Dive Review of MV Kalinda in
Australia/Far North Great Barrier Reef

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MV Kalinda: "An Adventure on the Far Northern Great Barrier Reef", Oct, 2023, by Mark Rosenstein, MA, US ( Sr. Contributor 27 reports with 17 Helpful votes). Report 12690 has 1 Helpful vote.
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	This was my first time in many years going with a budget operator, and once in that mindset, the facilities were fine. But arriving, I wasn't prepared not to be able to freshwater rinse after each dive, and wasn't told ahead of time we were expected to bring our own towels (they had a few extras). I was expecting shared bathrooms and having to move my own dive gear. While the boat was somewhat spartan, things worked adequately, the dive operations were well run, and the food was tasty. All diving was directly from the ship. We did a giant-stride entry, and exited up a set of steps. Generally the currents weren't too strong to make it back to the ship. They did have one small tender that could pick someone up in an emergency, but we weren't to rely on that. We did just a few drift dives with a live boat which was tricky positioning a 72ft ship next to floating divers. For years now I have been hearing that the GBR is not doing well. I last dived there in 2006 when I hadn't seen much to compare it to. On this trip I saw that the ribbon reefs outside of Cairns aren't in great shape, but things got better as we headed north. Coral coverage was good on the Great Detached Reef, our furthest point. Though even there it wasn't colorful, so I did little wide-angle photography. We did see plenty of sharks, turtles, tunas, and other large animals in the more remote protected areas. I was pleased that Silvertip Sharks outnumbered Gray Reefs on most dives. However, on day ten of our twelve day cruise, the boat suffered a mechanical failure. While they have two main engines, there is a single gear box that connects those engines to the propeller, and that failed, something I am told is extremely unusual. They were unable to put the boat in gear, and we were adrift. This happened just before a dive on a deep pinnacle, and there were no shallows nearby to threaten us, or allow us to anchor. They ended up using the tender to pull the ship very slowly for several hours to the nearest spot shallow enough to drop anchor. Meanwhile, a tug was dispatched, and we later spent over 24 hours under tow to the nearest port. They arranged a charter flight to get us back to Cairns in time to make our flight connections home. The end result some some excitement, and the loss of the last two days of diving. While not the way I expected the trip to go, and I was disappointed to miss what was rumored to be the best dives of the trip, the owner and crew handled the situation well.
Websites	MV Kalinda
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Fiji, Komodo, Lembeh, Tulamben, Palau, Raja Ampat, Solomons, Wakatobi, Maldives, GBR, Philippines, Galapagos, many Caribbean
Closest Airport	Cairns	Getting There	Cruise was supposed to end at Horn Island, which has 2 flights daily to Cairns.
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	calm, choppy, currents, no currents
Water Temp	78-80°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	20-100 Ft/ 6-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Following Queensland safety rules, they track air in, air out, and max depth. You are supposed to return with 50 bar/750 psi, but nothing was said the few times I returned with less.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	1 or 2	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	They had several rinse tubs and were good about passing cameras on entry and exit, but had no dedicated space for camera maintenance and charging. Our cruise was not full, and we used two tables in the salon for cameras. On a full cruise, this would have been difficult.

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of MV Kalinda in Australia/Far North Great Barrier Reef

MV Kalinda: "An Adventure on the Far Northern Great Barrier Reef", Oct, 2023,

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 MV Kalinda in
Australia/Far North Great Barrier Reef