Need Help Confirming My Dive Plans To Australia Gbr

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Hello all,
I've been reading and researching and I think I know enough to be dangerous. That being said I'd like some feedback on what I think I know so I can adjust my plans if needed.

What I am Trying To Do
  • My wife and I are both divers (advanced open water, but infrequent divers) and want to see the most pristine portions of the GBR. It will most likely be our only opportunity to come out that way, so we are planning a couple of weeks to truly enjoy the area.
  • We tend to be frugal travelers more concerned with the things to see and do vs the number of towels in a hotel room or bottles in the minibar
  • We like diving, but it would be nice to be able to break it up with other activities as well

Current Thoughts on Trip
  • Dive Area: Outer Barrier Reef. Farther distance but more pristine, less crowded diving
  • Specific Reef Areas: Osprey, Bougainville, Ribbon Reefs
  • Timing: October or November. Winds are down, temps are getting warmer. October has more turtle activity, November has the coral spawning
  • Location to Base out Of: Here I am struggling between the following
    • Cairns (day trips): Good central location, lots of lower cost lodging options, direct flights. Downside is at least 60km to outer reef areas
    • Port Douglas (day trips): Not as busy as Cairns, has the rainforest nearby for alternate activity. Higher cost of lodging than Cairns, still not close to Outer Barrier Reef Dive sites
    • LiveAboard: Allows direct and timely access to Outer Barrier Reef sites. I've never done a live aboard and don't really know what to expect, and once on board I am anticipating there are not too many activities available other than diving?
That should be a good place to start. Please let me know thoughts and suggestions, I am open to ideas and alterations. Thanks for the help
 
Frugal and diving on the GBR are mutually exclusive...lol

Sorry. It's not going to be cheap no matter which way you do it. And if you really want to see the more pristine parts like Ribbon Reefs and Osprey, a liveaboard is your only option. And they really aren't cheap. You will be looking at a starting price of about $2000 per person for a 4 night lob to Osprey - there is no budget option there. Day trips will be on the order of $250 per person per day from Cairns or Port Douglas, and don't go to Ribbon Reefs or Osprey at all.

Budget appropriately. There is a reason it's a bucket list place for most people...Gives you time to save accordingly!
 
The only way to see osprey is via a Liveaboard. The outer ribbon reefs and osprey a much better than anything you will see on dayboats from either Port Douglas or Cairns.
On liveaboards the routine can be four dives per day so apart from eating and sleeping not much time for anything else. Maybe allow a few days after the trip in Cairns or Port Douglas to "offgas"
 
We did a 3 day Liveaboard with TAKA last year during Minke season, which was wonderful. The first check dive was out by the day boats, and was significantly less nice than the rest of the dives along the ribbon reefs. No time to do anything but sleeping and eating and diving.
 
To see the best i would really recommend liveaboard with spirit of freedom or Mike ball. It is very rare to get to Bougainville though - I've been lucky enough to. Do an osprey i
 
It sounds like the outer barrier reef area and liveaboards will be the best option to see what we are looking for, thanks for the input. Some further questions if I may.

1) Recommendations on Liveaboard operators: I see TAKA, Spirit of Freedom, Mike Ball mentioned. Any others to consider?
2) Any other dive sites in the outer barrier reef recommended outside what I listed?
3) Time of the Year: Am I in the right time of the year with a October or November trip? Recommendations on October vs November?
 
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We had a trip planned with Spirit 3 weeks ago (the highlight of our 5 month trip in Australia) but unfortunately, ended up cancelling due to a terrible cold. (get travel insurance!)

However, we did research this quite a bit and definitely agree that the Liveaboards are the best option to get to the best reefs. Some things you might want to consider....

1) Weather....November to April is the rainy season. It's also when they get major storms. We scheduled our trip for the end of April, thinking it would be the shoulder month, so took our chances. We did not go on the trip, but it was not a good week for those who did....large swells, wind and rain (no storms). I would suggest considering Oct vs November.

2) Bleaching of the reef. Lizard Island (where Spirit and I believe Mike Ball) trips come out of, and outer reef sites have experienced a significant amount of bleaching. Dive ops hopefully would only take you to sites not yet bleached, but based on what we've heard lately, including this latest article, New Photos Show The Rapid Pace Of Great Barrier Reef Bleaching

I would highly recommend speaking with the ops to see what they say about the condition of sites they visit as well as finding recent trip reports from those who actually went diving recently. Then, you can decide from there.

We got lucky and got our travel insurance to reimburse us. We were bummed to have missed it, especially since it seems like the GBR is just getting worse. On the other hand, glad we didn't have to suffer thru the awful weather, or the worst, if we decided to dive when sick! We are going back to Australia again next year to dive Ningaloo, but not sure about the GBR so please share your trip report. Also....if you can make it to Melbourne, definitely do the shore dive at Portsea Pier to see the rare weedy sea dragons! Cheaper option than boat diving (they charge you to rent tan ks and weights on boat dives!) and an amazing experience if you haven't seen one yet!
 
It sounds like the outer barrier reef area and liveaboards will be the best option to see what we are looking for, thanks for the input. Some further questions if I may.

1) Recommendations on Liveaboard operators: I see TAKA, Spirit of Freedom, Mike Ball mentioned. Any others to consider?
2) Any other dive sites in the outer barrier reef recommended outside what I listed?
3) Time of the Year: Am I in the right time of the year with a October or November trip? Recommendations on October vs November?

1. If you want to go to Osprey, you'll need to go on Spirit of Freedom or Mike Ball. Taka doesn't go out that far - only goes as far as Ribbon Reefs. Spirit of Freedom and Mike Ball are pretty similar in quality, Mike Ball is maybe a little bit nicer. Personally I prefer Mike Ball as they'll let you dive solo if you're certified as such. And I know a bunch of the crew and like their company :)

2. You go where the boat takes you, and both Spirit of Freedom and Mike Ball have pretty set itineraries. Look on their websites for itinerary for each boat - they don't vary too much. They'll take you to the best spots depending on the prevailing weather conditions, tides, etc.

3. Time of year? I've been out at various times of the year. There's not much difference between going in October and November to be honest. November the water will be a little warmer, and if you go in late November you may catch the coral spawning. Chances of storms are about the same - our monsoon season up here has been coming later and later anyway (as in not showing up until the new year), so I wouldn't be overly concerned about that.
 
[...finding recent trip reports from those who actually went diving recently.

We recently did a trip from Torres Strait (very top of Cape York) to Lizard Island. In the Lizard area we only dived Lizard and the Code Hole. Below are a Citizen Science Based Survey report with Coral Watch health chart that was completed on our trip, and a trip blog posted on the Australian Marine Conservation Society's (AMCS) website of our trip.

What was clear the outer reefs suffered less bleaching than the inner reefs, and the bleaching was a little less the further south. We didn't get to Osprey Reef but as it has some similarity to Great Detached Reef (GDR), both being off the continental shelf, I would expect Osprey to be less impacted than the Cod Hole or Lizard. Even with bleaching most sites still provided great diving - read the trip blog :) If I had the opportunity I would go do the same trip.

http://www.coralwatch.org/c/documen...406-f91b-4ce2-9034-bb79736261dc&groupId=10136

Journey to the far North Great Barrier Reef · Great Barrier Reef · Australian Marine Conservation Society

1) Recommendations on Liveaboard operators: you could check Scuba Charters | Kalinda contact them they are running some non-charter trips. I thinks last December Kalinda ran a Far North trip, they may have trips this October and December http://kalinda.com.au/kalinda-charter-availability-2016/. The reefs a very remote and seldom visited or dived.

2) Any other dive sites in the outer barrier reef recommended outside what I listed? Sites that on the outer reef, where there is good circulation coming from off the continental shelf. Some great sites out of Townsville, see Kalinda above, plus the opportunity to dive the Yongala.
 
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Small comment on Ningaloo: we dove out of Coral Bay during whale shark season. We found the diving there to be so-so at best simply because the operators were either geared for snorkelling and took divers as well (so only visited sites suitable for both), or cancelled last minute because they were one man short (operation in Exmouth). Plus, Navy Pier was closed to divers. The trip on Taka was much better diving. If a live aboard is an option in Ningaloo that might be worth it
 
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