Manta Queen Liveaboard

Funny and knowledgeable staff, and great experience for the price! Our only liveaboard comparison is Aggressor in another part of the world, which was 3x the cost, but an incredibly comfortable liveaboard experience. Manta Queen 1 has wonderful open-air seating for meals, tasty authentic Thai food (but would have loved labels for what food was gluten-free for my wife's allergy), although it seemed odd that the kitchen is right across from the shared bathrooms, and our private stateroom had good AC and fans, and large shower with open-air windows, which kept everything smelling fresh. We felt the steep steps between the 3 floors, limited seating on top deck, tight tank set-up, very firm mattresses, and their dingy set-up makes this more suitable to a younger crowd with younger knees. We were grateful to be there in the 'cooler' winder months, as there is very limited inside common space considering it is a small boat for 20+ guests plus staff. The dives where we could do giant stride and return via dingy water tow and climb back up the ladder were much more achievable. Several divers hit 100 and 900 dive milestones and the chef's celebrated them at our meals, which was really neat! And the last night's rooftop bbq was very fun. Our Thai dive guide, Tik, was absolutely fantastic in every way!!! He was attentive to our group's preferences for aquatic life, professional, and he is incredibly skilled at pointing out hidden marine life. Best marine life we've ever seen (1000+ barracuda schools, nudibranch, 3 octopus, huge schools of tiny and medium fish, largest guitar fish I've ever seen, incredible night dive with reef tip sharks and larger than life lobster)! Book directly through the shop or via Liveaboard, not No Troubles Just Bubbles like we did; most of our information was not shared with the dive shop so we had to communicate everything from our gear needs to food allergy (which was too late b/c the food supply had already been purchased and it was hard to communicate what did or did not have gluten once on board - but not Manta Queen's fault, as they were great at labeling vegetarian... if No Troubles Just Bubbles had shared that info ahead of time it would not have been a problem. We did have some issues with billing (likely because of going through No Troubles Just Bubbles) - we tried to pay for everything (partial gear needs, etc.) ahead of time, were only allowed to pay for part. This caused staff some confusion around what needed paid, and we ended up having to wire transfer money for my wife's nitrox after our trip, because it was missed. But overall, very good experience, and would recommend.

Feb 2026

My family and I spent 3 nights aboard the Manta Queen 2 in January 2026. While the diving was very nice, especially at Richelieu Rock, by day 3 we contracted norovirus so severe that we were all hospitalized for multiple days with severe vomiting, severe body aches and joint pain and rashes and disorientation. We are healthy adults in our 30s so we thought it was DCS, but the hospital testing confirmed viral gastroenteritis. The boat is tiny for 20 guests to the point that there is not even enough space for everyone to eat meals in the designated sitting area, and 20 guests + at least 15 crew members all sharing 3 tiny disgusting toilets for 4 days. At no point did they ever wipe down or disinfect the common areas or ladders being used by 35 people, and the hot food was sitting out in the Thai heat and humidity for hours before being served to guests. This is not a hygienic operation. Please learn from our mistake and do not board this ship that almost killed my family!!!!!

Jan 2026

Great crew and great DMs, our crew leader Lin is super experienced and fun! Our DM Zyn has taught us a lot about marine creatures and diving techniques! Food is good, and all crews are super helpful and friendly!

Dec 2025