It was with fingers crossed that I booked onto the Carpe Diem Maldives liveaboard.

Covid has certainly taken a toll on the travelling diver, overseas destinations have been off limits for the majority of us since the lockdowns started in 2020. I had booked the trip at the end of summer 2021 for a January 2022 voyage, everything looked like it was slowly returning to normal. Then Omicron made its presence felt and it was almost back to square one.

Thankfully travel was still being allowed with certain provisos, the need for a predeparture PCR test being one of them. The two weeks before departure was spent trying unsuccessfully to avoid crowds. The day before travel I duly attended for my PCR. Four hours later was chuffed to discover it was negative, I could fly, it was only then that I could really believe I was going.

I was travelling with Yo-Han Cha, who some of you might recognise as a SCUBA magazine columnist, we arrived early morning at Male airport after an easy flight (I had 3 seats to myself). Then had to wait several hours before we could board our vessel. The due time came and went, we started to be concerned. Further questioning of the rep, revealed that there had been a positive Covid case on Carpe Diem & the liveaboard was now in quarantine, the company was trying to find us a replacement of a similar standard.

Home for the voyage

This proved more difficult than they were hoping and, in the end, a rather smaller vessel was put at our disposal, a liveaboard called “North Seven”. A number of the guests were unhappy about the change and were offered a full refund and a hotel in Male for the night. It was only the accommodation, clean and tidy, just smaller than it would have been on Carpe Diem. Yo-Han and I decided that it was the diving we were here for, we could cope with a smaller liveaboard as did a further 8 guests from across the globe and who the shared discomfort of that first day, it gave us a bond that would elevate the trip.

Check out dive gave a taste of delights to come

Turtle feasting on soft coral

Carpe Diem Cruises gave us 2 of their most experienced guides, Yan and Teygo who would take us on a voyage around South Male, North & South Ari and Vaavu Atoll’s.

Yan(R) and Teygo our brilliant guides

Yo-Han photographing a small reef shark

Nemo’s Maldavian cousins

I think I saw sharks on every dive and some of the most spectacular Manta interactions ever!

Night dive manta experience like no other!

Pristine reefs with abundant soft and hard corals

As a confirmed wreck-o-phile and despite the issues of the first day we were rewarded with pristine reefs and wonderful encounters with large pelagic wildlife, I was won over! Meeting and getting to know a wonderful group of like minded divers was an added bonus. The benefit of a smaller number of divers was not lost on us, normally the Liveaboards have 20+ guests. Our smaller boat seemed more select, personal and intimate, in our case the Covid cloud had a very silver lining.

Spectacular Manta cleaning station action

Wall to wall fish

Carpe Diem Cruises very generously gave us a financial contribution to cover our extra expenses on the first day as well as funding our return travel PCR tests (thankfully also negative) and, as a good will gesture they have also given us a significant credit towards another trip.

Just about to jump in on our final dive, a fantastic team

The Maldives in January is very pleasant, both air temperature and sea temperature are around 30C with a nice cooling affect of the wind when you are at sea. I was using my O’Three GBS 3X3 wetsuit which was perfect for me.

I lost count of the number of nurse sharks I saw

I was surprised how challenging the diving was in the currents around the atolls, for the first time in my diving career I had to use a reef hook.

Climbing up the ladder of the dive dhoni after another spectacular dive

Hooking into a patch of rocky reef to watch the spectacle

Yo-Han and I booked with Equator Diving, our flights were with Etihad via Abu Dhabi from Heathrow, we are already looking forward to a return trip.