I will be meeting up with my sister (who will already be there) in Sydney on September 7th for a 14 day stay.
Currently we plan on spending a few days in & around Sydney, then flying to Cairns and doing a 4 or 7 day liveaboard trip. We haven't booked a trip yet, but based upon posts both on this site & others, the consensus appears to be that SPIRIT OF FREEDOM or MIKE BALL are the best ships/operators to go with.
Any suggestions as to what else to see & do during such a short stay would be greatly appreciated. As far as the diving goes, we're both advanced divers & we'd like to experience a more "adventurous" dive trip--pelagics, etc.. Peronally I don't care too much about the size/conditions of the staterooms, but I'm sure my sister won't want to "rough" it aka TAKA. (Not truly roughing it I understand, but there are a fair amount of negative trip reports from people who booked trips on TAKA)
This trip is somewhat last minute (found great prices on airfare--Los Angeles to Sydney for $525/return!) so haven't done much research yet. Mostly concerned with what the dive conditions will be like in September . . . is that a good time of year for diving the GBR? Is Cairns the best place to book a trip out of? Any suggestions re: saving money on a liveaboard trip? Any discounts to be had due to economy, slow season, double booking, or ??
Currently we plan on spending a few days in & around Sydney, then flying to Cairns and doing a 4 or 7 day liveaboard trip. We haven't booked a trip yet, but based upon posts both on this site & others, the consensus appears to be that SPIRIT OF FREEDOM or MIKE BALL are the best ships/operators to go with.
Any suggestions as to what else to see & do during such a short stay would be greatly appreciated. As far as the diving goes, we're both advanced divers & we'd like to experience a more "adventurous" dive trip--pelagics, etc.. Peronally I don't care too much about the size/conditions of the staterooms, but I'm sure my sister won't want to "rough" it aka TAKA. (Not truly roughing it I understand, but there are a fair amount of negative trip reports from people who booked trips on TAKA)
This trip is somewhat last minute (found great prices on airfare--Los Angeles to Sydney for $525/return!) so haven't done much research yet. Mostly concerned with what the dive conditions will be like in September . . . is that a good time of year for diving the GBR? Is Cairns the best place to book a trip out of? Any suggestions re: saving money on a liveaboard trip? Any discounts to be had due to economy, slow season, double booking, or ??