Dive Review of Carpe Vita in
Maldives/Rasdhoo to South Male

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Carpe Vita: "Fabulous boat, excellent diving - IF you know where to go", Jan, 2017, by Lisa C. Evans, CO, US ( Sr. Contributor 24 reports with 11 Helpful votes). Report 9900.
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	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The diving: I actually did 2 one-week back-to-back trips. The diving at the beginning was very disappointing - few fish and lots of dead coral and algae - N. Male and Baa Atolls. The cruise director was very responsive, and we skipped a couple islands and headed south early - which improved the diving significantly. So, I recommend finding an itinerary that avoids N Male and Baa, and go to the other islands we visited: Rasdhoo, N Ari, S Ari, Maafushi, Maamigli, Rangali and S. Male. Some of the viz was quite poor, but the diving was still great. Viz was better at the last couple islands. We did have strong currents in places - you have both ocean currents, and the tides going in and out of the breaks in the atolls - where lots of fish congregate. Definitely bring a reef hook. Dive operation is great with drifting in currents, and there are some places to hook in and watch the action. Some of the diving is deep, as well - above MOD, of course, but watching your no deco time and starting to go up at 5 minutes left. This is the way to see the most mantas and sharks! Manta cleaning station at North Ari is not to be missed! Whale shark snorkeling - we did see whale sharks - they do a good job of getting there early - we had one encounter each time before the hoards of day trippers show up. Literally hoards. With no manners. Environmental sensitivity (important to me) was downgraded only because there was one diver from Germany who was the most destructive, insensitive, horrible diver I've ever seen, and should have NOT been allowed to dive. He was there for 4 weeks, and they wouldn't do what it took to control him. I watched him stand on the reef, repeatedly break coral, just horrible stuff. They were told - I know business is tough, but at some point you have to do something. Other than that, the DMs were great. PM me if you want a fairly detailed summary of dives at different islands - I put it together for a friend of mine and can easily share. The boat: As I said, crew were very responsive to our desire to get into better conditions. The boat is big and beautiful. Biggest cabins I've seen of the 11 liveaboards I've done. Very nice layout - comfy indoor AC salon, beautiful outdoor dining area at the back of the boat, and a nice sundeck with hot tub. Be careful on the wood stairs down from the sun deck - slippery if wet. The food was absolutely amazing. Creative, delicious, tons of variety and fruits and vegetables. Probably the best food I've had on a liveaboard - or at any resort, for that matter. Diving is done from the dhoni - a huge tender where your tanks and gear are stored. Seems a weird way to do it, but works great.
Websites	Carpe Vita
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	501-1000 dives
Where else diving	GBR, Philippines x 5, Raja Ampat x 3, Komodo, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Lembeh, Caribbean, Bali, Palau, Yap, Red Sea, Maldives, Ambon, etc
Closest Airport	Male	Getting There	We flew Emirates via Germany and Dubai.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	calm, currents, no currents
Water Temp	79-84°F / 26-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	20-100 Ft/ 6-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Max dive time 60 minutes. Some of group went up when low on air, others could stay for full 60 minutes.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	Squadrons
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	> 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	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	I didn't use my camera on this trip.

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Dive Review of Carpe Vita in Maldives/Rasdhoo to South Male

Carpe Vita: "Fabulous boat, excellent diving - IF you know where to go", Jan, 2017,

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 in
Maldives/Rasdhoo to South Male