Tour Details

Operator

Mike Ball Dive Expeditions

Destinations

Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Cod Hole and Osprey Reef

Departs From

Cairns

Tour Description

4 nights / 3 dive days / 13 dives - Includes 2 night dives. Prime dives sites - GUARANTEED! Standard Accommodation (twin share, side by side beds, ocean view, private bathroom)

This Trip is recommended for Advanced Divers comfortable diving exposed walls with some current. AOW Certification required or a minimum of 10 logged dives with at least 5 in the last 12 months.
Not suitable for children, snorkellers or novice divers.

Thursday: Check-in and Departure

Prior to 4:00pm. Check-in luggage at shop 2, 3 Abbott St, Cairns.
If unable to check-in prior to 4:00pm phone us on 4053 0500 for departure details.
6:00pm our crew meets you at the Mondo's Restaurant and escort you to Spoilsport – Trinity Wharf, Cairns.
Cruise overnight to the magnificent Ribbon Reefs, the first stop on your 700km dive odyssey.
Friday: Ribbon Reef #9 - Pixie Gardens, Cod Hole
Buddy up with diver size fish that dive with you at the Cod Hole!
Swim with giant potato cod, napoleon wrasse, moray eels, tuna and barracuda.
Enjoy close encounters with huge Maori wrasse.
Anticipate spectacular coral gardens, spotted rays, reef sharks and green turtle sightings.
Night dive where decorator crabs, egg cowry shells, moray eels and crayfish are just a few of the creatures you can find.

Saturday & Sunday: Coral Sea - Osprey Reef

Cruise 100 miles overnight to Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea.
Enjoy 40 meter (132ft) visibility with spectacular walls disappearing to 1000metres.
Witness the resident shark population including grey whalers, whitetip reef sharks, silvertips and hammerheads.
Search for the commonly seen green and loggerhead turtles.
Find the caves, overhangs and spectacular walls adorned with huge soft coral trees and gorgonian fans.
Night dive.

Monday - “Like the astronauts witness the Great Barrier Reef as the eighth wonder of the world!”

Breakfast on board and transfer to Lizard Island.
Spectacular low level Great Barrier Reef flight to Cairns.
150 miles, altitude 600-1000ft - saves 12 hours travel time.
Return at approximately 11:00am for courtesy transfer to city hotels.

This itinerary has been designed to include the ‘prime’ Ribbon Reef and Coral Sea dive sites.
If weather forces an itinerary change our surety of access to the prime Ribbon Reef sites is your guarantee of the best diving available.
Spoilsport’s outstanding stability minimises disruption to your itinerary and your diving experience.

Itinerary Variation: In June and July we conduct special Minke Whale Expeditions with the third day devoted almost entirely to finding and snorkeling and/or diving with minke whales. Since commencing minke whale expeditions in 1996 we have discovered the locations where minkes' are most commonly found. In this time we have evolved a diving and snorkeling protocol that has minimal impact on the whales and allows them to approach divers within their own comfort zone. This protocol combined with the minkes' natural curiosity provides you with very close encounters and spectacular opportunities for close up videos and photography. (adjusted itinerary available on request)
Minke Expedition Departures in 2013 are: 6 June, 13 June, 20 June, 27 June and 4 July.

Note: Itinerary subject to change.

Flying After Diving - the surface interval between the last dive completed at 5pm and flying at 9.30am is 16.5 hours, which exceeds the DAN minimum requirement of 12 hours. An additional safety feature is that the flight is below 1000ft, weather permitting.

Spoilsport Dive Services:

* Complimentary Reef Ecology Program
* Low key photo comp on every expedition
* Huge dive deck with convenient entry/exit platforms
* Photographer friendly with 3 large camera tables
* ‘Open dive deck’ allows flexible dive planning
* 3 dive sites per day is normal
* Underwater photography and video services
* Nitrox fills (enquire for prices)
* PADI instruction: Advanced, Nitrox, Naturalist and Photo/Video
* Dry towel after each dive
* Solo diving as per Mike Ball Safe Solo System
* 2 large inflatable's for personalised dive service.

Hire Equipment:
All guests are supplied with Nautilus Lifeline personal GPS locator devices, tanks and weight belts as part of the diving service.
Full or part gear hire is available onboard the vessel. Full gear hire includes mask, snorkel, regulator set, dive computer, full length 5mm wetsuit, 3mm hood, BCD, surface marker buoy, full foot fins, torch and cyalume sticks. Full gear hire is available and payable on board. We do not supply children’s sizing. It is strongly recommended that children bring their own wetsuit, mask and fins.

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