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Dive Review of Explorer Ventures/M/V Carpe Vita in
Maldives/Male, Maldives

Explorer Ventures/M/V Carpe Vita: "Manta Ray Diving", Apr, 2018,

by Gerald Canning, FL, US (Reviewer Reviewer 6 reports with 10 Helpful votes). Report 10216 has 6 Helpful votes.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments This was the southern itinerary and the primary focus was large animals. It did not disappoint. We spent at least 2 hours underwater with many Manta Rays that were consistently coming close enough to touch. We also saw lots of Gray Reef Sharks & White Tip Reef Sharks with smaller amounts ow Tawny Nurse Sharks and Black Tip Reef sharks. We only saw one Whale Shark. At a particular site near the southmost part of our travel, the dive boat set up a very bright light on the swim platform of the boat. The light attracted krill and ultimately a whale shark that spent a considerable amount of time close to the back of the boat. We did not dive with the shark, but you could snorkel with it.

The boat was awesome - the largest cabins I have ever seen of a dive boat. All diving was done from a Dhoni - a 50' boat that accompanied us on the entire trip. The Doha carried all the tanks and diving equipment, was equipped with air and nitro compressors, and gave each diver their own space that was at least three feet wide. I would love to dive on a similar boat as a day boat - it was far more comfortable than any day boat I've seen.
Websites Explorer Ventures   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Florida, Caribbean, Indonesia, Philippines, Fiji, Mexico and California
Closest Airport Male, Maldives Getting There Miami to Doha, Doha to Male

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, rainy Seas calm
Water Temp 85-86°F / 29-30°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility 50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions A maximum depth and maximum time were specified. However, the maximum time of 60 minutes was more than adequate for dives that were in the 80-90 foot range for 20 minutes.
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas Squadrons
Dolphins None Whale Sharks 1 or 2
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 5 stars
Large Pelagics 5 stars

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments There was a camera area and table on the back deck of the boat. There was also a charging area inside the boat near the camera table. The staff very carefully transferred our cameras back and forth between the boat and the Doha.
Was this report helpful to you?
Report currently has 6 Helpful votes

Subscriber's Comments

By gailmorris in , at Aug 26, 2018 04:12 EST  
Planning a trip on board next April. How bad was the food? Did the dive masters handle the currents by drift diving or did you have to swim into it on a number of dives?
By report author: Gerald Canning in FL, US at Aug 26, 2018 13:55 EST  
Food was good - a mix of American and local. Dive masters always dropped us upstream- to the point of a dive master entering the water to verify direction. We dropped upstream and then drifted to where we hooked in to watch the animal life pass by. We did the 10 day schedule and had cabin 2. We had no noise problems. The dive compressor and tanks are all on the tender so we didn’t have that noise.
By gailmorris in , at Aug 26, 2018 14:55 EST  
Thanks for the info Gerald.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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