heather_scubatravel
Registered
Hi all.... Ive been using this forum like and Im sure I will continue to, so I feel the need to pay it forward and give a quick trip review.
I did the 3 days 2 night liveaboard with OceanQuest in beginning of November 2010. Overall, I feel it is very good value for what you pay. However, I am confident it is not the best the GBR can offer. I went into the trip knowing that I was paying a budget price and did not feel disappointed at all.
I booked through divetheworld.com I used them for my Similan Island liveaboard and was very happy with their service and therefore did not hesitate at all to book through them again (also got a 5% discount for being a return customer, yay!)
It started with getting picked up by a shuttle from my hostel in Cairns at 7:30am. We were dropped off at the dive shop to pay remaining balances and then shuttled to the marina to board the boat. The first 2 dives were done off the day trip boat. After our second dive we were transferred to the overnight boat and did 2 more dives on the first day. Second day consisted of 5 dives and third day had 3 dives. 12 in total (even though the package stated 11, I wasnt going to complain!
)
The boat was very clean and spacious, the food was good, and rental dive equipment was in very good condition. I found the staff to be attentive and professional, but not overly friendly by any means (they ate on at their own tables and rarely interacted with divers).
I felt that safety was definitely a strong point, dive briefings were thorough, everyone had a dive computer, a record was kept of dive times and depth, head counts completed prior to changing dive sites.
There were a combination of open water students, advanced OW students, snorkelers and certified divers on board. I am an advanced diver, I have been diving for only 1.5 years and I had 60 dives prior to this liveaboard. I believe I was the most experienced diver on the boat, and this shocked me as I was hoping to find a super experienced diver to buddy up with!
You had the option of hiring a guide ($15/dive), or diving with a buddy. I did the liveaboard alone, so I found a buddy on the first day. It was my first time diving without my fiancé, so I was extremely nervous about having a new buddy for the first time (my dive buddy was great! Was happy to let me lead, attentive and he was good on his air. Thank goodness!). If you are diving alone I would specifically request a dive buddy with similar experience!!
We changed dive sites twice a day. I found the dives sites to be very interesting, a few people complained about currents on the second day but they were mild at most. Water temp was 27-28 degrees celcius. Weather was beautiful and sunny with slight overcast. No choppy water, nobody was seasick!
It was my first time diving without a divemaster and therefore my first time navigating underwater on my own, I found the dive briefings to be very thorough and helpful and the dive sites were easy to navigate (I will admit that I got lost once!) Saw about 6 turtles, countless reef sharks (esp on one night dive), moray eels, nudibranches, humphead parrot fish... tons of tropical fish... the sites did not disappoint!
I was happy with this dive trip. If I had more money to spend I would have done a liveaboard in the Coral Sea. Unfortunately, I havent won the lottery yet (and I have an expensive wedding to be saving for)... but Im hoping it will be in my future!
For this price range, I would also recommend researching a liveaboard on the Yongala wreck out of Townsville. I didnt have enough time to do it with this trip to Australia... I will definitely do it next time. The cost is similar....just thought I would throw that out there to anyone researching GBR liveaboards.
Hope this helps someone!
Heather
I did the 3 days 2 night liveaboard with OceanQuest in beginning of November 2010. Overall, I feel it is very good value for what you pay. However, I am confident it is not the best the GBR can offer. I went into the trip knowing that I was paying a budget price and did not feel disappointed at all.
I booked through divetheworld.com I used them for my Similan Island liveaboard and was very happy with their service and therefore did not hesitate at all to book through them again (also got a 5% discount for being a return customer, yay!)
It started with getting picked up by a shuttle from my hostel in Cairns at 7:30am. We were dropped off at the dive shop to pay remaining balances and then shuttled to the marina to board the boat. The first 2 dives were done off the day trip boat. After our second dive we were transferred to the overnight boat and did 2 more dives on the first day. Second day consisted of 5 dives and third day had 3 dives. 12 in total (even though the package stated 11, I wasnt going to complain!
)The boat was very clean and spacious, the food was good, and rental dive equipment was in very good condition. I found the staff to be attentive and professional, but not overly friendly by any means (they ate on at their own tables and rarely interacted with divers).
I felt that safety was definitely a strong point, dive briefings were thorough, everyone had a dive computer, a record was kept of dive times and depth, head counts completed prior to changing dive sites.
There were a combination of open water students, advanced OW students, snorkelers and certified divers on board. I am an advanced diver, I have been diving for only 1.5 years and I had 60 dives prior to this liveaboard. I believe I was the most experienced diver on the boat, and this shocked me as I was hoping to find a super experienced diver to buddy up with!
You had the option of hiring a guide ($15/dive), or diving with a buddy. I did the liveaboard alone, so I found a buddy on the first day. It was my first time diving without my fiancé, so I was extremely nervous about having a new buddy for the first time (my dive buddy was great! Was happy to let me lead, attentive and he was good on his air. Thank goodness!). If you are diving alone I would specifically request a dive buddy with similar experience!!
We changed dive sites twice a day. I found the dives sites to be very interesting, a few people complained about currents on the second day but they were mild at most. Water temp was 27-28 degrees celcius. Weather was beautiful and sunny with slight overcast. No choppy water, nobody was seasick!
It was my first time diving without a divemaster and therefore my first time navigating underwater on my own, I found the dive briefings to be very thorough and helpful and the dive sites were easy to navigate (I will admit that I got lost once!) Saw about 6 turtles, countless reef sharks (esp on one night dive), moray eels, nudibranches, humphead parrot fish... tons of tropical fish... the sites did not disappoint!
I was happy with this dive trip. If I had more money to spend I would have done a liveaboard in the Coral Sea. Unfortunately, I havent won the lottery yet (and I have an expensive wedding to be saving for)... but Im hoping it will be in my future!
For this price range, I would also recommend researching a liveaboard on the Yongala wreck out of Townsville. I didnt have enough time to do it with this trip to Australia... I will definitely do it next time. The cost is similar....just thought I would throw that out there to anyone researching GBR liveaboards.
Hope this helps someone!
Heather
