| Spoilsport - 27 September, 2007 |
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Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
This week a group of 27 divers from Rec Diving in Michigan, USA, enjoyed a fantastic week long dive expedition aboard Spoilsport. The fist day of diving was spent around Ribbon Reef #10 where divers enjoyed the great coral and diverse marine life of dive sites like Challenger Bay and the Acropolis. The next few days were spent diving Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea where divers were blown away by the amazing visibility, sheer drop offs and marine life – including hammerhead sharks, manta rays and of course an exciting shark feed at North Horn.
As we made our way south down the Ribbon Reefs of the Great Barrier Reef guests enjoyed close encounters with huge potato cod at the Cod Hole, plenty of lion fish and leafy scorpion fish at Pixie Gardens and lots of cool stuff on Steve’s Bommie including a range of species of anemone fish, large stone fish, nudibranchs and more. |
Guest Photo Competition |
Photo & Video Pro - Laurence Buckingham |
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2nd Place |
3rd Place |
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Lauren Nielsen - manta ray. |
Deb Lepstez - anemone fish. |
Deb Lepstez - hermit crab. |
| Guest Comments |
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Lisa Krauss, USA. "Great family vacation balanced with super friends, fun and food. Dive staff was exceptional – food was great." |
| Lauren Nielson, USA. "After the first day staff tried to individualize their attention and cared about each diver personally." |
| Lisa Mueller, USA. "Food and meals – fabulous chef – nice having the dinghy pick up if current too strong. Nice having staff help up the ladder. Nice flat screen TV’s for the video." |
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| Spoilsport - 24 September, 2007 |
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Written by Trip Director - Daniel Foote
An eagle ray was seen at Pixie Gardens by Magali from France. Bill from the USA won the photo competition with a beautiful photo of Keith (from New Zealand) and a turtle. Sharon and Clay from the USA had a great dive at Steve’s Bommie with grey reef sharks, trevally, leafy scorpion fish and white-tip reef sharks being just some of the crazy things they saw. |
Guest Photo Competition |
Photo & Video Pro - Julia Sumerling |
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2nd Place |
3rd Place |
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Bill Keogh - diver and turtle. |
Michael Turner - nudibranch. |
Beth Plotner - octopus. |
| Guest Comments |
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Joe Vrabel, USA. "All was excellent – exceed expectations. Service and staff exceptional. Willingness to accommodate divers of all levels." |
| Keith Bennett, New Zealand. "The crew – Daniel was a bloody legend – made the trip for me. All the crew were fantastic – very helpful, Chris , Alex , Kim were fab." |
| Rick Deven, USA. "Staff and crew really made the trip great. Food was excellent. Of course the diving was exceptional, I brought a group of 7 – and all were very pleased – we would all return." |
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| Spoilsport - 20 September, 2007 |
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Written by Trip Director - Daniel Foote
Shark feed was awesome with two huge silvertips coming in and smashing the food – 70m visibility. Other trip highlights were: a huge school of trevally at False Entrance, two manta rays again seen at Round the Bend, hammerhead sharks at North Horn.
Elmers was a great group from Chicago. |
Guest Photo Competition |
Photo & Video Pro - Julia Sumerling |
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2nd Place |
3rd Place |
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Linda Hannifan - anemone fish. |
Michael Turner - grey reef shark. |
Michael Turner - trevally. |
| Guest Comments |
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Melissa Mappa, USA. "The crew, they were absolutely amazing, I didn’t think anyone could bet the last crew we had in PNG – but they really blew them away. So Friendly so helpful so… well just great – seriously now they were wonderful – I just can’t say enough about them." |
| Beth Plotner, USA. "The staff were wonderful – I liked the freedom of led divers or going off with your buddy. Dive briefings were very helpful as well as the dive staff were very helpful as well as the dive staff." |
| Doug Cream, USA. "Professional dive operation, dive master, dive guides, deck crew – all tops, friendly, helpful and careful." |
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| Spoilsport - 17 September, 2007 |
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Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
After a flight across the Great Barrier Reef to Lizard Island – the diving got off to a great start at the Cod Hole where divers enjoyed the great coral and fish life, including plenty of huge potato cod. Great diving continued as we made our way south down the Ribbon Reefs, diving great sites such as Acropolis, Fan Belt, Andy’s Postcard and Steve’s Bommie.
Divers encounters sea snakes, white-tipped reef sharks, turtles, lion fish and more. During the trip Drew, Melissa and Mark completed the Advanced Open Water Course with instructor Chris. Great diving and great weather made for another great Spoilsport trip. |
Guest Photo Competition |
Photo & Video Pro - Laurence Buckingham |
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2nd Place |
3rd Place |
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No Third Place. |
Sandi Graham - anemone fish. |
Kate Mitchell - big-eye. |
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| Guest Comments |
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Laura Becciu, Italy. "The dives of course, but I cannot forget the excellent service and the fantastic team." |
| Martha Brand, USA. "Supervision, teaching and monitoring of dive staff, really appreciated their support in helping me become more confident." |
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| Spoilsport - 13 September, 2007 |
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Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
We began with some great diving at Challenger Bay and Cod Hole before heading out to Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea for some more adventurous diving. Great visibility, sheer walls, plenty of sharks and great soft corals were enjoyed by the divers.
Underwater highlights included a leopard shark, hammerhead sharks, lion fish and octopus seen hunting at night, and of course the shark feed – with lots of white-tipped reef sharks, grey reef sharks and a couple of large silver-tips coming in for the feed.
The end of the trip was celebrated with a great party night and after a brief visit to Lizard Island, departing guests flew back to Cairns over the Great Barrier Reef. |
Guest Photo Competition |
Photo & Video Pro - Laurence Buckingham |
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2nd Place |
3rd Place |
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Sandi Graham - tobies. |
Jens Kruger - anemone fish. |
Sandi Graham - sea fan. |
| Guest Comments |
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Jackie Gould, Australia. "My first live aboard. The helpfulness of the crew made my diving experience develop. I feel a lot more confident now venturing down when there are waves on the surface." |
| Maryanne Le Peyre, Australia. "Everything!! Loved the dining service, food, boat, cabin, crew etc etc. More than what I had hoped for – I hope to be back." |
| Lorisa Gratza, USA. "Staff was great, the organisation all was great – everything and everyone." |
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| Spoilsport - 10 September, 2007 |
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Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
For our south bound guests the trip began with a spectacular low level flight over the same reefs they would soon be diving. 17 new guests from Sydney Dive Academy joined the weeklong Frog Divers for a fantastic three days of diving as Spoilsport made its way down the Ribbon Reefs.
Highlights included an exciting drift dive in the strong current at the Cod Hole, new site Fan Belt and Acropolis - with great coral and plenty of fish life, and old favourites including Challenger Bay and Steve’s Bommie with lion fish, nudibranchs, anemones and more. Both Sydney Dive Academy and Frog Dive are already planning their next Mike Ball Dive expeditions – we look forward to welcoming them back. |
Guest Photo Competition |
Photo & Video Pro - Laurence Buckingham |
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2nd Place |
3rd Place |
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Rob Wolf - lion fish. |
Duane French - flame file shell. |
Jon Telfer - big-eye. |
| Guest Comments |
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Craig Duck, Australia. "The very friendly staff with all help and happiness. The visiting volunteers were fantastic and should be commended." |
| Mary Morgan, Australia. "The flight to the boat and great dive sites." |
| Sharyn Machin, Australia. "The staff were very calm and comfortable – interactive with the everyone. Not fazed by anything, was fun and easy." |
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| Spoilsport - 06 September, 2007 |
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Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
This trip we welcomed aboard a group of 12 divers from Frog Dive (Sydney, Australia) plus 13 others with a range of nationalities including Korean, Dutch, American, British and Australian. We started the trip with the best of the Great Barrier Reef, with a pod of dolphins welcoming the boat as Spoilsport arrived at the Cod Hole. Divers saw plenty of friendly potato cod, white-tipped reef sharks, excellent coral and a school of diagonally banded sweetlips - which typically occurs at this time of the year.
The following two days were spent at Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea, which features sheer drop offs, excellent soft corals, great visibility and lots of sharks. Highlights included several hammerhead sightings and manta rays seen at the Round the Bend cleaning station and also feeding on the surface just behind the boat before the night dive. All this along with some near perfect weather made for a great dive trip for everyone. |
Guest Photo Competition |
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2nd Place |
3rd Place |
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Keith Sanders - hawk fish. |
Caroline Townsend - potato cod. |
Rob Wolf - hammerhead shark. |
| Guest Comments |
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Laura Struijk, Netherlands. "It was fantastic – the shark feed and Osprey Reef was the absolute highlight – wonderful crew, food, service – thank you guys. The best live aboard I’ve ever had." |
| Keith Saunders, Australia. "The dive sites are just awesome – combined with a cohesive staff and an excellent cohort of divers – champagne diving at its best." |
| Catherine Clark, USA. "The boat and crew were wonderful. The boat is well maintained. The staff is wonderful, good experience and very focused during the dives. Meals are well planned – plenty of food for everyone – loved the interaction with staff." |
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| Spoilsport - 03 September, 2007 |
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Written by Trip Director - Daniel Foote
Pixies Pinnacle was one of our transition dives with it living up to its reputation of crazy critters with Brian and our expedition crew member seeing a wobbegong shark and an octopus. The whole boat had a great close up look at a small white-tip reef shark sleeping in a hole at Steve’s Bommie. Volker from Germany thoroughly enjoyed his time with our friendly resident turtle at Lighthouse Bommie. |
| Guest Comments |
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Carles Riera Roy, Holland. "Service absolutely professional at all times – question “what if” is arranged and solved. And last but not least the Cook – was simply excellent." |
| Chris Boehnn, USA. "Everything!! Food was much better than anticipated – Mark was extremely nice and took care of my allergies with great concern." |
| Christine Schmit, USA. "Hard to say – the sites were amazing – but as a beginner I also really appreciated all the help given." |
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