Expeditions: 01 November, 2007 08 November, 2007 12 November, 2007
  15 November, 2007 22 November, 2007 29 November, 2007
       

Spoilsport - 29 November, 2007    




Written by Trip Director - Daniel Foote
A fantastic week long expedition. We enjoyed the company of a large group from the USA, as well as a small but avid group of divers from Poland. Highlights during the week were the coral spawning at Acropolis witnessed by Julia, Caroline, Ed, Christine and Tom. Our junior diver onboard Rachel spotted an epaulette shark and sea snake on the same dive. At the Cod Hole Tom and Emily had an amazing up close and personal encounter with a porcupine fish. Two orangutan crabs were spotted at Lighthouse Bommie. On one of the exploratory dives – the captain and his dive buddy Jared were treated to an incredible 30min circling display by manta rays.
Guest Photo Competition
 Photo & Video Pro - Julia Sumerling  

Diver in the Sea - 1st Place
Environment - 1st Place
Macro - 1st Place

Margo Cavis - shark feed.
Thomas Pederson - puffer fish.
Andrew Harris - leafy scorpion fish.

Spoilsport - 22 November, 2007    




Written by Trip Director - Daniel Foote
Fantastic shark feed with loads of sharks and a huge silvertip coming in. A major highlight of it was the huge school of chevron barracuda that was balling right in the sunlight - Daniel the trip director was able to swim right inside. This happened right next to the feed. On the way back to the boat they were again balling and this time a juvenile scalloped hammerhead came in to say G’day. manta ray, hammerheads and silvertips were seen on dives at Round the Bend. Haley, Giles and Sophie saw 6 eagle rays while on a dive at Cod Wall. Jackie and Wolfgang saw a very rare sight a bow-mouth guitar fish at the Cod Hole – all the crew are very jealous.

For those who decided to do the bonus night dive on the last night – were treated to the once a year phenomenon - the Coral Spawn which was very exciting, plus Stefanie and Michael even saw a tawny nurse shark. Our weekly exploratory dive we were extremely fortunate to come across a very rare occurrence – tiny octopus coming out of the coral in there hundreds.

Great trip.
Guest Photo Competition
 Photo & Video Pro - Julia Sumerling  

Diver in the Sea - 1st Place

Environment - 1st Place
Marco - 1st Place

Giles van Ruymbeke - diver.
Michael Gerserser - moray eel.
Marek Domanski - arc-eye hawk fish.
Guest Comments    

Mike Fischbein, USA. "Best overall dive trip I’ve been on (done 15 live boards). Crew was outstanding in every way. Never had as uniformly excellent “no worries” service. Also only live aboard I’ve been on without noticeable equipment failure – special good job to the engineer."

Sharon Dickenson, Australia. "Met some great people – guests and staff. Great Barrier Reef diving is good on the outer reefs so expectations are high. Captain and staff really know the area and conditions well, so appropriate conditions are sought for divers."
Gill O’Malley, Australia. "Dive boat captain and crew – and other guest. Unusual for captain to be so interactive and dive guide on some dives. Mark (chef) very accommodating of my odd diet. Open deck policy. Morning tea/coffee service. As a prize winner, very grateful to Mike Ball for offering such support to Underwater.com.au – Thank you was a fantastic trip."

Spoilsport - 15 November, 2007    




Written by Trip Director - Daniel Foote
Coming Soon

Guest Photo Competition
 Photo & Video Pro - Laurence Buckingham  

1st Place

2nd Place
3rd Place

Paul Maguire - thorny oyster.
Kyla Werrett - octopus.
Val Sheppard - flame file shell.
Guest Comments    

 
 
 

Spoilsport - 12 November, 2007    




Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
Our southbound trip began with a visit to scenic Lizard Island followed by an afternoon of diving the Cod Hole where divers enjoyed close encounters with potato cod, white-tip reef sharks and excellent coral. Tides this week also let us do our night dive at the Cod Hole, with sharks, cuttle fish, crabs and more close encounters with potato cod.

Highlights as we made our way south down the ribbon reefs included sea snakes and turtles at Lighthouse Bommie, stonefish and a wobbegong shark spotted on Steve’s Bommie and a very friendly hawksbill turtle and great barracuda allowing divers to approach closely at Flare Point.  
Guest Photo Competition
 Photo & Video Pro - Julia Sumerling  

1st Place

2nd Place
3rd Place

Chris Bain - barracuda.
David Byworth - schooling snapper.
Chris Bain - crab.
Guest Comments    

Marcelo Calderaro, Brazil. "Organised in every single detail. Providing the best diving experience we could have."  
Chris Bain, USA. "Excellent all round. I’ve been on several live boards before and they’ve generally had pro’s and cons – this trip was well managed all round." 
Gordon Kwan, Hong Kong. "The food is delicious and healthy, good variety and the diving is good. Very safety conscious crew."   

Spoilsport - 08 November, 2007    




Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones
For the Northbound trip we welcomed a group of 12 polish divers, along with divers from USA, UK, Belgium and Hong Kong. Our first day of diving was spent at the Cod Hole and Challenger Bay – with divers enjoying the best of the Great Barrier Reef. Potato cod, white-tip reef sharks and lion fish were spotted.

We then made our way out  to Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea where divers enjoyed the sheer drop offs, excellent soft corals and plenty of sharks, especially at our North Horn shark feed – where lots of grey reef sharks and a large silver tip came in to join our feed.  
Guest Photo Competition
 Photo & Video Pro - Julia Sumerling  

1st Place

2nd Place
3rd Place

Greg Williams - flowery cod.
David Byworth - shark feed.
David Byworth - soft coral tree.
Guest Comments    

Margorata Paradowski, Poland. "Everything underwater – trip director and staff." 
Piotr Brychcznski, Poland. "Organisation and atmosphere – orientation to individual customer needs." 
Katrina Jackson, UK. "Friendliness of the staff – couldn’t do enough to help."

Spoilsport - 01 November, 2007    




Written by Trip Director - Craig Stephens
With 13 VIP’s (repeat customers) joining us for the week we eased into a really fabulous week – the sea was flat and the sun was shining as we steamed north to the Ribbon Reefs. The reefs are always spectacular – however springtime always brings a little added excitement when we witness the antics and courtship displays of some rather amorous fish life.

You can just feel that the Coral Spawning spectacular is almost upon us. Lighthouse Bommie was a favourite – not that we are all “snake lovers”, however the turtles posed for the photographers unperturbed by their presence. Giant potato cod filled various cleaning stations which fascinated some of our guests. North Horn was terrific with 30 plus grey reef sharks, a large silver-tip cruised through the site on several occasions and a few of us were lucky enough to encounter a hammerhead in the shallows at Round the Bend.

All in all a great week spent with some terrific dives and terrific guests.
Guest Photo Competition
 Photo & Video Pro - Laurence Buckingham  

1st Place

2nd Place
3rd Place

Larissa Roorda - nudibranch.
Larissa Roorda - reef scene.
Brian Scupham - grouper.
Guest Comments    

Mike Jurgen, Canada. "Cruise Director very good, very professional. Excellent briefings. Diving was good, extra tendering service option appreciated, coordination of staff- workouts setup – very good."

Brian Scupham, Australia. "The staff and service and the food and of course the diving."
Deboral Lyle, USA. "Variety of dive sites and the outstanding staff to support all of the live- aboard amenities."