Any reports from Spirit of Freedom vs. Mike Ball?

[mountainviewer]

I've been comparing the 3-day liveaboards between Spirit of Freedom and Mike Ball. Does anyone have any recent reports from their excursions?

I've read conflicting reports about Mike Ball's operation, that they charge U.S. and Japanese customers higher rates and that the overall quality has diminshed in recent years. Sources:
http://www.scuba-forum.com/forums/ball/ball.html
http://www.cdnn.info/industry/i011107/i011107.html

Is it cheaper to purchase while in Australia? Can I go through an agent there?
Thank you for your advice/reports.

 

[Patty]

I can't speak for Mike Ball in particular, but no-one I know who's been on one of their tours has complained about it.

You'll find it cheaper to book the trip at the last minute in Cairns, many operators run specials to try to fill up places. The risk you run is that you don't get a place at all. Often you will do better talking directly to the operator than booking through an agent.

 

[Mark Goodchild]

Here is a report from the Spirit of Freedom....(I hope they are okay...I'm going with them in June )

http://www.zerovisibility.co.uk/Reports/CoralSeaSharkDivingJuly04.htm

 

[tonyc]

We just got home after spending 4 days on the super sport/ cod hole. The diving was amazing! Viz 70-100 foot (I guess, We're used to 30-40 ft!) Water temp around 82 suunto degrees. What I can say about Mike Ball is that the staff on the boat was top notch! We couldn't have asked for more from them. Food was good and we were the only boat at the dive sites we went to. On one dive my camera housing had partially flooded. When I went back to the boat, 4 of the crew went to work reviving my camera like a team in the hospital working a code blue. They stuck my camera in their film dryer and low and behold it still works! That is just one instance of how they went above and beyond on our trip. Safety was a top priority, yet we had the freedom to explore by ourselves (No nazi dive masters). This was our best trip by far and I would highly recommend them.

Now, the down sides of our trip. The nitrox was broken and unavailable for our trip. The boat seems to be aging. I understand they were having problems with the stove, but all our meals were great. I over heard the crew saying that instead of overhauling the whole boat, they would probably be replacing it instead as it's the oldest in their fleet.

Tony.

 

[donacheson]

I've been comparing the 3-day liveaboards between Spirit of Freedom and Mike Ball. Does anyone have any recent reports from their excursions?

I've read conflicting reports about Mike Ball's operation, that they charge U.S. and Japanese customers higher rates and that the overall quality has diminshed in recent years. Sources:
http://www.scuba-forum.com/forums/ball/ball.html
http://www.cdnn.info/industry/i011107/i011107.html

Is it cheaper to purchase while in Australia? Can I go through an agent there?
Thank you for your advice/reports.

As I understand it, Mike Ball has recently taken back the operation of his boats after having sold it to Japanese interests several years ago. Be careful about drawing conclusions from reports during the period when he wasn't running the show.

As for charging higher rates for Japanese and American customers, apparently that's true with the justification offered that maintaining North American and Japanese offices increases the cost of serving those markets.

 

[mountainviewer]

We just got home after spending 4 days on the super sport/ cod hole.

Thank you Tonyc! Really appreciate the review. I've heard about the aging boat--I thought it was overhauled a couple years ago. That is one of the biggest factors that favors Spirit of Freedom. Besides that point, the flight to Lizard island was the deal closer for Mike Ball, otherwise, we'd do SOF. I noticed SOF will be offering a similar itinerary, but not in time for our trip--maybe next time!

Thanks again for the report, POST SOME PICS! Always love seeing candid pictures instead of the brocheur ones.