Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
After some great dives at the Cod Hole and Challenger Bay we made our way south down the Ribbon Reefs with the highlight of the trip coming on the third day at Steve's Bommie where an inquisitive minke whale approached the vessel checking out snorkellers and divers and staying with us for over three hours.

Other marine life seen included: leafy scorpion fish, lion fish, stone fish, mobula ray, sea snakes and turtles.

Another great Spoilsport diving adventure.

Patricia Cody, USA. "The staff was wonderful... so helpful and friendly. The diving was amazing! Superb trip - very impressed with Mike Ball's Spoilsport! Captain Peter, Cat, Kerrin, Dan, Garreth, Jason, Alex, Ray and Aaron were all wonderful - always helping me. I was very happy and want to thank you all. This trip was incredible! Thank you for an incredible staff and diving that was absolutely amazing!"

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
This trip we welcomed aboard a group of 14 divers from Abyss Dive Centre, Sydney, along with a variety of other guests with a wide range of nationalities.

The diving began with the best of the Great Barrier Reef, a couple of dive at the Cod Hole with great visibility, excellent coral and plenty of potato cod seen. Followed by the afternoon and night dives at Challenger Bay - also a popular dive site with all divers.

The following two days were spent diving Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea which provided some great wall dives with a chance to get plenty of depth, see lots of sharks and fantastic soft corals and fans. We had several sightings of hammerhead sharks and a few lucky divers spotted manta rays, including one right under the boat on a night dive.

A great trip had by all.

Madge Szoeke, Australia. "Pristine reefs, excellent staff, good safety - all round good stuff."

Written by Trip Director - Daniel Foote
This week was another great adventure on board Spoilsport. With more, believe it or not, minke whales than you could point your camera at. We had numerous sightings this expedition: 7 minke whales at Lighthouse Bommie with Mr. Lee from Korea being surrounded and 4 minke whales at Steve’s Bommie.

Courtney and Natalia, on an introductory dive, were treated to a minke whale bonanza with 4 coming in to check them out. All divers and snorkellers alike got to get up close and personal with these majestic creatures.

Apart from the magnificent whale spotting we also had some impressive marine life including: leopard sharks laying on the sandy bottom at Steve’s Bommie being extremely photogenic; nudibranchs of all shapes and colors; schooling sweetlip, trevally and barracuda; stone fish; scorpion fish; sea snakes; turtles; and the ever popular potato cod at the world famous Cod Hole.

What a week – thanks from all the crew.

Matt Wheeler, UK. “Minke whales – excellent!!”

Written by Trip Director - Daniel Foote
Sadly the official minke whale season is over… but fortunately for us the minke whales don’t know that. We have still had some great interaction with minke whales this trip and our dive site Lighthouse Bommie was, again, jam-packed with minke whale encounters.

Our night dive at the Cod Hole was extremely entertaining with the potato cod flying through the beams of torches in the hunt for their targets. Other dive sites included: Challenger Bay , Pixies Pinnacle, Pixie Gardens and Dynamite Pass.

Divers were not only lucky enough to dive with the minke whales this trip but also experienced marine life in abundance: stone fish, scorpion fish, nudibranchs of all shapes and sizes, schools of barracuda, trevally, and sweetlip.

The crew are sure that some remarkable images were snapped up by our onboard photographers – as you can clearly see by the class of images that won our onboard guest photo competition.

We hope to see you all again on board Spoilsport.

Peter Earnshaw, UK. “Very well organized – everything set up to maximize diving time. No need to do anything other than turn up. Great dive holiday.”

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
After a fabulous low-level flight over the Ribbon Reefs to Lizard Island we began with a dive at the world famous Cod Hole where plenty of large potato cod and white-tip reef sharks were seen, followed by a great night dive at Challenger Bay.

The following day saw some of the best minke whale encounters of this year’s minke whale season, with inquisitive and playful whales approaching divers and snorkellers repeatedly, seemingly as interested in us as we are in them. Minke whale encounters throughout the day at both Lighthouse Bommie and Two Towers while minke whales will probably still be around of awhile longer this was the last of our official ‘minke whale’ trips for what has been a fantastic minke whale season this year.

Aaron Schneider, USA . “The mike whale snorkeling. Everything was well done, good crew with a good attitude.”

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
Although we are coming to the end of this year’s minke whale season, by lunch time on the first day of the trip almost all guests had experienced an in water minke whale encounter with two mike whales approaching the vessel to check out divers and snorkellers at Blue Lagoon. A great start to the trip!

We had more great minke whale encounters on the following day at both Lighthouse Bommie and Two Towers, great dive sites with the added appeal of inquisitive minke whales at this time of year.

After a third day of great diving we watched the sun set and celebrated the end of the trip with a glass of champagne on the beach at scenic Lizard Island.

Mike Li, USA . “Food and beverages – nothing left wanting, always had food. Dive operation top rate – safety first, flexible, catered to all experiences… as a former DM I know what makes a good operation. Service, service, service!!! First rate.”

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
Began at the Cod Hole with two dives and a night dive on Monday with plenty of sharks, potato cod and excellent coral seen.

Lighthouse Bommie and Two Towers provided some more great dives on Tuesday with sightings of turtles, barracuda and sea snakes but minke whales proved very shy until Steve’s Bommie on Wednesday whey they came in to closely investigate snorkellers resulting in some great encounters and memorable experiences for everyone.

Bob Stanbridge, Australia. “Exploring the undersea life on the reef and using a 5 star facility to do it. I’ll be back. No suggestions just keep what your doing up.”

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
One of the best trips of this year’s minke whale season so far, with minke whale encounters every day at several different dive sites. Various different behaviors were observed including belly presentations, spy hops and pirouetting.

In addition to all the amazing minke whale encounters guests enjoyed some fantastic diving at sites along the Ribbon Reef #10 including Challenger Bay, Cod Hole, Lighthouse Bommie and Pixie Pinnacle.

Lisa Murfin, UK. “The whole trip: meals outstanding, minke whales galore, superb staff.”