We just got back to SFO today after 3 weeks in GBR/PNG, and I thought I'd share a few observations...
The GBR trip was the Mike Ball 3 day fly/dive trip to Cod Hole, and we (my wife and I) had a fantastic time of it. It has been 10 years since I've dived the south Pacific, so I had forgotten just how stunning the coral formations there are. Truly, it was dazzling. But at the same time, there were some frustrations with the dive operation...though I can't really blame Mike Ball. There were 29 people on Spoil Sport, the absolute maximum load. Conditions were not good, unfortunately, and there were lots of novice divers on board. That put a severe crimp in the diving. The Tour Director ("T/D") interviewed each diver on the way from Lizard Island out to Cod Hole and rated over 2/3 of the group as "inexperienced", which meant less than 50 logged dives. We had 35 knot winds the whole trip, so the water was not calm and there were some strong currents. That, plus the fact that this trip was billed as a Minke whale watching trip, severely curtailed the diving. I knew I was in trouble early on when the T/D stuck out his chin and told us he was only obligated to give us 9 dives on the trip. And 9 dives is exactly what we got! That was a big disappointment, to be sure.
Even though day one started at 7 a.m., it was 2 p.m. before we went down for the first dive. That was at Cod Hole, which I thought was a fantastic spot. But we cast off after only one dive, then did a night dive later on. The second day yielded 4 dives, plus another 3 on the third day. None of the later dives, IMHO, measured up to Cod Hole. In fact, some of them were fairly bleak. I think the sites were chosen to match the experience level of the people on the cruise and also to try to get sightings of the Minkes. We never really did get the whale experience though, and if I were doing it again I think I would avoid a trip advertised as a whale-watching expedition. We gave up too much good diving in order to chase whale reports.
At the end of the trip, I got a chance to glance at some of the comment cards people had filled out. That gave me a certain amount of empathy for the T/D, because quite a few people complained about having to "rough it" so much with the big seas and strong currents. And I know several people skipped dives and spent a good deal of the trip seasick. I don't know how one could pick a GBR trip that is not limited by having beginners on board, but I would try to find a way before doing another trip there.
After a couple of days touring around Cairns, we flew up to Walindi and prepared to board Star Dancer. That was a totally different experience. There were only 6 divers on that trip, and 4 of the group were DM or better. Most days we did 5 dives, and there was a total of 40 dives over the course of the 10 day trip. This one started in Kimbe Bay and went north to Rabaul. There were no bad dives in the lot, and some of the spots positively left me speachless. I'm used to Caribbean diving, where we have exactly 4 species of butterflyfish and 4 species of angelfish. By that yardstick, PNG diving is absolutely mind-boggling. We did not have Alan Raabe as our captain; he was off in Rabaul on R&R. Instead, we had an Aussie named Peter, and he was a fascinating individual. Peter was a bit on the crusty side, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and his knowledge of all things related to diving was extensive.
The crew had a British T/D and was otherwise all from PNG. They were uniformly fantastic, though I did get a bit annoyed at the way the dive crew were blatantly hustling tips. There were always 2 of them in the water with us six divers, and they carried aluminum tank bangers...which they used extensively. I tried to stay as far away from them as possible, but still my moments of quiet reverie were frequently interrupted by furious tank banging to signal "Turtle!" or "Barracuda!" And three times they took down a bait box filled with dead fish to attract sharks for us. You would think that staged entertainment wouldn't be necessary in one of the greatest dive locations in the world. I do understand the strategy for earning tips, having once worked as a DM at a resort myself, but now after being on the other side of the fence I think I would look for an operation that has a firm "no tipping" policy for my next trip.
Both boats were, by my standards, nothing but luxurious. We had the cheapest grade of cabin available on Spoilsport and it was entirely adequate. I'm used to a single large bunkroom, so having a private cabin was nice indeed. On Star Dancer, all rooms have a large window to the outside world; we even had a private tub in our room! Star Dancer was actually a bit nicer boat for diving, since it had a single hull. With the catamaran design of Spoilsport, the two hulls channelled the already strong winds to create a vicious current right where you enter the water. It took me several dives to figure out that the trick was to move quickly off to the side or else go deep in order to get out of that current. I'm sure this would not be an issue under calm conditions.
I can't say enough positive about the food on either cruise. The kitchen crews went way above and beyond the call of duty. One plus on Star Dancer was the open bar and wine with dinner. We were entitled to one glass of wine with dinner on Spoilsport, but then had to pay for anything beyond that. My bar tab at the end of the Spoilsport trip was a whopping two beers, though I think some of the others on the trip were more loyal bar patrons. I think I made up for it on Star Dancer!
Both boats had Nitrox, which cost $20 a day. I can almost say it was a waste of money on Spoilsport, though I might have needed it on day two. On Star Dancer, by contrast, it was essential. Over the course of the 40 dives, my average bottom time was slightly over 65 minutes...and a lot of that was at depth. My diving would have been severely curtailed without Nitrox.
In between diving expeditions, we tried to take in as much sightseeing as time would allow. In PNG, that was almost zip. We had one night in Walindi Plantation, which is the most beautifully landscaped resort I ever hope to see. And on the way back we got to see the grounds of the Airways Hotel during our one night stay there. Back in Cairns, though, we discovered we could rent a car from Apollo for $16AUD a day. We used that to tour everything imaginable within 100 miles of Cairns. We learned from reading this board that Cairns itself was to be avoided and instead to investigate Port Douglas. Really, the comments that were previously posted here on touring around the area turned out to be extremely helpful.
I don't know when the next trip back to that part of the world will be, but I do hope there will be another one. We just barely scratched the surface on this one. So many places to dive, so little time! At least next time I'll know a bit more about what to look for when I pick a dive operator. What I want is one with a no-tipping policy and one where the boat pulls up to a dive site, offers a brief introduction to the dive site, and then turns the divers loose. Please, let the dive staff stay on the boat and just tell us how many hours we are going to be at the site. That's the model followed in the CA Channel Islands by Truth Aquatics, whom I have used multiple times, and I vastly prefer it to the guided tour approach.
Bruce
The GBR trip was the Mike Ball 3 day fly/dive trip to Cod Hole, and we (my wife and I) had a fantastic time of it. It has been 10 years since I've dived the south Pacific, so I had forgotten just how stunning the coral formations there are. Truly, it was dazzling. But at the same time, there were some frustrations with the dive operation...though I can't really blame Mike Ball. There were 29 people on Spoil Sport, the absolute maximum load. Conditions were not good, unfortunately, and there were lots of novice divers on board. That put a severe crimp in the diving. The Tour Director ("T/D") interviewed each diver on the way from Lizard Island out to Cod Hole and rated over 2/3 of the group as "inexperienced", which meant less than 50 logged dives. We had 35 knot winds the whole trip, so the water was not calm and there were some strong currents. That, plus the fact that this trip was billed as a Minke whale watching trip, severely curtailed the diving. I knew I was in trouble early on when the T/D stuck out his chin and told us he was only obligated to give us 9 dives on the trip. And 9 dives is exactly what we got! That was a big disappointment, to be sure.
Even though day one started at 7 a.m., it was 2 p.m. before we went down for the first dive. That was at Cod Hole, which I thought was a fantastic spot. But we cast off after only one dive, then did a night dive later on. The second day yielded 4 dives, plus another 3 on the third day. None of the later dives, IMHO, measured up to Cod Hole. In fact, some of them were fairly bleak. I think the sites were chosen to match the experience level of the people on the cruise and also to try to get sightings of the Minkes. We never really did get the whale experience though, and if I were doing it again I think I would avoid a trip advertised as a whale-watching expedition. We gave up too much good diving in order to chase whale reports.
At the end of the trip, I got a chance to glance at some of the comment cards people had filled out. That gave me a certain amount of empathy for the T/D, because quite a few people complained about having to "rough it" so much with the big seas and strong currents. And I know several people skipped dives and spent a good deal of the trip seasick. I don't know how one could pick a GBR trip that is not limited by having beginners on board, but I would try to find a way before doing another trip there.
After a couple of days touring around Cairns, we flew up to Walindi and prepared to board Star Dancer. That was a totally different experience. There were only 6 divers on that trip, and 4 of the group were DM or better. Most days we did 5 dives, and there was a total of 40 dives over the course of the 10 day trip. This one started in Kimbe Bay and went north to Rabaul. There were no bad dives in the lot, and some of the spots positively left me speachless. I'm used to Caribbean diving, where we have exactly 4 species of butterflyfish and 4 species of angelfish. By that yardstick, PNG diving is absolutely mind-boggling. We did not have Alan Raabe as our captain; he was off in Rabaul on R&R. Instead, we had an Aussie named Peter, and he was a fascinating individual. Peter was a bit on the crusty side, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and his knowledge of all things related to diving was extensive.
The crew had a British T/D and was otherwise all from PNG. They were uniformly fantastic, though I did get a bit annoyed at the way the dive crew were blatantly hustling tips. There were always 2 of them in the water with us six divers, and they carried aluminum tank bangers...which they used extensively. I tried to stay as far away from them as possible, but still my moments of quiet reverie were frequently interrupted by furious tank banging to signal "Turtle!" or "Barracuda!" And three times they took down a bait box filled with dead fish to attract sharks for us. You would think that staged entertainment wouldn't be necessary in one of the greatest dive locations in the world. I do understand the strategy for earning tips, having once worked as a DM at a resort myself, but now after being on the other side of the fence I think I would look for an operation that has a firm "no tipping" policy for my next trip.
Both boats were, by my standards, nothing but luxurious. We had the cheapest grade of cabin available on Spoilsport and it was entirely adequate. I'm used to a single large bunkroom, so having a private cabin was nice indeed. On Star Dancer, all rooms have a large window to the outside world; we even had a private tub in our room! Star Dancer was actually a bit nicer boat for diving, since it had a single hull. With the catamaran design of Spoilsport, the two hulls channelled the already strong winds to create a vicious current right where you enter the water. It took me several dives to figure out that the trick was to move quickly off to the side or else go deep in order to get out of that current. I'm sure this would not be an issue under calm conditions.
I can't say enough positive about the food on either cruise. The kitchen crews went way above and beyond the call of duty. One plus on Star Dancer was the open bar and wine with dinner. We were entitled to one glass of wine with dinner on Spoilsport, but then had to pay for anything beyond that. My bar tab at the end of the Spoilsport trip was a whopping two beers, though I think some of the others on the trip were more loyal bar patrons. I think I made up for it on Star Dancer!
Both boats had Nitrox, which cost $20 a day. I can almost say it was a waste of money on Spoilsport, though I might have needed it on day two. On Star Dancer, by contrast, it was essential. Over the course of the 40 dives, my average bottom time was slightly over 65 minutes...and a lot of that was at depth. My diving would have been severely curtailed without Nitrox.
In between diving expeditions, we tried to take in as much sightseeing as time would allow. In PNG, that was almost zip. We had one night in Walindi Plantation, which is the most beautifully landscaped resort I ever hope to see. And on the way back we got to see the grounds of the Airways Hotel during our one night stay there. Back in Cairns, though, we discovered we could rent a car from Apollo for $16AUD a day. We used that to tour everything imaginable within 100 miles of Cairns. We learned from reading this board that Cairns itself was to be avoided and instead to investigate Port Douglas. Really, the comments that were previously posted here on touring around the area turned out to be extremely helpful.
I don't know when the next trip back to that part of the world will be, but I do hope there will be another one. We just barely scratched the surface on this one. So many places to dive, so little time! At least next time I'll know a bit more about what to look for when I pick a dive operator. What I want is one with a no-tipping policy and one where the boat pulls up to a dive site, offers a brief introduction to the dive site, and then turns the divers loose. Please, let the dive staff stay on the boat and just tell us how many hours we are going to be at the site. That's the model followed in the CA Channel Islands by Truth Aquatics, whom I have used multiple times, and I vastly prefer it to the guided tour approach.
Bruce
