Hello, Carpe Diem or Sachika?

Hello,
My girlfriends and I wil go to Maldives for liveaboard in Sep. And only Carpe Diem and Sachika meet our flights schedule.

Apart from a few pictures and discription, I could hardly find personal trip reviews on either of them which I think is more valuable than pics & discriptions.

Could anyone please give me some ideas on choosing one of these two boats if you had experience with any of them?

Additionally, any thoughs about these two agencies Dive the World & Premier Liveaboard Diving? Are they good and creditable agencies? It looks like I have to make bank transfer for reservation as the credit card has huge surcharge.

Btw, I found that almost all 8D7N cruises in maldives only do 17 dives and 1 night dive. Maybe I am too aggressive, but 17 dives and only 1 night dive for a week, is it really enough if you will encounter whale sharks, mantas and probably hammerhead?

Thank you guys!

Yuan

I haven't been on either of those boats, but I did spend a week on the Carpe Vita last summer. Same owner, just a newer version of the Carpe Diem. The boat was very well run, the crew was really friendly and professional, and the service was excellent. I expect the same would be true on the Carpe Diem.

I'm having exactly the same issue with Sachika - Carpe Diem/Carpe Vita at least have some reviews on their own website (hardly impartial, but...) but I can find very little at all about Sachika. Has anyone at all been on the boat?

jamesdiving:

I'm having exactly the same issue with Sachika - Carpe Diem/Carpe Vita at least have some reviews on their own website (hardly impartial, but...) but I can find very little at all about Sachika. Has anyone at all been on the boat?

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I'm not familiar with Sachika, and am obviously not impartial when it comes to Carpe Vita Explorer (or her sister ship, the Carpe Diem), but you'll find several trip reports on both via Google, many of them on SB. Many SBers have traveled on them; you might want to try a post in the Liveaboards forum as well. There are several excellent liveaboard dive vessels in the Maldives (I could name 4 or 5, mostly major names), but be aware that there are many more boats than that that advertise Maldives liveaboard diving excursions but either haven't been in business for long, won't be in business for long, or dive only part time. My recommendation would be to stick to the well-known boats with a track record. I hope this helps - have a great trip, whatever you decide!