Expeditions: 3 April, 2006 6 April, 2006 10 April, 2006
  13 April, 2006 17 April, 2006 20 April, 2006
  24 April, 2006 27 April, 2006  

Spoilsport - 27 April, 2006    




Guest Photo Competition
    
1st Place
2nd Place
3rd Place

Jennifer Dachroeden - moray eel.
Jennifer Dachroeden - trevally.
Tomas Hula - pyramid butterfly fish.
Guest Comments    
Kinga Fitrzyk, Poland. "Very good diving, fun on board, friendly atmosphere, hot shower after dive."
Diane Dessent, Australia. "Excellent crew, accommodation and great diving."
Michelle Lauber, Canada. "Non crowded diving sites, quality of attention and service from crew."

Spoilsport - 24 April, 2006    



Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
Passengers experienced a great low-level Great Barrier Reef flight to Lizard Island for our new guests, while those already on board for the week had a chance to explore Lizard Island.

Diving began at the world famous Cod Hole where plenty of potato cod and white-tip reef sharks were seen. The second day of diving was spent at Pixie Wall, Pixie Pinnacle and Pixie Gardens. The last day of diving took us to Steve's Bommie where many interesting creatures were spotted including the flame file shell, leafy scorpion fish, stone fish, lion fish, and a large black frog fish.

During the expedition Andrea, Stephanie and Philip enjoyed trying introducing dives with instructor James. While Jeff and Susan completed their Nitrox courses with instructor Daniel.
Guest Photo Competition
    
1st Place
2nd Place
3rd Place

Tony Yeates - turtle.
Hardy Childers - potato cod.
Thomas Chambers - lion fish.
Guest Comments    
Nick Kramer, USA. "Staff attended to every need. Great dives sites, great food. My fourth trip with MBDE. Keep up the good work. See you next time."
Hardy Childers, USA. "Great service... all aspects from trip planning to meals to rooms and of course the diving support."
Philippe Gandet, France. "The staff was really great with incredible dive sites."

Spoilsport - 20 April, 2006    




Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
On the first day of our expedition we dived a couple of the best sites of the Great Barrier Reef; Challenger Bay and the world famous Cod Hole where plenty of potato cod and white-tip reef sharks were seen.

We then headed out to Osprey Reef, in the Coral Sea, for a couple of days of diving with sheer walls, huge drop-off's and great visibility. Divers spotted octopus, an eagle ray, sharks, and moray eels. The shark feed at North Horn brought in about 20 gray sharks, white-tip reef sharks and the biggest silver-tip these divers had ever seen.

Another great adventure.
Guest Photo Competition
    
1st Place
2nd Place
3rd Place

Thomas Chambers - anemone fish.
Sarah Thompson - big eye trevally.
Laurence Chambers - potato cod.
Guest Comments    
Clare Laurence, UK. "Everything! But particularly liked that the dive staff were made available for us to dive with if we wanted. Also variety of dive sites and the open deck on afternoon dives."
John Eggins, Australia. "Staff friendliness and excellent service."
Simon Cole, New Zealand. "Very well organized in all respects - diving. meals, operation."

Spoilsport - 17 April, 2006    




Guest Photo Competition
    
1st Place
2nd Place
3rd Place

Michele Ascione - nudibranch.
Michele Ascione - anemone fish.
Ibrahim Al-zu'bi - spine cheek anemone fish.
Guest Comments    
Mark Hosking, Australia. "Cat's pillow mints, Pete's food, Skipper Peter's songs... the best."
Jack Stro, USA. "Professional and friendly crew."
Jenny Draper, Australia. "Having staff available when not feeling confident on our own - eg: night dive."

Spoilsport - 13 April, 2006    



Written by Trip Director - Steve Mitchell
A wonderful time was had by all on board Spoilsport with a mixed crowd of people from all over the world including; a large group from Dive Centre Bondi and Ibrahim from the Emirates Diving Association Environmental Group came to see the Great Barrier Reef.

Marine life highlights included; numerous sharks at Osprey Reef, giant potato cod at the world famous Cod hole, schooling trevally, multicolored anthias, nudibranchs and the ever popular anemone fish. Guests were also impressed with the variety of hard and soft corals in excellent condition.

Another great adventure aboard Spoilsport we hope to see you all again.
Guest Photo Competition
    
1st Place
2nd Place
3rd Place

Ryan Gillatt - silhouette diver.
Chris Morgan - Christmas tree worm.
Chris Morgan - bivalve shells.
Guest Comments    
Michael Clavin, Australia. "GREAT TRIP!"
Rebecca Lumby, Australia. "LOVED IT ALL!"
Amanda Yu & Liam Allen, Australia. "Challenger Bay dive site and the staff were the best. Everything was as expected or better - all at Dive Centre Bondi very happy and grateful for the experience."

Spoilsport - 10 April, 2006    



Guest Comments    
David Forseth, Canada. "First class dive platform. What a boat! What a crew!"
Thierry Wilbrandt, USA. "Excellent dives with great accommodation and food."
Patrina Inarrea, Spain. "The professionalism of the team, the good atmosphere and the reef."

Spoilsport - 6 April, 2006    




Written by Trip Director - Steve Mitchell
Another great expedition on board Spoilsport, touring the Ribbon Reefs and Coral Sea. Seeing amazing creatures, the week topped off with a spectacular shark feed at North Horn. We were kept busy with lots of passengers doing training courses; Liz and Mike Forseth completed their PADI Open Water training with dive instructor Ashley and Madison achieved her PADI Junior Open Water certificate.

Hope to see you again soon.
Guest Photo Competition
    
1st Place
2nd Place
3rd Place

Ian Lamont - pink anemone fish.
Jody Caldwell - garden eels.
Ian Lamont - spine cheek anemone fish.
Guest Comments    
Benny Vanmaele, Belgium. "The whole program was very well organized."
Bobby Day, South Africa. "Fantastic dive sites and the shark feed."
Phil Knight, UK. "Everything was as good as we hoped, the fish, the reefs, the crew, the company."

Spoilsport - 3 April, 2006    



Written by Trip Director - Craig Stephen
Starting at the Cod Hole as we cruised south along the Ribbon Reefs. We had some fantastic interaction with eight huge potato cod and the resident napoleon wrasse. Before moving south to Andy's Postcard the glass out conditions allowed us to dive the outer reef drop off at Vertical Gardens with spectacular topography of sheer wall drop off's teaming with life. The rare and beautiful lacy scorpion fish (rhinopias) was discovered on a site that proved to be the most popular subject of the expedition for our photographers.

A great adventure was had by all.
Guest Photo Competition
    
1st Place
2nd Place
3rd Place

Claudia Werner-Lutrop - long nose hawk fish.
Claudia Werner-Lutrop - rhinopias.
Steve Godden - lion fish.
Guest Comments    
Dirk Werner-Lutrop, Australia. "Hi Mike, Tania, DJ, Craig and everyone at MBDE, I would like to thank you for a great trip on Spoilsport last week. Claudia and I have been on a number of dive trips along the Ribbon Reefs, but this trip was special and will stick in our memory. We enjoyed every part of the trip, starting with the flight to Lizard, the welcome on board Spoilsport, the fantastic food prepared by Peter, the general setup and good condition of Spoilsport.... What stood out above all this for me personally was the diligent and effortless preparation of each dive site by the entire crew. There was always a line in the water when needed, the briefings were great - I always felt that each diver was looked after for their particular needs. The fact that we were only 15 guest certainly did help, but the way everyone was doing their job showed that even with a full boat, everyone will be looked after. A big complement to Peter and Craig who ran a great trip. We will feature our experience in our upcoming newsletter. Kind regards, Dirk Werner-Lutrop. DIVERSION DIVE TRAVEL"
Nicola Scott, UK. "I'm still very new to diving so it was the help, support and friendliness of the staff and being able to dive with guides/instructors."