Eat, Sleep, Dive, Repeat: One Incredible Week on a Liveaboard

This was my first liveaboard and it’s fair to say I’m a little bit hooked…

What an exhilarating feeling! I spent 7 days on board Princess Maani, a beautiful, modern boat from Top Class Cruising, and my god... it was one of the most bloody brilliant experiences of my life.

It cost around CHF 2,500 (roughly €2,650) for the week, including all meals & snacks, and around 3–4 dives per day, with some night dives.

So what are liveaboards actually?

You pay to literally live on a boat for a set amount of time and dive daily. Some also offer the option to snorkel instead, for a cheaper rate, depending on the trip. There are multiple options overall in many different countries and it’s a great way to not only boost your skills in the ocean, but to meet other diving enthusiasts and enjoy the peace & serenity of being on deck.

You can also do certifications while on board and I even got my deep diver so that I could go down to around 35–40m, which is recommended for some of the more challenging sites in the Maldives.

The schedule is basically exactly what it says on the tin!

You wake up ridiculously early, typically that’s around 4–6am (thank god I’m now more of a morning person), have a little snack, dive, come back for breakfast, dive again, chill for a bit, have lunch, dive again and then eventually have dinner. Sometimes you get a night dive thrown into the mix too.

For sure it is quite exhausting, don't get me wrong, and I even skipped one of the last dives. But you're waking up every morning and getting straight into the ocean, so I'm not complaining. I’ve been ocean/diving obsessed since I was super young and would never swim, even in a pool, without a proper snorkelling mask.

As well as the diving, there were also days where we'd visit beautiful sandbanks or head onto an island for a BBQ, which made for such a nice treat.

🦈 The diving itself

I love sharks so, so, so, soooo much: you can imagine my excitement.

The shark wallsite was, no surprise, one of my favourites. We got to dive it twice and both were phenomenal: being at the bottom, 30m+ down, surrounded by these gentle mammals and watching them glide through the blue was indescribable. We were lucky enough to see so many species, from gentle nurses, black/white tips and whale sharks, to unique guitar sharks and mighty tigers.

We were also able to dive at night with mantas. The boat's lights attract plankton, which brings the mantas in (the company is ethical and really takes care how we do these dives), and we had them coming incredibly close and circling around the lights.

You may think about those sorts of things when you’re planning but I don't think you can really plan just how incredible it feels when you're actually down there.

🌅 Magical ends to every day

I really don't think photos do these sunsets justice. After spending the day diving, we'd come back up onto the deck, shower, eat and then just sit there watching the sun disappear into the ocean. To be honest, Maldivian sunsets are more stunning than most I've seen!

🛥️ A bit about Princess Maani

The boat itself was pristine, gorgeous and very modern. Princess Maani was a newer boat from Top Class Cruising, and I wholeheartedly couldn't have asked for a better place to spend a week.

Not only the design, food and comfort, but also the team on board who do everything they can to make sure you’re happy, and taken care of. You’re definitely in safe hands, with wonderful people.

Of course, it's also such an easy way to meet people. Everyone on board is there because they love diving and the ocean, so you already have something in common. I was one of only two solo travellers, whereas the other guests were either in couples or families, but we still all bonded and it was lovely.

🌊 How to be ocean-conscious and ethical

Now for those of you considering these kinds of trips, please bear in mind the impact on the environment.

Do your research and don't buy into the feeding schemes, but instead opt for something ethical.

I want to give a deserved shout out to not only Top Class Cruising, but specifically Martina in the team, who has spent years researching and working in this field. Her work and passion to protect the marine life is commendable and it’s something that made this liveaboard stand out above the rest.

No feeding, no chasing and no touching: everything natural, the way it should be.

For me, that's what diving should be about. Getting to see these animals in their own environment without interfering with their behaviour just so we can get a better photo or guaranteed encounter.

Would I do it again? For me, 1000% - hell yes!

I think the price overall for everything was more than fair, especially since diving is often expensive anyway.

And you're not just paying to sleep on a boat. You're getting access to dive sites that would be much harder to reach from land, while travelling between different areas of the Maldives.

If you're not particularly interested in diving, obviously this probably isn't the way I'd recommend experiencing the Maldives. But if you love the ocean and want to spend a week doing pretty much nothing but diving, eating, sleeping and repeating the whole thing...

Do it.

This was my first liveaboard and I'm already wondering where I’ll do the next one.