The AMAB liveaboard has been sailing the Maldives since being launched in 2004. The 34-meter long and 10-meter wide diving ship is an extremely reliable, dependable, and comfortable ship with a unique and incomparable character and an outstanding crew. She visits the best central atolls as well as the northern atolls. The ship accommodates 21 divers and features an experienced operations management company from Germany.
Communal Areas: The AMBA has an incredible amount of space to relax after a dive day. Three freshly prepared international meals are served daily in the cozy salon. The kitchen crew has been working onboard for many years and conjures up Western, Asian, Maldivian, Bengali, and Indian specialties using fresh produce. Fresh fish, caught almost daily, are served in a wide variety of dishes depending on the angler’s luck. Vegetarians can be catered without problem. Vegan food can only be served with prior notice. Drinking water, tea, and instant coffee are included in the full board rate. Orange juice is only served at breakfast. Alcoholic drinks and soft drinks are available for purchase. There is a limited selection of spirits and offer a small but very fine range of spirits. The cozy aft deck offers shade and is ideal for relaxing between dives or in the evening with a fantastic view of the action behind the boat. A large, partially covered sun deck offers plenty of space for sunbathing with an unmistakable view over the Indian Ocean.
The dining room, also known as the salon, is moderately air-conditioned during meals and briefings. It comfortably seats 21 guests at two large tables. Briefings are also held in this room. A large flat-screen TV is available for guests to use. Each guest has their own private compartment with a German power socket for charging and storing electronics and camera equipment. The aft deck or shadow deck offers plenty of space in the open but partially covered for shade. Fans and a short walk to the beverage cooler ensure a pleasant stay. We refrain from playing music continuously and only play it at the express request of our guests. With almost 20 individual sunbathing areas, the sun deck offers enough space for all guests. Sun worshippers can enjoy the direct sun in the middle of the sun deck. Other slightly shaded areas offer comfortable outdoor mattresses and sun deck loungers.
All cabins are very spacious and have their own ensuite bathroom with hot water, sink, and western toilet. The cabins are equipped with a fan and individually adjustable air conditioning. The upper deck has two exclusive cabins with a large private terrace and a double bed overlooking the Indian Ocean. On the upper deck, there is also a cabin with a bunk bed for two people and another cabin with a double bed. These cabins are not comparable to the luxury cabins as they are slightly smaller and do not have their own terrace. An additional cabin on the upper deck is offered exclusively as a single cabin. On the lower deck there are 7 cabins with double beds or single beds which can be booked by friends as well as couples. Each bed is equipped with a mattress protector, a thin sleeping sheet, a fluffy blanket, and a high-quality pillow. Bed linen and towels are cleaned by a professional cleaning service before each tour, and mattresses are regularly replaced. Towels are automatically changed every 4 days and housekeeping is happy to provide additional towels if required. Room service works from early to late and thoroughly cleans each room once a day and in the evening while our guests are at dinner, room service does a final check and a little “make-up” so that nothing stands in the way of a restful night’s sleep. The little things make all the difference and our guests often find a little something on their pillow that makes dreams even sweeter.
Pure Air Station: The quality of the breathing air is one of the fundamentals for safe diving. However, it is not something that the diver can verify. The Pure Air concept by Bauer allows every diver to determine in advance whether the air used to fill the tanks is clean and healthy. Dealers who have equipped their facility with the SECURUS monitoring unit from Bauer and who regularly check the air content for oil, water, CO, and CO2 in cooperation with a Bauer testing lab, and keep records of these checks, are awarded a Pure Air certificate. The Pure Air certificate is reissued annually and is made immediately visible to customers through a sticker on the store door. Certificates and test protocols can be viewed at any time. The AMBA is the only ship in the Maldives with this certified filling station.
All “Best of Central” and “Summer Tour” crises start in Male and end in Male, the capital of the Maldives. Guests are picked up from the airport and returned at the end of the charter. Domestic flights do not have to be booked for the “Best of Central” and “Summer” tours. The “Best of North” tours start on the outward journey to Hanimaadhoo by boat from the home port in Male. The return journey is by domestic flight. The subsequent tour therefore starts in the north in Hanimaadhoo and the tour returns to Male by boat. Domestic flights are booked by the ship operator and must be paid in cash onboard.
A minimum of 50 dives is required and diving is done in two groups of up to 10 guests each. These groups are guided groups, which means that the divers follow the guide in a buddy system but must also be able to ascend alone and safely. Guests experienced in the Maldives and diving who wish to dive alone can register with the tour guide at the beginning of the tour. Diving equipment includes a diving suit, a head hood, mask, snorkel, buoyancy compensator, fins with booties, surface marker buoy, signal whistle, cutting tool, current hook, Nitrox capable dive computer, compass, and a regulator with alternative air source. Gloves can be brought along, but we ask that they be worn only on dives where we expect tiger sharks. On all other dives, we ask our guests to refrain from wearing gloves. The AMBA offers nitrox but does not support rebreathers or technical diving.
Narrative text and photographs courtesy of the AMBA Liveaboard.