Cairns - Liveaboards trips query

[eoin]

Hi ,

I am getting married in June next year and as part of the trip we are visting several places along the way for our honeymoon [excuse for a expensive trip ]

We are stopping off at Fiji , Tonga [any dive suggestions for those 2 would be great ] and then Australia.

We are driving from Brisbane to Cairns , stopping on the way .

My question is any recommendations for dive sites while we are driving up the coast ?

Also once we reach Cairns we want to do a Live-a-board , can anyone suggest a company or where we should be looking to dive to .

Thanks for any advice

Eoin

 

[LPR]

I have found this website to be helpful: http://www.barrier-reef-holidays.com/reefliveaboard.htm

Make sure to note there are multiple pages so more than one company is represented.

You also should do a search on scubaboard for liveaboard since there are several posts on this topica already. Much of it comes down to location, duration, etc.

Have a great trip!

Lorie

 

[drbill]

In Fiji I did most of my diving with the Cousteau Resort although I didn't stay at it (the hotel in Savusavu had a room for $8/night... more $$$ for diving!).

I did a stay on the Deep Sea Divers liveaboard on the outer GBR when I was in Cairns. Although a bit of a cattle boat, I enjoyed the experience... lots of interesting people (including a woman sitting on the deck next to me who lived on Catalina a few years back although I didn't know her then).

If I had more time in Cairns, I would have opted for a liveaboard trip to the Coral Sea. There was a last minute special (half price) offered through the hostel I stayed at there. Of course you may prefer something a bit nicer than the hostel for your honeymoon!

Dr. Bill

 

[ChrisM]

echoing drbill's comments re: cairns.... You should know that Cairns is a common backpacker stopover. Thus, many of the boats cater to budget operations. Not that that is bad, doing a LA to the GBR for $100 a day or less is fantastic, but I wouldn't do it on my honeymoon. Facilities and rooms are sparse, and you might find yourself sharing a cabin.

I dived with pro-dive and enjoyed it, but again, not on my honeymoon. Mike Ball runs a very veyr good (but expensive) op. If you can book thru an Aus. travel agent, you'll get a better price, but you'll have to do some digging to do that.

Chris

 

[kelpgurl]

I did a weeklong liveaboard on one of Cairn's middle-down market boats, Taka II, and I did enjoy it very much. But it's quite spartan and their "best" cabin with the only double bed was OK but not great.

The dive sites were killer, of course, all of the places on the Ribbon Reefs where the rest of the boats go, too. Dive briefings were thorough, dive deck nicely laid out, food good and plentiful. But the salon has no windows and there is not a shady spot to sit outdoors except where everyone's scuba kits are set up.

Echo that it may not be what you want to do on your honeymoon, unless you and your mate are hardy types, but I think you might want to do it sometime. I've heard that both the Mike Ball boats (Spoilsport and Supersport) are nice, and my husband has been out on the Nimrod and liked it.

kelpgurl

 

[Booges]

My husband and I went on the Nimrod Explorer liveaboard on our honeymoon. I would highly recommend them. Boat was clean, food was really good and plentiful, crew was knowledgable and fun and the diving was spectacular!!!

 

[caymaniac]

If you want to do a liveaboard in June out of Cairns, Pro-Dive can set you up with a number of options. We chose to go on Diversity. Other choices would be Mike Ball, Spirit of Freedom, or Quicksilver. These would be for a 3 to 4 day in the Coral Sea. Pro-Dive can set you up to have transportation to Port Douglas as this is where some boats start. If you are looking for a longer cruise then there is Nimrod, as well as quite a number of others.
If you want to save money and gamble, you could book when you get there. We did not but, we were there (Cairns) in June and July and you could save money by booking when you get there.

Caymaniac

 

[eoin]

Thanks all very much ... we never mind being spartan [ Try Mozambique .. an eye opener ] and as you say more money for the important things in life like Diving ...

 

[caymaniac]

I have dove out of Sodwanna, 5 years ago. To get to the coast was first of all quite a trip, Jozinni was a stop in the mountains and a cultural eye opener.
The trip from there to Natal went downhill, we had to power our vehicle through quite a few soft sand sections of the road, not to forget having to swerve around cows and goats. The diving was great, but not as good as the Coral Sea.

Dive safe,
Caymaniac

 

[eoin]

You had roads ... cool .... The floods had removed quite a bit when we arrived [from Zambia thru Malawi down to just outside Beira ] ... some talk about mines being all over the place due to the water moving them around [me being 14 stone did not like that fact] ...

We were trying to catch the Whale Sharks migration but we missed them by a week [so we were told] .... The dive was a bit of a ordeal .. My better half has motion sickness [not good for a diver] and the Indian Ocean and a small dive boat [ inflatable ] did not mix ... 25 meters down she decided to lets say feed the fish ).
That aborted her dive , we went on , to be honest , to not see much

The reefs were pretty bad [damaged by the fishing techniques used - One boat , big net , row in a big loop , go back to shore and drag everything in ... and I mean anything .. bit sad to see but easy to criticise when we did not rely on such methods for food ].

I would put that dive at the bottom of all the places I have been .
But I may give it another go if around that area in the future ....