Malaillo Liveaboard, Indonesia

highly recommend

Great boat, excellent food, amazing dive site, and above all, amazing crew and divers. Thank you for a wonderful time.

Recommended for

Boat. Crew. Dive spots.

03 Feb, 2026

Wonderful dive experience with room for improvement

We spent 9 days on the liveaboard Malaillo in Raja Ampat and overall had a very enjoyable stay with many positive aspects, but also a few areas with room for improvement that we would like to share. The service, food, and cabins were particularly outstanding. The meals were consistently warm, fresh, and very tasty. As a nice extra, there were even freshly baked donuts and cakes served as snacks. The service – both in the dining area and around the cabins – was truly exceptional. The cabins were clean and practically designed, with plenty of storage space, hooks, and drawers, which made the stay very comfortable. The boat offers enough space for 14 guests, so it never felt crowded. The crew mostly stays in the dive area, meaning you rarely get in each other’s way. There is also a designated small smoking area in front of the bridge, which we appreciated as non-smokers. A real highlight is the sun deck with a sail providing shade – we hardly saw any other boats with a similar setup. This was actually one of the reasons we chose the Malaillo. Raja Ampat itself offers an incredible underwater world. The selected dive sites were diverse and very enjoyable. Every diver was equipped with an ENOS system, a GPS transmitter that alerts both the boat and the nearest coast guard in case of emergency. The equipment was overall fine – not brand new, but also not heavily worn. One of the less positive aspects was the medical support on board. I had a middle ear infection shortly before the trip and again on board. I asked about medication, but was only told that I could purchase ear drops. On the first day of the trip, I also developed a deep wound on my foot caused by my closed-heel fins, which later became infected. When I asked for treatment options, I was directed to a small box with leftover medication from previous guests, most of which was empty or unusable. We would have expected much better equipment and support in this area. We booked the Master Cabin, which is a beautiful and spacious room exactly as shown in the photos. Unfortunately, we repeatedly had almost no water pressure and no hot water in the shower. We understand that this can happen on a boat, but despite the crew visiting our cabin seven times, the issue was never properly resolved. This became quite frustrating over time especially because all the other cabins where without issues. The crew was always polite, friendly, and helpful. However, we felt that a certain level of “excitement” or enthusiasm was missing that could have made the trip truly special. At times, it seemed like not everyone was fully motivated. While this is understandable given the workload, little effort was made to hide it. Our dive guide appeared rather reserved and at times disengaged underwater. There were longer periods where he would simply hover in one spot for several minutes. Staying behind the guide, as is standard, only works if the guide is actually moving. For example we would discover the area on the left just to find the guide starting to swim right. Communication underwater was very limited. We were rarely asked proactively about our remaining air supply and often had to approach the guide ourselves, for example to indicate that a safety stop was due. With our experience (Rescue with around 40 dives in 2 years), we would have appreciated more active guidance – especially better adaptation to the experience level of the guests. Additionally, despite being announced during onboarding, there were no post-dive briefings. When several guests raised this with the director (regarding guiding, communication, and briefings), the response was rather dismissive. Instead we were asked if we dived in Indonesia before. No changes were made, and instead we had the impression that the situation was discussed internally and even laughed about – which we noticed and found unprofessional. A safety-related incident should also be mentioned: one of the three dive groups (not ours) was left in

Recommended for

Dive spots. Food. Boat.

29 Mar, 2026

Highly recommended trip with an experienced, organized, coordinated and effective crew

When I and my wife first boarded I was impressed at the roominess and layout of the dive preparation area as well as a substantial backup boat motor mounted prominently but out of the way. There are benches running the length of the deck where you suit up and, if you want put your tank and BCD on although we opted to let the crew load that on the dingies. When we returned from a dive all we had to do is remove our wetsuits and booties and toss them into the rinse tanks opposite the bench and they would do the rest including hang up our wetsuits just above the rinse tanks. I would then dry off using the still warm towels from the dryer hanging above the rinse tanks once I took a fresh water shower at the stern. Only then did I take a glass of juice that is offered once on deck. Most everybody else drank theirs immediately. Before the dive I would check my tank and BCD at the bench. They gave us a basket to put under our spots on the bench for stuff like socks, booties, whatever small items you have which has your identifier on it. Mine was 1A which was also embroidered on my towel. Before the first dive they attached an emergency locator on everybody's BCD which will signal the boat when it's activated. We went in groups of four to a leader and were staggered five minutes to start getting ready so we weren't crowded on the deck. The food was fairly varied and pretty good although not gourmet which I didn't expect to get anyway. We brought our own bourbon so didn't try much of their cocktails which are extra. I got sick and self quarantined in my room for a couple of days. The housekeeping team was very helpful by bringing my meals to me and even set up a little table in the room for me. I cannot say enough about their willingness to help with a great attitude. The last night of our trip we had a top deck BBQ complete with live music which was very enjoyable. The only downsides are evidently inherent with a wooden boat. We were in a lower deck cabin so the wood creaked as we moved which I found soothing until the last night when we were heading back to port at which point it was pretty loud along with popping sounds. The other downside was that we had water leaks on the overhead beams but they taped diapers on them to absorb the water which was more of an aesthetic issue at that point. Otherwise I would highly recommend the Malaillo and her crew and will try to take another trip with them.

Recommended for

Well trained staff that worked efficiently as a team. Well equipped with safety and back up equipment. Good attitudes with customer facing staff.

18 Dec, 2025

Perfect cruise - better than expected

Welcome on board... All the dives Fantastic food Quality of our room and bathroom Lots of space, great deck Very professional team and course director

Recommended for

Crew. Boat - clean, confortable and beautiful. Diving sites - lots of sharks, turtles and Mantas.

30 Jun, 2025

Perfect diving cruise: top organization and unforgettable underwater encounters

An unforgettable experience from start to finish! The dive sites were nothing short of spectacular, with magical encounters underwater — including majestic manta rays and night dives full of life and mystery. The crew was amazing: always available, attentive and caring, taking care of every detail so that we could fully enjoy our stay. Everything was perfectly organized, from the equipment to the briefings, including the safety and conviviality on board. A perfectly managed and emotional liveaboard – definitely recommend!

Recommended for

Guide and crew. Sites. The quality of the meals.

31 Dec, 2025

Banda Sea Ring of Fire Diving with Sea snakes, Schooling hammerheads & pristine coral reefs full of fish

The warmth, care & professionalism of the crew on Malaillo was impressive. They even packed me to go lunch sandwiches when leaving the ship in Ambon to fly home ! Was thrilled and very lucky, happy to do the Banda Sea Ring of Fire itinerary with them. They got us safely to all destinations on this epic trip and we spotted schooling hammerheads, sea snakes hunting with Trevally, schools of chevron barracuda, midnight snappers, ubiquitous butterfly fish and red tooth trigger fish everywhere, huge eels, pygmy seahorses, banded sea kraits, dolphins swam beside us at times, the coral reefs at certain dive sites were truly extraordinary & spectacular. My regulator had a malfunction and they fixed it up for me with parts they had because safety & comfort was a priority on their dive deck. Their rental equipment and wetsuits are in very good condition. My Assigned DM also gave me some tips regarding better deployment for my SMB and by the end of the trip I had more confidence with improved technique. Dive Tender boat drivers were really on point for this trip. Food was delicious with lots of guests going for second helpings and I really appreciated my early bedtime and no loud obnoxiousness after 9p so we got lots of rest and good sleep in nicely cooled sleeping areas. Nitrox fills were consistent and free ! They were really sweet & accommodating of everybody. I love manageable current and drift diving and was truly feeling the spirit of being “adventurously alive” with Malaillo. The Cruise Director Mr Adin took very good care of us and administered seasick pills & all kinds of medicines for guests that suffered various minor afflictions like upset stomachs, ear aches, eye sensitivities and sprained / almost broken toes etc etc and any problems like leakage and smelly exhaust fumes that came up were swiftly resolved. The crew entertained us at the end of the trip and they were really amazing. Always so touched by the way Indonesians make you feel welcome and part of their Liveaboard family on these exotic Indonesian itineraries. They even cooked foods I specially requested occasionally ! The whole crew on this vessel worked tirelessly to kept the ship very clean ( no roaches or bed bugs on Malaillo thank goodness ! ) and always with a smile on their faces:) Would gladly go again with them on another dive sojourn ! Thank You everybody on Malaillo for a wonderful trip. 🦋🐬🫐🌊🪸

Recommended for

Dive guides Deck Crew were phenomenal. Ship was beautiful. Diving was incredible saw schooling hammerheads & sea snakes hunting with Trevally.

26 Sep, 2025