Ocean One Liveaboard, Maldives

A wonderful experience, with a few things to improve

This was my third Maldives Liveaboard, my first with Ocean One. We did the Male-to-Male Central route, which is the same as I’ve done before, previously with Emperor and Aggressor. There were some very good things about it, some OK things, and some things which could have been better. I chose this Liveaboard because I needed to start on a specific date, and this was one of the few options available. This seemingly worked in our favour, because on only 2 sites were there any other divers. The crew also gave consideration to tide times so that the sites chosen stood the best type of current for the dive. This was particularly evident and paid off at the 2nd Manta cleaning station where we had about 8 Mantas for an hour’s dive. The boat itself and the Dhonni are the best I’ve experienced. Ocean One is very big, and I really like the open plan inside/outside area. Eating out on the deck, with loads of space and options for relaxing is really very good and much nicer than I’ve experienced before. The rooms are also a very good size, including the bathrooms. We also benefited by there being just 16 guests, when capacity would be 24. I feel that Liveaboard.com should make clear that this is a French owned boat and therefore particularly popular with French speakers. However, I was lucky because the divers were international (Australia, USA, Italy, Poland, France, UK, Germany), and all the briefings were conducted in English, with French and Italian translation available. As well as the divers, 2 of the guests were just snorkelling and the team made sure to include them in as many sites as possible. This was a fantastic group, and I enjoyed this Liveaboard so much because of the friends I made. I felt the guides chose the sites well, and I have done many of them before showing they are diving ‘the best’ that Central Maldives has to offer. We didn’t repeat any sites, and covered a lot of distance and areas during the cruise. Other highlights included evening snorkelling with dolphins, and with Mantas, neither of which I’ve been able to do before and both were very special. I wasn’t impressed by the food. It was very basic, and often repetitive. Some guests said they really enjoyed it, but for me, the variety and quality of the cooking was not close to my experience on Emperor and Aggressor. It was good enough to sustain us for the week, but no more than that. That said: the NYE meal and the meal on the final night were brilliant! Cloe is an excellent guide. She knows the sites well, can adapt as necessary, and I really felt confident and safe diving with her as she would regularly be checking we were all still in the group and that everyone was OK. In my opinion, Ben was similar, though others really preferred Cloe. With Francesco and Irey, it really felt more like they were there to just guide at their own pace, and didn’t often look back to check on us or ask if OK and about air. I appreciate we look after ourselves and our buddy, but with constantly changing groups of divers, there were some dives when I wasn’t even sure who my Buddy was, and I feel this could have been very easily and simply addressed at the start of each dive by indicating who is who’s buddy on the whiteboard. On most dives, we would also be accompanied by one of the three DMs, so this was reassuring, and also meant that anyone consuming more air could end the dive a bit earlier with them, allowing the rest of us to continue. I was really surprised that Ocean One/Liveaboard.com says that this is Open Water with minimum 10 dives. There’s no way you can really do this trip without at least Advanced OW (30m qualified), and they don’t even offer air, so you need to be Nitrox certified too. For the safety of themselves and the enjoyment of others, I think AOW and 50-dive minimum should be imposed. It was my first experience of using a DPV – Ocean One has 5 of them onboard. This was really enjoyable and not something I’ve seen before,

Recommended for

The guests. Size & space of boat. DPV.

07 Jan, 2026

A Trip of a Lifetime

Ocean One employs some of the best dive guides I have ever dove with. One dive I will never forget is the first dive we did, we encountered so many manta rays. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t cry during the encounter.

Recommended for

Dives, the staff, activities

18 Mar, 2024

Incredible scuba diving week exploring the central Maldives

It was our first time scuba diving in the Maldives, and we’re so glad we chose Ocean One for the experience. The organisation was smooth, the crew and dive guides were incredibly friendly, and the rental gear was in great condition — we always felt safe and well taken care of. In addition to exploring vibrant dive sites teeming with life, we had unforgettable encounters with manta rays and sharks. We also enjoyed two relaxing island visits and a fantastic sunset barbecue right on the boat. All in all, it was a truly unforgettable trip, and we’d happily dive with Ocean One again.

Recommended for

Food. Beautiful dive sites. Boat & people.

09 Apr, 2025