Raja Ampat - Mermaid II or Sea Safari 8 ?

[1thumper]

We're looking to go on a liveaboard to Raja Ampat in February and the two available boats that seem to meet our schedule are the Mermaid II and the Sea Safari 8. I haven't seen any recent reviews or posts about either of these. Anyone have any experience with either of them?

 

[puncho]

I did see some review of Mermaid II and they were good from what I remember. I'm also looking at it for March. Haven't heard of the other ship.

 

[frogfish]

I did a trip on Sea Safari 8 last year - Food was descent, dive guides competent at finding critters, rooms ok. They did however have a problem with bugs, not sure if it has been resolved.

 

[clownfishsydney]

Our dive club chartered Mermaid II in September and travelled from Bali to Komodo and back. The cabins are not huge, but more than adequate with plenty of space on the single bed above the double for cameras, chargers etc. The food and service was brilliant. They were very relaxed in their dive procedures, that is, they did not set strict time limits or require a diver to exit the water when their buddy did. This suited us and made for a great trip. I could not really fault them on anything. Highly recommended.

 

[1thumper]

All,

We're booked on Mermaid II thanks for the advice! Will post a report after the trip.

 

[Tippytoes12]

Hi there

This is a great boat , we also did a Komodo Lob with them and it was faultless.....you will have a wonderful time.


Best fishes x

 

[DivingShane]

Thanks guys, this is great to read. I read a variety of older reviews that said they were having difficulty with the A/C, but perhaps they got it fixed these days. Only issue I'm having now is the trip I'm considering returns at 8am on Sat and there is only 1 flight out that day at 830am. Really prefer not to waste a day in no man's land.

 

[Tippytoes12]

We got in well before 8 I seem to remember , but obviously this depends on the weather and the traffic in Southern Bali is often terrible.

However if you fly that day you will obviously miss some of the previous days diving...which is world class. Also why say that it is no man's land...Bali is lovely...we stayed in a really nice hotel with a pool and a great restuarant in Saunur and there are many more there.