Best of Emperor Fleet: Emperor Explorer

Emperor Explorer offers 3 – 4 dives a day which is 1 dive extra compared to most other liveaboards. Central and North Region trips also feature a night dive.

The Best of Maldives trip lasts 7 – 10 nights and explores the Central Maldives which is good for manta rays, whale sharks, nurse sharks, grey reef sharks (hundreds!) and white tip reef sharks plus huge schools of snappers, batfish, jacks and more. 

The Northern Highlights trip lasts 10 nights and combines some Central dive sites with the more off-the-beaten-track North Region which has better hard and soft coral as well as lots of manta cleaning stations and turtles. Up north, you can also snorkel with hundreds of mantas at Hanifaru Bay. 

There are also a variety of trips to the South Maldives Region which again is more off-the-beaten-track compared to the Central Maldives and great for even more sharks – threshers, grey reefs, whitetips, blacktips, hammerheads, tigers and sometimes even great hammerhead sharks! The South Maldives has more challenging dive sites due to strong currents.

These trips are available throughout the year on different months. You can check the Emperor Explorer Itinerary Schedule here.  

Diving takes place from the Dhoni which has plenty of space for storing kit and kitting up and makes getting to and from dive sites extremely easy. Free Nitrox is provided to certified divers – you can also complete your Nitrox course throughout the trip. 

Non-divers are welcome aboard and gifted a $50 gift voucher to spend onboard as well as a free rental snorkelling kit. Some dive sites are good for snorkeling; staff can accompany guests wishing to snorkel.

For every trip, there is a beach bbq party on a tiny uninhabited island (about half way through) with music, kites and food and drink – sometimes other Maldives liveaboards visit this island for their beach bbq at the same time so you can meet other divers!

Emperor Explorer is described as having an onboard spa; what they mean by this is that you can arrange to get a massage up on a shaded area of the sundeck (aka top deck); where there are also many sun loungers – this is an awesome spot from which to soak in the epic views of the Maldives many tiny islands.

Down on the upper deck (I’m aware this sounds a little confusing…) is an open-air terrace with partial shading and plenty of seating arrangements and down from here is the main deck which is home to the large indoor salon with TV Entertainment, aircon plus a stylish bar as well as indoor dining area. 

Food is served buffet style: for every meal there is always a meat or fish option with potato, noodles, soups, pasta and more. For breakfast you can get eggs cooked anyway you like. Also, at dinner time there is a complimentary glass of wine!

Catering to a maximum of 26 guests, there are 13 luxurious: all have private bathrooms, wardrobes, aircon and fans as well as charging ports. You can choose from double or twin bed configurations and there is also the option to upgrade to the larger main or upper deck cabins which have ocean view windows.