Dive Review of Infiniti Liveaboards in
India/Andaman & Nicobar Islands

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Infiniti Liveaboards: "A very Indian cruise", Mar, 2016, by Harvey S. Cohen, NJ, US ( Sr. Contributor 25 reports with 18 Helpful votes). Report 8870.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	[flickr.com link] I think the boat is a reasonable choice for divers from Asia who can travel to Port Blair relatively easily, and who are partial to Indian food. For me, the boat and the diving were good but not up to Mermaid. This was the Barren Island itinerary, suitable for experienced divers. There are a number of dives with significant current; I think every diver should have a reef hook and know how to use it properly. The Infiniti is a twin-engine steel hull, a big plus for safety and reliability. The dive staff and boat crew are friendly, helpful, professional, and charming. Divers normally gear up on the somewhat cramped dive deck and descend a stairway to the platform to board an RIB. A diver unable to make the walk could ask the crew to carry their tank to the RIB. A full load of 12 divers is divided into 3 groups with 2 guides for each group. Guides track all divers, and I don’t think a diver ever surfaced unsupervised. Guides often start dives quite deep; sometimes this is to reach the bottom and duck the current, but often there does not seem to be a good reason. Coral, reef fauna, and pelagic fauna are all very good. The underwater topography around the active volcano (Barren Island) is unusual and interesting, and the newly-discovered “hot tub” area in the shallows is a treat. The suit rinse tank has Sink The Stink, which works much better than the Detol used by Mermaid. Cabins are comfortable and reasonably spacious. For the maximum 12 passengers, the dining room, lounge, and sundeck are all spacious and pleasant. The dining room has a good espresso/coffee machine, a sideboard with cereal, milk, bread, peanut butter, jelly, and fruit, and a fridge stocked with cheese and dahi. The lounge has a cooler with complementary juices and soft drinks and inexpensive beer and wine, and a cupboard with a wide variety of packaged snacks and cookies. Virtually all the packaged snacks that are salty are also spicy-hot. The kitchen serves 3 meals a day and no snacks. Virtually all the food from the kitchen is Indian, and a high proportion is spicy-hot. The only sink available to a passenger is the one in their cabin bathroom. There is no way to rinse one’s hands after handling food in the dining room. The dining room is full of houseflies, which do not bite but are very annoying. The staff say they have been asking for restaurant-style electric insect trap/zappers for the kitchen and dining room, with no success. The boat, especially the cabin bathrooms, are infested with ant-size cockroaches, which appear harmless but are unpleasant. The staff say that these would normally be controlled by fumigation between trips, but that the scheduling of the last turnaround did not allow enough time. Infiniti cannot handle charge cards on board. Divers should bring enough cash for all expenses not pre-paid, such as alcoholic beverages and crew tip.
Websites	Infiniti Liveaboards
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Gulf of Eilat, Bali, Komodo, Raja Ampat, Banda Sea, Fiji, Palau, Coral Sea, Galapagos, many Caribbean locations, New Jersey, Florida, National Aquarium, Dutch Springs
Closest Airport	Port Blair	Getting There	Domestic Indian flights only. Chennai is easiest.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, cloudy	Seas	calm, surge, currents
Water Temp	79-82°F / 26-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	40-90 Ft/ 12-27 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Surface with 50 bar.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	The crew handles divers' cameras well. The camera table is very small and not well protected from spray. It has neither charging outlets nor compressed air. The boat has ample electrical outlets, but no dedicated charging area; I recommend that divers with more than one device to be charged bring a short extension cord and a power-strip or multiple-port charger.

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Dive Review of Infiniti Liveaboards in India/Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Infiniti Liveaboards: "A very Indian cruise", Mar, 2016,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Infiniti Liveaboards in
India/Andaman & Nicobar Islands