Maldives Explorer · Private charter only · Updated 8 November 2026 · By Abdulla Maseeh
MV Explorer is a 28.9-metre Maldives liveaboard that you charter whole: eight en-suite cabins for a group of up to 20, a crew of her own, a dive dhoni and a dinghy, on your dates and your route. Run a dive trip with 17 dives a week, a surf trip in Malé Atoll from eight surfers, or a cruise with snorkelling, fishing and a beach barbecue. Every charter is quoted for your group.
Dates, group size and whether you want to dive, surf or cruise. A week is normal; shorter charters are possible.
We check the dates with Maldives Explorer, who reply within one working day with the route and a written quote for your group.
Maldives Explorer confirm the charter and take payment directly. Nobody else comes on board, and we stay your contact throughout.
MV Explorer is a motor yacht built in 2016, 28.9 metres long and 9.2 metres wide, with a wooden hull laminated in fibreglass above the waterline. She cruises at 10 knots. Her operator calls her a working liveaboard rather than a superyacht, which is fair: what you get is space for 20, eight en-suite cabins, a saloon with a bar, an open top deck with sun beds and a water slide, and a crew who know the central atolls.
The saloon was refreshed in December 2025. Air conditioning runs through every inside space, with a controller in each cabin, and the boat makes her own fresh water. Compare her with the other whole-boat options in our private charter guide.
Each charter is one type and one route, agreed before you arrive. Everything below comes on top of full board, water, tea and coffee, the crew, airport meet and greet, transfers and the dinghy.
17 dives a week
Route: Ari and Vaavu, or Baa Atoll with Hanifaru Bay from May to November; one or the other. See our Central Atolls and Baa Atoll guides.
From eight surfers
Route: Malé Atoll. Relocation to Meemu, Dhaalu, Thaa, Laamu or Huvadhoo on request, at a surcharge. More in our surf charter guide.
No dive log needed
Route: North Malé to South Malé, Vaavu and Ari; Meemu can be added at a fuel surcharge. See our snorkelling liveaboard guide.
| Cabin | Type | Deck | Bedding | Sleeps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | Standard | Lower | Twin beds plus an upper bunk | 2, or 3 with the bunk |
| 5 | Family | Lower | Four single beds | 4 |
| 6 | Tour leader cabin | Lower | Two beds | 2, yours on a private charter |
| 7 and 8 | Seaview | Middle | Double bed, 5 x 6 ft | 2 |
The four Standard cabins, the Family cabin and cabin 6 are on the lower deck. The two Seaview cabins sit on the middle deck beside the wheel house, with windows and a double bed each, so they suit couples and group leaders. The main deck is the open top deck, given over to sun beds and loungers.
On Maldives Explorer’s own cabin-sale trips cabin 6 is kept for the tour leader. On a private charter the whole boat is yours, cabin 6 included.
Read from Maldives Explorer’s own schedule every day. Weeks marked open have every cabin free, so the boat can still be chartered whole; dates that are not on the schedule at all are open to request.
Every cabin is still free in these weeks, so the whole boat can be chartered. The type shown is the operator's plan for that week; ask us if your group wants a different type of charter on those dates.
Held for other charters, fully booked, or with cabins already sold.
From the operator's live schedule, refreshed daily; last checked 12 Nov 2026. Dates not on the schedule are open to request, and we confirm every date with Maldives Explorer before you commit.
Three meals a day are served as a buffet at one table in the saloon, with unlimited bottled water, tea and coffee; there is a bar for everything else. Most of the day is spent on deck: shaded loungers, a teak side deck and the open top deck with sun beds.
Maldives Explorer prices every charter for the group, the dates, the route and the type of trip, so there is no fixed weekly rate. Send us your dates and group size and we pass them to Maldives Explorer, who reply with a written quote within one working day. Quotes list the 17 percent tourism GST and the Green Tax of US$12 per guest per night separately.
Up to 20 guests. On a private charter the whole boat is yours, including cabin 6, so 18 guests can each have a proper bed, with couples sharing the two doubles; guests 19 and 20 sleep in upper bunks in the Standard cabins. Groups that want no bunks at all should keep to 16 or 18.
Not through us. We list MV Explorer for whole-boat private charters only: your group, your dates and your route, with nobody else on board.
Every charter includes full board (three buffet meals a day), unlimited bottled water, tea and coffee, the crew, airport meet and greet, transfers on arrival and departure days, and the dinghy. Dive charters add 17 dives a week with 12-litre tanks, a dive master and the dhoni; surf charters add a surf guide and the tender to the break; cruise charters add guided snorkelling, a night-fishing trip and a beach barbecue.
Soft drinks and alcohol, Wi-Fi, equipment rental, nitrox, 15-litre tanks, dive courses and insurance, island entrance fees on beach dinners, food outside the agreed menu, and any surcharge for relocating to the southern atolls or adding Meemu.
Most charters run for a week. Shorter charters are possible on request, and the 2027 schedule already shows four to fifteen-night trips.
Dive charters pick one route: Ari and Vaavu, or Baa Atoll, where Hanifaru Bay draws mantas from May to November. Cruise charters run from North Malé through South Malé, Vaavu and Ari, with Meemu at a fuel surcharge. Surf charters stay in Malé Atoll, with relocation to the central or southern atolls on request.
Tell us your dates, group size and type of charter. We check availability with Maldives Explorer, who quote, confirm the charter and take payment directly. We stay your contact from the first message to the last day on board.
Written by Abdulla Maseeh, HolidayVibe Maldives, Malé. Facts from Maldives Explorer’s 2026-27 introduction brochure, deck plan (July 2026) and media kit; 2027 dates from Maldives Explorer’s published schedule, checked 9 November 2026. Photos and deck plan: Maldives Explorer.
