Seafari

For 10 days on the liveaboard, I felt like I was in heaven. I stayed in the lower deck and the room and bathroom were both big. Unlike other liveaboards in other countries I've experienced, Maldivian liveaboards seem to be very comfortable and spacious. The bed was very comfortable with nice bedding. On the second deck, you can enjoy the breeze and bartime with an awesome bartendar, Lahiru, who is so professional and fun, giving me best mojito's I've ever tried (He has won many competitions in his country for cocktails!) ! On the third deck, you can dry wet clothes (even though it never got dry due to rainy season) and massage is provided at a reasonable price. Delicious meals were provided each time, cleaning service was awesome, wifi good enough (free), and staff were very very friendly. Diving was magnificent. For me, 40 min's of divings are usually too short, but Seafari gave 60 min's diving with Nitrox (for free)!. The current was more than I expected, but I love big animals, and big animals like current, so I was very satisfied. Diving in Maldive is not an easy dive, but I saw so many sharks (grown-up and baby), spotted eagle rays, mantas, nurse sharks, stone fish, octopus and whalesharks and so on. My diving guide Ahusan was my very buddy, looking so comfortable at every dive and I felt safe with him. Due to the rainy season in late September, the weather changed, but it did not rain the whole day, come-and-go style.Visibility was good on the north side, but it got worse as we approached near Male (end of the trip) but it's mother nature. Special thing about the 10-day trip with Seafari Explorer in this season, is that it "visits" to North part of Maldives, and includes Hanifaru Bay, I saw 20-30 "wild" mantas at the same time while snorkeling. Fantastic and mesmerizing!!!! (Recommend it for sure!!) During the night time, boat light attracks mantas or whalesharks and you can see inside their mouth from so~~close. I can see why there are so many returners on the liveaboard. FYI, the liveaboard is operated by French, so most people were French divers and they spoke French. But all the staff were fluent in English and diving people were eager to talk, so no worries for that! Wish to return for another trip with Seafari Explorer (14 days to south) after saving some money! :)

Great boat with a lot of French divers onboard. The cabins are comfortable. They were 4 dive guides onboard and people were grouped by nationalities instead of level and experience which may not be the best choice imho, specially when everyone was fluent in English. Food was very good and after the third dive, in the late afternoon, starts the "apero time" where everyone grabs a drink and snacks, watching the sunset. The boat is very friendly, with a good local crew. We did the Central Atolls itinerary in January where we saw mantas, turtles, nurse sharks, grey reef sharks etc. We had some whale sharks at night behind the boat, feeding off the plankton. Awesome diving in the Maldives! Water temperature was everywhere, and at any depth, 28 Celsius.

Spent the week of March 11th 2023 onboard the Odyssey. Had a lovely time! Crew and dive guides were great. Food was fresh, lots of variety, catered to specific needs. Wifi does not really work (we were able to be connected on and off for maybe 2 days out of the week). I didn’t know this boat was owned by a French company, so almost all of the guests were from France and staff spoke mostly French and Arabic. Boat is comfortable and spacious, but could use a bit of touch ups here and there. We did 3 dives a day and everything was very well organized and safe. Big shoutout to Migo the dive guide!