| Spoilsport - 25 October, 2007 |
|
|
|
|
Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
For this week long Spoilsport dive expedition we welcomed aboard twenty seven guests including a group from Treasure Cove Divers in New Jersey USA. After a initial day of diving on the Great Barrier Reef – we headed out to Osprey Reef in the Coral sea where divers enjoyed steep drop offs – great visibility, an exciting shark feed and several manta ray sightings – along with some near perfect weather conditions.
We then made our way back to the Great Barrier Reef and down the Ribbon Reefs diving the best of the Great Barrier Reef as we went.
Highlights included the Cod Hole where we did an exciting drift dive when the current was raging and some more relaxed dives later on with plenty of white-tipped reef sharks, potato cod, bump-head parrot fish and more. The end of the adventure was celebrated with a champagne sunset Aussie BBQ and typical Halloween party night – fun for all. |
Guest Photo Competition |
Photo & Video Pro - Julia Sumerling |
|
Man in the Sea - 1st Place
|
Environment - 1st Place |
Macro - 1st Place |
|
|
|
Michael Heus - Steve's Bommie plaque. |
Barbara Leparulo - anemone fish. |
Michael Heus - squat lobster. |
| Guest Comments |
|
|
Angela Hartfield, USA. "Loved the open deck time. Really loved Kerrin’s call to dive briefings, wake up and announcements. The crew was fantastic Kerrin, Chris, Dave, Julie, Ray, Larry, Simon, Caroline, Sterling, Grant, Donna and Tristan – you all made this a memorable trip – thank you with all my heart." |
| Richard Whybrow, Australia. "Shared enthusiasm for diving and seeing reef creatures. Food, drift dives." |
| Jacqui O’Kelly, UK. "Excellent service from all members of crew – especially Simon, Caroline and Kerrin. Food was fantastic, the best diving live aboard I have been on and that’s a lot." |
|
| Spoilsport - 18 October, 2007 |
|
|
|
|
Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
This week we welcomed aboard a group of 24 divers from Rick's Dive in Travel Center from Arkansas – USA and a few others. We started the trip with several days of diving the best of the Great Barrier Reef, with favorite sites including Steve’s Bommie, Pixie Pinnacle, Challenger Bay and Lighthouse Bommie.
Among the marine life spotted were white-tipped reef sharks, garden eels, lion fish, leafy scorpion fish and more. After a day spent diving the spectacular Cod Hole we made our way out to Osprey Reef where divers enjoyed steep walls, great visibility, lots of sharks at an exciting shark feed and some close encounters with manta rays. We finished off with a fun Spoilsport party night and Aussie BBQ dinner, topping off another great trip. |
Guest Photo Competition |
Photo & Video Pro - Laurence Buckingham |
|
|
2nd Place |
3rd Place |
|
|
|
Dave Wassell - lion fish. |
Dave Wassell - shark feed. |
Vivian Highsmith - sea star. |
| Guest Comments |
|
|
Kim Goslee, USA. "Kerrin – great energy – the perfect host, excellent meals and very good food service." |
| Tori Rea, USA. "The whole trip was great food, great fun and great company." |
| Sandy Carroll, USA. "The variety of dive sites by moving the vessel frequently." |
|
| Spoilsport - 15 October, 2007 |
|
|
|
|
Written by Trip Director - Daniel Foote
Cod Hole: flowery cod. Acropolis: huge Queensland grouper being extremely inquisitive, biggest dog tooth tuna passed through, large amberjacks. Big mackerels smashing fusilers. China Wall: seven turtles were seen on the one dive by Eldon Michaels and buddies. |
Guest Photo Competition |
Photo & Video Pro - Julia Sumerling |
|
|
2nd Place |
3rd Place |
|
|
|
Tim Gray - sea snake. |
Kathy Hays - many spotted sweet lip. |
Tim Gray - turtle. |
| Guest Comments |
|
|
Justice Reed, USA. "Staff committed to making diving pleasant and smooth – first rate dive deck – highly organised and knowledgeable staff." |
| Kelly Allen, UK. "First dives of a live aboard, brilliant made me feel comfy." |
| Janine Streit, Germany. "The staff and food was really excellent, people of the staff were really taking care of us." |
|
| Spoilsport - 11 October, 2007 |
|
|
|
|
Written by Trip Director - Daniel Foote
Andy's Postcard: leafy scorpion fish, trevally. False Entrance: grey reef sharks, huge schools for trevally. Cod Hole: eight potato cod cruising under the boat. |
Guest Photo Competition |
Photo & Video Pro - Julia Sumerling |
|
|
2nd Place |
3rd Place |
|
|
|
Kathy Hays - trout. |
Tim Gray - sweetlip. |
Justice Reed - lion fish. |
| Guest Comments |
|
|
Martin Koerner, UK. "You have a natural resource and you use it well. You respect the environment and do not allow it to be abused – well done. Staff were great, no complaints – good mix of people – safety was spot on." |
| Lynn Oku, USA. "A very comfortable experience for a novice diver. The crew was very helpful and attentive. We appreciated having guided dives." |
| Bonnie Garrett, USA. "The corals and sponges here are terrific to see. Staff was excellent, all of them – including the volunteers." |
|
| Spoilsport - 04 October, 2007 |
|
|
|
|
Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
This trip we welcomed onboard a group of 27 divers from the Scuba Point group in Brazil for a week long diving trip. The first day was spent diving around the bottom of Ribbon Reef #10 where divers enjoyed the great coral and fish life of Challenger Bay, Acropolis and Pixie Gardens. Among marine life seen were garden eels, sweet lips, leafy scorpion fish, lion fish and nudibranchs.
We headed out to Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea for the next three days of superb diving with great visibility and sheer walls covered in soft coral, lots of sharks and several manta ray sightings. Our return journey down the Ribbon Reefs gave us superb diving at sites including the Cod Hole where divers had close encounters with huge potato cod, saw schooling sweet lips and enjoyed great visibility and perfect weather. |
Guest Photo Competition |
Photo & Video Pro - Julia Sumerling |
|
|
2nd Place |
3rd Place |
|
|
|
Renata Linger - barracuda. |
Renata Linger - lion fish. |
Fernando Calardo - trigger fish. |
| Guest Comments |
|
|
Miquelina Antico, Brazil. " The super attention of the crew – support on diving." |
| Hellen Macedo, Brazil. "It was very hard to think about the best thing when there are so many good things to think about. It was the best diving trip I’ve made – ever. Just putting together the sub life and the boat life – it couldn’t be better." |
| Eraca Bressan, Brazil. "Dive organization and security – friendly of the crew. Nice places to dive." |
|
