any experience with reef encounters out of Cairns?
- Thread starter EZHOOPS
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karikiwi:
spirit of freedom is excellent, high-quality, professional, good staff-to-diver ratio, dedicated dive staff (as opposed to, eg, hostess) are all instructor-level. food is excellent (1st dinner was rack-of-lamb
), dive sites were all to ourselves. transit for short trips (mine was 4day) was via light aircraft to lizard island. rooms all had own shower/toilet.pricey? kinda
value? pretty good
downsides? i got reverse squeeze 1/2 way through that made me sick as a dog with flu for the rest of the trip. couldn't even sit on the boat & just eat
not their fault, but didn't make me happy.
OP
EZHOOPS
Contributor
SeaSation was awesome, chartered them out of Airlie Beach. Great Crew, we were the only divers on the boat and they only took 6 max. The owner is Rod and everyone was great. They dive Hook island of the whit sundays, nice spots, drift dives, good food, very friendly. The owner even carried all of my wife's gear for her.
Also, great spot is Heron Island. Big Bucks but well worth it. How does this sound, 5 minute boat ride to some of the best GBR diving to be had. Saw sharks, tons of turtles and even (the highlight of my life) a manta ray!
Also, great spot is Heron Island. Big Bucks but well worth it. How does this sound, 5 minute boat ride to some of the best GBR diving to be had. Saw sharks, tons of turtles and even (the highlight of my life) a manta ray!
OP
EZHOOPS
Contributor
Oh I forgot to mention another thing about Reef Encounter. As most Dive operations do they provide a learn to scuba experience for those who aren't certified. Long story short, they were teaching a family how to scuba dive and must have forgotten to tell or teach them how to equalize their ears and one of the girls ear drums burst and blood was everywhere. Needless to say she paniced and shot to the surface. She was terrible traumatized. I spoke with her a while afterword to she how she was and she couldn't hear out of that hear and her entire family were very doubtful that they would ever scuba dive again. My main concern was that Reef Encounter had the she's fine attitude and she'll get over it. They didn't really seem too concerned about her well being. It made me very angry.
EZHOOPS:
Although I understand that you did not have a great experience with them, this is a huge stretch of speculation. You do not know what was taught or told; you were not there; you do not know what the girl did or didn't do nor what, if any, possible other factors created this.
OP
EZHOOPS
Contributor
alcina:
Your exactly right! but with the way things were operated on this particular boat. I can better say than you and especially after having a direct conversation with this person that they did not approiately teach her or make sure she understood this concept. Sure I understand she holds some responsiblity and should have stopped when she felt pain or pressure but none-the-less. It was an accident that could have be avoided and/or prevented and after so it was handled with the least bit of care.
As far as knowing what was taught, I know that a dive leader/master should never encourage a diver to do something that they don't feel comfortable doing and that can risk injury. I can tell you first hand that these dive masters did so repeatedly.
shorelover
Guest
I just returned from Reef Encounter. I only had one night and it's the only boat that can accomodate a one-night person. My experience was much better than yours! I posted a longer review elsewhere on ScubaBoard. I understand that there are "better" reefs further out; however, given my time constraints, this was a great experience.
We only had a few certified divers on board. Only 3 of us did a night dive, but we enjoyed it. I found the staff to be very safety-conscious. We had to sign in TWICE after **each** dive. They gave pre-dive briefings, and helped us with our gear if we needed it and when coming back from our dives. I'm not a novice so can't speak about novice assistance. However, the photographer dove with us on one of our six dives and was helpful pointing out sea life. He took photos of a couple of fish that I pointed out and "asked" (as well as one can underwater) him to shoot. We rode back with a guy who had taken a resort dive on Reef Encounter and liked it so much that he cancelled his other plans and stayed on the boat for 4 days and got certified. He liked it and it appeared that everyone else did as well. My room mate was working on her certification and said her course was good.
I only got in the hot tub once, after the afternoon dive before our night dive. It was cool-ish as the sun set; when one of the staff walked by I asked (jokingly) if they could turn the heat up. I was shocked when we almost instantly got very hot water!
We didn't have lamb as someone above on a different boat had; lunch and dinner tended to be various pasta dishes (with chicken or whatever) and salads. But they were good and filling. Breakfast was toast or muffins or cereal and bacon and sausages. Drinks (other than tea, coffee, etc) were extra except for free wine on the return trip on the Compass boat. The Compass boat had about 100 people (mostly snorkelers) on the way out (Sunday). They sent the day boat people upstairs while they reviewed C-cards and log books, accepted payment and gave out gear downstairs for those of us going on to the Reef Encounter boat. On Monday, there were maybe 30 people on the Compass boat, which is very slow and more rocky than Reef Encounter (a catamaran - 2 hulls). Most of the day boat people ran upstairs to sun on the deck anyhow. The ride out on the Compass boat wasn't all that much fun, but for some reason I enjoyed the ride back more (better company? the wine? exhaustion? whatever).
I thought it was a great bargain ($295 AU for 1 night, 6 dives and all meals) and really enjoyed my dives. I saw all the varieties of fish I'd hoped to see. We also saw one shark, a ray, lots of turtles and giant clams and many varieties of coral. I'd recommend it if you only have a few days in the area, and I thought it was as good as the other live-aboards I'd been on (although one of them served fresh-caught fish every night and that would be hard to beat!).
We only had a few certified divers on board. Only 3 of us did a night dive, but we enjoyed it. I found the staff to be very safety-conscious. We had to sign in TWICE after **each** dive. They gave pre-dive briefings, and helped us with our gear if we needed it and when coming back from our dives. I'm not a novice so can't speak about novice assistance. However, the photographer dove with us on one of our six dives and was helpful pointing out sea life. He took photos of a couple of fish that I pointed out and "asked" (as well as one can underwater) him to shoot. We rode back with a guy who had taken a resort dive on Reef Encounter and liked it so much that he cancelled his other plans and stayed on the boat for 4 days and got certified. He liked it and it appeared that everyone else did as well. My room mate was working on her certification and said her course was good.
I only got in the hot tub once, after the afternoon dive before our night dive. It was cool-ish as the sun set; when one of the staff walked by I asked (jokingly) if they could turn the heat up. I was shocked when we almost instantly got very hot water!
We didn't have lamb as someone above on a different boat had; lunch and dinner tended to be various pasta dishes (with chicken or whatever) and salads. But they were good and filling. Breakfast was toast or muffins or cereal and bacon and sausages. Drinks (other than tea, coffee, etc) were extra except for free wine on the return trip on the Compass boat. The Compass boat had about 100 people (mostly snorkelers) on the way out (Sunday). They sent the day boat people upstairs while they reviewed C-cards and log books, accepted payment and gave out gear downstairs for those of us going on to the Reef Encounter boat. On Monday, there were maybe 30 people on the Compass boat, which is very slow and more rocky than Reef Encounter (a catamaran - 2 hulls). Most of the day boat people ran upstairs to sun on the deck anyhow. The ride out on the Compass boat wasn't all that much fun, but for some reason I enjoyed the ride back more (better company? the wine? exhaustion? whatever).
I thought it was a great bargain ($295 AU for 1 night, 6 dives and all meals) and really enjoyed my dives. I saw all the varieties of fish I'd hoped to see. We also saw one shark, a ray, lots of turtles and giant clams and many varieties of coral. I'd recommend it if you only have a few days in the area, and I thought it was as good as the other live-aboards I'd been on (although one of them served fresh-caught fish every night and that would be hard to beat!).
rjchandler
Contributor
How far in advance did you folks have to book?
Did the reef encounters folks monitor your computers?
how expensive are accomodations in Cairns?
For starters
Did the reef encounters folks monitor your computers?
how expensive are accomodations in Cairns?
For starters
I didn't use Reef Encounter but did enjoy my diving with Deep Sea Divers Den in Cairns.
shorelover
Guest
I didn't book in advance because I wasn't sure how I'd feel after travelling from the US. I was not able to get on the Compass boat on Saturday; it was sold out. Sunday was crowded, only a few spots open. Monday was not an issue. So it appears that you'll probably be OK to book when you arrive as long as it's not on a holiday or weekend.
I brought my back-up computer that I wore on my wrist. The boat supplies air-integrated computers with compasses on the back. When we came in from each dive, we had to give depth and time and air remaining which they wrote on a log next to each name; they confirmed sometimes and could have checked them between dives. We had to intial the log; there was a separate log we had to sign when boarding each time. They helped anyone who needed it coming in. The only time we were given a limit was the night dive; they wanted us to stay at 40' and return in 30 minutes I think. I did 6 dives in the 2 days aboard; not much time for much other than eating in between.
There's lots of places to stay in Cairns, from backpacker hostels to 5 star hotels. Check Orbitz or Expedia or one of those sites. You won't need to stay in one if you do overnights on Reef Encounter. I'd recommend staying on Reef Encounter a few nights, it's a great deal.
Also, I enjoyed snorkeling on Fitzroy Island about an hour from Cairns. It was cloudier water than further out but still good. I just plunged in off the island as I brought my own gear. Saw lots of fish, a ray and the largest lion fish I've ever seen. There are kayaks to rent and they run dive trips / snorkel trips from there too -- maybe the viz is better on the other side? There's places to stay, maybe even camping, on that island. Round trip (fast boat out, ferry return) was about $40?
Sue
I brought my back-up computer that I wore on my wrist. The boat supplies air-integrated computers with compasses on the back. When we came in from each dive, we had to give depth and time and air remaining which they wrote on a log next to each name; they confirmed sometimes and could have checked them between dives. We had to intial the log; there was a separate log we had to sign when boarding each time. They helped anyone who needed it coming in. The only time we were given a limit was the night dive; they wanted us to stay at 40' and return in 30 minutes I think. I did 6 dives in the 2 days aboard; not much time for much other than eating in between.
There's lots of places to stay in Cairns, from backpacker hostels to 5 star hotels. Check Orbitz or Expedia or one of those sites. You won't need to stay in one if you do overnights on Reef Encounter. I'd recommend staying on Reef Encounter a few nights, it's a great deal.
Also, I enjoyed snorkeling on Fitzroy Island about an hour from Cairns. It was cloudier water than further out but still good. I just plunged in off the island as I brought my own gear. Saw lots of fish, a ray and the largest lion fish I've ever seen. There are kayaks to rent and they run dive trips / snorkel trips from there too -- maybe the viz is better on the other side? There's places to stay, maybe even camping, on that island. Round trip (fast boat out, ferry return) was about $40?
Sue
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