Chertan, August 1996, Claude Koprouski, M.D., Oxford, MD. Water: 78 to 80 degrees. "Excellent diving. Captain an expert with photographers. Boat extremely comfortable and well laid out except for small area for cameras. It is to be enlarged soon . . .Abundance of tropical and photo ops mind numbing; blue ribbon eels, mandarin gobies, Harlequin ghost fish to name a few. Lack of palagics very disappointing."

Chertan, October 1996, John Plander, San Diego, CA. "Solid vessel but small staterooms with ac only at night. Small main salon with very low seating so you cannot see out the windows. Small portholes in rooms so many views missed. PNG is wonderfully primitive with great marine life, but sharks and pelagics rare in the Milne Bas area vis: 50­100 ft. water: 81­84 degrees. No diving restrictions enforced."

Febrina, May 1997, Eugene Levin, Sunnyvale, CA. "Long way to go and expensive, but worth it. Recent upgrade of Febrina. Excellent a/c in each room, most cabins have private head and shower. Adequate light in cabins. Crew outstanding in service and attitude. Handled any special requests for food, camera handling, gearing up. Leaf fish, harlequin ghost pipe fish, squid, cuttlefish, huge Spanish dancers, unusual "little critters" and every kind of clown fish. Large schools of barracuda. Capt. Alan really knows the territory and is also a top notch stand­up comic every night. Five dives daily. Very good food. Comfortable boat."

Golden Dawn, September 1996, Ted Peck, Springfield, MO. "Great wreck diving! Two huge frog fish, mantis shrimp. Large amounts of black coral trees. Clown fish and anemone, scorpion fish, crocodile fish, nudibranchs and many reef fish. Wrecks at 45­100 ft. Dove on newly discovered Japanese float plane lying upside down in 100 ft. of water. Prop and float torn off. Machine gun in rear cockpit. Plane covered in sponges with lion fish, juvenile and mature emperor angels. Many smaller fish. Local village temperamental about letting you dive there. . . . Dove many out lying island groups from Wewak. Diving OK, not great. Many dolphins riding bow of boat. A few sharks every dive and an occasional manta. Some stiff currents, but dive tender was always standing by. Dive crew very helpful. Saw several Queensland Grouper. vis: 30­190 ft. water: 84­86 degrees. Visit several villages while at anchor. Very interesting. Night diving on the wrecks was superb!"

Golden Dawn, October 1996, Robert Haak, Herrenberg Germany. "Water 80 degrees. "Very good operation, crew helpful; excellent dive planning. Magnificent dives."

Melanesian Discoverer, July 1997, Al & Kathy Knoblock, Littleton, CO. "Most disappointing trip in 25 years. Ship was sold as a dive/tour boat at $380/person/day in the Trobriands. Even tried to charge us extra for each dive. The boat is not well designed for divers. Continuous problems with the Zodiac's motor and radio. No qualified guide. Don't waste your money, but the potential here is fabulous. vis: 2-40 ft. water: 78-80 degrees."

Star Dancer, February 1997, Howard & Geri Block, West Palm Bch., FL. "I should have been advised it was the monsoon season. Vis: 20-40 ft., very poor. water: 80-85 degrees. 130 ft dive restriction enforced. Excellent staff and boat."

Star Dancer, April 1997, Doris & Bob Schaffer, Fallbrook, CA. "Wish we had known how difficult it is to get to PNG, then to New Britain, then to Walindi. But we would have gone anyway! vis; 80­100 ft. water: 81­84 degrees. Weather was not ideal; wind precluded the captain from taking the boat to certain dive sites. All in all, an absolutely outstanding dive experience."

Star Dancer, June 1997, Bob Jacon, E. Greenbush, NY. "The water was delightful. Small fish were colorful, sometimes unique and always plentiful. vis: 30-100 ft. water: 81-84 degrees. The other divers were mature, courteous and friendly. Crew could use more training. Capt. could make you feel that you were interrupting his schedule and life style. . . . Travel Service at the AMEX office at P.H. in Florida was less than adequate. Everyone should know the real attraction of PNG is the Highlands. For some reason the personnel fail to communicate this information. Do not go to PNG unless you visit the Highlands. People I met in Port Moresby were friendly and helpful. The people at Walindi Plantation were superior. Like the Galapagos, PNG can be a total experience involving dining and observing a unique culture."

Telita, October 1996, Robert Haak, Herrenberg Germany. "Water 80 degrees. Would have loved to know Bob Halstead had sold boat. We always had a dream about Telita, the reality was somewhat lower than expectations. But overall very good. Boat is somewhat out dated. Comfort not as good as on other boats. Diving very good, top briefings, very flexible scheduling."

Telita, November 1996, Steve R. Weinman, New Paltz, NY. "Dived around Milne Bay. Great reefs, colors and small weird critters. Vis 50-80' on most dives. Perfect weather and seas. Food was great and plentiful. Not as much big action as rumored is found in Northern PNG; best sites with current were balked at by the other divers who were all older. Travel with a larger group of similar minded and experienced divers if you want to guarantee your favorite type of diving."

Telita, April 1997, Mrs. Bharathi Viswanathan, Cairns, Australia. "Chris Carney was an excellent captain and dive organizer. So approachable and laid back that the whole holiday was most enjoyable and relaxed. Dived in Milne Bay, around Nwakata island, and the Dentrecasteaux islands in the Solomon Sea. vis: 05-20m. water: 27c. Drift dives in channels were really good. Also dived the Black Jack, a B17 U.S. bomber of WW2 off Cape Vogel. Best plane wreck I have ever dived. . . . I was asked to share a cabin with one of the guys. When I refused, arrangements were made to share a cabin with a lady who was also on her own."

Telita, August 1997, Rosemary Kurtti, New York, NY. "Wonderful diversity in Milne Bay: beautiful, healthy, colorful walls; deep diving (B17 plane in 150ft); shallow diving; strong currents on 2 dives, all others no current. vis: 60-100 ft. water: 72-76 degrees. Critters on muck dives are macro photographers delight; saw two octopuses having sex on Dinah's Beach dive site. Mike Ball's operation is friendly and professional. Visit villages near where you anchor, bring spiral notebooks, and pens for the children. Take an extension trip into the Highlands or Sepik River. You won't be sorry."

Telita, August 1997, Joan B. Nagy, New York, NY. "8th live-aboard. A few things I wish I knew before: Water was 75-77 F. 3mm suit the bare minimum; hoods a necessity. Those in 3mm/5mm were happiest. Diving in Milne Bay sometimes no deeper than 20 feet. Not unusual to be in the water for an hour and a half - and come up with 1000 psi! You can get cold. . . . No rain so we saw the walls and bommies in all their glorious color. Weather allowed stops sites with current not usually available in August so we saw pelagics. Big fish not what Milne Bay is about; macro diving with an extraordinary profusion of pristine hard and soft corals and crinoids, an overwhelming variety of reef fish, nudibranch galore, giant clams, yellow sea horses, leafy and dwarf scorpionfish, flamboyant cuttlefish, harlequin ghost pipefish, mantis shrimp, crocodile fish, pegasus fish, Spanish dancers. Be prepared to spend a couple of days with your mask flooded - I just couldn't stop smiling at the beauty and abundance. No restrictions so divers should be experienced. Currents sometimes require Zodiac pick-up: don't forget your safety sausage. . . . Don't miss the highlands. Spent two nights in Tari at Ambua Lodge (expensive but worth it) and I was sorry not to be staying for at least a short trip on the Sepik, a few days at Madang, and two nights in Mt. Hagan (in August anyway don't miss the Mt. Hagan Show.)"

Tiata, August 1996, Lynn Phillips & Leonard Tyminski, Woodland Hills, CA. "Water 83 to 86 Degrees. Vis: 60 to 150 Feet. Second trip on this first class live­aboard, traveled north to Kavieng. Crew excellent, enthusiastic, and give the best diving experience possible and all are divers. Martine is a culinary school­trained chef so meals are like a "3 Star" restaurant. Gained at least five pounds. Fresh lobster, mud crabs, pasta. salads. various meats or curries, and home­made bread made it worth it! . . .Boat has breathtaking woodwork; cabins have individual air­conditioning controls; salon is air­ conditioned. but doors are left open to the outside. Dive deck is small, but well­organized. Only place to hang wet dive skins is in seating area under the covered upper deck ­­ but at least everything dries out, even if it's raining. Only two head/shower combinations for 10 passengers and two hot water showers on the dive deck. Two sizes of steel tanks and two covered camera rinse tubs. Cubby holes for cameras with charging stations are inside the salon and would be crowded if all passengers were photographers. . . . Many "big current" dives in channels. You have a choice of pulling yourself down a current line or getting a dingy drop­off. You are expected to navigate back to the boat, but the 5.8 meter inflatable with 36hp diesel engine would pick you up if you surface far from the boat and on drift dives. . . . 10 day trip better than 7; allows maximum opportunities for diving more reefs at optimum times." Highlights are "Silvertip Reef" for the shark feeding, Planet Channel, and Chapman's Reef.

Tiata, November 1996, Bill Haapa, Lutz, FL. "Water: 80 to 84 degrees. Vis 30 to 80 feet. Excellent mix of macro and maxi white tips. Mini­submarine, B­25 and wreck complemented the wide variety of creatures. Enough excitement and variety for the most experienced divers. Monstrous silvertips (Miata­sized) on shark feed. Captain helpful and available for comments and requests. Trips vary. Boat very comfortable, the crew always smiling. Food plentiful and varied, wonderful quality. World class boat and destination."

Copyright 1998 by DSDL, Inc., publishers of Undercurrent. All rights reserved. No portions of this report may be reproduced in any way, including photocopying and electronic data storage, without prior written permission from the publisher. For more information, contact DSDL, Inc., P.O. Box 1658, Sausalito, CA 94966.