Baani Explorer - Maldives

[shelski]

Hi, anyone been on the Baani Explorer recently? We are going early March 2008. I see there are a couple of posts on here but none really recent. Would be grateful for general info on the boat, storage space in cabins etc. Any info with regards what to take, SMB/Reel etc. Is it still warm when the sun goes down? Sweatshirt required? Shortie or 3mm suit? How much in tips is the norm - presumably at the end of the trip? Absolutely any advice you can give would be welcomed - this is our first time on a liveaboard. Cheers!

 

[BrianMered]

Just returned from Baani Explorer and unfortunately most of my comments are negative and too late to help you with any decision making. I would be interested however to receive your comments if you do spend time on the Explorer.

Five of us (colleagues) planned the holiday together and we chose the Xplorer over the Adventurer because of Nitrox availability. WRONG: within minutes of joining we were informed that nitrox had not been available for several months due to technical problems with the equipment. On proceeding belowdecks to occupy our cabins there was a noticeable smell of diesel and exhaust type fumes. Rooms were in general spacious but way too warm. The smell and air conditioning we were told would improve once we were underway.....WRONG. Cabin 5 was so bad with fumes that two of my colleagues were forced to sleep on deck. Two German guests also opted for the roof due to lack of AC and smells in their room. Heavy rain showers through the night ensured they had sleepless nights. The boat was generally very fumy. The eating and relaxation area on the stern of the boat was bathed in clouds of exhaust from the power generators. It was especially noticeable after sundown when the lights came on and the boat was moored for the night Water in the bathroom ran cold most of the time, hot showers being a rare luxury.
Food hygiene was questionable: at least 50% of the guests had the runs by mid week. I ate eggs for breakfast (known quantity) usually with toast until it was noticed that the bread had green mould growing. The desalination plant malfunctioned most of the time so we were given bottles of water to drink and to clean our teeth with. Getting soap and shampoo to lather in mildly salty water was no fun.
Dive guides were burned out with 18 guests between two. 7 months without a break..! Now I understand their sarcasm and lack lustre performance. They were just dead beat and had probably listened to last weeks guests complaints with next weeks guests showing up again on Sunday with more complaints to follow. That's why there was only 3 dives a day and two dives when a night dive was included. The first 3 days were spent at novice dive sites although this did improve towards the end of the week as we moved south. Dive air quality was questionable with most dives ending with a very dry and strange taste in your mouth. I had one particularly bad air fill on day 4 and missed the next days diving with severe headache, burning skin and nausea. When I complained I was told that compressor filters had been changed and a reoccurrence wouldn't happen. I didn't find out the reason why filters were changed mid week but air quality was 100% improved.

At the height of the complaints the 'manager' showed up and promised the world. The occupants of room 5 by this time had just about had enough. Missing dives due to lack of sleep and diarrhoea they were told they would be found a place on a resort for the last two days but the catch was it would be to their expense......??? It was all pie in the sky and didn't happen anyway. AC's remained the same, fumes continued to be emitted by poorly maintained equipment and breakfast continued to be, pancakes, beans, eggs and sausages (same same every day).

The crew worked hard with what they had and remained friendly and helpful. By the way if you are a photographer this is not the boat for you. No camera tables, no wash and rinse facilities and invariably my camera rig came into the shower room with me after each dive. Dive equipment remained on the dive support vessel (dhoni) for the entire week and was not washed once. My booties and wet suit have never smelled so rank and unpleasant to don prior to the next dives.

If any other divers have spent time on this boat since 11th Feb I would like to get their feedback to find out if any improvements were made since our week on the Explorer.

 

[smokey braden]

brianmered,
welcome to this board.

sorry to hear your trip included "issues".

maybe if you search for info on this board you can find another liveaboard that doesn't have "surprises".

regards,

 

[shelski]

Thanks (sort of, given that our trip is less than 3 weeks away!) for your report on the Baani Explorer. Very alarming! I've forwarded your report to Maldives Liveaboards Ltd and to our tour operator. I'll be interested to hear their response. Will keep you posted.

 

[MaldivesLiveaboards]

Good morning divers,
I`m Gundi, responsible for Baani Explorer/Maldives since October 2004. We are quite spoiled with good comments regarding our operation and happy to welcome many repeating clients on board every year.

The complaint regarding Baani Explorer gave me an almost sleepless night and I have tried my best to find out, what has really happened on that safari.
We give guest feedback files to our guests at the end of every safari on all our boats, they are filled in optional and very precious for us.
It helps us to see if our divers were happy during their stay and give us good hints to improve our services.

I`ve got all feedback files from the safari Feb.3.-10.2008 this morning, they are scanned on board and attached to this thread.
Partly one file is filled in by cabin - means 2 persons, it is up to our guests, how they do. Our guest arrival list is attached as well, so you can see all names booked for that cruise.

There is only one file stating the same as mentioned in this thread, all other clients seems to be happy or even very happy with the same cruise.
Please have a look at the guest comments and get your own picture.

Thank you for your time, thank you also for a comment,
Sunny regards
Gundi

 

[BrianMered]

Hi Shelski,

I hope we (our group and others on the boat) rattled enough cages to get someones attention and the situation improves before your visit.
Apologies: I was so busy getting 'things' off my chest I didn't address your original questions.
As mentioned the rooms are spacious enough with limited storage space, small wardrobe and room under the beds to keep dive bags etc.
Daytime and night time temperatures don't fluctuate too much, tee shirts and shorts most of the time. A sweatshirt is the most you will need if you feel chilly. The water was a very pleasant 28 degrees but remember with repetitive diving you can start to feel cold for the second and third dives of the day. I dived in a 1/2 mm full length suit and was comfortable. I also had a 3mm full length for the early morning dives when the sun was low in the sky and for that comfort feeling during the night dive.. Most of the group had 3mm shorties, gloves not allowed.
Remember also that the sun has high UV content in the tropics so bring caps and floppy hats for the island visits and watch the length of time for sunbathing on deck, especially initially when travelling from sunny Liverpool. It did shower once or twice but these were welcome breaks from the sun. Mosquitoes were never an issue.
SMB/ reel: an absolute must. Some of the dives are in very busy channels with a lot of day traffic. You will be encouraged to use at least one smb per buddy pair. The boat carries spares if you don't have. Great for in water stops and allows the dhoni to pick up divers with ease after the dives.
Charlie and Moosa are great dive guides, experienced and friendly but as previously mentioned I wouldn't have their jobs for love nor money. I imagine minimal support from the boat owners is enough to knock the heart out of anyone eventually.

Any other advice: enjoy the diving, I shall post some appetizers for what you have in store....hammerheads, whale sharks, more mantas than you could shake a stick at, frogfish, sharks and plagues of blood tooth trigger fish.....

Let me know if you receive a response from Maldives Liveaboards and also if you have any other queries.

best regards....Brian

 

[Leslie Finnegan]

Hi all

I was one of the 5 people in the group that Brian mentioned. I actually was in cabin No. 7 which is right beside where the backup (smaller night time used) generator is located. We (myself and my girlfriend) had serious problems with the fumes in our cabin so much so that we had to sleep outside for 3 of the 7 nights we were there. The options given to us were to sleep outside; move to the other Baani boat or go to a resort (at out expense as we were told and the costs would be 'argued' later - exact words). It rained one of the nights we were outside and we spent most of the night awake. Not good when you have a dive brief at 6.15. I ended up with a chest infection and ended up sitting out 5 of the 17 dives. There was a fan in our cabin and now I know the reason why!

The food was tolerable, but my girlfriend still ended up being sick for 3 days. She also missed 5 dives. I was stopped in my tracks one morning when it was pointed out to me that the slice of toast I was about to eat had blue mould on it. This was immediately reported to the gally hands. I must emphasise that the crew were great and were very courteous. However, they are a VERY tired bunch as they do this day in day for 7 months. There were only 2 dive guides for 18 divers and we did 3 dives a day. They were physically very tired and they took naps whenever time permitted.

Regarding the forms provided above. These are very misleading. If you read them you will see that there are no forms for cabins 7 and 9. That is because we refused to sign them. The forms from cabins 4, 5 and 6 all refer to fumes in the cabins (not good is it!) and it must be pointed out that cabins 10 and 11 are luxury cabins on an upper deck and have their own separate air conditioning units.

The dive sites improved as the week went on but the condition of the boat definitely detracted from the holiday. I am a HSE manager and I can assure you that if the boat was subject to stringent health, safety and welfare inspections the boat would not pass.

 

[BrianMered]

Gundi,

Your post hasn't commented on nor addressed any of the issues mentioned....?

"gave me an almost sleepless night"..... try a night in cabin 7 on the Explorer for a guaranteed sleepless night.

It's a shame you didn't take the time to come and meet us last week when Hussen visited, I think you would have received some honest comments rather than relying on the forms that were handed out on the last day. Guests feel intimidated by forms that might adversely affect the terms and conditions of the crew. By the end of the week the crew are friends so any adverse comments on food or diving service reflect on the galley staff or the Dhoni crew (not the boat owners), the same guys that sang and danced and entertained us on the boat. As I mentioned previously the guys did the best they could with what they had.

Observations: Cabins 10 and 11 are the premium cabins on the second deck so comments on cabin condition/fumes and air conditioning are not applicable.
You have ommited comment sheets from guests in cabin 7 who were most affected during the holiday. (my mistake previously as I mentioned cabin 5 in my first response, it should have read cabin 7).
You have not included comments from one of the occupants in cabin 1, one Swiss gentleman (Hans) developed a severe cough from sleeping with fumes.

I have no axe to grind, apart from a couple of missed dives, and give my comments honestly. Please note I am a PADI instructor and have more than a thousand logged dives. Unlike a number of first time liveaboarders that have commented above, this is not my first time in the Maldives (previously MV Manthiri: a very slick operation) and numerous liveaboards in Palau, Indonesia and Singapore. First timers have no benchmark against which to measure their comments.

In summary, comments from luxury cabins 10 and 11 are not applicable.
Negative comments were made by cabins 4, 5, 6 and the guests in cabin 7 and one guest in cabin 1 refused to fill in the forms.
Cabin 3 guest was a chain smoker (as were the crew) so fumes are part of his everyday life.

You decide....!

 

[robint]

Wow! What a horrible experience. Fumes are something that really bother me. Even a little bit of cigarette smoke tends to irritate my lungs and throat. I would have been upset paying so much for this trip and getting moldy food, irritated lungs, stomach and bowel issues, and no sleep. :11:
I have never heard of this boat before. Is it new to the liveaboard scene or just not advertised much here in the states?

edit: I just looked it up on the internet and wow! that looks like a gorgeous boat. It says built in 2004, so why are their so many problems?? Scary stuff.

robin
2 months til the Nekton!

 

[RobDelio]

I have been on Baani Explorer 5 times over the past 3 years and have never experienced anything like what you are describing here. I have several hundred dives and also spent time in many other exotic dive locations. Let me comment on a few things that you seem to have gotten wrong or simply had unrealistic expectations.

Nitrox: I too had to go without Nitrox on one of my trips because the machine broke but that has also happened to me on island resorts before too as well as on Liveaboards in the Red Sea and in the Philippines. These machines are very delicate and hard to keep up in the rough conditions they are operated under. You’re on a ship in the middle of nowhere, things break and are hard to repair as fast as one would expect under European standards. You are wrong to believe you can bring first world repair service to the middle of nowhere in the Indian Ocean. Also keeping spares for everything on a liveaboard is impossible, right?

Fumes & Diesel: I don’t know how much or little you know about ships but if you pump 10000 liters of diesel yes of course you can smell that at first. It’s a massive amount of diesel. The smell however goes away shortly after the ship starts moving. Every ship of that size or smaller has the very same issue. Hardly something you can blow a gasket over when booking a liveaboard cruise.

Hot Water: It is true that hot water can run short after dives when everyone rushes to shower at the same time. I usually just waited 5 minutes until the first wave of impatient divers took their showers and then enjoy all the hot water myself. You just need to be a little flexible when on a liveaboard, again, it’s not a 5 star resort. At all other times fresh & hot water was always available to me and my wife.

Food: Food on Baani Explorer is among the best I have ever had on a liveaboard of the same standard. I was always well fed and happy. I’m sorry you had a bad stomach, must have been unpleasant when diving. You were probably the darling of all reef fish then ;-) I don't believe it was 50% of the guests though because they would hardly have forgotten to mention that in the forms, right? A tip for the future: Always eat something spicy or have a whiskey after dinner. That’s what you are supposed to do when travelling to a tropical country to prevent exactly what has happened to you – and it works. Bad toasties? Yeah stuff like that happens at home too…. Get fresh bread and get over it.

Dives: You complain about only 3 dives a day… how many did you want? Isn’t that what you paid for? By the way there is always 3 dive guides on Explorer, at least every time I was there that was the case and if they took you to novice dive sites at first that was probably because they were being professional and wanted to see how experienced you are before taking the next step.

Finally I find it interesting and amusing that you are the only one who filled a negative feedback form. Everyone seemed to be happy but you. For the record, cabin Nr. 9 is a crew cabin and it would be news to me if they had to fill in feedback forms too now.

You just like to complain a lot, that you have made obvious. I consider Explorer one of my favorite destinations and I will go back for sure, sorry you don’t share that feeling but they probably have thousands of guests per year and there is always the few who will complain no matter what.

Rob