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Join us for an unforgettable experience and a once in a lifetime opportunity to dive or snorkel with such amazing marine life: mantas, whale sharks and reef sharks!!

Oct 16-Oct 26, 2024 (10 nights/11 days)

MANTA RAYS & WHALE SHARKS

We have an amazing itinerary planned: starting north of Male to focus on the Baa Atoll, Hanifaru Bay (world famous for large numbers of manta rays) and the surrounding atolls (for whale sharks and reef sharks) then we make our way south before returning to Male for departure.

Group Leaders:

Amanda Delaforce and Kim Randall. Both with a wealth of travel and underwater experience. Kim is located in the States. Amanda is located in Australia. They met on a trip in the Maldives and have been passionate about diving, marine encounters and photography ever since. They have been running this trip for over 8 years. They look forward to sharing this unforgettable experience with you. Please refer to the testimonials page for comments on the ‘Maldives Dive and Snorkel Trip; Manta Rays and Whale Sharks’.

Trip Information

We have planned this route to maximize the amount of time spent with manta rays and whale sharks.  It is an unforgettable experience. You are responsible for getting yourself to Male International Airport. A short internal flight (included in cost) will be required to Dharavandoo Island for a three night (Oct 16-19, 2024) stay to go out to Hanifaru Bay with the large aggregations of manta rays.  We then board the charter vessel (Oct 19-26, 2024). Please note check-in time for the vessel on the Saturday is 2.00pm. Scuba diving courses can be undertaken on the vessel if you are an open-water diver and want to progress your level/depth.

Cost for Trip

  • Standard room: $3595.00 USD per person (incl. green tax) – sleeps 2 pax (one double bed and one single bed)
  • Superior / Upper deck: $3945.00 USD per person (incl. green tax) – sleeps 2 pax: 1 double or 2 single beds.
  • Note: All costs are in American Dollars (USD) for this trip

Notes on the Itinerary

The above trip routing is designed to be able to visit spots most frequented by Manta rays including famous Hanifaru Bay in Baa atoll. The trip starts in Baa atoll, which means a one way domestic flight will be needed at the start of the trip.

Guests will be encouraged to gather pictures of the mantas seen during the dives. This information is passed on to mantamatcher.org to assist in information gathering and research of the manta population in the Maldives. Divers observations will be included in on-going manta research being conducted in the Maldives. Data on manta identification and migration is being collected by the Marine Research section of the Ministry of Fisheries in Male.  BONUS: If it is a “new” manta and it is spotted for the third time, the guest can decide on a name and keep track of “their manta” in future.

Package Includes

Island:

  • 3 nights (4 days) Dharavandoo Island
  • 3 manta ray swims at the world famous Hanifaru Bay, largest aggregation of mantas in the world (Marine Protected Area)
  • 1 BBQ Picnic trip with the possibility of mantas and a swim at your own private beach/atoll.
  • 1 Internal flight (Male – Dharavandoo)
  • Airport transfers on the days of embarkation/disembarkation (airport transfer from Dharavandoo to/from vessel to Male International airport)
  • Breakfast

Vessel:

  • 7 nights onboard the luxury Carpe Novo
  • 3 great buffet meals daily, plus dive snacks – the food is fantastic.
  • Drinking water, coffee & tea
  • 3 dives daily (except day of arrival and day before departure)
  • Dive instructors – 1 guide to a group of 5pax – very professional and experts on the local dive sites.
  • Use of air tanks, weights and belts (i.e. the smaller nitrox tanks)

Exclusions:

  • Dive gear rental or dive courses
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Lunches and dinners (except the BBQ night/day)
  • Airfares: International & Domestic
  • Travel Insurance / DAN Dive Insurance
  • Crew tips
  • Onboard and local Island purchases

2025

Sept-Oct 2025
(11 nights/12 days)

We have an amazing itinerary planned: starting north of Male to focus on the Baa Atoll, Hanifaru Bay (world famous for large numbers of manta rays) and the surrounding atolls (for whale sharks and reef sharks) then we make our way south before returning to Male for departure.

We will be staying on Dhavandhoo Island from for 3-4 days around the end of Sept 2025 and then boarding our vessel (Carpe Novo) in early Oct 2025.

Cost for Trip

  • Standard room: $3595.00 USD per person (incl. green tax) – sleeps 2 pax (one double bed and one single bed)
  • Superior / Upper deck: $3945.00 USD per person (incl. green tax) – sleeps 2 pax: 1 double or 2 single beds.
    Note: All costs are in American Dollars (USD) for this trip

Package Includes

  • 3 nights (4 days) Dharavandoo Island
  • 3 manta ray swims at the world famous Hanifaru Bay, largest aggregation of mantas in the world (Marine Protected Area)
  • 1 BBQ Picnic Boat trip with the possibility of mantas and a swim at your own private beach/atoll.
  • 1 Internal flight (Male – Dharavandoo)
  • 7 nights onboard the luxury Carpe Novo
  • 3 great buffet meals daily, plus between-dive snacks – the food is fantastic.
  • Drinking water, coffee/tea
  • 3 dives daily (except day of arrival and day before departure)
  • Dive instructors – 1 guide to a group of 5pax – very professional and experts on the local dive sites.
  • Use of air tanks, weights and belts (i.e. the smaller nitrox tanks)
  • Airport transfers on the days of embarkation/disembarkation (airport transfer from Dharavandoo to/from vessel to Male International airport)

THE VESSEL

Carpe Novo  

The MV Carpe Novo is a 42 metre long (138 feet) motor safari yacht with a wooden hull, three decks plus a sun deck. It is the newest boat of the Carpe Diem fleet, starting operation in 2016. Sun deck, bar in the middle deck and rest area on the lower deck – you will be very spoilt for a week.

Superior rooms (main deck): each have a king size bed which can be divided in two super singles and desk, dresser, hanging closet, large windows, individually controlled air conditioning systems, flat panel TV/HD player, private ensuite bathroom with shower.

Standard rooms (lower deck):  each room provides individually controlled air conditioning, one queen bed and one super single bed, desk/chair, dresser, hanging closet, TV/HD player, portholes, private ensuite bathroom with shower.

The electricity voltage onboard is 220V and international adaptors are available onboard if required.

How to Secure Your Booking

Please note that this trip has limited spots, so you will need to get in quick to secure your booking. The following payments will be required:

  • $800 USD to secure your spot
  • Second payment due April 1, 2024
  • Final payment due July 1, 2024

We will be in touch via e-mail for your payment and trip details. I would recommend purchasing your flights into Male (capital) as soon as possible to secure a cheap flight. To check on available spaces to secure your spot, email: amanda@amandadelaforce.com

Bookings, Payments and Cancellation Policy and Force Majeure in relation to the Tour

TERMS & CONDITIONS

1. Insurance

  • Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd highly recommends you purchase personal travel and dive insurance as soon as possible after confirming your travel plans. We recommend Dive Assure or DAN for diving insurance. Dive Assure offers a Dive and Travel Insurance annual and short-term (per trip). You can purchase it here: https://app.diveassure.com/#/registration/main/process/0/int/0/18669/en-intl
  • Evidence of adequate travel and dive insurance must be provided prior to departure.
  • The affiliated and established companies such as Carpe Diem Pty Ltd, hold the relevant insurances and maintain responsibility for the dive and snorkel insurance policies and procedures. As such when in the water diving, snorkeling, or swimming you are doing so under the affiliated company’s policies and procedures and must adhere to either the Captain, Dive Instructor or Divemaster’s instructions.

2. Bookings and payments

  • Bookings made more than 100 days out from the start of a trip require a deposit of $800.00 USD per passenger
  • All deposits are non-refundable.
  • Bookings made less than 100 days out from tour commencement require payment in full to secure your booking.
  • Payment in full is required 100 days out from the start of the trip. We will email you a final payment reminder prior to this date.
  • Each guest will be required to complete a Dive Trip Questionnaire (which may require a Dive Medical) prior to receiving a final tour confirmation. This must be completed and returned to Amanda Delaforce Travel and Photography Pty Ltd prior to final payment being made. Disclosure of your medical history and known conditions is vital, as well as a review of any other conditions that could impact your trip. Amanda Delaforce Travel and Photography Pty Ltd reserves the right to refuse trip participation on medical grounds based on any falsification or exclusion of pertinent information which impacts the trip program.

3. Amendment and cancellation policy

  • The trip cost is 100% non-refundable within 100 days of the departure date. This applies to deposits and/or further payments. No exceptions can be made.
  • If you cancel your trip 100 days or more before the trip commencement date, and we/you are able to resell/fill your place, a trip credit for your remaining balance (minus a $300 USD service fee) will be issued for use on another Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd trip which departs within 2 years of the cancellation date.
  • If you cancel your spot less than 99 days prior to the start of a trip, no refund or credit will be issued for deposits that have been paid.

4. Force Majeure

  • If our In-Country Providers cancel or if a Force Majeure Event occurs, meaning any act of God, war, terrorism, fire, flood or any other extreme weather conditions, loss of power, epidemics or pandemics, industrial disputes, slow-downs or other strike activities, riots or civil disturbances, acts of government, semi government or other authorities, inability to obtain any necessary license or consent and delays caused by sub-contractors, suppliers or other third parties (including telecommunications carriers), material shortages or other disruption to the trip beyond our control, Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd shall not be held responsible for matters outside of our control or any failure to deliver the trip.

5. Liability and obligation

  • Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd takes no responsibility for loss, damage or injury arising from any shortfall, error or omission in the information passed to the customer during the course of the booking process or subsequent delivery of the product. The company takes no responsibility nor can it be held liable for loss, damage, or injury that occurs on a supplier’s or service provider’s premises or transport, or between two such premises.
    Participation in any of the Activities involves certain risks which may result in injury or death. This warning does not purport to describe or disclose all risks associated with participation of the Activities. There are a wide range of inherent risks when engaging in sports and particularly underwater sports; for example, with diving there is the risk of decompression sickness, embolism or other hyperbaric injury can occur that requires treatment in a recompression chamber. Open water scuba diving trips may be conducted at sites that are remote, either by time or distance, from emergency services or recompression facilities. Scuba diving and snorkeling tours will involve uncontrolled encounters with wild animals which bear the risk of stings, bites, and at the extreme end, more serious injury and death. Participants should be responsible and aware of animal behaviors and their own interactions, and choose to engage in these activities entirely at their own risk.
  • We will not be liable to you in respect of any personal injury (including without limitation serious injury or death) that you may suffer or sustain directly or indirectly as a result of participating in the trip or the Activities. Nor shall we be liable to you in respect of any other losses arising as a result of any such personal injury (including without limitation loss of profit or earnings or other consequential losses). We will not be liable to you in respect of any of your personal property that is lost, stolen or damaged before, during or after a trip.
  • Please ensure you understand our cancellation policy and agree to the booking and trip conditions prior to providing any deposits. By placing a booking with Amanda Delaforce Photography and Travel Pty Ltd, this implies that you accept these booking terms and conditions and our cancellation policy.

Trading as “Amanda Delaforce Travel and Photography Pty Ltd”