Soleil 2, Maldives
- from $ 215 / day
- 9.3 Superb
- 98 Verified Reviews 98 Verified Reviews
- Free Internet Nitrox available Flexible Booking




























Highlights
- Nitrox on board
- WiFi on board
The Soleil 2 is a liveaboard in the Maldives that accommodates 28 guests in 14 air-conditioned cabins with en-suite bathrooms with hot showers. There is an air-conditioned indoor dining area, and on the top deck, the is open-air covered seating for guests who want to dine under the stars. There are air-conditioned saloons and a large sun deck for relaxing in between dives or enjoying the sunset views. The diving takes place from a Dhoni equipped with compressors and dive gear storage to maximize the space on board and keep the liveaboard as quiet as possible.
The Soleil 2 sails through Central, Northern, and Southern Atolls. In the Northern atolls, mantas and whale sharks come to feed on the plankton in Hanifaru Bay. The Northern and Southern atolls are more popular among experienced divers. While diving the deep South route, guests can go on a night dive with whale sharks, manta rays, and nurse sharks. Divers can encounter something special on every dive, from turtles to Napoleon wrasse and reef sharks.
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Included: VAT, Environment Tax, Fuel Surcharge, Port Fees, Airport Transfer, Drinking Water, Tea & Coffee, Welcome Cocktails, Full-Board Meal Plan (All meals), Snacks, Diving Package, Fishing, Land Excursions, Snorkeling Guide, Beach Towels, Cabin Towels, Complimentary Toiletries, Deck Towels, Laundry / Pressing Services, WiFi internet.
Required Extras: National Park Fees.
Optional Extras: Gratuities, Hotel Transfer, Local Flights, Alcoholic Beverages, Soft drinks, Beach BBQ (5-10 USD per activity), Extra Dives, Nitrox, Nitrox Course, Private Dive Guide, Rental Gear, Scuba Diving Courses, Snorkel Gear, Massage, Spa, Yoga.
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
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, Japanese, and Italian.
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 November 2015
- Length 40.500m
- Beam 12m
- Cruising speed 12 knots
- Engines 1 Daiwoo 600hp
- Max guests 30
- Number of cabins 15
- Number of bathrooms 15
- Tenders 1 Diving Dhoni
- Fuel capacity 8 tons
- Freshwater maker 8 tons
Boat Navigation and Safety
Soleil 2 Reviews
- 9.3 Superb
- 98 Verified Reviews
- Vessel 9.4
- Crew 8.8
- Food 9.8
- Diving 9.2
- Value 9.4
Great Value
This is a very large dive boat with lots of deck room to spread out on. I think getting a balcony room was worth it. Great dive guides and lots of marine life! No whale sharks on this trip, but tons of mantas and sharks. Some of the best diving of my life!
- Recommended for
- Big boat, Great guides, Amazing diving
Great boat, fantastic crew, attentive and caring, plenty of good food
The night dive with manta rays, island bbq, whale sharks, giant manta rays, numerous grey sharks, and the amazing crew. The owner Saiad was on-board and available all day. He worked hard to find whale sharks, and he did! He is friendly, mingled with everyone and enjoys he enjoys making sure we all had a great trip. The group I was with from around the world [Australia,England, Spain and France] bonded immediately. Fresh water snacks available all day. Rooms cleaned each day. Comfortable air con dining room. Thanks Saiad for making this a FANTASTIC experience for my first live-aboard!
- Recommended for
- crew, room and boat
Best decision ever!!!
Whale sharks at night!!! Beautiful sunsets Everything I could have hoped for and more😃😃😃😃😃
- Recommended for
- The crew was amazing! Faya was the best guide and Shahid was great at running the boat.
Superior Diving Trip
The crew were outstanding taking care of our every need. The diving was OK. I hadn't researched a lot about the condition of the reefs in the Maldives and was saddened to find out they suffered extensive bleaching. So the dive guides focused more than I'd like on finding and viewing the larger marine life (sharks, rays, eels). I would prefer to still check out the reef to see what we could find but the guides wanted to spend most of the dives waiting and watching the sharks. I know others loved this, but I'd prefer equal time exploring.
- Recommended for
- Staff, Food and dive boat size
A fabulous trip that delivered even more than I expected.
Outstanding dives with an excellent dive master.
- Recommended for
- Great dives, great staff, and great accommodations!
Nice live aboard
Night dive diving with the Nurse sharks.
- Recommended for
- Spacious
EXCELLENT!!
GREAT!!VALUE FOR MONEY
- Recommended for
- VALUE FOR MONEY, CABIN COMFORT & CREW SERVICES
excellent diving, crew and boat, could cater better for vegetarians
night dive with sharks
- Recommended for
- great diving - informative local dfive guide fathu knowledge amaszing
un unforgetable holiday
I have nothing to suggest , because everything was excellent!
- Recommended for
- we saw a lot of sharks and manta, the staff was very well trained , the boat was excellent
Very good
The boat is very comfortable staff and guids very friendly. The dives were fantastic. Perfect
- Recommended for
- The boat. Crew The dives
outstanding boat and cruise experience; a more exploring dive approach would have been perfect
the cruise worked like a clockwork, with a shinny new boat and its huge relaxation space to disperse so that we did not feel crowded. the diving cruise general organization is very good, with a well aligned day schedule, the donny ready on time. worked without a glitch. rental material is in excellent status and covers all the needs one might have. one low light though is while many dive are done in current, which is the name of the game in Maldives, the channels dives particularly were limited to reaching the entrance of the channel, somewhat, hook there and watch without exploration. once the bottom time is used up, it is essentially unhook and go up. perfect to take picture of sharks but not my expectation at diving
- Recommended for
- huge living space on the boat; exploring 4 atolls; excellent organization of the diving program
Great diving Good company Great crew what more could you want
Sharks swimming against a strong current effortlessly. Watching a number of octopus. The canning factory dive.
- Recommended for
- Sharks Octopus and the ease of transferring to and from then dhoni
An amazing trip!
Those incredible sea creatures
- Recommended for
- Accommodations beyond expectation, excellent service, professional guide.
Spacious Ship - Relaxing Trip - International Crowd
Looking into the eye of the Manta at Moofushi, the grey reef sharks of Miyaru Kandu. and the glass fish of Kudhi Maa Wreck. The moment I came on board I felt comfortable and relaxed on the Soleil 2. The diving was partly challenging, but with a good briefing a great experience!
- Recommended for
- 1. The new and spacious layout of the Soleil 2, 2. The choice of dive spots during the Central Atolls Tour, 3. The relaxed and international athmosphere on board
First liveaboard!!! Incredible
I met some marvelous people and I love the dives we had.
- Recommended for
- People, dives,
Very nice trip with comfortable rooms, big boat and lots of space.
Very good diving. See lots of sharks...
- Recommended for
- Scenery, diving and room
Delightful!
All of the crews were kind and helpful during the trip. The diving guides were also professional. I lost my Gopro at the very first day, however, at the next day one of the guides borrowed me his Gopro for the rest of trip! How kind and considerate the guides are! This boat was launched last year, so the cabin and other facilities are really clean and modern. I couldn't find any larger boat than our 3 story brand new boat. They cleaned our room twice a day and the foods are also delicious. If I try to find any cons, some variation of diving site selection might be more desirable.
- Recommended for
- Friendly and helpful crews, professional guides, brand new cabin and other facilities
Magnificent
Manta parade
- Recommended for
- Comfort,dive sitesi,food
Awesome!
The dive guides on Soleil 2 were really fantastic! Their enthusiasm and love for diving is evident, and certainly helps to keep spirits up, even in bad weather/ strong currents. Because of their passion, we surely did look forward to each and every dive. They even searched really hard for the whale shark because it was one of the things we were looking forward to. (and yes, we did find one!) They are also very friendly and made us feel very welcomed. The boat is awesome- very new, clean and spacious. I especially love the diving dhoni. Lots of space for gearing up! It's great value for money, and look forward to diving with Dune again. Thanks Lucile, Yoann and Fathu for this wonderful experience!
- Recommended for
- Dive guides, Marine Life, Comfortable accomodations
I would go again!
Several dives with multiple manta rays!
- Recommended for
- Great dive spots, fantastic ship with high comfort, great crew and staff
Excellent for my first liveaboard experience with Solei II
This is my first liveaboard experience, I'm so happy to be with Soleil II in Maldives. The cabin is very spacious with great facilities. and all the crew members are very friendly, they helped me to setup diving equipment before each diving. My diving guide Yoann is also a lovely guy, he's very professional and made me a safe and great diving experience in Maldives. Thanks Soleil II!
- Recommended for
- Spacious cabin, Friendly crew members, Professional diving guide
Great trip
The diving was spectacular and the boat was really nice, spacious and comfortable. The crew were friendly and helpful and the chef provided good vegan food that was very tasty.
- Recommended for
- Manta Rays, whale shark and spacious boat
Big liveabboard mainly French guests
I am a snorkeler w perforated eardrum, so I only go on liveaboards to snorkel and this was the first one where there were no guide with me in the water during the whole trip. Which is both a great experience but also you feel like you need somebody that knows the reef/current etc to have with you and it is a pain in the butt to hold a "safety boat"/ring with you instead of you being able to swim freely. But did see great marinelife as always, and that is why I always come back to MAldives. Food was one of the best I have experienced out 4 liveaboards while in Maldives they serve FRESH juice in the morning as one of the only boats in same price level. Sometimes seafood large shrimps and calimari etc and variated dinners and breakfast and most of the time RIPE fresh fruit for dessert. Would like to have had the local tuna/coconut option everyday for breakfast but we only had it once - a pitty when we are in MAldives. Great with the balcony rooms really nice to relax when you want to get away, because it it such a big boat 30 people can be a bit overwhelming. And as it is a French company expect a lot of French that don't speak English so they keep to them selves. Crew is very polite but dhoni crew does not speak English so when you don't have a guide nor crew that speaks English it can be a bit challenging.
- Recommended for
- Spacy room w balcony, Politeness of crew, Food option
Fabulous week of diving
Whale sharks! Manta rays and sharks were in such abundance that it became almost common place to see them. So much variety and colour in fish life that it was a truly wonderful experience.
- Recommended for
- Dive guides were extremely well organized and professional, great group of divers, very nice accommodations
Fantastic Diving, Boat & Crew
Manta Rays on many dives, including a night dive Sharks, White Tip & Grey reef shark and Nurse Sharks Sting rays, Eagle Rays. Snorkelling with Whale Shark. Soleil 2 is a large, spacious and very well equipped boat Crew & Guides were very friendly, helpful & knowledgeable Food and service was superb.
- Recommended for
- Large spacious Cabin, Fantastic Diving, Good Guides
Simply splendid !
Each and every one of our dives !!
- Recommended for
- Crew, rooms and continuous sea surrounding
Fantastic trip
Great dives, great and spacious room!
- Recommended for
- Room, diving, staff service
Excellent diving with friendly guides and crew
We were lucky to see most of the large marine creatures that Maldives has to offer - whale sharks, manta rays, dolphins, stingrays, nurse sharks, white tip sharks, and grey reef sharks, all in a space of 6 days of diving. Our guides Aslam, Faya, Kiko and Kimi were very knowledgeable of the sites and the sea conditions, hence greatly increasing our chances of sighting these creatures. We will be back again.
- Recommended for
- Varied and numerous dive sites, large and clean room, awesome staff
Awesome one week!
We saw many sharks and mantas. Couldn’t find the wheal shark but I really appreciated the staffs effort! All staff and crew are friendly, nice, and very hard working! Highly recommended this trip on Soleil 2!!
- Recommended for
- Nice Diving, clean cabin, friendly staff
Best diving and overall experience
The dive sites chosen by the crew where really great. The crew is formed by Maldivians who are really nice and friendly. The guides really enjoy diving so they really make it good for you on every dive. The food is quite good. In maldives you will see lofs of fish, sharks, turtles and Mantas!!
- Recommended for
- dive sites, dive guides, big
An unforgetable, awesome trip !!!
I just spend a wonderful week on Soleil 2. Everyone on board did their best to make this trip a memorable one. The dive guides took their time to explain the various dive sides and showed us everything they saw under water - except for the hammerhead sharks who hadn't appearded in the blue! The food was delicious , the cabin very spacious and clean. Thank you very much for this experience! Dagmar
- Recommended for
- Everything was just perfect: the comfort, the diving , the food!
The best liva
The owner of the vessel (Shahid) joined us on the boat, what a wonderful, friendly and kind man! We saw Whale shark, Manta rays, Frog fish, Turtles, Eagle rays, Night dives with sharks and so much more! I will most definitely go back to Soleil 2, as a matter of fact we're going next year again... This was truly an experience and time I will treasure for the rest of my life! Thank you so much Shahid and the Soleil 2 team! We'll see you next year.
- Recommended for
- The best live aboard I've been on so far! They exceeded my expectations by far!!!
Awesome experience a complete package
Diving with a whale shark, sharks and with the manta rays. Each dive site was very special to me but more importantly was the dive guides knowledge on what to find where.
- Recommended for
- Diving, the crew assising our divers and the dive guides knowledge in all dive sites
A great weeks diving
The night manta dive was just extraordinary
- Recommended for
- Dive sites , crew , marine life
Fantastic boat, crew and service. Loved it! Will be back next year
Mantas, sharks and rays. Great visibility
- Recommended for
- The friendly crew and guides
Excellent
Everything was excellent. The boat so comfortable, the service very friendly and the best dives in my life.
- Recommended for
- Boat, service, dives
The Soleil 2 experience was really good
We were bad lucky with wheather at the begining of our trip, nevertheless the diving was nice and plenty of marine life. The crew was really nice and helpful. Our dive guide was serious and very strict regarding the dive time. We had the feeling that we were always in a hurry. Sadly we can't dinner in a desert island, I suppose by bad weather, but they gave us the opportunity to visit a local island for an hour walk. Regarding the boat we have to say that is one of the bigest boat that we ever stay, the cabins are enormous and well decorated. The boat has great leisure zones and is equiped with jacuzzi. They also have an incredible and useful towel service. The meals were really good and even the crew used to fish so we can enjoy good fresh fish. Gianni, one of the crew staff members was really nice with us, and even made an underwater video of the trip for free for all of us. Hanna the japanese guide was also really helpful with us. The Soleil 2 experience has been really nice and we hope to visit them again soon
- Recommended for
- Liveaboard installations and services & meals & friendliness
Best Liveaboard ever!!!
Everything!
- Recommended for
- Great dives, great food and motivated super friendly crew!
Best local dive guides in the Maldives
Kandooma Thila with lots of sharks and eagle rays, guitar shark at fish tank, hunting sharks as Rasdhoo and all other chosen dive sites, our dive guide Faaya (hope the spelling is correct)
- Recommended for
- Very involved and passionate dive guides (Faaya, Shafee, Aslam), excellent dhoni crew, very customer oriented diving
A Christmas to remember!
Did someone say manta? Seriously, it was a fabulous trip. It's not peak season and we didn't pay peak prices so we were hopeful but not expectant. The boat was big and comfy, and the crew (guides, chefs, dive boat crew ... all of them) were wonderful. Christmas dinner was spectacular and heaps of silly fun. The diving was better than expected given the season. The crew clearly know what they're doing and how to give their guests the best possible trip. Heaps of manta, sting and eagle rays, heaps of reef and nurse shark, a guitar shark, a whale shark and many other smaller but equally cool things. Thanks for an awesome trip guys... Might have to come back when the hammerheads are in town.
- Recommended for
- Mantas, mantas and all the other stuff
Spacious cabins, Crazy night dives, Excellent value for money
Spacious boat - large relaxation areas, very large cabin (2 King Size Bed, bar fridge, large toilet). Experience guides that able to help guests handle very strong currents. Excellent dive sites - lots of sharks, fishes, turtles, octopus, whalesharks, etc. Owner always on boat to ensure everything OK. Very generous operator - allowed check out at 11 am, 3 pm and even 7 pm; provide meals even on check out day. Lots of food for the Christmas party (but limited quantity during other days) and crews put up an excellent local culture show. Must really experience this LOB - best I had so far. Will return
- Recommended for
- Spacious Cabins, Services, Dive Sites
Very good week, with room for some improvements
We had a great time on Soleil 2 diving the classic route. The highlights were the manta dives and the nurse shark night dive. Boat was very clean and lots of space to spread out. However the food could be better, it was lukewarm/cold most of the time and a bit bland. Crew was friendly but not proactive in helping, and some did not speak much English. It is a great boat value-wise but if we come back we would pay a bit more for a boat with better food/higher service. That said we still really enjoyed our trip.
- Recommended for
- Great dive guide, comfy boat, top notch diving
A wonderful family diving trip to warm and friendly Maldives where we saw a whale shark, many reef sharks, Manta rays, stingrays, turtles and other fish.
Very good dive trip with friendly and dedicated boss: Shahid, staff and DMs, who did their best to give us the maximum diving experience. Seeing the whale shark, the dancing Mantas, the sting rays and the guitar shark was amazing. The staff even dived down to try to find a diving computer which avcidentally fell in the water after 3 dives. The food was also very good and we appreciated the evening banquet on the island.
- Recommended for
- Much space on the boat, friendly staff, good food
Sensational
Shahid (fish man of the Maldives) and his crew provided a magnificent diving experience. I have been diving for 35 years and have not ever experienced some of the dives we had on this trip. Whale sharks, night dives with manta rays and a whole school of nurse sharks were just a few of the highlights. Food and crew were magnificent also Shahid has the magic touch and you will not be disappointed on whatever itinerary he takes you on
- Recommended for
- Crew, food, dive experiences
Overall good experience
The boat is really nice and comfortable and the dives were really amazing , the boat líder can be difficult sometimes .
- Recommended for
- So many sharks , lots of mantas and exciting marine life
Most friendly stuff i‘ve ever seen
Mantas, and the night dive with the nurse sharks
- Recommended for
- Stuff, Dives, Food
Amazing boat & friendly crew
The fun group on board Friendly and helpful crew and dive guides The space & relaxing areas on the boat The comfortable, spacious rooms
- Recommended for
- Comfort & space on the boat, friendly crew, great food
Incredible experience
Diving with tiger sharks, mantas and whale sharks. Amazing fish life on every reef. Incredible wall dives with tons of sharks. Boat owner and crew were amazing and super helpful and friendly, even in a period where the covid-19 was affecting their business. Food on the boat was very delicious as well!
- Recommended for
- Diving, crew and food
Nice boat, nice crews
tiger sharks
- Recommended for
- cabin, staffs, meal
Relaxed and very safe liveaboard
Despite the covid crisis beginning to hit many countries, the trip went as planned very smoothly. The cruise director helped every one at the end of the cruise with their travel plans as the Maldives got locked down by the end of our week, I was very grateful for all the assistance he provided. The boat is Maldivian owned and very well managed. Great crew and very experienced dive guides showing us the best of the Maldives. I definitely recommand this boat and I hope to be back someday.
- Recommended for
- Dive guides and crew, cabins, itinerary
New Year trip
On the trip had several experiences including Whaleshark, Manta, hammerhead, tiger shark, turtle, rays and much more. It is recommended to be experienced AOW with my 50+ dives, and depths up to 40 m. New Year on boats was good and a lot was done by the crew, with food, decorating and entertainment.
- Recommended for
- The boat has a good size with large spaces The crew is very helpful without you having to ask for it. They do a lot to get the best diving out of the trip
Great diving experience, with great group and amazing place :)
BBQ dinner in the beach, mantas night dive, sharks, snorkling with the nurse sharks, our DM,...
- Recommended for
- Diving, the New Year dinner, sharing moments with everybody
Amazing experience
Nurse shark diving; Whale shark encounter; Diving with manta ray.
- Recommended for
- Amazing dives, delicious food, good room
unforgettable
The night dive with the mantas
- Recommended for
- The dives, the food and the staff
Amazing experience
Amazing experience!!! Very kind staff. We have see many kind fish. 한국분을 위한 리뷰 남겨요. 스태프들이 엄청 친절하고 배 자체의 시스템이 다이빙을 위한 최적이에요. 다만 인터넷 잘 안되서 공항에서 심카드 사 가지고 오시고, 입국 위한 pcr테스트도 스태프들이 미리 다 맞춰주니 걱정 안하셔도 될듯합니다. 다이빙을 위해서는 가성비가 좋은 배라고 생각합니다. 강추합니다
- Recommended for
- Very kind staff.
Wonderful dive and boat experience considering "special needs" as well! <3
The beach BBQ on the Island Trying to give us a whaleshark experience (sucessfull) in many ways Shark and stingray dive - it was a "soup"of them, too many to count
- Recommended for
- Size and comfort of the boat...variety of dive sites and dive experience...Crew friendliness and service
Cruising Male
Crew was amazing and really made the experience great. Was a bit surprised to spend 3 nights anchored in front of Male Airport though...
- Recommended for
- the diving of course- Mantas, Rays, Sharks....
Best option for Maldives liveaboard!
Seeing a lot of fantastic life underwater. The guides where amazing and went out of their way to help with everything. I had a fantastic time!
- Recommended for
- The staff, the diving, the food
Great live aboard experience on Soleil2
Divings, barbecue, last evening…. And so much more
- Recommended for
- Convivial ambiance between divers, professional, convivial and caring team, space on the boat for relaxing
Great diving om a very comfertabel boat
Diving with gitarshark
- Recommended for
- helpfull crew, great staff and gret diving
Wonderful dive experience with a secret dive site.
This was not our first dive experience in the Maldives.We like the professionalism of the dive guides, the spacious rooms on the boot. This was the biggest room I have eved had on liveaboard. We visited the popular dive sites around Male and Ari atolls with a secret dive site which made our trip unique. My partner celebrated her 100th dives during the trip and the staff surprised us with a nice cake for celebration. It was an attentive gusture from them. Thank you Soleil for the one week dive experience.
- Recommended for
- Professionalism, spacious rooms, quality of food
Amazing experience
Manta rays, whaleshark, fish tank and night dives
- Recommended for
- Staff, diving and boat comfort
Dive, eat, sleep, repeat!!
+ awesome crew, very friendly and welcoming + spacious rooms and boat + great guides, felt really safe on wicked channel dives + can't recommend enough
- Recommended for
- Manta rays, so much diving, great channel dives!
Fantastic dives! Worth the money, lovely team!
Manta night dive Whale sharks shark dives
- Recommended for
- Diving, crew, food
Top Trip
The whole trip itself is the highlight.
- Recommended for
- Underwater life, Crew, Equipment
Our second time in Soleil 2 and as good as the first time
Relaxed admosphere on board and under water!
- Recommended for
- Friendliness, food, space
First time on a liveaboard, exceeded our expectations
Cruising the Maldives, the marine life
- Recommended for
- The pace was relaxed, lots of living space, food was healthy and plentiful
Great dives, nice profi crew, confi boat, delicious food
Whale sharks, mantas, intimate contact with the nurse sharks, and flying underwater - especially at night!
- Recommended for
- 1. The dives; 2. The crew/staff; 3. The spacious & comfortable boat, and the delicious food
Big boat, great dive trip and nice crew
mantas ,sharks, night manta dive
- Recommended for
- dive sites, friendly crew and spacious boat
Incredible Crew. Spacious Boat
- very well organised dive trips - we had a great guide - food is usually adequate but they pulled out all stops for BBQ night
- Recommended for
- The diving, the crew and the abundance of lounging space on the boat
Best trip of my life, I have travelled the world to dive but I would never imagine to experience something similar to what this liveaboard offered me. The boat was spectacular, way better than the pho
Every single day was better than the one before, I don’t know how they have managed to keep on surprising us everyday with something new different and exciting. The diving was spectacular but the bbq on the beach, last dinner on the rooftop, the sandbank trip, I could go on forever. Best trip of my life, I will repeat it very soon! Highly recommended not only to divers.
- Recommended for
- The Liveabord itself, the crew and the easy customer service to book made me feel very calm despite all covid difficulties.
Excellent
Excellent
- Recommended for
- Excellent
Amazing experience, beyond my expectations
I loved everything about our boat safari : we met incredible people (crew and guests), we had the chance to dive in amanzingly rich dive spots, the food was really good. It is an experience you cannot regret.
- Recommended for
- The boat is gorgeous, with very confortable rooms and a lot of places to chill, the crew is incredibly helpful and nice, and the diving spots are AMAZING
Maldives best experience concentrated in a week!
It has been such an incredible week! All groups were split according to experience and all instructors were amazing, which made everybody enjoy all divings. Very confortable boat and plenty of quakity food. Also the crew was caring about everybody having their best time. Definitely worth the money!!
- Recommended for
- Dives, instructors, boat quality
Great trip
Tiger sharks Bbq on the beach Sharks and rays
- Recommended for
- Clean environment, friendly staff, great diving experience
Great crew, spacious cabins, Maldivian hospitality and diving reliable as ever
Trip got off to a good start with the very punctual airport pick-up in the exact location specified - previous experience with other boats has been of a more mañana approach. Next to impress was the very spacious cabin, soon followed by the excellent catering delivered by ever-smiling staff on board. This was maintained the entire week, and there was always a good variety of dishes on offer. To the diving, the dhoni too was large and stable with an excellent and attentive crew. The 7-day classic itinerary ex-Male is unavoidably plagued by a large number of boats following similar routings but crowded dive sites were avoided with relative success. Dive guides were capable and enthusiastic, although criteria for assigning clients to dive groups was opaque and rotation between groups would have been welcome. A little surprising to spend 3 nights moored just outside Hulhumale harbor, though first and last nights are not uncommon. The "extra" night was to facilitate morning dive(s) in the murky waters next to the Hulhumale harbor wall where baiting attracted tiger sharks. On the one hand that was a unique experience, on the other entirely artificial and ethically questionable. Good or bad? decide for yourself. Overall, would I rebook with Soleil-2? ... YES, and next week if I could.
- Recommended for
- Best three things were a comfortable platform for some rest & relaxation: great catering; and diving with tiger sharks up close.
Fantastic Diving Experience
I had an amazing week on Soleil 2 in December 2022, exploring dive sites in Central Maldives. The crew were very friendly and professional. They picked good dive sites and did a good job with guiding. They grouped divers based on experience level, which is something I really appreciated. We saw lots of sharks (almost every dive!), manta rays, eagle rays, turtles, and all sorts of fish and reef life. The boat is good condition. I had cabin #8 for myself and it was massive; probably the biggest cabin I’ve ever had on a liveaboard. There is a mini market onboard where you can find all sorts of things, even SD cards! And all for a reasonable price. The crew organized a barbecue night on a tiny tropical island, which happened to coincide with my birthday. They were kind enough to prepare a cake for me and arrange a mini celebration. It was very nice of them. All in all, I had a fantastic week on Soleil 2, and I’m hoping to dive with them again in the future.
- Recommended for
- crew, divi sites, rooms
The best liveaboard experience, with awesome diving and so well organised!
Soooo many to explain, the dive at the Manta feeding station, seeing all these majestic animals up close, the tiger shark swooping in and taking the tuna head put down to attract them, the night dive, seeing close up the nurse sharks feeding, the turtles around the reefs and finally the final dive at the Fish Factory which I snorkelled and was blown away by the number of rays and morays all in one shallow spot!! The island BBQ was also an experience which was made special by the crew and Birthdays were recognised. I will be returning!
- Recommended for
- Variety of dives with excellent local knowledge, the organisation of the trip, the food!!
Incredible
It’s hard to describe highlights of this trip because it was all really good. The crew was professional and friendly. The boat was great, it had so many places to hang out that you could choose to be social or just spend time alone. The best part was of course the diving. The dive sites were amazing. Without questioning some of the best dives I’ve ever done. The dive masters were great. And last but not least, the food! There were so many options to choose from, every meal was so good.
- Recommended for
- The dive sites were amazing, the boat was luxurious with enough places to hang out, the crew was great!