Ocean Rover, tell me all about it.

[_Bella_]

Has anyone been on the ocean rover in the past year? If so, what is the boat like? What is the diving like (on any of the itineraries) what is the dive schedule like; two morning and two after lunch dives and one night dive? What times are the dives? Does the first dive start before or after breakfast? Are the divers dive time limited? How many dives per day in practice (my experience tells me some dive ops exagerate)? Do the tenders wait till a whole group is up before returning to the main boat or does it constantly ferry surfacing divers back? How are the overnight crossings?
The Andaman/Myanmar cruises are all from November-May is there any particular time which might be better?
thanks!

 

[Ringo]

Ocean Rover is an excellent Liveaboard operation. For details email Greg at info@ocean-rover.com and he will be able to answer all your questions.

 

[PeterMukiwa2]

I have been on the Ocean Rover when the Tsunami hit. It is an excellent liveaboard, probably the best I have been on [others include Truk Aggressor (now in Sulaweisi), Sky Dancer (Galapagos), Sea Hunter (Cocos), Manthiri (Maldives), Sea Safari III (Komodo).]

Specifically it is a very comfortable boat crewed by a superb team with outstanding backoffice support. As I recall, 4-5 dives a day were offered on most days. If I remember correctly, one could dive before the main breakfast. Most people soloed and surfaced at their convenience. Food was excellent. I intend to go back in Feb.

 

[Thaidiver]

Got to agree with the rest of the replies it is a quality operation............!!

 

[Woodiver]

We have been on the Ocean Rover twice in the past couple of years, once on a Thailand/Myanmar itinerary and the other in Northern Sulawesi. Without a doubt, it is the best boat and crew we have been with. The cabins are large for a liveaboard, all with private baths but try to arrange for a room on the upper level. The rooms on the lower level are next to the dining lounge, which also has plasma TV set up. The number of dives per day is dependent on the itinerary and how much steaming is required. The majority of the steaming is done at night but 4 to 5 dives per day is not a problem most days with the majority of dives without time restrictions. It is usually two morning dives, two afternoon dives and a night dive with almost all of the dives being from one of the two dinghy’s. I can only remember one site where we entered off of the back of the boat. They pretty much leave it you to you to dive our own profile and solo diving is permitted. When you’re done with your dive one of the dinghy’s will be they to pick you up and take you back to the Ocean Rover. The dinghy’s take turns ferrying people back to main boat so there is always one boat on the dive site to pick up divers as they complete their dives. All in all, you can’t go wrong with the Ocean Rover, top boat, top crew and top service but it does cost more than other boats, sometimes you get what you pay for.