Emperor Leo

★ 4 · Preyanka Clark Prakash · 2023-01-16

Overall, I had a great liveaboard experience on Emperor Leo. The dive team were friendly enough and welcoming. The boat staff were extremely kind and attentive, which made the whole experience really special. The rooms were okay and kept clean. Nothing spectacular but more than I was expecting for a liveaboard. The buffet dining was great, and I loved the variety of dishes offered. The only recommendation I would make is to clearly label each dish on a little whiteboard or chalkboard, listing main ingredients (fish, chicken, etc). I also loved the island dinner and hanging out on the sandbank. The diving itself was a mixed bag. We saw mantas, sharks, turtles, octopus, morays, etc., but visibility was often really poor and strong “washing machine” currents made most of the group feel really unsafe during one dive in particular. We all felt it was just luck that there wasn’t a serious incident during that dive, which had to be aborted. In addition, on several dives, one or more guides missed the reef completely and everyone had to get back on the boat. I understand that nature doesn’t obey rules, and sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t, but good planning and decision-making is important, and I felt this wasn’t always the case, for example choosing to have us continue a “manta” night dive for nearly an hour with no mantas rather than taking us to the alternative site while there was still time. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat, but probably not in January. They aren’t very upfront with you on this matter because they want to sell year-round trips, but you could read between the lines and figure out that during the “changing of the season” it can be very unsettled, often causing poor visibility.

★ 5 · Christine Dietz · 2022-01-04

Overall the trip was great. The boat was well maintained and the food was amazing. The staff were all very friendly and it made for an amazing atmosphere.