The crew makes the experience. The boat is first rate. There is too much of the world to see to come back, but it was fantastic, memories for a lifetime.
Archives: Testimonials
Claude
Arenui was my very first liveaboard dive boat experience. They set the bar so high that I am certain I will find disappointment in the future with any other dive boat. The crew was amazing, the boat was spectacular and the food was superb. Two thumbs and two fins up! Well done!! Boat: All excellent Diving: All excellent Crew: The staff were all amazing! I enjoyed everyone’s personalities. They were lighthearted, kind and funny. Pay whatever you have to keep them. Food: All excellent!
Ken
All excellent!
Cathy
The most exciting memory from this trip will be the time we swam with the mantas. What a treat! Thank you for everything you did. A wonderful experience even for a non-diver! Boat: The boat was exceptionally clean and well maintained, very impressive. Diving: The tender drivers treated me like a princess!! Crew: The entire crew was outstanding! Our every wish was their command. They did above and beyond what was expected. Food: Everything was wonderful. Something for everybody. Thanks to the chefs for the anniversary cake, very thoughtful!!
Kenneth
Crew: G and Lisa are great! Also the wait staff, Anto and Kadek, and the divemaster Joni and tender drivers are exceptional. Could not have been better. Food: All excellent.
Eric
We loved every minute! Boat: All excellent Diving: All excellent. Crew: It is clear both G and Lisa are as excited about showing us these wonderful places as we were to discover them! They run an efficient cruise, they are generous with their knowledge and do it all while being delightfully cheerful. The ship is beautiful, but the crew made the trip!! We could not be happier!!! Food: All excellent
Maria
Boat: All excellent Diving: All excellent Crew: All excellent. Wawan is the best! Food: Chef did a great job!
Kate and Greg
We very much appreciated the excellent wines (reds). We also loved the decor. We live on the island of Borneo and perhaps appreciate this wooden, local decor more, since we have been to longhouses, etc. The warm decor is conductive to bonding us as a really nice group. Many of us had not met before, yet we all know the organizer Greg. We got along really well. We were blessed with fantastic weather, calm seas, few currents and lots of fish. Boat: The bed was very comfortable. Plenty of nice big pillows. I liked the space around the bed to put small things :o) Our cabin Dayak was spacious. Every morning and again every evening our rooms were made like new! Including a chocolate for bedtime. The toilet waste bin was always clean. The lighting was a nice, subtle color, amber. The amenities (hairdryer, reading light, shampoo, conditioner and body soap) were very much appreciated. Diving: Best “check out” dives ever! The first three dives were shallow in Ambon, at Laha and full of interesting fish. Crew: Cruise Directors Lisa and G: always nice, cheerful, helpful, and best of all: knowledgeble and excited about dive sites, what we might see, and about life of things in the sea. Divemaster Ronald: always kept good “eye” on the 4 divers, always wrote on his slate anything I wanted to know. Saved me 3 times: caught my mask and computer when I dropped it while preparing to enter the boat and untangled my SMB and hook. Food: Always accommodated my special need of “no-dairy” by preparing foods for me, using either the almond milk powder I brought, or cooking differently (roasted potatoes instead of mash). My husband LOVED the lovely cappuccino in the morning.
Dorinda
Very memorable trip!!! Great crew!! Amazing Mantas!!
Kate
The video showing us the staffs pictures, names and where they are from was very helpful to us and also made us feel like a family. Special celebrations prepared by Arenui staff brought joy and bonding, putting the Arenui heads and shoulders above other liveaboards. Please continue! Chef Putu created an underwater fruit art for a divers 400th dive. We were so impressed! Watermelon base, manta (from watermelon rind, with red belly), butterfly fish (pineapple), corals (bell peppers), dolphin (pumpkin). We all took photos. Chef Putu made a lovely cake for one couple’s 35th wedding anniversary. Diver Dorinda brought her Italian diving giraffes Gia and Giuseppe, who posed by many fish, including one with a green rhinopia! G organized a fun photo contest, telling stories per photo of the divesite and with excitement of all we could see, how lucky we were (great weather, lot of oceanic mantas, silver sides, etc.) and about the lives of the fish, including behaiviours we couldn’t see. This information helped to educate us in a very fun way, again, putting the Arenui heads and shoulders above other liveaboards.