Dive Review of Emperor Explorer in
Maldives

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Emperor Explorer: "Excellent Liveaboard trip in the Maldives", Nov, 2021, by Graham McGregor, Kilmacolm, GB ( Top Contributor 41 reports with 24 Helpful votes). Report 11828 has 1 Helpful vote.
Photos Submitted with this Report Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions
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	We are a group of 6 experienced divers who have been on several liveaboards including three previous Maldives trips. Emperor Explorer is one of 6 liveaboards run by Emperor fleet in the Maldives. The was a standard "central Maldives" tour. Emperor Explorer is one of the better liveaboards we have been on. It is a large boat, with ample room for the 21 divers in 14 cabins. We had 21 divers on our trip and there was generally room for personal space if needed. The cabins are really spacious for a liveaboard with side by side single beds in most cabins - tip, avoid the cabins below deck if you can. The bathrooms are also spacious with toilet sink and separate shower. The hot water died briefly after the last dive due to the demands of all the divers but it usually came back pretty quickly. There is a large lounge where the the dive briefings took place. There was space outside on three decks where you could relax and sunbathe. There is a hot tub on one deck although I didn't use it. All dining is in the main stateroom and there were 3 tables. Our group of 6 had a table to ourselves.. We enjoyed that as it encouraged mixing with other guests. We had mainly British divers, a German couple and a Korean lady. All were experienced divers and good company. The food was served buffet style. There was coffee and cereal available before the first dive. The first dive was followed by the full breakfast, eggs to order, beef sausages, beef bacon, beans etc; fruit. Lunch was generally fish; rice; pasta; sauce; fruit and ice cream. Dinner was always soup; a choice of mains; rice; potatoes, veg and dessert. The food was ample and tasty although not the best I have had in terms of variety. Coffee, tea and soft drinks plus snacks were available all day. We had a "desert island" barbecue one evening which was nice and the crew had prepared a whale shark sand structure. We arrived on Sunday morning and boat embarkation was pretty quick. We were advised by the Emperor rep who met us to purchase a local SIM card. It turned out that this was not necessary as the boat Wi-fi was the same price ($30) and worked about as well. As is typical of the Maldives all diving was done from the support dive boat (dhoni). This was a big dhoni and swallowed the 21 divers plus guides with ease. All equipment is set up on the dhoni at the start, there are individual cases for gear. There were separate rinse tanks for masks; for cameras; and for gear. You can rent 11, 13 or 15 litre (steel) tanks. There is also an $8 a night "green tax". On boarding Emperor Explorer there was the usual briefings; cabin allocation etc. You can pay $30 and get wifi for the week. I did this. The wifi was OK but for quite long periods on the journey it didn't work. The crew were great. Towels and linen are changed mid week and the cabins were comfortable by liveaboard standards. The dive briefings were good with a strong emphasis on safety and the environment. We were split into 4 groups for diving, with our group of 6 diving together. Our guide Gabriel was great showing us good stuff and getting to great locations on each dive. We chose Emperor because it advertises 4 dives a day (most Maldives liveaboard only offer three). In fact 21 dives not 22 were scheduled and three of those were night dives. One was billed as a "manta dive" where they turn on the lights at the rear of the boat. This attracts plankton and, in turn, Mantas. This dive didn't happen because the Manta didn't show up until 2130! We had 2 dives on the final Saturday. In total 20 dives in the week was reasonable value for money compared with other Maldives liveaboards. We visited in the transition period between the wet and dry monsoons. Generally the weather was good but we had a couple of heavy showers, normally, during the night towards the end of our trip. In addition to the diving we spent the Friday morning cruising around the south tip of South Ari atoll searching for whale sharks. The dives were a typical Maldivian mixture of walls, channels and mainly deeper pinnacles. We also dived a small wreck, so a good mix of diving. The currents were generally medium or slight. When we did get stronger currents were rewarded with great shark encounters (greys reef and Whitetip). We dived twice at Lankan, a manta cleaning station and saw multiple mantas up close on both dives. We saw turtles on a couple of dives. We even saw a Tiger Shark on the check dive - pretty close, which was great Reef fish life is colourful and abundant. Critter fans were also rewarded with ghost pipefish, mantis shrimp etc. The visibility was OK ranging from 10 to 30m The bureaucracy getting out of and back into the UK was painful! I would strongly recommend Emperor Explorer
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Galapagos; Socorro; Palau; Sipadan; Truk; Malapascua; Komodo; Ticao Island; Maldives; Red Sea; Caribbean; Cuba; Hawaii; Florida; Cozumel; Spain, Seychelles, Mauritius, Oman, GBR; Raja Ampat
Closest Airport	Male	Getting There	Direct BA flight from London to Male
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, rainy, dry	Seas	calm, currents
Water Temp	28-29°C / 82-84°F	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	10-20 M / 33-66 Ft
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	All dives were led by a dive guide
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 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	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	Plenty of power points on board for cameras

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

Subscriber's Comments

By report author: Graham McGregor in Kilmacolm, GB at Dec 15, 2021 17:38 EST

Should have mentioned, in addition to many Grey Reef sharks,Whitetip Reef sharks and Nurse sharks, we saw decent sized Blacktop Reef sharks (as well as the Tiger shark). Combined with the many Mantas, this was a good big pelagic trip!!

By report author: Graham McGregor in Kilmacolm, GB at Dec 21, 2021 07:49 EST

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Dive Review of Emperor Explorer in Maldives

Emperor Explorer: "Excellent Liveaboard trip in the Maldives", Nov, 2021,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Emperor Explorer in
Maldives