Emperor Serenity, Maldives

Excellent food and drinks

“The diving was good, but not as great as I was hoping/expecting. I'm glad to check the Maldives off my wishlist, but Palau is bett…”

Arisa K, United States United States
Read 163 more reviews

Highlights

  • Free nitrox for certified divers
  • Complimentary glass of wine with dinner
  • 2 for 1 Happy Hour most evenings before dinner
  • All port, fuel, and park fees are included

Join the MV Emperor Serenity for world-class diving in the Maldives. The stylish and contemporary liveaboard easily accommodates 26 guests in 13 cabins. On the lower deck are 8 double-bed cabins. The main and upper decks each have 2 suites with a king-size bed, a single bed, and stunning ocean views. Each stateroom has individually controlled AC, private en-suite bathrooms, storage space, and charging ports.

On the main deck is a large indoor air-conditioned salon with a TV and entertainment system that leads onto the outdoor terrace and lounge area. The indoor dining room serves buffet-style meals with various local and international dishes to suit everyone. The large sun deck has a partially covered area and plenty of loungers for everyone.

Scuba diving with the M/V Emperor Serenity takes place from the large, fully equipped diving Dhoni, giving you more space onboard and getting you to the perfect dive spot. Nitrox is FREE, and the 4 professional dive guides and 13 experienced and friendly boat crew of the Emperor Serenity will be on hand to help you to create a memorable Maldives dive vacation. Itineraries are usually 7-nights long and explore the 'Best of the Maldives,' which includes stops at Rasdhoo Atoll, North and South Ari, and North and South Male Atolls for the chance to dive with big fish such as sharks and manta, as well as turtles, morays and the abundant macro life.

Trips aboard Emperor liveaboards include all port and park fees, free Nitrox, and even complimentary wine, while you will never be charged extra for itinerary or fuel surcharges. What you see is what you pay.

Book your Emperor Serenity liveaboard easily online today.


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Included: VAT, Environment Tax, Port Fees, Airport Transfer, Drinking Water, Tea & Coffee, Wine with Dinner, Beach BBQ, Full-Board Meal Plan (All meals), Snacks, Special Dinner, Diving Package, Nitrox, Land Excursions, Snorkel Gear, Snorkeling Guide, Cabin Towels, Deck Towels.

Optional Extras: Dive Insurance (6 EUR per day), Travel Insurance, Gratuities (150 USD), Alcoholic Beverages (5 USD), Soft drinks (3 USD), Nitrox Course (284 USD), Rental Gear, Scuba Diving Courses (101-466 USD), WiFi internet (31 USD).

Book now, pay later: You can easily place your booking online. We will then hold the spaces for you and you can confirm with a payment later.

* Extra fees are shown per person.

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Boat features

  • Camera Station
  • Daily housekeeping
  • Audio & video entertainment
  • Library
  • Air Conditioned saloon
  • Aircon Cabins
  • Sun Deck
  • Indoor Saloon
  • Non-Diver (Snorkeler) Friendly
  • Warm Water Showers
  • Outdoor Dining
  • Charging stations
  • En-Suite bathrooms
  • Paid Internet
  • Bar

Food & Drinks

  • Western Food
  • Local Food
  • Buffet style
  • Beer available
  • Free Wine w/Dinner
  • Fine Wines Selection
  • Wine Available
  • Fine Cuisine
  • Beach BBQ
  • Full-board Option
  • Al Fresco Dining

If you have any specific dietary requirements whilst on-board your cruise, you can add this to your special requests on step 2 of the booking form. We advise limiting these requests to religious beliefs or food allergies.


Diving

  • DIN Adaptors
  • Nitrox available
  • Rebreather Support
  • Tenders for diving
  • Free Nitrox

The crew speaks English, French, and Spanish.


Gear Rental

There is diving gear available on this boat. Please provide your rental needs on the booking form. See below for further details on inclusions and pricing. Show prices.


Drawings & Vessel Layouts

#deckplan floorplan

Boat Specifications

  • Year built 2016
  • Length 40 meters
  • Beam 13 meters
  • Engines 1 x 600 HP Daewoo Doosan
  • Max guests 26
  • Number of cabins 13
  • Number of bathrooms 13
  • Tenders 1 x 19.8m Dhoni
  • Freshwater maker 12 tonnes per day

Boat Navigation and Safety

  • GPS
  • Radio VHF/DSC/SSB
  • Life Vests
  • Fire Alarm & Fire Extinguishers
  • Oxygen
  • First Aid Kits
  • Satellite & mobile phones
  • Crew trained in first aid

Emperor Serenity Reviews

  • 9.3 Superb
  1. Vessel
    9.3
  2. Crew
    9.2
  3. Food
    9.7
  4. Diving
    9.3
  5. Value
    8.9
  • 6.8 Review score
  • Arisa K
  • United States United States
Cons outweighed the Pros

The diving was good, but not as great as I was hoping/expecting. I'm glad to check the Maldives off my wishlist, but Palau is better. We did see manta rays, which was a highlight. The first day of diving was also more challenging than I had expected. Aside from the first check-out dive, they started the trip with 100-ft dives with currents. One dive specifically STARTED with a strenuous swim into a challenging current. Fortunately, the second half of the trip consisted of more shallow (and interesting, IMO) reef dives. As a nonsmoker, I probably would not opt to go on a live aboard again unless I can find one that is completely smoke free. Even though smoking was restricted to one section of the boat, smoke travels! It wafted up to the hallway in front of our cabin, and there was a strong odor of cigarette smoke IN our cabin for the first 3-4 days. Also, the designated smoking area was a prime seating area just outside the main dining/lounge room. Since most of the smokers were staff/dive guides, this basically became a staff lounge. It was an area I could not enjoy 80% of the time because of cigarette smoke. The smoke also drifted into the dining room every time someone opened the door. Our second major issue was our assigned dive guide. She was a very skillful diver, and she was great at spotting macro-life like tiny nudibranchs. However, there were times when I or my dive buddy had gear issues or ear-clearing issues, and she seemed annoyed and impatient when anything came up. She was very quick to descend (I need to descend slowly), and she is a fast swimmer. And there was often current. So yes, I found it challenging to keep up with her. I did communicate this to her, and asked if it would be OK if my buddy and I ended up joining another group if we couldn't keep up with her in the middle of a dive (because there were other groups going at a pace that would have been more comfortable for us). Her response was that my buddy and I "didn't have to stay with the group" -- and we could do what we wanted. This was our first time diving in the Maldives, so no, we didn't want to go off on our own; we were hoping for a guide who would actually look out for us and not leave us in the dust. We also felt like we were in an awkward position because it was apparent that our assigned dive guide was the significant other of the trip manager. We tried to make the best of a less-than-ideal situation, but it definitely soured the experience for us. We did have a little bit of interaction with another dive guide, who was really lovely. The rest of the staff was great as well, especially the barman and waiter. And the food was great -- at least 3 salad options, 2 meat options, and sides for every meal! I ate well.

Recommended for
The boat is spacious and generally comfortable. The meals were excellent, exceeded expectations. The waitstaff and chefs were outstanding. The boat crew was also great.
  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Megan P
  • United States United States
The diving was awesome and well organized.

Diving with the Mantas and beach barbecue.

Recommended for
Close access to dive sites. Well organized dive boat. Crew was great!
  • 10 Exceptional
  • Scott K
  • United States United States
Great trip

Night dive with mantas was excellent. Fish head dive site was full of fish life. I loved a dive that had 15 sharks swimming back and forth, with a squadron of seven eagle rays passing by. Kudos to our divemaster Deano for his ocean stewardship and his enthusiasm for finding sea life.

Recommended for
Diving, food, crew
  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Peter M
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom
Great diving with a superb crew

Friendship with other divers we met on the boat; seeing over around 15 eagle rays swim past; watching dolphins feeding at the stern of the boat one evening.

Recommended for
Helpfulness of crew, knowledgeable dive guides, convenience of diving from the dhoni
  • 10 Exceptional
  • Laura D
  • Australia Australia
Best diving ever!

The night dive with mantas, and the different manta cleaning stations, snorkelling with the whalesharks and the sheer number of sharks I saw. We even saw a bow mouth guitar shark. The dive guides and the boat crew were amazing, I couldn't recommend them higher.

Recommended for
Amazing marine life, awesome crew and boat!
  • 10 Exceptional
  • Roger M
  • Switzerland Switzerland
Absolutely awesome in every way!

I had an amazing trip with Emperor Serenity with awesome dives got to see many Mantas, Sharks and met great people who i got share the amazing experience with.

Recommended for
Guides, Amazing Dives and an all over great experience
  • 8.4 Very good
  • Carole C
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom
Beautiful boat, amazing dive

Dornay staff very helpful when snorkeling. Night dive.

Recommended for
Manta ray and turtles. Accommodation very good.
  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Leon H
  • Germany Germany
A fantastic Trip!

The mantas at their cleaning station and watching them while hooked to the reef

Recommended for
Mantas , whaleshark, Food on Board
  • 9.2 Superb
  • Caroline S
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom
Amazing - we will be returning next year

Every aspect of the trip was great - we had 4 amazing manta dives we have been on 3 livaboards before and this was one of the best we will be looking to book again for next year

Recommended for
The other quests were fab - we all have something in common and looked out for each other down below.
  • 8.0 Very good
  • Malika M
  • Switzerland Switzerland
Really nice trop !!

We saw whale shark, manta, dolphins, turtle …

Recommended for
Thé food was really good.