Dive Review of Carpe Vita Explorer in
Maldives/N & S Male N & S Ari, Vaavu

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Carpe Vita Explorer, Apr, 2013, by Thomas H Lopatin, NJ, US ( Reviewer 5 reports). Report 7427.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The Carpe Vita Explorer is a beautiful boat. Largest cabins I've ever enjoyed on a live aboard. Great crew with great attitude. Only downside was the food was the worst of any live aboard. Nice bunch of guests, with just a couple of 'buoyancy snobs' who critiqued and complained about one newer diver's skills and that some of us had cupped some water from the camera tanks to rinse our masks….Fortunately, they were easy to steer clear of topside thanks to this roomy well appointed boat. Having been all over the Caribbean, as well as the Pacific and Indian Oceans, I would rate the diving as very good and a worthwhile trip. There were many opportunities to dive with manta rays, and we had one extended snorkel with a 30 foot whale shark. 34 dives were offered, as were night dives, one with mantas. I observed a number of interesting behaviors among the varied marine life, including giant trevally feeding on their juvenile siblings during a night dive, unicorn fish using diver's bubbles to tickle themselves, a clownfish attempting to drive a porcelain crab from their common home, and a huge school of 100's of parrot fish that swarmed the hard corals, generating a huge cloud of sand, while mass feeding on 20 foot sections at 15-30 second bursts….then moving 20 yards and repeating the process. Some dive sites had very strong currents, perhaps not suitable for beginner or poorly conditioned divers, though it was permissible to gently anchor yourself with a finger or two (or with a reef hook) in a patch of dead coral...but keep an eye out for Bandit Morays…..as I found out, they will nip a finger that comes too close to their den, as they are very territorial. Having already dove in both the Eastern and Western Indian Ocean, the Maldives are a very worthwhile destination and the Carpe Vita Explorer a great boat to do it on. If they could improve on their selection, preparation and diversity of meals (lunch and dinner in particular) they would get a 10 out of 10 from me.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	Worldwide
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	currents
Water Temp	80-90°F / 27-32°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	100 foot maximum depth
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	Schools	Whale Sharks	1 or 2
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Carpe Vita Explorer in Maldives/N & S Male N & S Ari, Vaavu

Carpe Vita Explorer, Apr, 2013,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Carpe Vita Explorer in
Maldives/N & S Male N & S Ari, Vaavu