Diving Great Barrier Reef - Australia

[Rhian]

Anyone got any info, recomendations, do's & don'ts for 7 day liveaboards out of Cairns or Port Douglas to dive the Great Barrier Reef /Coal Sea

We will be there in October 04

Thanks
Rhian

[Dave]

Anyone got any info, recomendations, do's & don'ts for 7 day liveaboards out of Cairns or Port Douglas to dive the Great Barrier Reef /Coal Sea


My first don't would be the going to the Barrier Reef for 7 days. I find it ok for a day trip but quite tedious after that and prefer the diving in places like Sydney n Melbourne which is ,imo, much more interesting. Admittedly it is nice warm pleasant water for diving in :)

If you are going , I would recommend Mike Ball (www.mikeball.com). They have pretty much the nicest dive boats up there and have 6 and 7 night trips to the Coral Sea and Yongala Wreck

Also, one great thing with them is that they do allow solo diving if you have at least 100 dives, have a redundant air source,knife,compass, DSMB, horn and a torch (if diving at dusk/dark) and can demonstrate a suitable skill level.

They do have EAN32 on board if you want it too

Dave

[Alison Boler]

Rhian
Have you read the travel report linked below from our site? It covers a 7 day liveaboard going to the Coral Sea.
I would also recommend that you take a look at the reports and bulletin board postings on
www.scubadiving.com (look at Tripfinder section on Australia/GBR) for a lot of candid opinions on different boats and operators.
I have heard that the Coral Sea trips are preferable to the straight GBR ones because the viz is better and there is more big life - but I haven't (sadly) been myself, so this is hearsay. I believe that if you want to dive on the Yolanda, you have to go out of Townsville not Cairns and that they often can't get on the wreck because of the weather - very often - so don't pin your hopes around that and view it as a bonus if you make it.
I have also heard that the sea can be extremely swelly on these trips (both GBR and Coral Sea) and that the boats - particularly the older ones - are not that well stabilised and are pretty noisy and lumpy bumpy. People OFTEN get sick. Or so I've heard. It would make sense. The waves have travelled a long way by then!
So have a look at the reports and have a great time. Am very jealous!
Allie

[Bren Tierney]

Anyone got any info, recomendations, do's & don'ts for 7 day liveaboards out of Cairns or Port Douglas to dive the Great Barrier Reef /Coal Sea

We will be there in October 04

Thanks
Rhian

Any recomendations? Yes,

Don't dive the GBR when you can dive the Coral Sea!! The GBR can bee like diver soup, with day boats taking upto 200 try-divers out in one go! It's Bedlam. Get out to PNG or the Coral Sea - the diving's better, less populated and simply stunning!

Enjoy and dive safe.

Bren.

[FionaB]

Anyone got any info, recomendations, do's & don'ts for 7 day liveaboards out of Cairns or Port Douglas to dive the Great Barrier Reef /Coal Sea

We will be there in October 04

Thanks
Rhian

My recommendation would be have a look at Undersea Explorer www.undersea.com.au which departs form Port Douglas, I went on this boat in October 2002 it was a fabulous trip. 7 days on the boat, it isn't a flash boat no en-suites but the diving and organisation were first class.

It does research trips we did the Shark and Nautilus week we went all the way up to osprey reef, you can get involved with the research if you want to no one says you have to. They don't do shark feeding dives but what we did up at osprey was a shark attrack, where they take a bait box down to attract the sharks in as there are monitoring devises near the reef.

They have a marine biologist onboard and they have some talks if you want to join in.

All I can say it is more than a tourist boat you will not be pampered but it will be an unforgettable experience, one I hope to repeat some day.

Alison mentioned that it can get abit rought, well our first night was I was in my bunk and I really thought the boat had done a 360, dont think anyone was sick though. Small price to pay for such great diving.

There arn't many boat where you get to see nautilus at close quaters, they brought 6 up which were added to the database, my friend and I both sponsored one each they email you if they ever find him again. Money goes to help further research.

We then stayed for a few more days in Port douglas before flying back to Sydney where my friend now lives.

Fiona