New Guinea -- Star Dancer or Golden Dawn

[reubencahn]

FWIW, diversionoz.com is perfectly happy to recommend and book with the Golden Dawn.

GD does have nitrox. When we were there, it was pp filling only, and their preference was to top off on the second and fourth dives of the day. So your first dive would be on 32% and your second on 26% or so. I didn't like this and would have them drain the tank and give me a proper mix. No complaints about this from the crew. They were happy to do it. That said, I think Craig is switching to a membrane system possibly this year. He also banks some helium if you are certified and interested in deeper dives.

As to dive guides, on our trip, Craig was in the water on 3 out of 4 dives a day. Occasionally, one of the other crew members (James) would guide if you asked. James is particularly good at critter hunting. But that being said, this is not follow the leader diving. I would only recommend the GD for fairly experienced divers.

 

[Allison Finch]

We have reserved a trip in July on Star Dancer. We have read many reports about the dive areas in PNG. The Star Dancer seemed to be a bit roomier than others that we looked into and as we are also using a couple of days at Walindi and then on to Loloata, we are looking forward to a new adventure in the Bismark Sea. We are hoping to see at some Pelagics but we are mostly focused on the living reef. My comparisons will be from Coral Sea, Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea all of which we enjoyed tremendously. This will be our first time in the 'Triangle of sea life diversity' which reaches from just above Australia to the Solomons then to Micronesia and back to Indonesia.
We weren't fussy about what liveaboard it would be, but the reports from Star Dancer seemed to shine. Our choices were from Golden Dawn, Febrina, and Star Dancer. Although Mike Ball reports were also excellent, we don't appreciate the way that rate for Americans is raised significantly over other countries and we are voting with our dollars to avoid ops like this if possible.
Dive Safe,
Caymaniac

Hiya!
I'm gonna be on the FeBrina from mid June til Mid July. Maybe our boats will meet up somewhere. After all, they're both Raabe boats now. If we do get close by, let's have a cold one.......

 

[caymaniac]

Hiya!
I'm gonna be on the FeBrina from mid June til Mid July. Maybe our boats will meet up somewhere. After all, they're both Raabe boats now. If we do get close by, let's have a cold one.......

Hi Allison, I'm so looking forward to our trip to PNG. When it gets closer to our departure date I would like to inquire of you some more questions about the locals since you've been there numerous times. I've been keeping my eye on this forum every day just incase someone might give a report about PNG,, my mother always said,"don't wish your life away", but before going on trips like this one it's hard not to.

Dive Safe,
Jerry

 

[Allison Finch]

Feel free to ask any questions. I dearly love PNG and love to help people get the most of their trip.