rimski
Registered
Hi all,
Having trawled the board for quality info over the past year, it seems only fair to return the favour with this Undersea Explorer report. Having just got back I'll keep it shortish, but am happy to field any questions.
Trip brief: 1 week liveaboard, Ribbon Reefs in the Great Barrier Reef on Undersea Explorer. Primary trip focus Minke whale encounters and reef diving.
My partner and I booked flights to Cairns about a month or so prior to the trip. Up until a week before the Sydney-Cairns departure date we still weren't sure which liveaboard to take. Had read many posts about booking on the ground just prior to departure and was fairly confident about taking that approach. I wrote to a number of the liveaboard operators a week before and asked what they could do apropos standby rates. The typical response was about a 20% discount on standard rates with a week before departure.
The reason we chose the Undersea Explorer (EU) was primarily for the education/research/conservation focus that they promote and are generally recognised for. Josh and I have wide ranging interests - nautical and otherwise - so were happy with a little less diving if it meant plenty of quality info, conversations, and a week's steaming with a crowd of like minded people.
As I have a particular interest in sharks I was a little hesitant with the Minke focus of the UE June/July trips. UE's other trips combine a few days at Osprey reef (lotsa shark action) with Ribbon reefs. But as the plane tickets were booked it was Minkes or find another boat.
Overall it was a great experience. In fact I'd say - and I'm a pretty difficult to please ******* at the best of times - that it was near to faultless.
There were about 14 dives over the 6 days, including a night dive every day. I've no doubt that a few extra dives could have been had if we'd requested. As the focus of the expedition is the Minkes, and here I mean not just to watching the whales from the boat but getting in the water with them, it meant for a schedule that was heavily influenced by whale activity. In terms of dives the minimum on offer in any one day was 2.
What makes the 'swimming with dwarf minkes' unique is that the whales actively seek out the boat/swimmers and hang around for hours. What generally happens is that a minke is spotted from the boat, boat stops, if Minke approaches boat then a swimmers' tow line is put on the water - one at bow and one at stern, researchers form the James Cook University go to furthest end of lines complete with drawing slates and cameras. Guests are then free to follow with a maximum number of 6 people on each line. Everyone snorkels on lines, and boat drifts. Any number of minkes (from 1 - about 12) come and go. The longest in water encounter lasted 4 hours. Whales glide along very slowly, usually in the 25 metres between the bow and stern tow lines, doing a regular circuit of checking out swimmers and boat. At one time I looked around while in the water and there were 5 minkes in view.
The minke encounters are very clearly regulated by a code of practice. Minkes must initiate the encounter, snorklers are told to lie flat on the surface and must not swim towards the whales, only snorkels no scuba, etc,. It was very professionally handled. As the whales feel increasingly comfortable they come closer and closer to swimmers, and by the end have usually come within 2 metres of all in the water. In most cases the boat breaks off the encounter. By the way Dwarf Minkes are the smallest baleen whale and grow to a maximum of about 7 metres. Up until recently they were not thought to be a seperate species from the Antarctic Minke. There were 4 whale researchers onboard.
Ribbon reefs diving was fantastic. Reefs are in great condition. No difficult dives, good vis, water mostly at 24 celcius (even though mid winter in Australia). Just leisurely plodding through the gardens. A half dozen or so reefies all up, and another 6 big turtles. Plenty of big cod (lots at Cod Hole), schools of big eyed trevally, huge baras. On one dive a couple of Minkes came one of the bommies we were diving at.
The Undersea Explorer was a good operation with a genuinely enthusiastic crew. The boat was full but didn't feel crowded even though it's only 25 metres. Excellent food. Marine focussed talks/presentations every night - with voluntary attendance. Good marine library. Very multicultural guest list. In fact we were the only 2 from Sydney. Accomdation was good, even if a couple sleeping in bunks beds was not ideal (there are doubles but they were gone by booking time). Good showers (no ensuites here).
All up we had a great time with an itinerary and boat that we'd highly recommend. Next trip for us is a couple of days late August going out to the Yongala out of Townsville. Hopefully after that back on the UE up to the Far Northern reefs (9 days) or out to Osprey to see those sharkies.
If you are thinking of coming over from North America or Europe you are pretty well guaranteed to have an unforgetable adventure.
Some pics here (soonish) - www.joshraymond.com
Having trawled the board for quality info over the past year, it seems only fair to return the favour with this Undersea Explorer report. Having just got back I'll keep it shortish, but am happy to field any questions.
Trip brief: 1 week liveaboard, Ribbon Reefs in the Great Barrier Reef on Undersea Explorer. Primary trip focus Minke whale encounters and reef diving.
My partner and I booked flights to Cairns about a month or so prior to the trip. Up until a week before the Sydney-Cairns departure date we still weren't sure which liveaboard to take. Had read many posts about booking on the ground just prior to departure and was fairly confident about taking that approach. I wrote to a number of the liveaboard operators a week before and asked what they could do apropos standby rates. The typical response was about a 20% discount on standard rates with a week before departure.
The reason we chose the Undersea Explorer (EU) was primarily for the education/research/conservation focus that they promote and are generally recognised for. Josh and I have wide ranging interests - nautical and otherwise - so were happy with a little less diving if it meant plenty of quality info, conversations, and a week's steaming with a crowd of like minded people.
As I have a particular interest in sharks I was a little hesitant with the Minke focus of the UE June/July trips. UE's other trips combine a few days at Osprey reef (lotsa shark action) with Ribbon reefs. But as the plane tickets were booked it was Minkes or find another boat.
Overall it was a great experience. In fact I'd say - and I'm a pretty difficult to please ******* at the best of times - that it was near to faultless.
There were about 14 dives over the 6 days, including a night dive every day. I've no doubt that a few extra dives could have been had if we'd requested. As the focus of the expedition is the Minkes, and here I mean not just to watching the whales from the boat but getting in the water with them, it meant for a schedule that was heavily influenced by whale activity. In terms of dives the minimum on offer in any one day was 2.
What makes the 'swimming with dwarf minkes' unique is that the whales actively seek out the boat/swimmers and hang around for hours. What generally happens is that a minke is spotted from the boat, boat stops, if Minke approaches boat then a swimmers' tow line is put on the water - one at bow and one at stern, researchers form the James Cook University go to furthest end of lines complete with drawing slates and cameras. Guests are then free to follow with a maximum number of 6 people on each line. Everyone snorkels on lines, and boat drifts. Any number of minkes (from 1 - about 12) come and go. The longest in water encounter lasted 4 hours. Whales glide along very slowly, usually in the 25 metres between the bow and stern tow lines, doing a regular circuit of checking out swimmers and boat. At one time I looked around while in the water and there were 5 minkes in view.
The minke encounters are very clearly regulated by a code of practice. Minkes must initiate the encounter, snorklers are told to lie flat on the surface and must not swim towards the whales, only snorkels no scuba, etc,. It was very professionally handled. As the whales feel increasingly comfortable they come closer and closer to swimmers, and by the end have usually come within 2 metres of all in the water. In most cases the boat breaks off the encounter. By the way Dwarf Minkes are the smallest baleen whale and grow to a maximum of about 7 metres. Up until recently they were not thought to be a seperate species from the Antarctic Minke. There were 4 whale researchers onboard.
Ribbon reefs diving was fantastic. Reefs are in great condition. No difficult dives, good vis, water mostly at 24 celcius (even though mid winter in Australia). Just leisurely plodding through the gardens. A half dozen or so reefies all up, and another 6 big turtles. Plenty of big cod (lots at Cod Hole), schools of big eyed trevally, huge baras. On one dive a couple of Minkes came one of the bommies we were diving at.
The Undersea Explorer was a good operation with a genuinely enthusiastic crew. The boat was full but didn't feel crowded even though it's only 25 metres. Excellent food. Marine focussed talks/presentations every night - with voluntary attendance. Good marine library. Very multicultural guest list. In fact we were the only 2 from Sydney. Accomdation was good, even if a couple sleeping in bunks beds was not ideal (there are doubles but they were gone by booking time). Good showers (no ensuites here).
All up we had a great time with an itinerary and boat that we'd highly recommend. Next trip for us is a couple of days late August going out to the Yongala out of Townsville. Hopefully after that back on the UE up to the Far Northern reefs (9 days) or out to Osprey to see those sharkies.
If you are thinking of coming over from North America or Europe you are pretty well guaranteed to have an unforgetable adventure.
Some pics here (soonish) - www.joshraymond.com
Only 11 divers on the boat anyway, and not everyone went in
