The boat – comfortable, roomier than expected. The diving – best ever! The crew – professional, attentive, friendly. The food – lots of choices.
Archives: Testimonials
Terrie Gray
As a photographer I really appreciated all the support I got from Jerry and Debbie above water with my sometimes unreliable camera system and below water from them and the divemasters. It was great to be shown critters to photograph – even if it meant pulling my arm to drag me over to the spot to see it! Jerry and Debbie were helpful with tips and technical suggestions too. Thank you! My husband and I have been diving for eight years. In the last five years we’ve taken several trips, including Mike Ball liveaboard on GBR. This Arenui trip beats them ALL! The boat – no complaints at all, everything was great. The food – thank you all for accommodating my dietary restrictions so well! I’d love to get the recipes for the non-dairy soups, very tasty!
Tina
It’s like a restaurant; order up a rare Pontohi seahorse – tick! Blue ringed octopus – tick! Ok and mating walking sharks on a gorgeous sunset dive – tick, tick, tick! Oh and if you need a good pit boss for liars dice, Bayu is your man! Can’t say enough about the staff. They make or break a ship and you all were exceptional! Diving was mind blowing. Saw several things on my bucket list and…fornicating walking sharks!!! The boat – very spacious rooms never smelled musty like other liveaboards. The diving – don’t know where to begin. EPIC!!! All the way around. The crew – could not have been more friendly and knowledgeable. From tender drivers, to chefs, to DMs ALL smiling, helpful and great at their jobs. The food – customer service, cappuccinos, noodles, eggs, brownie dessert etc all wonderful.
Patti Vickers
Wonderful experience! Rating five stars plus! Thank you so very much! Blessings… It was our second dive at Manta Sandy. Jerry was our divemaster. We hung out waiting for the mantas to come around for around 50 minutes. A no show on the mantas. Jerry motioned for us to swim up to the shallower reef. Just as we were approaching 35 feet, Jerry began pointing back towards the rock at the heart of the cleaning station. Two mantas swam in, one left and the other danced for us for about ten minutes. It was amazing! Mantas are my favourite sea critter! The boat – five stars plus. The diving – Amazing dive sites. The crew – This is a top notch run liveaboard. Debbie made me feel right at home from the minute I stepped on the ship. The crew was amazing, very friendly and always there to lend a hand. The trip was awesome and the entire crew made it so. Thank you! The food – the food was exceptional! The cooks, Bayu and Anto made sure I didn’t go without soup or dessert because of my dairy allergy. Every thing was made fresh and from scratch!
Anon
Debbie and Jerry are great Cruise Directors. Knowledgeable about all aspects of the operation, properly professional while being appropriately personal and friendly. Great working with them! Wawan’s ability to locate minute creatures is incomprehensible. He can go to virtually any fan and locate a pygmy seahorse on it. I was with him when he found a 1cm lump in coral rubble. He pointed it out to me and all I saw was rubble until that little blue ringed octopus moved. Then it popped out – obvious what it was. Anybody wanting to see small stuff…dive with Wawan. The boat – everything was great! The assistance with dive gear was outstanding. The diving – gorgeous dive sites! Reefs routinely in good condition. The crew – crews are routinely good, these guys were great! Always helpful, always said “yes”. Focus was obviously to provide service and anticipate our every desire. The food – five meals a day is great! Unfortunately my activity at home doesn’t allow me to continue this there.
Peter Erling
All the stories in your experiences (Debbie and Jerry) are fantastic! Two special people you have found Luigi!!! Thank each and every one of you, from Siska in Bali to the others we never saw. What a truly amazing experience. I will gladly write and support/be a reference for you any time! The boat – what a spectacular lady she is! The diving – WOW!!! The crew – the attention to detail is spectacular. The food – five great meals a day.
Mick Petersen
Every once in a while you have an underwater experience you will never forget. I came here hoping to see a walking shark. Witnessing walking sharks mating on a night dive was over the top if not a little too personal! Thanks! Pricey trip but worth it! Crew fantastic to last person and service unmatched in my experience (5th liveaboard). The diving – awesome diving. The crew – best food by far of any liveaboard I have been on!
Anon
En route to the Arenui we had a chance encounter with someone who had just disembarked. They had lots of rain on their voyage and some of their comments left us apprehensive. I am pleased to say that our voyage has been spectacular. In fact, I cannot imagine how it could be improved upon. The crew knows us very well now, our likes and dislikes, they are like old friends in many ways. We cannot wait for the opportunity to travel on the Arenui again. Debbie and Jerry made us feel very confident and safe. They are brilliant!! The boat – I loved the amazing smell in the room after it was cleaned each day!! The diving-WOW!!! AMAZING!!! The crew – there could not be a lovelier group of people to guide us on this journey. Love Jerry and Debbie!! The food-I ate too much!! 🙂
Mary Anne and Eddie
We had a great time. The crew made us feel right at home. We felt so pampered it was amazing. Our divemaster Ali was so in tune with how we dive and our skill level. Thank you all for the best vacation ever. We hope to meet again. The diving-beautiful. The crew – Ali was great! Stewards – loved them! All the crew were great. Food wonderful.
Laila
Thanks for another great dive experience. Well done! The crew – nice massage. Excellent boat drivers, very cheerful. Excellent divemaster – Wawan. The food – thanks for cooking without garlic. I felt very good the entire trip.