Anyone ever dive with TAKA? (Northern GBR and Coral Sea)

[h3o]

I'm thinking of diving with Taka in July since they are the cheapest live-aboard going to Osprey Reef. Has anyone had any experience with them? I've dove the northern ribbon reefs/cod hole last year with Spirit of Freedom and this time I want to make it out to the Coral Sea and also hopefully see some Minkes along the ribbon reefs. Since I'm probably going to be on a tight budget again, Taka seemed like a good idea.

4 and a half more months till I move to OZ and NZ! :guitarist

 

[Oceanlovers]

I'm thinking of diving with Taka in July since they are the cheapest live-aboard going to Osprey Reef. Has anyone had any experience with them? I've dove the northern ribbon reefs/cod hole last year with Spirit of Freedom and this time I want to make it out to the Coral Sea and also hopefully see some Minkes along the ribbon reefs. Since I'm probably going to be on a tight budget again, Taka seemed like a good idea.

4 and a half more months till I move to OZ and NZ! :guitarist

Taka is a reputable company that offers budget trips, although try and find out how many divers are onboard.This will make a big difference for your comfort zone.
Good luck with the Minkes.

 

[glbirch]

Dove (Dived?) with them a number of years ago. Good ship, no complaints. Ship was getting a little worn, but I've heard they did a major overhaul since then. From their website it looks like they may even have a new ship now. Something you may want to check on.

Only down side to me was the number of passengers. Twenty or thirty divers in the water can give you a bit of a crowded feeling.

As I say though, it's been a few years for me. You may want to do some searches and see if you can find any recent trip reports from people who used Taka.

 

[scubashooter]

They are also beginning to enforce the 45 min dive time limit on a few trips. An instructor friend of mine had a hard time since he always came up with 50+ mins just last month. Of course this is still 3rd hand info. I've never been on the Taka.

 

[captainkwe]

h30 - My wife & I just did the 5 day Taka in December '03 - The diving was great, especially out at the Osprey Reef (Coral Sea). We JUST missed the new boat.....the old boat had a few very minor issues (that come with age)....but that won't be an issue now. We toured the 'new' boat which is now in operation and it was SWEET! Plasma TVs, Internet connections, HUGE galley, HUGE rooms. (Granted, you are there to dive, but it's nice to have creature comforts after 4 dives/day!) Overall, the crew was great as was the diving - Safe, Professional and good natured. The food & equipment were good. I higly recommend. Here's the website if you want to check it out.
http://www.taka.com.au/default2.htm
The Shark Feed out in the Coral Sea (North Horn) was AMAZING!!!
On a side note - if you are out there - the best dives we did in all of Oz/NZ was the SS Yongala! Definetely worth checking out (we were pleased with Adrenaline Dive)
And no, I don't work with any of these operators - just passing our experience along.....enjoy your adventure!

 

[captainkwe]

Pic

 

[orangeBloke]

I went for a trip to the Cod Hole and Coral Sea with the Taka II last July.
Unfortunately for us the weather kicked in big time and it became too rough for us to make it to the Coral Sea. Apparently in the last 9 trips up to that point they'd only made the coral sea 4 times due to the conditions. As the sea were already choppy behind the shelter of the reef we were better off not going that far. In the words of the cruise director "You won't be able to take it, the boat won't be able to take it".....so fair enough

That said I had a thoroughly great time on board the Taka II. The crew were excellent and a great bunch of people. If you're lucky enough to have Darren in the kitchen your taste buds will be in for a treat too. They're also very good on safety and making sure that all divers are accounted for

As regards the diving that was wonderful and I'd love to go back and do it all again some day. You'll see lots of stuff you've probably never seen before. The cod feed at the Cod Hole is a heck of a lot of fun.
And although we didn't get to do the Coral Sea we did get to do Pixies Pinnacle twice which I'd happily dive many, many more times - the diversity around that site is incredible.

Water temperatures at that time of year were about 24-26C (75 - 79F) so if you feel the cold make sure you have enough protection on - I had a 3mm shortie on over the top of a 3mm full suit, kept me nice and snug 'cos I'm more used to 29/30C (84 - 86F) water ) Dive times were I think 50 mins, and when the water is chilly that's generally long enough. It's also Minke Whale season so you may be lucky enough to see one. We did see one but didn't get to swim with it as we were on our way back to Cairns after the last dive and it breached the surface near the boat.

There were about 20 divers on the boat but as we all dived in pairs you were lucky to see anyone else on a dive. Most of the time you only got to see other divers in the 5 mins or so as you made your way back to the boat.

I hear that the new boat is much better though the old one was good enough for a few days at sea. If I did the Barrier Reef again I'd be plenty happy to go out with the Taka and her crew

Cheers

 

[ozdive]

Taka Dive just launched a brand new vessel in December, equipped with plasma tvs and lots of new toys. Several category types on the boat and many with private toilet/showers. Really a great vessel and very ocean worthy.

 

[caymaniac]

I haven't seen their new boat, but we dove an the Coral Sea with Diversity - not quite as frugal as you want. We were impressed at Osprey and Shark reef. We were there at the end of June. We saw many Minkes, several swam underneath us as we hung on a current line thrown out behind the boat. I also had a Minke swim underneath me at Steve's Bommie. We had superb weather, everyday was calm and two of those days it was like a mirror on the Coral Sea.