Great Barrier Reef

Auriga Bay II, December 1995, Tom Trotter, Singapore. "Dives the Eastern Coral Sea. No boats, no other divers. Dive how you want, 4­5 dives/day. Solo no problem. Tries new locations, no guarantees. Captain is knowledgeable of remote sites. Spearguns on boat. One diver bit by juvenile silvertip, required stitching on boat, not serious. Food mediocre for cost of trip. Good diving and live fishing of yellow fin tuna, trevally and jacks. Vis: 40­100 ft. water: 28°­29°"

Elizabeth E. II, November 1995, Lionel Specter, Albuquerque NM. "Comfortable, well kept. Cabins have A/C, head, hot water shower and sink. Crew bent over backwards. 4­5 dives/limited only by your computer and good sense. Great shark feed! Food not gourmet but good and plentiful. Coral and sponges not as colorful as Caribbean but sharks, turtles, rays, 500 groupers, sea snakes Night dives were great. Good air and general tank fills (3500#); tanks of various sizes available. Dives on wreck of the Yongala are not to be missed! 14 divers, 8 crew. All dives are in Coral Sea not Barrier Reef so sites are untouched and un-stressed."

Nimrod III, September 1995, Tom Wolf, Huron, OH. "3­4 day trips on the Ribbon Reefs can barely compare to a healthy Osprey Reef, but Steve's Bommie a real jewel. Pixie Pinnacle showed signs of overuse - fewer fish and evidence of finned coral and other problems. Steve's Bommie; leaf scorpion fish, numerous lion fish and anemone fish/anemones. Divemasters an entertaining lot."

Reef Explorer, August 1995, W. Brenner, Wayne, PA. "Upper GBR a disappointment: The Ribbons, Pixies, Cod Hole area. Reefs in bad shape; limited sealife. Dove Cod Hole three times (once at night) and that was the highlight. The giant cods (groupers) and Napoleon (Maori) Wrasse are something to swim among. Great for photography; lot of up-close shmoozing. Other sites not so interesting and some down right boring. Steve's Bommie good with lots of colorful fish. Sharks almost every dive. . . . The Reef Explorer is a small live-aboard with comfortable quarters and well run by the owners. Dive operation good, but not up to 5 star standards. Same for the food. Weather terrible: stormy entire week. Made boat operation and diving a hassle at best, but the operators worked their butts off to keep us comfortable. Viz: 40­60 ft., water in low 70's - wet suit diving."

Reef Explorer, October 1995, Joann Gren, Ann Arbor, MI. "Cairns to Thursday Island over 11 nights. Secluded, exotic, awe-inspiring. 65 foot boat expertly outfitted for diving. Dive deck lockers, compressor arrangement that allows for rapid tank filling. Five double, air-conditioned berths, two heads, three hot showers. Dive deck shower. Max: ten divers. E-6 processing, light table, loupes and projector. Kim and Allan always available for photo tips. Hospitality warm, food great (vegetarian no problem), wine from Australia's finest vineyards. Divers treated like thinking, responsible adults. After a check-out dive at Cod Hole, no hand holding, no time limits, briefings on what to do in an emergency. They know reef and inhabitants. Nudibranchs, huge wobbgegong; turtles mating in the water; went ashore at night to watch them lay eggs. Touched the anchor of the HMS Bounty on the wreck of the Pandora. On one dive feisty, gorgeous reef sharks watching me and Manta swam overhead."

Reef Explorer, October 1995, John Warren, Santa Barbara, CA. "Great vacation, great diving! The staff made the trip enjoyable 24 hrs/day, not just the time in the water."

Reef Explorer, December 1995, Charles Bamford, New York, NY. "Best maintained boat, no mechanical problems. Allan and Kim are personally involved. They go on dives all the time. Kim is terrific on finding fish and other creatures. Good boat for photographs."

Reef Explorer, 1996, Paul Moore, Bristol, PA. "Water: 78­89 degrees, vis: 50­100 feet. Alan and Kim run an operation that has no equal. From Cairns to the end in Thursday Island it was an absolute delight. Felt I were the guest of friends. Diving spectacular! Fish of all types and sizes. Sharks, sharks and more sharks. Wonderful coral, turtles. Wrecks of the Quetta and Pandora. Dive using our own judgement; they were open to ideas and suggestions. Food outstanding; dinner a much anticipated treat, especially the fabulous company. It was a blast."

Rum Runner I, May 1995, Stephanie Voris, Naples, FL. "65' motor sailer to the Ribbon Reefs of the GBR, 150 miles off coast. Because this boat moves slowly, they seemed even further. Motored all evening to reach the reefs by 6 am, unpleasant ride due to constant and extreme rocking made seasickness a big problem. . . . Holmes Reef excellent. Four dives a day, plenty of large and small fish, colorful corals, hard and soft, lots of invertebrates. Wall dives exceptional; shark dive exciting. The staff was helpful, took care of the gear, good briefings. The narrow boat means narrow cabins that consist of bunk beds and a small space to squeeze into the cabin. One towel for the entire trip to use for showering and drying off after dives. Food plentiful but mediocre. Two marine heads doubled as showers; not really pleasant. . . . Ribbon Reefs provide diving but there are better live-aboards. Our trip only had 5 passengers but the boat takes up to 16. With 5 crew members and 5 passengers it was somewhat crowded."

Spoilsport, October 1995, Linda & Paul Keuerline, Warren, PA. "Superbly designed boat; friendly, helpful crew with talents that cover all aspects of diving from identifying fish and coral to photography. . . . Living quarters excellent, almost comparable to cabins on a cruise ship. Food well prepared, varied and more than ample. Dive sites all pristine coral; thoroughly briefed before each dive. Water: 76°­78°F, Viz: 80­110 ft. Dive your own profile. Safety restrictions enforced: 135 ft. max, safety stops each dive. A superb week of diving; very good live-aboard."

Spoilsport, October 1995, Joe & Barb Cudzik, Laguna Niguel, CA. "Great diving. Drift Dives, shark dives, night dives, wall dives, pinnacle dives, wreck dives - 6 on the Yongala were excellent. Lots of big fish, turtle and sharks most dive sites. Beautiful boat. Great service. Excellent food and sleeping quarters. Excellent dive entry and exit setup. Currents."

Spoilsport, January 1996, Greg Fox, Sydney, Australia. "Fifth and best live-aboard. Six full dive days exploring Flinders reef. Unlimited diving: deep walls, fast drift, shark feeding, Yongala and shallow crevice diving. Food excellent, wine with dinner. Cabin was light and spacious; shared a large bathroom and toilet with one other cabin. Aussie crew did a fantastic job."

Supersport, August 1995, Robert Kitary, San Ramon, CA. "Great boat and crew. Divers allowed full use of computers. Dives on the southern reefs (Agincourt, Great Escape and Flair Point) only fair. Steve's Bommie loaded with big schools of trevally, barracuda, Lionfish, anemone clownfish. Clam beds: giant clams, cuttlefish, small minke whale. Night dive at Harrier was only shark encounter: whitetips most of the dive). Pixie Pinnacle the most disappointing. Extensive damage. Challenger Bay had the best hard and soft coral of the trip along with batfish, anemone clownish, cuttlefish and greatest concentration of fish. Final two dives at Cod Hole: loads of fun. No sharks in Shark Alley."

Supersport, June 1996, John Burnett, Hermosa Beach, CA. "Good operation, not as fancy as Peter Hughes. You can start at Port Douglas and work your way north to Cod Hole (Lizard Island) and fly back; or fly to Lizard Island, board the boat and work your way south from Cod Hole back to Port Douglas. Since the prevailing winds are southeasterly and Cod Hole is the high point, I recommend a northerly boat ride. vis: 40­80ft. water: 78­80°. Although currents were negligible for most dives we did experience a strong current at Cod Hole and everyone had to hang on to the bottom, so bring gloves. June­Sept dry season."

Taka II, June 1996, Mrs. Bharathi Viswanathan, Cairns Australia. "Booked a deluxe cabin with head and shower, two bunk beds; so cramped one of us had to get out except when we were in bed. No cupboard space. One towel for 5 days. No shade on upper deck, the only place to relax apart from the lounge. Challenge Bay near Ribbon Reef, not much to write home about. Cod Hole excellent. Handled a black giant grouper. Good night dive at Pixie Reef with much life. Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea good. Ribbon Reef 3 excellent for life. vis: 25­50 ft."

Taka III, June 1995, Joanne Miller, Houston, TX. "Seas 8­10'; wind never stopped. Boat is converted top heavy shrimper with cabins, private heads. Diving unimpressive. Vis less than 50'; little color on the reefs. Fish life not over abundant or unusual. Shark feed at Osprey Reef exciting; 9' silver tip cruised between feeding area and divers with his pectorals down. Whitetips plentiful, grays aggressive feeders. Kept their distance from divers. Unimpressive visit to the Great Barrier Reef. . . . we call it the Good Barrier Reef now."

Taka III, September 1995, M. Rae & D. Swinehart, Northboro, MA. "Very satisfied. Outstanding value. Excellent diving, good accommodations, crew and facilities at a much lower price than competing live-aboards serving G.B.R. and Coral Sea. . . . Larger and more comfortable than Taka II. Salon area, dive deck, sun deck spacious. Deluxe master suite had a sleeping area with double bed, private bath and shower, living room with 2 sofas, TV, VCR and stereo. Hardworking, conscientious and personable crew. Food good and plentiful, not gourmet. Vegetarian diet well catered to, often better than the general offering. . . . 5 days/4 nights; 3 days diving on G.B.R. and Ribbon Reefs and one at Ospry in the Coral Sea where water clarity and vis was outstanding. Overnight trips in the open ocean are rough and sleepless, troubling some people with sea-sickness, but well worth it."

Watersport, August 1995, W. Brenner, Wayne, PA. "Yongala is the great wreck dive it is touted to be -dove it six times in two days. Four foot seas and rainy weather made the trip (about 50 miles each way) "lively". However, it was pretty calm at the wreck site (the twin catamaran hulls of the Watersport helped) and viz ranged from 50 ft to l50 ft. From its middle we could see almost the entire 350 ft. of the Yongala. Water about 70° so even 6 mm's did not keep out the cold. The hull is intact, but cannot be penetrated. Veritable aquarium: rays, jacks, groupers, sea snakes, firefish, great stands of soft corals in every color - everything oversized! Incredible night dive. 23 divers, but operation was efficient - never any crowding, immediate tank refilling, all the help you need, and no overbearing controls - just do your thing. Cabins comfortable, food excellent and plenty of it; expert, competent crew. dove it six times in two days."

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