Dive Review of
MV Golden Dawn, Dolphin Enterprises in
Papua New Guinea/Manus to Wewak Live Aboard

Louisades Archipelago, Papua New Guinea in November 2005, Big Island of
Hawaii 1990-2006, Indonesia 1997-2003, other Red Sea, Indian Ocean,
Carribean and Indopacific destinations

Dive Conditions

[Unspecified]  

[None]  

Overall Rating

Wonderful parts:
Great group of 7 guest divers, all but one are repeat and everyone wanted
or plan to return for another excursion. Everyone got along well, are
helpful and the meals are full of good cheer and laughter. The De Wit
brothers, Craig and Adrian, are the tops with regard to leading dives and
knowledge of the sites. Had dived with Craig De Wit in 1994 on the MV
Golden Dawn at Eastern Fields. Now, 12 years later his love of the ocean
and exuberance have not diminished! Both would 'rub the bottle' to gather
sharks of many kinds. We wanted some muck diving and were given the
opportunity to find our own critters at new sites. They would guide and
show us very 'weird' nudibranches, etc. at their known sites. Alway some
exploratory dives on the Golden Dawn--part of the excitement.

Not so good parts:

Large area of the Western Bismarck sea is covered, and Craig took us to the
best possible sites. But the overnight crossings could be rough and bouncy,
thus, sleep loss. Some sites appeared to have been poached by nearby Asian
fishermen. Papua New Guinea does not have the resource to police these
activities. But we were still able to see a good number of good size
sharks, rays and other pelagics, as well as nervous big groupers of all
kinds, including hugh Queensland groupers. Craig works hard to rally local
villagers to help in policing the area. We have done live aboards in six
different regions of PNG, and plan to return. The boat captain, who is also
the proprietor on board, makes a world of difference in these adventures.

 

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