Amis Des Maldives - Ocean One - Ultramarina
This review is for a Dive Cruise Liveaboard which operates in the Maldives - The operate under three names
1, Ocean One
2, Amis Des Maldives
3, Ultramarina
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I'm afraid that there weren't too many highlights.
The good points are "The Chef" - The Dhoni Crew including (Dive Guide I-REY) and the Main Boat Crew all very friendly and eager to help and assist where possible. That unfortunately is where the good points end.
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Now for the rest of the review. There were several issues
* French speakers only should book this cruise
* Safety record for Nitrox users
* Respect for other Divers equipment
* Poor choice of Diving Sites
* Photos of the Boat on Liveaboard.com are not a true representation of the Boat
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French Speakers Only - The initial welcome was good, but as the week went on - It appeared to be an imposition for the Male management team to speak English. If I knew that this was a "French Speaking Boat Only" ..... I would not have booked the cruise.
Safety Record for Nitrox Users ...... This operator does not have a sign-off sheet for Nitrox tank fills. On the first day I asked for the sign-off sheet. I got the reply " We don't do that here, It's a visual check only" .... It is essential to have this sign-off sheet to ensure that the diver signing for the Nitrox knows the Max Operating Depth (MOD) .
Respect for other Divers equipment ...... The two male Owner/Management team have absolutely no respect for others divers equipment. On the Dhoni there was a rinse container for "Cameras, Dive Computers etc" . On several occasions I witnessed the Owners/Management team plunge a DPV (Diver propelled vehicle) into the same container as the dive computers / Cameras rinse tank and then switch on the motor.
When I noticed this lack of respect towards peoples personal equipment and went to retrieve my camera before the next DPV ( The owner just laughed at my attempt to retrieve my camera)
Poor choice of Dive Sites ....... We had 18 dives and 6 of them were in the same location. The boat traveled very little on the open sea. I wonder if this was in an effort to save on fuel costs as the boat was not fully booked
Photos of the Boat on Liveaboard.com are not representative of the outside of the boat.
The photos on Liveaboard.com are of a boat that was photographed when the boat was new. The current state of the exterior of Ocean tells a different story. The interior went through a recent renovation and is in good repair. The exterior of the boat and the maintenance of the boat needs a serious overhaul. On the top deck the fibreglass is cracked and broken in several places and it is very possible to pick up an injury.
Would I recommend this boat ------ NO ----- I was happy to get off this boat.