Maldive Safari: Schedule, Deals, Reviews

Recent boat with spacious cabins. The food is really good and plentiful. Very friendly crew. We had 3 experienced Maldivian dive guides (freelancing as far as I understoof so the diving team may change) that did a great job guiding the groups. The dhoni crew was also very good. I just wish they had fresh coconut on the dhoni :)

This was our first liveaboard, and the Ariyal is definitely a diver-friendly boat, with a Dhoni riding alongside holding our equipment. (We are unsure if our equipment was washed daily.) The trip is advertised as 8 days, 7 nights. This is deceiving. When you must leave the boat by 8:30AM on Sunday, please advertise it as 7 days, 7 nights or just 7 nights. We had to secure a day room on our last day. The Ariyal: Nice finishings and space to roam around the boat. There was a sewer smell in our cabin. On a rainy day, leaks were seen throughout the ship and reported in upper cabins. Not good for a newer boat. Food: A great selection of buffet service. We thought the food was quite good, but we heard from other guests that other liveaboards (in other regions) offered a tastier fare. The tropical fruit was always the most popular item, as was the fresh fish. While espresso/cappucino is a nice touch available for purchase, instant coffee as the alternative is a let-down. The two servers in the dining room were brilliant workers. They never said much, but they were always pleasant and prepared to make sure every meal was perfect. They were spot on! Dining arrangements made it easy to move around and speak with everyone. Amenities: This is a poor rating! The hot tub was only filled on the first day. It was poorly maintained, half-filled and unusable for the remaining six days. The deck chairs were never laid out, and the top-deck bar was never opened. The deck chairs on the second level were always half-occupied by crew, and every night, like clockwork, crew members played video games on the large TV. Weather for the week: Only one day of rain, and it may have rained at night. We felt that the ship could benefit from a service director or coordinator to organize activities during the downtime between dives. There wasn't an introduction to the crew, dive masters... who was in charge? Name tags would be beneficial. It took several days for us to know who the captain was. Oh, there were two captains? Diving: At times, it seemed chaotic. Our group had the longest dive times (managed the best air) and was always the last in the water, which didn't make sense to us. Other groups waited up to 30 minutes for us to surface. The democratic question to the group: "Do you want to stay in this area for mantas or move on to the Rasdhoo atoll?" How would we know? What do we know? You are the dive masters in this area. Unless a storm is brewing at a dive site, I would suggest you stay with the itinerary. Lastly, try to space the groups more than 20 seconds apart. Sometimes, it was difficult to find our own DM when all the groups were overlapping. The dive briefings never completely matched what we ended up doing. Plus only the head DM, who gave the briefings, was present. It would make sense that we spend a minute or so with our individual DM's after the briefing to address questions. Special shout-out to the one captain and Bangladeshi deckhand who took me to the hospital to have my ear looked at. They helped guide me through a confusing village and processes. The Dhoni: It was very tight for 25 divers with a shared basket per cabin. That said, every dive worked itself out. The 25 like-minded guests were the best part of this experience. We walked away with incredible friendships. Would I go with the Ariyal again? Absolutely, yes. The value was great for the discounted price of $5400 CAD for 2 persons + onboard expenses and tips. Overall, we are very pleased with our experience. Any negative comments are intended to help the Ariyal make improvements for future guest experience. My wife and I are both in customer service and see every experience from this perspective. We hope this helps!