Dive Review of Star Dancer in
Papua New Guinea

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Star Dancer, Aug, 2003, by Sean Bruner, Arizona, USA ( Contributor 16 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 594.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	The diving was the best I've ever done. The corals were the healthiest I've ever seen, and the variety was outstanding, perhaps 200 different types of soft and hard corals. The fish life and variety was incredible. Everything from the tiny, like pygmy seahorses, miniature mandarin fish, harlequin shrimp, and plentiful nudibranchs to schools of huge batfish, barracuda, whitetip, silvertip and gray reef sharks, and everything in between. I saw many first time sighting for me: cuddlefish, octopi mating, crocodile fish, banded pipefish, and a few macro creatures I'd never seen anywhere else. Other divers saw things that I didn't, demonstating the diversity of the dives. The crew was extremely helpful. Elsie, the divemaster, was the best at finding critters of any I have ever dove with. She was especially helpful at finding small critters, tiny crabs on sea fans, pygmy seahorses, miniature mandarin fishes. Towards the end of the week I gave up trying to find stuff myself and just hung out with Elsie, especially on the night dives, where she found amazing critters. Jack, the captain, tried to make the best of the weather, although it was overcast most of the week and the seas were rough. He was a great old salt, though, and very accessible. He also accompanied us on many dives. Annie, the dive instructor, was helpful especially to the photographers, as mentioned above, but was also noteworthy for her fun disposition and great sense of humor. Andrew, the cook, put out plenty of good food, including having to prepare special meals for one diver who couldn't eat anything with sugar, including many fruits, and strict vegetarian fare for another diver. There was always a wide selection of meat, fish and poultry, as well as vegetables and salads. On the rainy days, the soup at every lunch and dinner were especially welcome. There were four dives every day plus a fifth night dive every night. The crew worked very hard to make every guest feel special and to meet any special needs. Overall a fabulous trip. The only drawback is the time and effort needed to get to PNG. Air Niugini makes it difficult to get there and also charged us excess baggage on the flight from Port Morseby to Hoskins, where we got the boat. Although we didn't get charged the excess baggage on the way back, the flight was three hours late leaving making our connection to Sydney tight. We had to stay over in Australia one night each way, although our flight in arrived in Sydney at 7 a.m. Why one cannot get to PNG the same day one arrives at 7 a.m. in Sydney is a mystery. But it was worth the hassle.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Palau, Fiji, Galapagos, Hawaii, Bonaire, BVI, Cozumel, La Paz, San Carlos, Jamaica.
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy, cloudy	Seas	choppy, surge, currents
Water Temp	84-0°F / 29--18°C	Wetsuit Thickness	0
Water Visibility	100-200 Ft/ 30-61 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	Dive masters on every dive, but were allowed to dive own profile within Nitrox depth limits as long as with a buddy. Dove as a group. Dive briefings, surface intervals.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	N/A
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	There was a large table on the back deck of the boat for cameras and a compressed air gun for drying cameras. E6 processing available on board, but we had to mount our own. Two divers reported that their last two roles were ruined by negligent processing. Instructor Annie Crawley, an extremely accomplist underwater photographer and videographer was incredibly helpful, making suggestions above and below the water, reviewing our slides, and even allowing us to use her expensive equipment. I learned more from her in a week than from all other trips combined.

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Dive Review of Star Dancer in Papua New Guinea

Star Dancer, Aug, 2003,

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 Star Dancer in
Papua New Guinea