Ocean One Liveaboard, Maldives

Great value for money

I spent a week on the Ocean One in the central atolls of the Maldives, specifically in Ari Atoll. It was my fourth cruise with Liveaboard.com (the first three were in Egypt). Before departing, I had several concerns: from the photos the boat looked somewhat dated; many reviews criticized the guides, saying they were not very helpful and that all briefings were conducted only in French; moreover, I was a bit apprehensive about diving in the Maldives, which I had read could be very demanding. I would say that all of these concerns turned out to be unfounded. The boat is indeed a bit dated, but the photographs reflect neither more nor less than its actual condition, and in any case, although not brand new, the boat is very comfortable. The dive guides were outstanding, probably the best I have ever had: not only were the briefings conducted as needed in three languages (English, French, and Italian), but the primary language was always English; furthermore, the guides were highly professional and, during the dives, went out of their way in every possible manner to assist the divers and make their experience the best possible. Diving in the Maldives can indeed be challenging, but as mentioned, the guides managed everything in the best possible way. Another pleasant surprise was the food on board, again probably the best I have ever encountered on a diving cruise and well above expectations. My wife and I spent an amazing week and already miss the Ocean One.

Recommended for

Diving & Dive Guides. Food & Drinks. Crew service and friendliness.

13 Jan, 2026

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

Friends of the Maledives 🫶

Chris and his team are simply fantastic! Professionalism paired with cordiality! This fantastic time was rounded off with delicious food between dives.I'm already looking forward to the next time!

Recommended for

Diving. The entire crew. The food.

05 May, 2025

Wow! What an amazing experience!

I had such an amazing trip with Ocean 1. From start to finish, the crew and intructors were exceptional. So friendly and cannot do enough to make your experience the best it can be. For the few English speakers onboard (majority French onboard), attention was taken by all, but particularly by Luli who looked after us and made sure we understood our briefings and itinerary. She guided us on most of our dives and was very caring, helpful, and fun. I love her respect for the ocean & only wished every diver could appreciate marine life as much as her. The diving was insane... we seen so much and the majority of the dive sites were amazing. Even from the back of the boat on an evening- we had mantas, whale sharks, nurse sharks and dolphins. The dives were occasionally challenging however, therefore not suitable for those who don't have much experience- advanced minimum. The Donhi crew were great, very helpful and friendly. Special mention to Akram, super attentive and talented barman who kept the fun going throughout the evenings with his tasty cocktails. The jacuzzi- coupled with incredible shooting stars most evenings was a great addition. The cabins were very comfortable, though would benefit from some reef safe shower gel/ shampoo etc. dispensers. The food was lovely, there was so much of it! Fresh fish dishes caught from the boat, chicken and vegetarian options. We had additional activities like kayaking to a local island and beach time, and a trip to a sandbar for apero time which was brilliant. All in all it was a fabulous trip! And one I would definitely recommend to other diving friends! Thanks again to Luli & Checco who made this trip as fun as it was x

Recommended for

The diving, the crew & the fun times

15 Dec, 2023

Still profusion of magnificient marine life

This dive itinerary put forward first asset to alternate diving on Thilas and fairways. Beyond this route, you encounter happiness to contemplate Manta rays and see white tip sharks, grey ones along reefs you will visit as well as these pelagic species operate in their specific cleaning stations.

Recommended for

Dive vessel management. High value and diversity of diving spots. Largely french divers participants.

08 Jan, 2025

Memorable weeks diving.

My second trip on the liveaboard and it opened to my eyes as to what might be potentially expected in the future, from a personnel point of view in terms of competence and ability. Extremely difficult to find fault in any of the operational organisation and equipment. It was truly an amazing week.

Recommended for

The atmosphere on board was exceptional.. The group I was diving with were all experienced diverse, so we had no issues from a competance point of view or confidence. The diversity of the dives was amazing and there was a little bit of everything..

30 Dec, 2025