Mike Ball - Coral Sea
    This is the story and pics from our Mike Ball 7 day Coral Sea Safari on board Spoilsport . Before joining Spoilsport we have 3 full days in Cairns which we try to see some of the mountains and rainforest areas. Then on Thursday night we board Spoilsport.  Spoilsport has to be one of the best live aboard dive boats around.  Three levels that cover the dive deck and accommodation, the dining and leisure areas and the top deck.  Our cabin (#3) was at the front on the starboard (right hand) side.  We had views out, air conditioning and our own ensuite with shower, toilet and basin.  The space is very generous. We are well looked after with a crew to customer ratio of 1:2.  The food is fantastic and over the 7 nights we were there we never had the same lunch or dinner.  Often we had 2 breakfasts.  A light breakfast of cereal, fruit and yogurt before our first dive, then a full cooked breakfast about 9am.

Home Cairns 13-05-09 Cairns 12-05-09 Cairns 14-05-09 Challenger Bay 15-05-09 Cod Hole 15-05-09 North Horn 16-05-09 Admiralty Anchor 16-05-09 Round the Bend 17-05-09 Halfway 17-05-09 False Entrance 17-05-09 Lizard Island 18-05-09 Cod Hole 18-05-09 Challenger Bay 18-05-09 Acropolis 19-05-09 Lighthouse Bommie 19-05-09 Pixie Gardens 19-05-09 Steve's Bommie 20-05-09 Flare Point 20-05-09

On many of the days we could have done 5 dives including the night dive.  We mostly did 4 and on one day only 3.  I found it too tiring to do a night dive as a 5th dive of the day.

Our journey takes us overnight to the Ribbon reefs, and we work our way along these reefs before heading out Friday night to Osprey reef.  The wind had picked up to around 30 knots making it quite a rough ride out.  The week before the conditions were too rough to get there. Our cabin was also on the weather side which meant that the seas pounded our side of the boat. Jenny was very sick all night ending up dry retching every time she moved.  I too was sick after I had to get up.  I recovered quickly but Jenny spent all of the first day at Opsrey reef sleeping.  This is the day of the shark feed which takes place at North Horn.  We return from Osprey reef overnight on Sunday mooring at Lizard island to off load customers who were flying back to Cairns and take on new people who will join us for the return trip to Cairns.  This part of the trip returns to the Ribbon reefs, visiting some of the sites we dived on the way up but also a lot of new ones.  We arrive back in Cairns on Thursday morning and with a teary eye we say our goodbyes.

 

Overall stats:

7 nights, 6 days, 700km, over 2,000 pics, 21 dives (me) and 18 dives (Jen). 

 

We will do it again!!