Dive Review of
Mike Ball in
Australia/Townsville Great Barrier Reef

California, Hawaii, Roatan, No. Great Barrier Reef

Dive Conditions

[None]  

Overall Rating

Spoilsport is a beautiful, well maintained vessel.  We chose this trip with
Mike Ball specifically to dive the Yongala after several days of diving
with them on their No. GBR Minke Whale trip.  The weather was not
cooperating and we had to wait until the last day of the trip to try for
the Yongala.  The crew was professional and we trusted them to make the
right decision on whether it was calm/safe enough to dive there - which
they did.  They provided exceptional service (with smiles) by accommodating
our special needs to don and doff our gear in the water, due to back
injuries. One very disturbing incident on Wheeler Reef which is a
"poster child" for successful reef conservation efforts world
wide.  Crew anchored too close to a large beautiful coral bommie and during
the dive we witnessed the anchor chain shearing off entire huge coral heads
and cleaving giant chunks off others - it was too painful to watch...  This
was anchor destruction at it's worst.  Though there was a mooring there, we
were told it was an illegal one and so they weren't allowed to use it. 
Apparently, on that very day, Mike Ball's operation was granted a permit to
put in a permanent, legal, mooring, however, it does not excuse lazy
anchoring techniques.  There are plenty of large sandy areas and if they
simply put a crew member in the water to guide the capt. to one of them,
they would have prevented the horrible destruction their anchor did to that
reef that day. 

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