Dive Review of
Mike Ball Dive Expeditions/Paradise Sport in
Papua New Guinea/Milne Bay

Thailand, Bali-Komodo, Raja Ampat, Lembeh Straits, Malaysia, PNG, Solomon
Islands, Caribbean

Dive Conditions

No restrictions except on B-17 bomber dive.  

Camera storage area is the top shelf behind the diver's station.  Secondary
shelves hold peripheral gear.  Charging area was separate and plentiful. 
Cameras were handled very well by the crew.  If you were looking for
specific "critters" you could ask one of the dive guides to take
you right to it!  They also placed sticks in the sand where unique critters
had been spotted....  

Overall Rating

This leg of our adventure didn't start out well because AirNuigini sold our
seats while we were clearing PNG Immigration!  Our connecting flight from
Port Moresby to Gurney Airport in Alotau left without ten of the 11 of us
and AG put us up in the Airport Hotel for the night!  We were on the 6:30
a.m. flight the next morning and arrived in Alotau the next morning to be
met & told that the boat had departed without us!

Mike Ball's ground rep made arrangements to "cart" us over to the
other side of Alotau...it was 2-1/2 hours of grueling roads with
spectacular scenery.  He was supposedly in communication with the boat and
they were going to pick us up at "Point A".  When we arrived
there, no boat.  After further communication, we were advised that we were
to be taken a beach area where the Tawali boat would pick us up and take us
to the resort where the Paradise Sport would meet us....after waiting on a
beautiful beach for over an hour, it was determined that the Tawali boat
had gone to "Point B" rather than this beach we were waiting at! 
We had to drive to that dock area to get a pick-up!  It was a 20 minute
boat ride from there to Tawali where we were served cool beverages while we
waited for the Paradise Sport to arrive.

Apparently, it's Mike Ball's company policy to NOT wait for guests to
arrive (although we found out that the NEXT week, they waited for several
guests whose flight from Brisbane to POM was delayed).  The boat had sailed
with one of my group members and five Polish guests...leaving behind TEN
group members!  It wasn't a great start to the week....

Diving commenced at Dinah's Beach which is one of the premier sites in
Milne Bay; we moved on to Kathy's Corner and other "muck" sites. 
We did a few open water bommie dives, one of which revealed a huge
green/black rhinopia!  The B-17 bomber dive was enjoyed by all those who
did it and the Boga Boga Village visit is always a high spot in a Milne Bay
trip.  Most of the diving is done directly from the back of the boat and
all you had to come up for was a refill of air/Nitrox and fresh camera
batteries!

The Paradise Sport was doing its last few charters in Papua New Guinea
before the boat was sold.  It was apparent from the Captain & Cruise
Director's attitudes that they were just "biding their time". 
The chef was great, food was fantastic and the rest of the crew were
friendly & competent.  

Overall, Milne Bay was as good as we remembered it; next time we'll visit
it on a smaller, more intimate boat! 

Questions?
Send an email to the author of this report

What others have to say about Undercurrent
And get immediate access to ALL 106 dive reviews of Papua New Guinea
and all other dive destinations immediately!