are spent in the Male harbour and the planes overhead get noisy and there not much to do when you arrive on the boat. I understand the issue, as people need to have their no fly limits to fly on the last day, but maybe we could have skipped the tour of Male and spent more time in the Atolls, or maybe we can have other option in Male to get dropped at the nearby beach. These are just ideas nothing that’s a big issue.

The dive centre staff were all great.

A highlight of the trip was Alimatha jetty, if you ever want a shark to come close enough it head butts you, this is great.

Oh, one other thing, with this trip was really surprised at the strength of the current and I know you mentioned reef hooks for equipment, but maybe just remind people that they will be needing them for sure.
"

Stephen-John Rado - UK

Excellent Honeymoon

"Out of this world.. Has actually ruined some subsequent holiday dives due to the high standards I now have. Nigel sorted everything out for the Wife and I, all I had to do was turn up on time, very relaxing and stress free.

We spent 7 Nights on the MV EMPEROR VOYAGER followed by 5 (Water Villa) Nights on Reethi Island in October/November 2016.

My Wife is a non-diver and not a confident snorkeler, so there was very little to do on-board, bar read and sunbathe (her idea of heaven).

Now onto the Important part, the diving, It was a bit of a rough crossing from North Male to North Arai, but absolute worth it we saw quite a number of Manta Rays and Devil Rays. A few of the dives even had us seeing Black tipped reef sharks (they didn't come to close to me :( ) and the night dive with the Nurse sharks was quite indescribable as they came closer than an arms length.

The currents were pretty strong in some areas so you need to be happy with a bit of current on your dives, I'd also advise a reef hook to be brought, some practice before going out there would also benefit, having never used one it took me a couple of dives to get used to it.

I'd also bring my own dsmb with 30m of line, the on-board ones only had 6m of line and you spent most dives doing a safety stop in the blue. I preferred to deploy deep and then come straight up on it. A couple of the best dives we managed to do the safety stop on the top of the Thila.

There was a large focus on Mantas which while nice was a bit much for me (I primarily dive wrecks) once we'd done a couple of cleaning stations I got a bit board as there was a lot of sitting about watching them swim in circles.

The dive guides were all very knowledgeable and approachable and dive briefs were short and to the point and had some excellent pictures of the dive area. The Crew were great all i had to do was put my wetsuit on, everything else was handled, such a difference from UK club diving.. :) Unfortunately we didn't get to see a whale shark even though we spent a few hours sailing up and down looking.

Small tip about Dubai Airport Terminal C is a good 20+ min from Terminal A (if you sprint it can be done in ~15 min, I know this for a fact) It also has all the same shops as Terminal A. So don't be like me and think, "I'll just stay in Terminal A until 15 min before the flight as all the shops are here".

Another tip is if you are going on to stay some extra nights on one of the Islands, then only do the water villa for 1 night and then spend the rest of the nights in the Standard apartments, you'll get 1 or two extra nights for the cost saving and almost no change in quality. Ironically even though the villas are over the water the std / deluxe apartments have better access to the water, the ladder (yes ladder) from the water villa is quite steep and slippy whereas the apartments are about 10-20 yards from the water.

Big thanks again to Nigel for making it all happen. "

Ryan - Northern Ireland

The Whale Shark and Mantas Came so Close!

"All of the crew on the liveaboard were excellent, the guides were friendly, knowledgeable and helpful, as were the crew. The dive sites were good, although some were hard work due to the current, but thoroughly enjoyable and well worth the effort.

We went to the Maldives in the hope of diving with a whale shark or Mantas. The guides made sure we got both!! The Whale Shark and the Mantas came so close to us that we could have reached out and touched them, it was amazing. Neither of us could pinpoint a favourite memory, as we had several amazing experiences.

We had no problems at all, everything ran smoothly, flights, transfers, accommodation etc. The transfers were excellent, as was the accommodation both on the island and the liveaboard. Both venues offered excellent food and service, especially the liveaboard.

As for Regaldive's services, you made everything so easy, the booking, travel insurance, dive insurance, the whole package. Everything went like clockwork and I would not hesitate to use you again, in fact I have already recommended you to a few people at work.

Please accept out thanks and please pass this on to anyone else who was involved in arranging our holiday."

Sean Taylor - UK

27 years of diving | Best dive safari to date!

"Emperor Voyager followed by Eriyadu Resort – Beach Club rooms

We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday. Everything was as good, if not better, than we expected and we were very impressed with the Emirates flights. The Eriyadu apartment had recently been refurbished and was well positioned for the best part of the reef for snorkelling, which was exceptional, and the beach. Chris on the boat and the staff at resort were superb.

Emperor Voyager was great - we had a fantastic cabin on the first deck with large windows and plenty of room and storage. The food onboard was excellent, cabin services great - it would have been nice to have free soda drinks, but they are quite expensive out there though.

The crew was always ready to help and Chris the guide / boat manager was one of the best and most knowledgeable I have come across and in my 27 years of diving .

Dive sites were well chosen and none were disappointing. The sights will live with us forever - amazing! Our favourite memory from the holiday was that of the manta rays on the cleaning station.

I was very happy with the service and value for money from Regal dive, and would look to book with them in future.

It's my best dive safari to date!"

John and Suzanne - UK

The whole trip was more than we expected!

"The whole trip was more than we expected. This was our first dive trip where the tour operator included activities beyond the diving. The local island trip, BBQ on the beach, visit to Male and night snorkelling from the boat were lovely additional touches.

The transfers and ground arrangements were very good: when we left Emperor Voyager Chris came into the airport with us and made sure everyone knew where they were going.
The accommodation aboard the boat was great and very spacious. The added touch of “Happy Honeymoon” decorations on our bed was lovely, and the food was varied and always tasty.

All of the crew and dive guides were very helpful throughout the trip. Chris was brilliant and his manta ray presentation was informative and very interesting.

The dive sites were brilliant and varied with lots of marine life - we were even treated to a wreck! We saw Manta Rays, turtles and sharks, with one of the highlights being a sunset dive with approx. 20 nurse sharks

Our favourite memory from the holiday was spending a whole hour long dive hooked on at a cleaning station watching Manta Rays. They even gave us one final swim past as we were ascending. This was definitely a big tick on our diving bucket list.

Everyone at Regal was very helpful and we would definitely book with you again in the future. "

Fleur & George L. - Newark

Everything went as planned

"Everything went as planned with flights, transfers and pre & post liveaboard accommodation. My time on the Emperor Voyager liveaboard, brilliant crew and diving."

Joanna

Emperor Atoll

"Just a quick email report back on our recent trip. We were *really* pleased with Emperor Atoll. It is a slightly smaller and less "up-market" boat than others, but that doesn't really matter when the diving and crew are as good as they are. There was plenty of space for the twelve divers and who needs a jacuzzi after four hours in the water??

Brett ran the operation really well and we were impressed with the way that he dealt with the punters, trying to make sure that things were right for everybody. He's also a man who obviously cares about his crew, and that comes through in the support and help that the crew then give all the divers. The food was absolutely fabulous too - the chef went out of his way to provide lovely veggie dishes for Clare and I.

The diving was excellent. We had sharks on almost every dive (Alimatah Jetty is now our #1 night dive - awesome!), and a couple of terrific manta encounters at Moofushi. No whalesharks sadly, but we'll just have to go back again :-). There were clear briefings on the boat and all the diving was very well managed.

So a big thumbs up for the boat - one of the most enjoyable trips I've had in recent years!
"

S. Bechhofer - UK

Plenty of mantas, turtles and sharks

"The dive trip was really good. As we were a small group, we had plenty of space on the boat and dive boat. The crew really looked after us and fed us well.

It's a shame that we didn't see any whale sharks but we saw plenty of Mantas, turtles, sharks and even a 2-3m long guitarfish. My highlight was a night dive with Mantas right next to our boat. "

Iris and Leszek - UK

My Favourite Memory was the Night Dive!

"My favourite memory from the holiday was the night dive off the back of the boat on the first dive day with the manta was incredible - 80 minutes of her circling under the light then swooping down, brushing over my head then barrel-rolling just feet away was amazing. And everyone on board got to see the super-cute baby whale shark too.

The liveaboard and dhoni were both comfortable with lots of shade. The recharge points on the main deck were really handy and we kept log books in here too. The crew were amazing - especially considering it was Ramadan. It was a comfortable boat, with small dive groups and a great selection of dive sites.

The dive sites were all good - nice variety and almost all sites had shallower areas of reef for the latter parts of the dive, so only once did we have to come up early, having run out of bottom time. It was appreciated when the decision was made to move away from the whale shark reef when there were no sightings, dive elsewhere and then go back the next day when tidal conditions were better - not sure if this is standard, but it felt like the guides could be flexible with the itinerary on this trip. We also, almost always, saw everything mentioned in the briefing, which has not always been the case before, especially with sharks!

We were happy with Regaldive’s services too - always very good customer service with quick and helpful replies.
"

Vicki Harry - UK

Good Diving with a Couple of Excellent Manta Encounters

"Our trip was excellent, no problems. We travelled out a day early, as we like to have a day to recover from the flight before getting on the boat.

We chose the Ocean Grand which was really good. We had a two hour delay on the way out (which seems to be a feature of the Emirates A380!) which meant we missed the connection in Dubai and arrived on a slightly later flight into Male. The pickup was waiting for us though, and when we got to the hotel around 10:00, they let us straight into the room.

The next day our transfer back to the airport to meet the boat was at 15:00 and they were happy to let us stay in the room until then with no extra charge. It's a small place, but the staff were really nice and friendly and the food is excellent. We'd definitely recommend it over the Hulhule Island, where you get the impression that guests are something of an inconvenience ;-).

The Emperor Atoll is a fine boat - we knew what to expect, as we'd been on it last year. It's small and basic, but the food is lovely and the crew are great, which suits us fine. Twelve divers means that there's less faff kitting up and fewer divers in the water. We get the impression that over the last few years operators have been moving towards bigger/more luxurious boats. To be honest, that's not what we're really looking for. The small, basic end of things is good for us - and who actually needs a jacuzzi after four hours in the water?

We dived with Arif, who we'd also dived with last year, and he's one of my favourite dive guides - really nice and slow. Overall good diving with a couple of excellent manta encounters. Some video/logs here:

So, overall, very satisfied!"

Sean Bechhofer - UK

Good Variety of Sites

"We had a very enjoyable week. The crew and guides were friendly and helpful, we were always signed on and off the dhoni, and we have a great bunch of fellow divers. The cabins were clean and very comfortable; the food was excellent. Guides were accommodating, patient and helpful.

There was a good variety of sites. Plenty of mantas and a whaleshark were found, and a couple of excellent places to hook up and enjoy the spectacle. Our favourite memory was a close encounter with a flutefish, a manta cleaning station, and Helen saw a whaleshark!"

Peter and Helen - London

An excellent small boat

"Lots of sharks on "Sharktastic", on virtually every dive, plus lots of mantas on two of the dives. And the food, of course the food, excellent! "

Bruce C

Best Place for Big Fish I Have Been!

"My Maldives diving trip on Carpe Vita was a success, so thank you for arranging it.

The diving was mostly very good (I was expecting a high standard, being the best season in the best part of Maldives). Dozens of reef sharks, plenty of Mantas, Whale sharks, turtles (up to 20 on some dives). Highlight for me was a big Mola mola. Also the night dive with Nurse Sharks & rays. Some days the ocean current was cold and murky, and there were a few drift dives we saw very little (with perhaps unrealistic expectations of Tiger Shark and Sailfish, both of which were seen but not by me!).

Dive conditions in Maldives, as you'll know, can be challenging due to currents, and would not suit inexperienced divers. Everyone used Nitrox, and it would have posed problems if not qualified, as we were diving in groups (20 divers, 3 guides).

Interestingly the boat was staffed entirely by Maldivians (previous boats have had Western leaders and dive guides).

The cabins on Carpe Vita were more spacious and of higher standard than the other 2 boats I have been on in the Maldives (Orion & Monsoon). The food was good but perhaps a bit bland compared to other boats which were more ethnic, but not everyone wants spicy.

The Nurse shark site is Alimathaa Jetty on Vaavu Atoll. it was the only night dive we did, and was probably the best ever! The dive guides took bottles of fish blood to attract the fish (so technically they were not feeding them). We spent the dive on reef hooks, with metre wide rays, shoals of tuna & jacks, and 2-3m sharks so close as to touch our legs. Above were up to 50 nurse sharks, and I had to hit one on the nose with my torch when it got too close. A whale shark came to the boat at night.

We were on a blue water drift dive off Huvadhoo when a Mola Mola appeared from behind and swam up to us. It only stayed a minute, before going deeper and disappearing. I knew it was a once in a lifetime experience!

So I can recommend the trip, and I think the Maldives is the best place for big fish that I have been."

Patrick Frew - UK

The diving was fabulous, the

"The diving was fabulous, the dive boat very comfortable, and the other divers very agreeable."

Tim B

Very large cabins and

"Very large cabins and bathrooms, that far exceed space than normal on a liveaboard. The food was excellent, and the dive boat was quality, as were the staff and diving. Tiger zoo was a real highlight, being able to watch tiger sharks in shallow water."

Johnathan M

Amazing dive sites

"Very well thought out and varied in all aspects of diving from large pelagics to smaller marine life, from drift dives to channel diving, we seemed to cover them all.

We dived with Emporor divers and was on a boat called Emporor Leo. The dive guides were brilliant and the company in general were absolutely faultless. Our personal dive instructor was Russ and he was one of the best we've ever had. The accomodation and food were all perfect. My wife has severe allergies and she was catered for perfectly. We can't rate these guys highly enough. "

Clayton M

Good-sized cabin and en suite

"Good-sized cabin and en suite. Comfy bed and quiet cabin away from engine room.

Diving highlights were whale sharks and various other sharks, great manta interactions and lots of friendly turtles."

Susan H

Diving in the Maldives is the stuff of Blue Planet

"The holiday was very well planned, the only thing I had to think about was getting to the airport! Diving in the Maldives is the stuff of blue planet, made even better by the amazing crew on Virgo! "

Stacey M