Dive Review of Mike Ball Spoilsport in
Australia/GBR

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Mike Ball Spoilsport, Apr, 2014, by John E. Keith, UT, US ( Top Contributor 31 reports with 9 Helpful votes). Report 7589.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	As with others who have dived with Mike Ball, we found the experience to be great. We did the 3-day fly-dive trip (this was our first liveaboard since Egypt in 1999). Corals were the best we've seen since the Red Sea, and there were lots of varied fish and critters. The big guys at Cod Hole were overly friendly. We didn't see a huge number of pelagics - did get to observe a white tip reef shark feeding on a tuna head (thrown overboard from the boat because of spoilage) and several other reef sharks. However, this trip lived up to its advertisements. Crew and boat were exceptionally helpful and friendly (that seems to be true all over Australia). We chose to dive with a DM (we think they know better for what and where to look) and all three were great. They led us to unusual fish (e.g., Wobbegong sharks; green scorpionfish) and spotted many critters (e.g., mating blue flatworms). Other divers dove their own profile; some took a Zodiak out and worked their way back to the boat. The only downer was missing the last afternoon and evening's dives because of the arrival of Cyclone Ita. Ita also caused the seas to be pretty rough most of the trip, but that didn't seem to negatively affect the diving or divers for the most part, due to the crew's helpfulness and diligence. Office staff in Cairns was also very helpful. Good organization, good people, good trip.
Websites	Mike Ball Spoilsport
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Red Sea, Mexico (Caribbean and Cortez), Honduras, Florida, California, Hawaii
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	79-81°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility	35-75 Ft/ 11-23 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Ascend at 750 psi.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	2-3 rinse tanks on boat; camera shelves available; computers on-board for downloads. All in all, well equipped but once in a while the rinse tanks were pretty crowded.

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Dive Review of Mike Ball Spoilsport in Australia/GBR

Mike Ball Spoilsport, Apr, 2014,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Mike Ball Spoilsport in
Australia/GBR