Princess Haleema — a wooden Maldivian liveaboard built around diving from her own dhoni

Princess Haleema suits divers who want the reach of a Maldivian liveaboard without turning the main boat into a working dive platform. The diving happens from a separate dhoni, so the yacht remains quieter between descents and the wet equipment stays where it belongs. That division matters over a week: the boat is for meals, sleep and open-air downtime; the dhoni is for tanks, briefings and getting back into the water. Routes can run from the familiar Male atolls to the remote southern waters around Addu and Fuvahmulah. The choice is less about polished hotel detail than about having a practical wooden boat, a full-time diving support boat and a crew used to working across the Maldives.

From the dock, Princess Haleema reads as a substantial Maldivian wooden motor yacht rather than a new-build resort vessel. The 2018 renovation gives the older hull a more recent working life without erasing its character. Once aboard, movement is straightforward: the main boat holds the cabins, saloon, dining areas and sun decks, while the dhoni takes over for diving and snorkelling. A single Volvo engine is the mechanical heart of the yacht, so engine noise is part of the background underway rather than something to assume away. The wide beam leaves room to spread out above deck, and the covered areas matter when the sun is high. It is a boat with a clear purpose, not a floating collection of decorative spaces.

The atmosphere is shaped by a crew that works across the boat and the dhoni rather than by a formal hotel routine. Divers describe the guides as competent and the wider staff as present without being intrusive; that matters when the same people handle meals, cabins, tanks and the return from the water every day. English, French, Italian and Spanish make briefings and ordinary conversation easier for mixed groups. By evening, the bar and dining areas become the natural meeting points, where the day's sightings, currents and missed shots are compared. The boat is also set up for groups and private charters, so the feel can change considerably depending on who has filled the cabins.

Dive groups run at a ratio of one guide to five or six divers. The guiding team works in English, French, Italian and Spanish, which is useful when currents, entry plans and separation procedures need to be understood precisely rather than merely translated. The boat is presented as a recreational diving operation, not a technical-diving platform, and no course programme, minimum logged-dive requirement or instructor qualification is stated here. The same applies to the detailed safety kit: full boat safety is listed, but oxygen, a defibrillator and the diver-recall system are not described. Experienced divers should therefore expect guided Maldivian recreational diving and ask the operator about their specific certification, experience and equipment needs before departure.

The dedicated diving dhoni is the centre of the operation. It keeps the main yacht clear of tanks and wet kit, and a second tender with an outboard motor supports excursions and other surface activities. Diving tanks are steel, fitted with twin-valve INT/DIN connections, and available in 10, 12, 15 and 18 litres; 15-litre tanks are a paid extra rather than a standard assumption. Three Coltri compressors, each rated at 16 m³ per hour, handle filling. DIN adapters are carried. Rental equipment and nitrox are available for an additional charge. The published setup does not give details for a camera table, dedicated rinse tanks, hot-water shower on the dhoni, SMB provision or cylinder-drop procedure, so those are points to settle before committing if they matter to the way you dive.

Between dives, the useful places are the covered part of the sun deck, the open loungers, the indoor saloon and the bar. The hot tub gives the surface interval a different pace, while the entertainment system offers an indoor fallback when the weather turns or the body has had enough sun. The dhoni carries the working side of the trip, leaving the main boat available for reading, talking, watching the atolls pass or doing very little. Land excursions, fishing and snorkelling are also part of the boat's offer, so non-divers do not have to wait for the next descent to have something to do.

A day follows the needs of the water rather than a hotel timetable. Divers wake for the first briefing, move to the dhoni with their prepared equipment and return to Princess Haleema for food and the next surface interval. Later dives break up the day, with the main boat providing shade, loungers, the saloon or the hot tub between outings. When the yacht is underway, the separation between travel and diving becomes clear: the dhoni remains the workboat while the larger vessel carries the group towards the next atoll. Some routes add a night dive, and the evening meal brings everyone back together before sleep and another early start.

Meals combine Western and local food, with alcoholic drinks and spirits available on board. Dining can take place inside or outside, so the table follows the weather and the heat rather than forcing every meal into the saloon. On a diving trip, food has a job beyond variety: it needs to arrive when divers are back, dry and ready to eat without turning the whole interval into a formal event. The arrangement gives the day somewhere to gather between briefings and descents, while local dishes keep the week connected to the islands rather than making every plate taste like home.

The 11 cabins are arranged as Double Bed Cabins, Double + Single Bed Cabins, Double Cabins and Suite Cabins. All have private bathrooms, air conditioning and hot and cold water, so the practical needs after a day in the water are covered. The upper deck places suites and a double cabin closer to the open air; the lower deck carries the remaining double and triple arrangements. At night, the difference is less about decoration than location: upper cabins are nearer the outside life of the boat, while lower cabins sit closer to the machinery and the waterline. The wooden hull and stabilized generator support a settled onboard atmosphere, but this remains a working liveaboard. Divers who sleep lightly should choose their cabin position with care.

Routes use Male's Velana Airport, while southern itineraries can start or finish at Gan Airport in Addu. The extreme-south routes use scheduled domestic flights to connect with the international journey, and some Male–Addu itineraries run for seven or 14 nights. Arriving the night before the embarkation is the sensible way to protect the first day on board, especially when a flight connection is involved.