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Mermaid I

From USD 320 per day

Length

28m
92 ft

Max 15

Nitrox

PADI

Wi-Fi

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At a glance...

Visits Komodo, Raja Ampat, Banda, Alor
Cabins have en-suite bathrooms, TV & minibar
Cabin for single traveller
Most cabins have seaview windows
Spacious, steel-hulled liveaboard

Customer reviews

Excellent!

Click on an image to enlarge

MV Mermaid I, for Komodo diving trips from Bali

The Master cabin with large picture windows

Budget twin bed cabin with bunks in L formation

The dive deck where you'll kit up with camera table and equipment baskets

The air-conditioned saloon has a cozy seating area

Komodo views from the comfort of Mermaid I's covered open air lounge

The partially shaded sun deck with plenty of sun loungers

View of the stern and the large dive platform

Trips to Komodo Island & Raja Ampat with Mermaid I

Layout image of the upper, main and lower deck

Page contents:
Departure & Prices
Trip Details
Cabins
Crew & Facilities
Food
Specs
Safety
Reviews

Winner of our '2012 Liveaboard of the Year' award, the steel hulled Mermaid I has the finest available accommodation of all the 'best value' Indonesia diving tours, and the cabins are right up there with the best in the industry. All the cabins are well decorated and boast en-suite private bathrooms, TV, minibar and air conditioning. With 3 different accommodation standards, including a single cabin, you can choose the cabin that's right for your needs and your pocket.

The Master cabin is superb and boasts prime location at the bow of the boat on the main deck, so it has great forward-facing panoramic seaviews. The single and deluxe cabins also have large windows for an ocean view. The windows can easily be opened if you prefer the fresh sea air to air-conditioning. Only the lower deck budget cabins are windowless.

With spacious and modern facilities you may think you're still back at the resort rather than on a boat. You can identify the unusual marine life sightings that you find on your Komodo liveaboard trip on the shaded upper deck, edit your photos or catch a movie in the air-conditioned saloon, or just grab a relaxing sun lounger on the huge top deck. Fresh towels are in your room and on the sundeck every day.

There's a selection of fine wines in the bar and delicious Asian, Thai and Western cuisine is served in the air conditioned lounge. Every meal has a selection if fish or seafood, vegetarian and meat based dishes, so the cruise caters well for most dietary preferences and requirements.

The dive deck is also spacious and practical with separate fresh water rinse tanks for camera and scuba gear. The attentive crew is always on hand to help you into and out of your equipment. Mermaid I also has tanks for enriched air nitrox diving. Get EANx qualified onboard if you don't have your license already!

Primarily a Komodo liveaboard, Mermaid I can also be seen visiting the dive sites of Raja Ampat between November and April.

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Scheduled departures, prices, destinations, durations...

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More Trip Details...

Dive experience: All levels of certified divers and non divers are welcome on board Mermaid I.

Cruise price per person includes: Cabin accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinking water, soft drinks, hot drinks, land tours in Komodo, transfers to the boat from some hotels and the airport, dives (as detailed in the trips above), experienced English-speaking divemaster(s) (max 4 divers per DM), tanks, weights and weightbelts, Wi-Fi interent (30mb free allowance).

Cruise price per person excludes (mandatory, unless customer provides own): Dive equipment (US$ 30 per day), dive computer, Komodo port and park fees (US$ 208 per person per trip), Raja Ampat port and park fees (US$ 237 per person per tour), fuel surcharge (subject to change, please check with us). Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival (cash and credit cards).

Optional extras: Diving insurance, alcoholic drinks, nitrox fills for enriched air certified divers (US$ 159 per person per trip), torches, 50mb internet (US$ 36). Unless otherwise stated, all the listed items need to be paid on arrival.

How to get there: Komodo: Mermaid I trips depart in the late afternoon from Benoa Harbour in Bali. The meeting point before the cruise is Akaya Bali Resort in Jln Dana Tamblingan, Sanur. Mermaid guests may use the facilities free of charge on the day of departure and disembarkation. There is a minibus transfer service from the airport and all hotels in southern Bali, including Akaya Bali to and from the boat.
Raja Ampat: These safaris depart in the late afternoon from Sorong in West Papua. You can fly directly to Sorong from Jakarta, Ujung Pandang (Makassar) and Manado. From Bali there are convenient connections via Ujung Pandang (Makassar) and Manado. We will help you arrange return domestic flights between Bali or Jakarta and Sorong.
Ambon/Banda: Fly direct to Ambon from Jakarta (or from Sorong or Surabaya). Flores: Fly direct to the port of Maumere from Bali (or via Makassar from Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur). North Sulawesi: Fly direct to the port of Bitung (Manado) (from Jakarta, Guangzhou, Nanking, Shanghai)..
There is a transfer service from the local airport to and from the boat. For more information see our travel information section. The last dive of the trip will be at around 12 noon on the second last day of the trip. Please wait at least 18 hours before flying after diving.

Non-diver rate: There is no discount for non-divers.

Single supplement (if you do not want to share accommodation): There is a single cabin available on this boat. However, if this cabin are already booked, single travellers can opt to pay an additional supplement of 90% for their own cabin.

Dive clubs and group discounts: None.

Whole boat charter rate (per night): Komodo US$ 5 008; Raja Ampat US$ 5 457; Banda Sea and Raja Ampat US$ 5 435.

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Cabins, Berths, Showers, Bathrooms...

There is 1 Master and 4 Standard (deluxe) double or twin bed cabins, and 1 single bed cabin on the main deck. All these cabins are of a high quality. There are also 2 Budget twin bed cabins (noisier) on the lower deck, without windows. All the cabins have private bathrooms.

All the cabins have:

Air conditioning
Large sea-view windows, main deck only
TV and VCD player
Minibar
Bathroom with toilet, toiletries and unlimited showering

Wardrobe with towel and bathrobe
Mains outlet 220 & 12 Volts, 24 hours per day - twin prong sockets
Life jackets
Bedding

No. of bathrooms / showers - 6 / 8 - hot water

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Crew, Facilities, Dive Courses...

Crew comprises:

Tour Leader
2 x Divemasters
Captain
Cook
Engineer

Dinghy Skipper
Assistant
Cleaner
2 x Deck hands

Enriched air nitrox system - 40 HP motorised dive dinghies - 36 m² diving deck - Air-conditioned saloon with DVD player, video & music system - Internet (subject to coverage) - 60 m² sundeck with sun loungers - Water dispenser

PADI certification courses available including Advanced Open Water Diver and EANx.

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Menu, Cuisine Type...

Asian, Thai and European main meal dishes and continental breakfast.
Buffet-style service in the dining room on the main deck - choose from 3 main dishes with rice and salad.
Most dietary requirements can be catered for - please send us notice of your requirements.
Dinner is also provided on the first evening of the cruise.
Fresh coffee, tea, soft drinks, hot chocolate, snacks and water are provided free of charge.
Beer, wine and chocolate bars are also available for purchase.
No fixed menu.

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Technical Specifications...

Built in year 2002
Size - 28m x 7m
Top speed - 12 knots
Cruising speed - 9.5 knots
2 x 510 HP Volvo Penta engines
3 x generators - 2 x Hino 50 KW & 1 x Westerbeck Supersilence

2 x Bauer Mariner dive tank compressors
11 and 15 litre steel tanks with Int. fittings and DIN adapters
Electricity 220V and 12V, 24 hours per day
Water capacity - 26,000 litres
Fuel capacity - 18,000 litres

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Navigation, Safety Features...

Life raft
2 x Motorised 4 metre dinghies
VHF & SSB radio, and walkie-talkies
Global Positioning System (GPS)
Radar
EPIRB
SART Transponder
Man Overboard system
Vessel is also monitored by Purple Finder
Echo sounder

Sonic altimeter
Satellite telephone
Mobile telephone
Full-feature medic first aid box
Oxygen - 20,000 litres
Life jackets in each cabin
Fire extinguishers throughout

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Customer reviews:

"This is our 3rd time on Mermaid II, the standard of Service on this boat is always first class. The crew are professional, helpful and always smiling, the food is yummy, high quality and plentiful. The budget Cabin is spacious and comfy. Thanks Mermaid for restricting the areas where guests can smoke to the front deck only, this is much appreciated." - Sarah Drew and Liam Donnelly, Australia, 30 January 2019 ...

"We received excellent service on the liveaboard in terms of care from the staff, the quality of food, amazing diving. We brought mostly our own equipment but the equipment available was good." - Jack Hardman, UK, 4 March 2018 ...

"The boat is probably the best liveaboard vessel overall I have been fortunate to dive from to date." - Gabor Tamas, Hungary, 16 February 2017 ...

"The service was exceptional. The staff and all the facilities were very accommodating and we felt they would do everything in their power to ensure we had a great experience." - Marty Van Keulen, Canada, 17 March 2015 ...

"The crew was excellent, always willing to help. Our room was fantastic, nice big bed. Lots of excellent food choices. They took very good care of us and were very good at helping us have great and safe dives." - Albert Dubord, Canada, 17 March 2015 ...

"Service was EXCELLENT! Big warm towels always handed to us right after our dives, staff took very good care of our equipment. Very tasty meals, big thumbs up for made-to-order eggs for breakfast. Staff are very attentive. Dive briefings were SUPERB, very creative graphics and beautiful photos! All DMs were very good and knowledgeable. All in all, the boat was very good except for bathroom in the room where toilet and shower areas would be better if they were separated." - Carol Lau, Hong Kong, 4 October 2013 ...

"Excellent service. I must admit however that I do not like paying for nitrox, and the price charged for the nitrox was in my view expensive." - Mark Sciberras, Malta, 3 September 2013 ...

"Mermaid I liveaboard: accommodation, full board, and scuba diving. Great boat with very comfortable accommodations and excellent food. The crew was exceptional, and if ever a problem occurred, they were quick to rectify the problem." - Martin Janacek, USA, 8 August 2013 ...

"The whole trip in Komodo was very well organised. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful, the equipment in a very good state and the food delicious." - Jennifer Aengst, Germany, 25 July 2013 ...

"We were pleased with the boat, a bit older, but well maintained and good crew. Just what we were expecting. Only disappointment was quality of food, a bit tasteless and boring and as the operator advertises Thai food - a lot of the spices were missing.
We dived with the tour leader and he was at times more concentratating on making a video he could sell than guiding the group. But I liked his choice of dive sites and the guy in general and I don't expect to be pampered every second underwater. " - Johanna Vuorte, Finland, 24 November 2011 ...

"We have just returned from a trip to Komodo on Mermaid I. The crew on board Mermaid I were an exceptional team who seemed to go by the mantra that 'the customer is king', going the extra mile by providing welcome hot towels and hot chocolate drinks on the dive deck.
The food was delicious with plenty of variety and plenty of it with special cakes frshly baked with afternoon tea. The boat was kept extraordinarily clean and the staff were hard working and extremely friendly and attentive. I would be delighted to go on this boat again. My partner is a non diver but found plenty to occupy himself with excellent snorkelling and kayaks on board." - Christine Blakeley, England, 24 October 2011 ...

"This was a fantastic live-aboard experience. Warm deck towels were provided after every dive, and hot chocolate after the night dives, while the crew rinsed your gear. The whole crew was absolutely great, always friendly and smiling and willing to help out. A maximum of 5 divers were with each guide who were very knowledgeable and helpful and excellent at spotting critters.
The diversity of the sites and the critters to be found there was amazing; dive site topography varied from beautiful coral reef formations to muck dives or black sand with hot volcanic thermal bubbles emerging from the soil." - Bart Mertens, USA, 23 October 2011 ...

"The on-board crew, both the dive crew and the boat crew, did a great job to make me and other guests comfortable. The boat was well designed and never felt crowded even though it was almost full but for one person. Generally was comfortable and pleasant. Their equipment was fine, it was good they had a full mix of tank sizes available to choose one that's comfortable and not too big or empty too quick. It was good they had spares, my personal computer had issues and they were able to rent me one for the holiday." - Andrew Szymanski, USA, 28 February 2011 ...

"Everything one can expect from a liveaboard trip: The facilities, service, food, divemasters & other staff, and of course the diving were all great and left little or no to wish for." - Veiko Termonen, Estonia, 21 October 2010 ...

"The boat was of a good standard, and the cabin was clean and comfortable. The boat crew were excellent, and the DMs friendly and helpful. Equipment was also well maintained." - Shelley L. Jenkin, UK, 8 October 2007 ...

"Both boat and diving staff were excellent; always helpful and very informative ... the boat itself is a beaut! Well equipped and very comfortable." - Leigh Ayres, UK, 8 January 2007 ...

"Helpful, smiling, efficient. Both the local crew (boat) and the foreign crew (divemasters) were very nice." - Pierre Martin-Cocher, France, 3 May 2006 ...