Barrier Reef / Coral Sea

Sorry to post this again, but, looking for recomendations for a 7 night liveaboard on the barrier reef / Coral Sea... I've looked at various threads here but wonder if anyone has any new insights..

Looking to set off in the first week of January 06. Have read reciews of the Taka, but am put off by the number of people it appears to take.

Mike Ball has no availability

Spirit of Freedom looks promising but the itenary doesn't sound as exciting as the Mike Ball Trip..

What are the must see's / must dive's if I'm going all that way..?

James

Not enough experience to be really helpful, but personally, I love the 'Three Sisters' on Mill'n Reef.

B)

Dan.

i have been on the undersea explorer

http://www.undersea.com.au

and really enjoyed the experience.

James,

Have a closer look at the boats you mentioned - they are within 3 pax of each other depending on the cabin allocations.

What does vary is the number of crew and the quality of the wine with dinner.

Same major dive sites Cod Hole , North Horn , Pixie Pinnacle , Steves Bommie etc.

Where the limitations come is that some of the boats are not purpose built ,or are dated and have limitations in manouvabilty ( no bow or stern thrusters ). They also handle weather differently - remember crossing the Coral Sea enroute to Osprey Reef is the open ocean and can be a bit bumpy.

My 2 cents

Peter

Hi James

I agree with Steve's Bommie: excellent.

I have never in my life been so sick as on the night crossing back from Osprey. It was VERY rough - and from all the comments I heard, that is not so unusual. The Taka captain warned us before we left Osprey that it was going to be a bad night: bless, him, he was not wrong. The dull, grey sunless conditions did not help either and, for me, Osprey was not worthwhile.

If you decide however to go to Osprey, you might want to invest in seasickness medication. I was told Quells was the thing to use.

Cod Hole is interesting if you enjoy fish-feed diving.

James,

 

Have a closer look at the boats you mentioned - they are within 3 pax of each other depending on the cabin allocations.

 

What does vary is the number of crew and the quality of the wine with dinner. 

 

Same major dive sites Cod Hole , North Horn , Pixie Pinnacle , Steves Bommie  etc.

 

Where the limitations come is that some of the boats are not purpose built ,or are dated  and have limitations in manouvabilty ( no bow  or stern thrusters ). They also handle weather differently - remember crossing the Coral Sea enroute to Osprey Reef is the open ocean and can be a bit bumpy.

 

My 2 cents

 

Peter

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

My wife and I have been to those locations and would agree they are some of the best. The sharks at North Horn as well as at other sites were terrific. The Cod were immense. Steve's Bommie had schools  of Jacks and I had a Minke whale swim below me about twenty ft. away.

We had calm seas the whole trip. Another interesting sight were the flashlight fish at Osprey Reef. We took a four night liveaboard out of Port Douglas - the "Diversity"