Written by Trip Director - Shea Callaghan
We started off the trip with a great dive at Snake Pit where we introduced people to the inquisitive olive sea snakes for which the site is named.

After that it was a drift along the Cod Wall in moderate current that got rave reviews from all concerned. The next day got off to a great start with a giant black frog fish at the Great Wall. It got better with some amazing dives at Lighthouse Bommie with no less that 3 turtles who politely posed for photo’s or munched away on jellyfish. Plenty of sea snakes, nudibranchs and fish life also sweetened the deal.

The weather turned foul on the last day but we still had some great dives especially the sheer wall at Gorgonian Wall with its big fans, whip corals and macro life.

Mike Francis , USA . “Smooth running operation – staff friendliness and professionalism.”

Written by Trip Director - Shea Callaghan
A full boat of excited divers left Cairns on a Thursday night aboard Spoilsport bound for the far northern Ribbon Reefs and Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea .

Though the visibility was down we had some great diving at Challenger Bay and Cod Hole hanging out with giant potato cod, a wonderful photo opportunity. The first dive at Osprey Reef was incredible. Off the edge of the drop-off at Admiralty Anchor we encountered three large and very excited marble rays buzzing around us at full speed… mating perhaps. Very cool.

The wall diving at North Horn was awesome as usual with lots of big fish action and all the beautiful fans and soft corals galore. Without a doubt the shark feed was the highlight… one of the best we’ve seen. The sharks were out in full force and went wild completely stripping the baits in a matter of minutes. Two big silver-tip sharks also came in and though they didn’t hit the baits were just beautiful to see cruising around.

Ian MacDonald, Scotland . “The quality and quantity of the coral… oh and the sharks.”

Written by Trip Director - Shea Callaghan
A small group of international travelers joined us for our trip south along the Ribbon Reefs. It was a slow start to the trip as we had some engine troubles preventing us from leaving Lizard Island… not to worry we had a great dive nearby at Lizard Rocks and a fantastic night dive at Clam Gardens where we discovered, as you might suspect, lots of huge giant clams and a few epaulette sharks. 2 massive Queensland groupers kept us company at the back of the boat all evening.

Engines all good we spent the day diving around Ribbon Reefs #9 and #10 starting off with the Great Wall where we discovered a giant black frog fish… a very exciting find indeed! Pixie Pinnacle was another crowd pleaser with loads of fish and macro life.

We finished our trip on a high with some fantastic dives at Steve’s Bommie where one group of divers encountered a massive school of yet another unidentified tuna like fish. Along with the usual trevally, barracuda, leaf scorpion fish, stone fish, sharks, etc.

What a way to end a trip.

Thomas White, UK . “The people onboard, the awesome staff and cool diving.”

Written by Trip Director - Shea Callaghan
27 guests climbed aboard the luxury liveaboard vessel Spoilsport for their adventure along the far northern Ribbon Reefs and Coral Sea .

Along with amazingly friendly giant potato cod who reside at the Cod Hole we also sighted a large tawny nurse shark under the boat and a huge school of pelagic sailfin tuna down a little lower.

We had great conditions out at Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea providing some fantastic diving along the sheer walls and coral canyons. Admiralty Anchor was a favourite with its swim-throughs and beautiful corals, and I got lucky with a visit from a curious scalloped hammerhead shark.

The shark feed was enjoyed by all with most choosing to end the day on that high. The few who did go back in the water had a great dive along the outside wall at North Horn with encounters with schools of barracuda, trevally, snappers and tuna.

Gotta love it!!

Christine Picard, France. “The trip director, Shea, was excellent; we completely trust him and feel very secure all trip long. That’s the most important on a dive trip. The organization and the atmosphere are great. All staff on top.”

Janis Moran, USA. "The crew - this is the 8th time I have done a liveaboard including the Spoilsport in Townsville and this is by far the best crew I have been with."

Richardo Morataya, Australia. "The friendliness and professionalism demonstrated by the crew during the trip. This gives the guests a great feeling and helps them to have an awesome time."

Written by Trip Director - Shea Callaghan
We had a slow start to an odd trip with the weather keeping the planes from landing at Lizard Island until late afternoon. We kept ourselves amused with some line dancing, swing style with our own dance instructor Aidan. Finally we made it away but unfortunately were blown out of both our attempted dive sites that evening.

The following day looked much more promising and we started with some great diving at Vertical Gardens , a site I had not dived for nearly a year. The coral was really healthy with beautiful plates on top and fans and soft corals along the steep walls. The fish life was prolific with schools of parrot fish ranging in size from small to large hump-headed parrot fish, bait fish as well as white-tip reef sharks and grey reef sharks cruising around.

The day continued well with some great dives at Pixie Pinnacle and Pixie Gardens .

We had a good start to Wednesday with a great dive at Andy’s Postcard where we had a look at one of the reefs rarest and best camouflaged inhabitants before we were forced back to Cairns by tropical cyclone Nelson. Not a perfect trip but we had some great fun along the way.

Clare Lawrence, UK . “Great diving as always!! Thanks to Shea for the room upgrade – much appreciated. Crew were always friendly and helpful – nothing seems to be too much trouble for you guys. Will be back for more diving some time soon hopefully – maybe with better weather. Thanks for all your hard work and keeping us updated.”

Written by Trip Director - Shea Callaghan
We had a great start to our expedition with a dive at Challenger Bay with a giant Queensland grouper and a big leopard shark spotted. We had some good dives at the world famous Cod Hole with more huge fish and a few sharks, before heading back to Challenger Bay for a night dive.

Osprey Reef proved challenging with strong W/NW winds blowing out a lot of our sites but we had some fantastic dives at False Entrance along the wall with its soft corals and fans and in the beautiful shallows coral gardens.

On Sunday we kicked off with an amazing couple of dives at Admiralty Anchor with lots of sharks, lion fish and moray eels, before the weather closed in.

Yukiko Kawamura , Japan . “All food was excellent, more than I expected. Great dives. All the crew are really helpful. I really enjoyed my trip. Thanks to all the crew.”