Amba Liveaboard, Maldives
- from US$ 150 / day
- 8.7 Fabulous
- 22 Verified Reviews 22 Verified Reviews
- Internet Nitrox available Flexible Booking
The Amba yacht is one of the only Maldives liveaboards to be stationed in the northern atolls, away from crowds. Completely renovated in 2016, the Amba liveaboard offers a generous amount of space both indoors and outside. The upper deck has 2 standard cabins and 2 luxury cabins, and 7 more spacious standard cabins are located on the lower deck. The standard cabins are equipped with double and/or single beds, and all cabins feature individually controlled AC, fan and private bathroom with sink, shower and toilet. The luxury cabins are a bit bigger and have fantastic views of the Indian Ocean from its private sun/shade terrace.
In the main salon/dining room, 3 freshly prepared meals per day are served, along with afternoon snacks/cakes, drinking water and tea and coffee. There is also a multimedia area with TV, DVD, Hifi, board games and a library. The shadow deck is home to the outdoor lounge which is the perfect place to relax in between diving, and the generous sundeck is partially covered with deck chairs and large sunbathing lawn.
During the week-long Maldives liveaboard cruise 2-3 dives per day plus 1-night dive are offered, (excluding arrival and departure days). Cruising the far northern area of Haa Alifu and Haa Dhaalu Atoll, and also offering regular special tours to Baa & Raa atoll, divers can hope to see spectacular reefs, manta rays, reef sharks, stingrays, guitar rays, leopard sharks and a variety of critters to create unforgettable dives. The diving dhoni accompanies Amba, offering ample space for gear storage, kitting up and fresh towels to use after diving. Nitrox is available for those certified and highly recommended. Rebreather divers are welcome, and sofnolime and oxygen can be provided with prior notice. A detailed briefing in German and English is given before every dive.
Call us or book online today to reserve your space.
Choose your departure date
Included: VAT, Fuel Surcharge, Port Fees, Airport Transfer, Drinking Water, Tea & Coffee, Welcome Cocktails, Full-Board Meal Plan (All meals), Snacks, Diving Package, Fishing, Beach Towels, Cabin Towels, Deck Towels.
Required Extras: Environment Tax (42-66 USD per trip).
Optional Extras: Travel Insurance, Gratuities (100-150 EUR per week), Hotel Transfer, Local Flights (330-360 EUR), Alcoholic Beverages, Soft drinks, Nitrox (59-105 EUR per trip), Nitrox Course (150 EUR), Private Dive Guide (30 EUR per activity), Rental Gear, Scuba Diving Courses (245 EUR), WiFi internet (15 EUR).
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.
Pay by bank transfer or online with Best Price Guaranteed
Boat features
Food & Drinks
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
The crew speaks English and German.
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
Accommodation
Boat Specifications
- Year built 2004
- Year renovated 2016
- Length 33 meters
- Beam 10 meters
- Cruising speed 12 knots
- Engines Volvo Penta 430 PS
- Max guests 22
- Number of cabins 11
- Number of bathrooms 11
- Tenders 1 Dhoni
- Water capacity 5000 liters
- Fuel capacity 3000 liters
- Freshwater maker 6000 liters per day
Boat Navigation and Safety
Amba Liveaboard Reviews
- 8.7 Fabulous
- 22 Verified Reviews
- Vessel 8.6
- Crew 8.9
- Food 9.3
- Diving 8.1
- Value 8.5
- 10 Exceptional
- Ivo J
Czech Republic
A great experience
The crew know what they're doing and how to give their guests the best possible trip. Heaps of manta, sting and eagle rays, nurse sharks and heaps of reef shark , was pity no guitar shark and whale shark.It was fun to dive in strong currents. Lucky we had reefhooks with us. Can’t say anything negative about this trip. It was amazing!!!!!
- Recommended for
- guides, chefs, dive boat crew
- 8.0 Very good
- Anne M
France
Friendly crew and uncrowded dives
We had a good itinerary starting from Male and going to the northern atolls of the Maldives. The trip focused on manta cleaning stations and we were lucky to see them. We dove one channel (kandu) with an incoming current which had a great fish life. The maldivian guide Shaheel is very experienced and very friendly, he knows all the dive sites inside out. The couple managing the boat is super friendly and makes a great addition to a very nice boat. The Northen atolls may not have recovered yet from the bleaching episodes of the last few years but it is getting better in some parts. No doubt this uncrowded part of the Maldives will flourish again soon with vibrant colours. The fish life is overall good. Kuredu has an amazing dive site with dozens of huge turtles. Some channels attract lots of sharks. Always good to dive in the Maldives ! The boat crew and dhoni crew are all great and the whole operation runs very smoothly.
- Recommended for
- Manta cleaning stations; dive guides and crew; food
- 9.6 Exceptional
- Arndt P
Germany
beautiful trip with perfect dives
many many sharks, rays and other stuff
- Recommended for
- fishlife food and weather
- 9.6 Exceptional
- Arndt P
- Germany
super diving adventure in the north of the maledives
baby manta, baby silvertip, baby eagle ray, giant nurse shark
- Recommended for
- fishlife food and people
- 9.6 Exceptional
- STEFANO C
Italy
Fantastic
Tutto molto bello, grazie
- Recommended for
- Posti bellissimi - Mante - Non troppa gente
- 8.0 Very good
- YUEN FAI DICK W
United Kingdom
very often the only boat in the neighborhood
guitar shark, leopard shark, manta, octopus walking around
- Recommended for
- unique north itinerary, spacious room, sunrise/sunset
- 9.2 Superb
- jorge H
Spain
Very good valeu for money
Excellent diving with guides like Alex, Dane and Zeezal nothing can go wrong. Very profesional. Nice. With lots of patience and empathy. The dives we did were always excellent and very well planed even when it was not their normal route. Great time with great people.
- Recommended for
- The crew, the diving and the group we got.
- 8.4 Very good
- John F
- United Kingdom
Great diving in great company
The blue and yellow soft coral and the guitar sharks
- Recommended for
- The company, the diving and the crew
- 8.0 Very good
- chee chyuan C
Malaysia
a simple live aboard
quite trip well organized nice dive guide
- Recommended for
- Lot of room, friendly, quite
- 8.0 Very good
- Gregory F
United States
Some good Some bad
The Manta dive was an awesome dive. The reefs were in very good shape for the most part and the amount of reef fish was mind boggeling!!
- Recommended for
- The crew on the dohni were very very good. 4 of the dives were good.
- 8.0 Very good
- Jessica B
- United States
Great value and no crowds
The cabins are very spacious, and even the en suite was much larger than most liveaboards. The crew is fantastic and goes out of their way to keep guests happy. The main salon is large and comfortable and there are several outdoor areas to lounge. Our only complaint was that the smoking section was the one and only covered deck, just behind the salon. Made it difficult to find a place to hang out away from the smoke when it rained. Diving in the far north was amazing. We didn't have great visibility, but the life was so prolific. And we never had to share a dive site with another boat. Would highly recommend this trip!
- Recommended for
- Uncrowded dive sites, fantastic marine life, good crew
- 9.2 Superb
- Johan B
South Africa
The week on the Amba was the best diving I have done yet!!!
The crew was really good, especially the kitchen staff. They kept us well fed and didn't just serve the "normal" dive boat fare. We did 18 dives and each one was different from the next, ensuring that we experienced all that the North Maldives has to offer in one short week. Some advice - as the currents can be quite strong, remember to bring a reef hook along, although the boat and also provide.
- Recommended for
- Crew and guides / underwater life diversity / Food
- 8.0 Very good
- Adam W
- United States
Nice boat, good food, meh diving
Dives at 7am are a little too early as the sun's not high enough to pierce much of the water. Some dive spots should be abandoned altogether as they were uninteresting or nearly completely bleached. Wasted a lot of time over barren areas. Overall 18 dives: 3 great; 5 good; 5 ok; 5 quite dull.
- Recommended for
- Good food, boat is in good shape (but rooms smell), nice sun and shade areas
- 8.0 Very good
- christian H
Switzerland
Enjoy diving far away from crowded spots
christmas Rock diving spot
- Recommended for
- Food onboard, diving spots, service
- 10 Exceptional
- Peter W
Australia
A great dive trip in the beautiful northern Makdives
Great! The Amba is currently the only dive boat operating in the Northern Maldives so the dive sites were not crowded with boats and divers. Sleeping out of the roof deck was wonderful! Great cabins too! Excellent food!
- Recommended for
- The diving, the diving, the diving.... Everything was great but the diving is the most important
- 8.4 Very good
- Marina C
- Italy
Good experience to taste diving in Maldives
Amazing experience
- Recommended for
- The upper deck, the amazing places, the peace in the ocean
- 8.8 Fabulous
- Philip H
- United Kingdom
Boat better than the diving
The weather was against us but the Amba is well run by the crew, but the diving management was not what I have been accustomed to before in other Maldives trips.There doesn't seem to be a concept of duty of care for looking out for the less experienced divers which I believe verged on the unprofessional and this view was shared by the most of those diving on the boat. Diving is not the same as leading a group around a woodland walk, one of the dive leaders was far more professional than the other in their overall demeanor and attitude to caring for his diving group. The other didn't seem to care about the group he was leading and felt because he paired or put you in a threesome his job was done. It was up to you diving with the less experienced third diver not him nurturing and ensuring the person achieved a good dive by staying with them and helping in the difficult parts like the negative entries that are a part of diving in the Northern Atolls. I was not impressed and the fact that Liveaboard.com which he booked through weren't a bit more explicit about the difficulties of the diving conditions in this area. He had only carried out 40 dives in easy blue water conditions I think you need at least a 100 and in difficult conditions to be comfortable in the Northern Atolls. To sum up the boat and crew are good the diving management is half good the other half is not.
- Recommended for
- The Food, Facilities and Dohi
- 8.4 Very good
- Silke W
- Germany
Still nice boat with good staff and lonesome dive spots
Relaxing week with nice other divers.
- Recommended for
- Sharks, Mantas, Dolphins
- 8.8 Fabulous
- peter D
Netherlands
very good service, relaxing and beautiful part of the maladives
we had a very nice stay on the boat. i tell all my friends to go over there and stay with you thanks ps Tamara did a fine job; could you ask her to send me the pictures she promised me
- Recommended for
- relax, space and the food
