Amira

★ 5 · Harrison Cunningham · 2019-01-20

I went on a 10 day Amira Liveaboard trip from 5-15 Jan 2019. It was my first liveaboard, I was an inexperienced diver with only 10 dives logged, and was travelling alone. All these factors made me somewhat nervous going into the trip. However I need not have worried. Amira was excellent. The boat is spacious, comfortable, and well equipped. The staff stand out as a highlight, everyone on board is friendly, professional, and dedicated to making sure you have as good a trip as possible. Ronin and Nora, our two cruise directors, were outstanding, they were extremely knowledgeable in the area. Likewise, the dive guides were experts, it would have been nearly impossible to see a number of macro critters without their help. Two areas of improvement for me were firstly the dive sites themselves. Almost all the dives were on sloping walls off islands, which meant the dives started to feel repetitive near the end of the trip. It should be stressed that the diversity and beauty of Raja Ampat means this is hardly an issue. Second, most of the guests on our trip was one large group. It would have been good to know about this ahead of time, as the single group made it difficult at times to socialise, especially due to a language barrier. I would recommend asking the dynamic of the group at the time of booking. The dives themselves were beautiful, Raja Ampat is truly a paradise, and varied well in terms of difficulty. There is so much to see underwater, especially if you'd like to see coral gardens and macro life. The accommodation and food on board is very good, there is ample space on board. Overall the Amira was an excellent trip.

★ 5 · Jo Evans · 2016-12-17

I rang up Diviac one day for a chat, not expecting too much as there is another Dive company that I have used for years. Diviac totally exceeded all my expectations. Not only was Manuel very knowledgeable, he was so attentive and quick with his responses, I really felt I was getting the 5* treatment. He also managed to negotiate a great deal for me. The trip I booked was onboard the Amira liveaboard at Raja Ampat Indonesia. It had been on my bucket list so such a long time. I had some last minute time off work so as you can imagine, it was hard to find availability. Nonetheless, Manuel found me this great trip. Amira was truly epic and everything was just fab. I had been on 3 other liveabords around Asia Pac before and the service and organisation on this one was worlds apart. Yes you pay for it but it it really worth it if you can afford it. We had 22 crew for 18 guests!!! I had booked a shared cabin but when I arrived Bruno the manager upgraded me to my own room since hey had a spare. The briefing was great and we soon settled in well. Overall the food was fantastic, (better than a 4/5* dive resort I was at in Bunaken the week before). The staff were very attentive, the guests were great, diving desk extremely well organised, diving equipment to a very high standard. Really cannot fault anything! And the diving was just world class. The dive guides were very hard working too. The only problem was my go pro broke !!! :-( But overall, great recommendation. Many of the guests were experienced divers and have been on many liveaboards and they too were very impressed with Amira. So thank you very for Diviac for arranging a holiday of a lifetime.