Baani Explorer in Maldives - Our Honeymoon Nightmare
Our Terrible Diving Experience on Baani Explorer in Maldives - January 2007
We would like to share our experience here so fellow divers who are considering Maldives or Baani Explorer, go there knowing what to expect. We would not have spent US$5000 per person to go there for two weeks if we knew these things in advance.
The Trip:
We arrived in Male on a Sunday night for a Monday boat departure. The next morning we were back to the airport by 8:00am to meet the Baani Crew. After several hours, the majority of the guests arrived and we were ferried to the boat. After a few more hours on the boat waiting for the last group of guests to arrive, the crew decided that we would skip all the dives that day except the last one. From that first day on the boat, we knew it wouldnt be as described.
On their website, it said the route would be different each week. We were assured by their staff in Europe (who we booked the trip through) that there was no question the boat would be taking a different route. However, when we spoke with a guest who was staying on from the week prior, we discovered that was just something they tell the nave. The other diver let us know that the route our first week would be the same as his previous week. We were concerned and spoke with both the cruise director and the head dive guide and they both confirmed, while some of the dive sites might change, the route would remain exactly the same (3 weeks in a row!).
The crew decided to take us through Ari Atoll which would consist of the majority of our dives. One of the guests, one who had been diving in Maldives for 15 years, stated it had the worst currents. We've been current diving before so we werent too concerned, but he was right. Virtually every dive had currents ranging from mild, to downright dangerous. Every dive was deep, be it the first dive or the third dive of the day. In fact, the only dive we did over the first week which was shallower than a max depth of 25 meters (83 feet) was the only night dive.
In 17 years of diving, I have had 1 decompression dive. This week alone, I have had 4 more! Everywhere we have been in the past, including Australia, Hawaii, Honduras, Mexico, Caymans, Palau, Guam to name a few, dive guides have always been very conscious of the depth they take guests to and would never let the guests stay at a deep spot for too long to get into deco. Not in Maldives, or at least, not on Baani Explorer!
From all the Maldivesliveaboards site literature and everything emailed to us, we thought we were signing up for a relaxing honeymoon with slight currents, and clear diving. We did not once have either. Because of the currents, we had to sit out of several dives which sounded like they might be dangerous. My wife was mildly to severely sick every day which required her to miss several dives and meals. I began getting sick towards the end of the first week as well. The dives were so tiring that everyone (even the most experienced divers) on the boat collapsed after them and complained of the same headaches as we did.
The first dive on Saturday (6 days in) was the icing on the cake. We were dropped no where near the reef, up current from the nearest rock for us to hook into. By the time we were down, our dive guide Tipe had left with the majority of the group. We have never been diving in a place where the dive guide just took off at the bottom without counting how many people he had in his group and making sure they were ok. We crawled hand by hand on the reef against the current to the main group. As soon as we got there, they left, including the guide. We had used half our air within 10 minutes and I was already into my 4th decompression dive. On a 20 minute dive I used 2400 PSI. There was not one guest who was not upset when we surfaced.
Every day there was at least one dive like this. We value our life and did not want an embolism on our honeymoon. Several of the dives were described as "Washing Machine" currents in which we could potentially be swept from 20 meters (66 feet) to 5 meters (16 feet) and vice versa. No, Im not kidding. That is downright dangerous! We can understand that our dive guides would want to show us big fish, but everywhere else in the world we've been, we've never had to risk our lives to see them. Every dive, the current was so strong that we are rushed off the boat and told to go down as fast as possible. Several dives we were actually advised to do a "negative entry" requiring us to dump all the air from our B/Cs and jump in heading immediately down. This goes against everything taught in divers education.
With Baani Explorer, the dive guides would jump in to check the current as most guides would anywhere in the world. They would come back up to the boat, tell us the current was strong, and tell us to hurry down quickly. Most places if the guides notices a strong current, they would tell the boat to go somewhere else. They dont tell divers to hurry up and do a negative entry (not allowing any time to check gear on the surface). We never went down or surfaced as one big group. We would only surface with our buddy and never had an idea where the other divers were. The boat was going all over the place picking up a few divers here and a few divers there who were up to 500 yards away. So when we would surface, we had to wait in choppy water sometimes for a good 5-10 minutes until the boat was done picking up one or two or three other groups of divers.
We could not possibly consider staying on the boat another week. Our honeymoon was to be relaxing. We did not want to train to be a Navy Seal or go on the adventure of our lifetime. We eventually decided to cut our stay on the boat a week short. The company refused to refund us the $3000 for the second week and basically told us we should have known better.
The Boat:
The websites shows pictures and describes the Jacuzzi on the front deck. We found the reality to be that it was a saltwater Jacuzzi with no heat. It was empty during our entire voyage.
Our room was one of the suites on the top deck. We didnt really have any complaints with the room, other than one of the reading lights didnt work. There was also only one electrical outlet in the room (one also in the bath).
The bathroom was another story. It was open through a vent to the outside, so it was always hot and humid. After our dives, we would go back and shower, causing the tile floor to become wet (there is no shower curtain). Once wet, the floor was VERY slick, we fell a couple times. The drain in the floor stopped working once, the toilet stopped working twice.
The Food:
The food was presented as being much more than it was. As far as fruit, we had bananas (which ran out mid-week), and watermelon and pineapple slices once a day. The only fish was tuna, and we had it in one form or another every day. The chef was good and he made the sad selection taste better than expected. But whoever was doing the purchasing was definitely short changing the guests.
The Fishing:
On the Maldivesliveaboards website, they claim that you can go fishing with local style fishing gear. This consists of a plastic spool with some 300 pound test on it. They give you a hook about 2 inches long and a couple of hunks of tuna. The only fishing available is off the back of the boat in the evening. Needless to say, we caught nothing.
The Island Visits and Island BBQ:
The website talks about island visits to see local culture. Our first visit was to a small island right at dusk. We were dropped off about a half hour before dark, and they didnt return for at least an hour. We found that there is not much to do on a small beach in total darkness.
Our second visit was to a larger inhabited island. We didnt know about the trip until we looked out the window and the dhoni (dive boat) was leaving. We ran out and hopped on board. The only thing on the island to do was shop, and no crew bothered to tell anyone to bring money, so we just walked around.
The website claims that at some point during the week you will have a BBQ on an uninhabited island. Dont bet on it. It never happened and they never made any apologies for it.
The Result:
Their choice of extreme dive sites was never mentioned on the website or in communications to us. They claimed that if they had taken us to calmer sites with less current, the guests on the boat would complain that they were boring. It would seem that would be a question for the guests instead of assuming. We didnt dive one calm site (with the exception of the night dive). And we only did that one because we demanded it. Not just us, but everyone still diving. We could understand if the diving in Maldives is all extreme diving, but the fact is that it is not, it is simply where we were taken. If we had any prior knowledge that there would be strong currents and extreme diving on any of our dives, we never would have booked.
The other areas weve been to, we enjoy relaxing currents (no current to very slight). Everyone enjoys the relaxing diving. I've never heard anyone say, "Hey lets go dive some really strong currents! If this is the crowd that Baani Explorer and Maldivesliveaboards is catering to, it should be clearly stated on their website and made clear to all customers before they sign up.
Another point brought up to us was that this time of year has the strongest currents of the year due to a change in the monsoon season. How could they not have disclosed such an important piece of information on their website or to guests who are booking a trip? We could have booked this trip any month of the year and chose January because it was supposed to be the best weather season of the year. If we had even the slightest idea that currents would be better at a different time of year, we would have changed our reservation. In hindsight, we believe they purposely left that piece of information out so people like us would book a trip in the drier season. Yes, it might be drier, but you will get dangerous currents, and they conveniently left that out.
After our complaints, they claimed that other divers had not complained to the dive crew, which was not surprising. When you receive bad service in a restaurant, do you tell them, or just not go back? It would be very uncomfortable for a guest to directly tell a crew member that they are not enjoying their trip. Guests talk to other guests, not crew. We heard plenty of complaints from other guests.
At the end, the crew passed out questionnaires which were to be handed directly back to them. Who would write something bad if they knew the crew was about to read it? If Maldivesliveaboards want clients to fill out a proper review, they should do it by email, or provide a self addressed stamped envelope for them to mail it back in.
We wasted 2 weeks of our vacation, spent over $4000US on airlines to get to and from Maldives. And last but not least, the most important trip of our lives was ruined. That is something we can never get back, it can never be replaced. Dont let it happen to you!
Our Terrible Diving Experience on Baani Explorer in Maldives - January 2007
We would like to share our experience here so fellow divers who are considering Maldives or Baani Explorer, go there knowing what to expect. We would not have spent US$5000 per person to go there for two weeks if we knew these things in advance.
The Trip:
We arrived in Male on a Sunday night for a Monday boat departure. The next morning we were back to the airport by 8:00am to meet the Baani Crew. After several hours, the majority of the guests arrived and we were ferried to the boat. After a few more hours on the boat waiting for the last group of guests to arrive, the crew decided that we would skip all the dives that day except the last one. From that first day on the boat, we knew it wouldnt be as described.
On their website, it said the route would be different each week. We were assured by their staff in Europe (who we booked the trip through) that there was no question the boat would be taking a different route. However, when we spoke with a guest who was staying on from the week prior, we discovered that was just something they tell the nave. The other diver let us know that the route our first week would be the same as his previous week. We were concerned and spoke with both the cruise director and the head dive guide and they both confirmed, while some of the dive sites might change, the route would remain exactly the same (3 weeks in a row!).
The crew decided to take us through Ari Atoll which would consist of the majority of our dives. One of the guests, one who had been diving in Maldives for 15 years, stated it had the worst currents. We've been current diving before so we werent too concerned, but he was right. Virtually every dive had currents ranging from mild, to downright dangerous. Every dive was deep, be it the first dive or the third dive of the day. In fact, the only dive we did over the first week which was shallower than a max depth of 25 meters (83 feet) was the only night dive.
In 17 years of diving, I have had 1 decompression dive. This week alone, I have had 4 more! Everywhere we have been in the past, including Australia, Hawaii, Honduras, Mexico, Caymans, Palau, Guam to name a few, dive guides have always been very conscious of the depth they take guests to and would never let the guests stay at a deep spot for too long to get into deco. Not in Maldives, or at least, not on Baani Explorer!
From all the Maldivesliveaboards site literature and everything emailed to us, we thought we were signing up for a relaxing honeymoon with slight currents, and clear diving. We did not once have either. Because of the currents, we had to sit out of several dives which sounded like they might be dangerous. My wife was mildly to severely sick every day which required her to miss several dives and meals. I began getting sick towards the end of the first week as well. The dives were so tiring that everyone (even the most experienced divers) on the boat collapsed after them and complained of the same headaches as we did.
The first dive on Saturday (6 days in) was the icing on the cake. We were dropped no where near the reef, up current from the nearest rock for us to hook into. By the time we were down, our dive guide Tipe had left with the majority of the group. We have never been diving in a place where the dive guide just took off at the bottom without counting how many people he had in his group and making sure they were ok. We crawled hand by hand on the reef against the current to the main group. As soon as we got there, they left, including the guide. We had used half our air within 10 minutes and I was already into my 4th decompression dive. On a 20 minute dive I used 2400 PSI. There was not one guest who was not upset when we surfaced.
Every day there was at least one dive like this. We value our life and did not want an embolism on our honeymoon. Several of the dives were described as "Washing Machine" currents in which we could potentially be swept from 20 meters (66 feet) to 5 meters (16 feet) and vice versa. No, Im not kidding. That is downright dangerous! We can understand that our dive guides would want to show us big fish, but everywhere else in the world we've been, we've never had to risk our lives to see them. Every dive, the current was so strong that we are rushed off the boat and told to go down as fast as possible. Several dives we were actually advised to do a "negative entry" requiring us to dump all the air from our B/Cs and jump in heading immediately down. This goes against everything taught in divers education.
With Baani Explorer, the dive guides would jump in to check the current as most guides would anywhere in the world. They would come back up to the boat, tell us the current was strong, and tell us to hurry down quickly. Most places if the guides notices a strong current, they would tell the boat to go somewhere else. They dont tell divers to hurry up and do a negative entry (not allowing any time to check gear on the surface). We never went down or surfaced as one big group. We would only surface with our buddy and never had an idea where the other divers were. The boat was going all over the place picking up a few divers here and a few divers there who were up to 500 yards away. So when we would surface, we had to wait in choppy water sometimes for a good 5-10 minutes until the boat was done picking up one or two or three other groups of divers.
We could not possibly consider staying on the boat another week. Our honeymoon was to be relaxing. We did not want to train to be a Navy Seal or go on the adventure of our lifetime. We eventually decided to cut our stay on the boat a week short. The company refused to refund us the $3000 for the second week and basically told us we should have known better.
The Boat:
The websites shows pictures and describes the Jacuzzi on the front deck. We found the reality to be that it was a saltwater Jacuzzi with no heat. It was empty during our entire voyage.
Our room was one of the suites on the top deck. We didnt really have any complaints with the room, other than one of the reading lights didnt work. There was also only one electrical outlet in the room (one also in the bath).
The bathroom was another story. It was open through a vent to the outside, so it was always hot and humid. After our dives, we would go back and shower, causing the tile floor to become wet (there is no shower curtain). Once wet, the floor was VERY slick, we fell a couple times. The drain in the floor stopped working once, the toilet stopped working twice.
The Food:
The food was presented as being much more than it was. As far as fruit, we had bananas (which ran out mid-week), and watermelon and pineapple slices once a day. The only fish was tuna, and we had it in one form or another every day. The chef was good and he made the sad selection taste better than expected. But whoever was doing the purchasing was definitely short changing the guests.
The Fishing:
On the Maldivesliveaboards website, they claim that you can go fishing with local style fishing gear. This consists of a plastic spool with some 300 pound test on it. They give you a hook about 2 inches long and a couple of hunks of tuna. The only fishing available is off the back of the boat in the evening. Needless to say, we caught nothing.
The Island Visits and Island BBQ:
The website talks about island visits to see local culture. Our first visit was to a small island right at dusk. We were dropped off about a half hour before dark, and they didnt return for at least an hour. We found that there is not much to do on a small beach in total darkness.
Our second visit was to a larger inhabited island. We didnt know about the trip until we looked out the window and the dhoni (dive boat) was leaving. We ran out and hopped on board. The only thing on the island to do was shop, and no crew bothered to tell anyone to bring money, so we just walked around.
The website claims that at some point during the week you will have a BBQ on an uninhabited island. Dont bet on it. It never happened and they never made any apologies for it.
The Result:
Their choice of extreme dive sites was never mentioned on the website or in communications to us. They claimed that if they had taken us to calmer sites with less current, the guests on the boat would complain that they were boring. It would seem that would be a question for the guests instead of assuming. We didnt dive one calm site (with the exception of the night dive). And we only did that one because we demanded it. Not just us, but everyone still diving. We could understand if the diving in Maldives is all extreme diving, but the fact is that it is not, it is simply where we were taken. If we had any prior knowledge that there would be strong currents and extreme diving on any of our dives, we never would have booked.
The other areas weve been to, we enjoy relaxing currents (no current to very slight). Everyone enjoys the relaxing diving. I've never heard anyone say, "Hey lets go dive some really strong currents! If this is the crowd that Baani Explorer and Maldivesliveaboards is catering to, it should be clearly stated on their website and made clear to all customers before they sign up.
Another point brought up to us was that this time of year has the strongest currents of the year due to a change in the monsoon season. How could they not have disclosed such an important piece of information on their website or to guests who are booking a trip? We could have booked this trip any month of the year and chose January because it was supposed to be the best weather season of the year. If we had even the slightest idea that currents would be better at a different time of year, we would have changed our reservation. In hindsight, we believe they purposely left that piece of information out so people like us would book a trip in the drier season. Yes, it might be drier, but you will get dangerous currents, and they conveniently left that out.
After our complaints, they claimed that other divers had not complained to the dive crew, which was not surprising. When you receive bad service in a restaurant, do you tell them, or just not go back? It would be very uncomfortable for a guest to directly tell a crew member that they are not enjoying their trip. Guests talk to other guests, not crew. We heard plenty of complaints from other guests.
At the end, the crew passed out questionnaires which were to be handed directly back to them. Who would write something bad if they knew the crew was about to read it? If Maldivesliveaboards want clients to fill out a proper review, they should do it by email, or provide a self addressed stamped envelope for them to mail it back in.
We wasted 2 weeks of our vacation, spent over $4000US on airlines to get to and from Maldives. And last but not least, the most important trip of our lives was ruined. That is something we can never get back, it can never be replaced. Dont let it happen to you!
