The dive sites and the guides are excellent, the food on board the Carpe VITA is the best we have ever enjoyed on a dive boat (10 stars)

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Long story short: Since we all want to dive instead of reading reviews and planning trips: don't think any longer, just book - Carpe is worth every dime! For those who do have time...
We were on the Carpe Diem for a week at the end of May and did the "Best of Maldives" tour.

Arrival, service and departure
Even the arrival is unique, as you are picked up directly from the airport pier by a dhoni (dinghy) - meaning: shoes off, vacation on. We were warmly welcomed by the crew of the Carpe Vita and driven to the Carpe Diem. The check-in by Wathey was warm, informative and included everything we needed to know. All in all, the service was wonderful and we always felt very comfortable. Departure is similar: after breakfast, you are taken directly to the airport by dhoni - which doesn't make it any easier to say goodbye after a great week.

Boat, catering and crew
Compared to the other two boats in the fleet, the "mother ship" is somewhat older, but in top condition. You can tell that it is clean and well maintained. It offers everything you need on a diving safari. The rooms are spacious, the bathrooms surprisingly large, and the common areas pleasantly distributed.
The food was excellent throughout the week: varied menus from breakfast to dinner - always with a choice of South Asian and European/Western dishes, fresh salads and delicious desserts. A big compliment to Nilanka and Saiful for their cooking skills and all that they conjured up in the boat kitchen - and another to Mahey for the very good service at the large dining table and at the bar (istuti!). The rest of the crew were always friendly and the service was impeccable - we felt we were in good hands all round. The weather conditions were not always easy, but the crew around Captain Issey did their absolute best to make sure we had a great time and a safe trip. Thank you very much!

Diving and guides
Anyone who has already dived in the Maldives knows what to expect. Everyone else has probably already seen numerous documentaries or YouTube videos. So in short: it's brilliant! Visibility was limited at this time of year (sometimes 10-25 m), but thanks to the excellent work of Saaz, Wathey and Munkko, we were able to experience many wonderful dives - even under difficult conditions. The dhoni is somewhat smaller than other boats, but offers every comfort. The dive briefings were always informative, very detailed, with hand-drawn maps - and a pinch of humor. A particularly big compliment to Munkko, who was our contact person on board during the trip. With your upbeat, humorous and competent manner, you made a significant contribution to the success of this trip and to the group dynamics - thank you very much!

The group
Last but not least, a big thank you to the new buddies from all corners of the world.
It was an incredibly great week with you - I hope we see each other again. Good air!


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Staff not so friendly except for 3 men.
And not so many dives quickly canceled
Same with excursion island they thought it was going to rain so we didn't go no rain.
This boat with this staff I will NOT book again

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carpe diem good boat. rooms good and food good. dive sites good but guides not super. staff not friendly except the lowest in rank. there come with difficulty a good morning off, amaai there is much talk about it and the tips will have been correspondingly. sorry but I do not recommend carpe diem. mvg

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Everything tiptop - ships in perfect condition - crew super friendly and helpful - food exemplary and plentiful - guides competent, friendly and responsive to the wishes of their guests...
I have no criticism - next year I will be on board again

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Cook took great care of allergy sufferers. Was at the buffet at every meal and showed me what I could eat.

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Really brilliant crew and an unforgettable experience!

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Due to inconsistent currents, the usual big fish and manta rays were few and far between. Crew was great

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The boat is great, the food was excellent, the dive sites everything you could wish for.
Unfortunately, the dive guides were a bit lackluster, demotivated and, more importantly, negligent.


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Great value for money, for us it was the perfect first liveaboard.
One star deduction for the cabins, because our main deck cabin was smaller than the cheaper lower deck cabins and the rooms were generally a bit worn (but absolutely clean!!!).
with the dive guides one star deduction, because first of all the groups with 7 people were big, because when jumping into the water from our point of view sometimes unnecessary hecticness was brought in and because one of the guides did not respond at all to the wishes of his group (our guide was great and has always kept a lookout for interesting small stuff in the absence of the big fish. but all 3 were very nice, friendly and had fun ;-)

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Service and boat crew excellent. Poor dive planning by the dive guides. Dives were carried out despite bad current conditions. A more flexible planning of the dive sites would have been desirable.

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The boat is built super spacious. The cabins have real showers. The beds and the space in the cabins are great. Everything is kept in dark wood, with really great maritime charm. The food is super super good and varied. Man eats in the back area always outside, which fits the Maldives flair. The crew is very attentive, everyone is very friendly and in a good mood. We could divide the "only" 15 divers on three dive guides, which was really good. We have seen there other "horror groups" underwater, which were 18-22 with one guide completely chaos (Ari-Queen). We did a shore barbecue, which was very nicely organized and had a successful dive spot selection overall, with whale sharks, mataraches and lots of schooling fish. The only thing that is complaining on a high level though: the guides could show more underwater. Also sometimes small stuff or stationary stories. But there the tastes are also different.
The space for cameras and charging points is relatively small, but this was not a problem at all with our dive group, because many Go-Pros were used. The briefing is very detailed and you can use as an experienced diver with his buddy the full 60 min/50 bar as you want!
Overall, we left with very very nice experiences from board.


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It was completely addressed to the wishes of all participants and ultimately everything was very well regulated

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We had a great week on the Carpe Diem. We had booked the biggest cabin and it was big, almost like a normal hotel room. But the best thing, besides the dive guides, was the food on board. What the kitchen team conjured up every day was impressive.
The ship is in very good condition.
We were 19 divers on board and had 4 guides. Diving was from the dhoni. Which is very convenient, so there is more space on the ship. The dive platform at the back of the dhoni could be a little wider, but it all ran very organized. The crew is extremely attentive.
The dive spots were well chosen and the guides were responsive to personal wishes. Here Allatey is to be emphasized. He helped bersonders if it went into the Strömhmung or took consideration with macro shots.
Unfortunately, the monsoon change was not yet through, therefore was partly quite poor visibility. Nevertheless, the crew found sports where sharks or manta rays have romped. Unfortunately there were no whale sharks, maybe because of the visibility.
It was a great week on a very good ship, with a great crew. Thank you.


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Rundum super :)

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Crew was very eager to show us the best divespots and we had partly brilliant dives with everything you could wish for and even more

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The boat is unfortunately somewhat in the years.
Air conditioning in lower deck cabin was unfortunately only limited functionality.

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Very experienced and flexible local dive guides who made us experience unforgettable dives especially in Ari Atoll.


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The kitchen could still be optimized, there was mostly frozen fish and little variety in taste.
The windows of all cabins can not be opened, so you always have to live with the air conditioning.

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great and comfortable boat with an amazing crew and enthusiastic local dive guides

highly recommended

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Absolutely wonderful - even in these times or even especially now, it is important to dive and leave the world behind for a few days - great ship, perfect crew, great dive sites without masses of people

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