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Trip Report – Mike Ball Minke Whale Expedition July 10 – 17, 2017
We just got back from a trip with Mike Ball on the SpoilSport liveaboard out of Cairns Australia.
What a trip – what a crew – what an experience. This was my first live aboard and I went into it with lots of trepidation. I have done quite a few “big” SCUBA vacations so I was not worried about the repetitive diving or the number of dives but rather the whole liveaboard experience.
Overall I would give this trip a 99 out of 100.
Reservations – We booked the trip over a year in advance and the booking staff were very responsive and accommodating. Two quick points. We tried to book with the other major liveaboard operator in Cairns but they never returned our email or call and their reservation agent was even based here in the US. Too bad for them so we went with Mike Ball and I am sure glad we did. We originally booked a budget cabin but wanted a standard cabin with a window and the reservation clerk said they would put us on a waiting list. I really did not think that they would be tracking that for the year so six months or so later I contacted them and they did in fact still have me on the waiting list and then a month or so prior to the trip they were able to get us the larger cabin. They responded each and every one of my questions in a timely and professional manner.
The Boat – Never having been on a live aboard I really did not know what to expect in terms of spaciousness. The fear and expectation was that with 28 divers one board that we would be tripping over each other. There were three levels on the boat available to the guests. The first level held the dive deck and the cabins, the second deck had the salon and dining room and an outside area with three round tables and chairs. The top deck was an open sun deck. Our trip was in the middle of winter and we only saw the sun a few times during the week so most of the time was spent on the dive deck or in the salon but I never once felt cramped or claustrophobic. There was plenty of room for everyone. I can imagine on a summer trip it would feel even bigger. The other point was the maintenance of the boat. The crew obviously took great pride in their vessel and were constantly cleaning and polishing the boat. It really gave new meaning to the term “ship shape”.
Our room – One of my concerns was being claustrophobic in the cabin. The trip was with my adult daughter and I was just not sure how big the cabin was going to be and how that all was going to work out. As I said earlier we had the Standard Cabin with two twin beds arranged in a L. One bed had a ledge/shelf that was about 18 inches wide that was suitable to store things for ready access. The room also had a full chest of drawers that was a pleasant surprise. There was room under the bed to store our baggage. There was a toilet with a separate shower. So for our needs the cabin was really the perfect size and configuration. I did get a peek into the smaller cabins and I pretty sure the trip would not have been as good for us in the smaller room with bunk beds. Some rooms had the shower over the toilet and some rooms shared a bathroom.
The Dive Deck and Dive Operations – the dive deck was on the surface setup like any other, but once things got going it was obvious that the dive deck was meticulously planned for maximum efficiency, from the way the nitrox and air hosed were routed, to the way they indicated nitrox and max depth settings per person, how the camera tables were laid out, personalized dry towels at your area at the end of each and every dive. Each person had an assigned sport for their tank and a tub underneath for the fins and accessories. There was an area on each side of the boat to hang wetsuits. Everything you can image to make diving as easy as possible.
The most impressive thing was how seriously they took diver safety. Each time we were at a new dive site there was a mandatory briefing. The trip director had a nice sized white board on the dive deck and would draw the site out and explain the site to see and any dangerous or unusual conditions. Each diver was equipped with a safety sausage and a Nautilus GPS unit. Each diver was logged into and out of the water by a designated crew member. Each diver needed to sign in to acknowledge their dive time and depth. There was a crew member on lookup on the top deck whenever there were divers in the water. There was a tender in the water and available whenever there were divers in the water. All of this was done with no fanfare and without an ounce of intrusion, it was just the way they run their operation.
Daily Rhythm – If you are in the market for a leisurely vacation this might not be the trip for you. Here’s what the typical day looked like:
6:30 am - awakened by the trip director
7:00 am – 1st breakfast, light meal, cereal, fruit, juice
7:30 am – dive briefing
Dive one
9:00 am – 2nd breakfast, full hot meal
Dive two
Motor to next dive site
2:00 pm – Lunch
Dive three
Dive four
5:00 pm – afternoon tea
Night dive
8:00 pm – Dinner
9:00 pm – about half the time there was some kind of presentation by the crew.
9:00 pm – 6:00 am – motor to the next location, I think every night but on we were motoring all night.
Crew – The crew was just amazing. While they took their job seriously and were in every way professional they also went out of their way to accommodate any request, the boat was filled with laughter. It should be noted the Mike Ball himself was on the trip and while one would think that that might cause the crew to “tighten up” that was just not the case. Clearly making the trip the best possible for the guest is a culture instilled by Mike and fully embraced by all of his crew.
Diving – We wanted to visit the Great Barrier Reef before there was nothing left to visit. The coral bleaching is real and we wanted to see for ourselves the impact. The fact of the matter is that there was lots of dead coral on our dives and we saw it for ourselves. But for us we were on the “Minke Whale Expedition” and the focus was on snorkeling with these amazing creatures and that more than made up for the somewhat less than ideal reefs. We were in the middle of our fist dive briefing when the trip director said that he was calling it short because there were whales in the water. They had two long lines off the stern of the boat and while he had been giving his briefing there was a crewmember on the end of one line attracting the whales with her mear presence on the line. So, we all donned our masks and snorkels and slipped into the water. I was one of the first into the water and by the time I had made it to the end of the line there was a beautiful whale filling my field of view. Literally my first time off of the boat and there I am staring at this whale almost close enough to touch. An encounter a few days later had us swimming with 10 whales. More accurately these whales were swimming in an around us not the other way around. It was an amazing experience and worth the entire trip just to have these wonderful encounters with these special animals.
We also had the opportunity to dive the Cod hole with Potato Cod, we had a shark feeding encounter, we saw live Nautilus and Cuttlefish, there was something different on every single dive.
This takes me to one of my two slight disappointments with the way the trip was run. We did three or four pinnacle dives. And while I generally enjoy this simple easy diving, with 28 divers in the water even after they split us into two groups it was quite crowded particularly at the end of the dive when everyone was at the top of the pinnacle. I presume that they had their reason for choosing these particular sites and I am sure it had to do with getting out the Opspry reef and back while allocating enough time for Whale exploration and encounters, so it really was just a small thing.
Food – As you can tell from the daily rhythm section of this post there was no shortage of food on board. The chef did an amazing job of producing a varied menu with lots of choices for everyone’s taste. The one thing he did not do well was eggs. The scrambled eggs were more like soup then what I am used to and all of the guest I spoke with shared the same opinion that other than the morning that we were served poached eggs we all just ate other items off of the breakfast menu.
Summary – I would HIGHLY recommend Mike Ball’s SpoilSport and the Minke Whale expedition. The two negative comments I made above should really be viewed for what they were, tiny nits in an otherwise perfect trip. A trip whose memories will last a lifetime.
We just got back from a trip with Mike Ball on the SpoilSport liveaboard out of Cairns Australia.
What a trip – what a crew – what an experience. This was my first live aboard and I went into it with lots of trepidation. I have done quite a few “big” SCUBA vacations so I was not worried about the repetitive diving or the number of dives but rather the whole liveaboard experience.
Overall I would give this trip a 99 out of 100.
Reservations – We booked the trip over a year in advance and the booking staff were very responsive and accommodating. Two quick points. We tried to book with the other major liveaboard operator in Cairns but they never returned our email or call and their reservation agent was even based here in the US. Too bad for them so we went with Mike Ball and I am sure glad we did. We originally booked a budget cabin but wanted a standard cabin with a window and the reservation clerk said they would put us on a waiting list. I really did not think that they would be tracking that for the year so six months or so later I contacted them and they did in fact still have me on the waiting list and then a month or so prior to the trip they were able to get us the larger cabin. They responded each and every one of my questions in a timely and professional manner.
The Boat – Never having been on a live aboard I really did not know what to expect in terms of spaciousness. The fear and expectation was that with 28 divers one board that we would be tripping over each other. There were three levels on the boat available to the guests. The first level held the dive deck and the cabins, the second deck had the salon and dining room and an outside area with three round tables and chairs. The top deck was an open sun deck. Our trip was in the middle of winter and we only saw the sun a few times during the week so most of the time was spent on the dive deck or in the salon but I never once felt cramped or claustrophobic. There was plenty of room for everyone. I can imagine on a summer trip it would feel even bigger. The other point was the maintenance of the boat. The crew obviously took great pride in their vessel and were constantly cleaning and polishing the boat. It really gave new meaning to the term “ship shape”.
Our room – One of my concerns was being claustrophobic in the cabin. The trip was with my adult daughter and I was just not sure how big the cabin was going to be and how that all was going to work out. As I said earlier we had the Standard Cabin with two twin beds arranged in a L. One bed had a ledge/shelf that was about 18 inches wide that was suitable to store things for ready access. The room also had a full chest of drawers that was a pleasant surprise. There was room under the bed to store our baggage. There was a toilet with a separate shower. So for our needs the cabin was really the perfect size and configuration. I did get a peek into the smaller cabins and I pretty sure the trip would not have been as good for us in the smaller room with bunk beds. Some rooms had the shower over the toilet and some rooms shared a bathroom.
The Dive Deck and Dive Operations – the dive deck was on the surface setup like any other, but once things got going it was obvious that the dive deck was meticulously planned for maximum efficiency, from the way the nitrox and air hosed were routed, to the way they indicated nitrox and max depth settings per person, how the camera tables were laid out, personalized dry towels at your area at the end of each and every dive. Each person had an assigned sport for their tank and a tub underneath for the fins and accessories. There was an area on each side of the boat to hang wetsuits. Everything you can image to make diving as easy as possible.
The most impressive thing was how seriously they took diver safety. Each time we were at a new dive site there was a mandatory briefing. The trip director had a nice sized white board on the dive deck and would draw the site out and explain the site to see and any dangerous or unusual conditions. Each diver was equipped with a safety sausage and a Nautilus GPS unit. Each diver was logged into and out of the water by a designated crew member. Each diver needed to sign in to acknowledge their dive time and depth. There was a crew member on lookup on the top deck whenever there were divers in the water. There was a tender in the water and available whenever there were divers in the water. All of this was done with no fanfare and without an ounce of intrusion, it was just the way they run their operation.
Daily Rhythm – If you are in the market for a leisurely vacation this might not be the trip for you. Here’s what the typical day looked like:
6:30 am - awakened by the trip director
7:00 am – 1st breakfast, light meal, cereal, fruit, juice
7:30 am – dive briefing
Dive one
9:00 am – 2nd breakfast, full hot meal
Dive two
Motor to next dive site
2:00 pm – Lunch
Dive three
Dive four
5:00 pm – afternoon tea
Night dive
8:00 pm – Dinner
9:00 pm – about half the time there was some kind of presentation by the crew.
9:00 pm – 6:00 am – motor to the next location, I think every night but on we were motoring all night.
Crew – The crew was just amazing. While they took their job seriously and were in every way professional they also went out of their way to accommodate any request, the boat was filled with laughter. It should be noted the Mike Ball himself was on the trip and while one would think that that might cause the crew to “tighten up” that was just not the case. Clearly making the trip the best possible for the guest is a culture instilled by Mike and fully embraced by all of his crew.
Diving – We wanted to visit the Great Barrier Reef before there was nothing left to visit. The coral bleaching is real and we wanted to see for ourselves the impact. The fact of the matter is that there was lots of dead coral on our dives and we saw it for ourselves. But for us we were on the “Minke Whale Expedition” and the focus was on snorkeling with these amazing creatures and that more than made up for the somewhat less than ideal reefs. We were in the middle of our fist dive briefing when the trip director said that he was calling it short because there were whales in the water. They had two long lines off the stern of the boat and while he had been giving his briefing there was a crewmember on the end of one line attracting the whales with her mear presence on the line. So, we all donned our masks and snorkels and slipped into the water. I was one of the first into the water and by the time I had made it to the end of the line there was a beautiful whale filling my field of view. Literally my first time off of the boat and there I am staring at this whale almost close enough to touch. An encounter a few days later had us swimming with 10 whales. More accurately these whales were swimming in an around us not the other way around. It was an amazing experience and worth the entire trip just to have these wonderful encounters with these special animals.
We also had the opportunity to dive the Cod hole with Potato Cod, we had a shark feeding encounter, we saw live Nautilus and Cuttlefish, there was something different on every single dive.
This takes me to one of my two slight disappointments with the way the trip was run. We did three or four pinnacle dives. And while I generally enjoy this simple easy diving, with 28 divers in the water even after they split us into two groups it was quite crowded particularly at the end of the dive when everyone was at the top of the pinnacle. I presume that they had their reason for choosing these particular sites and I am sure it had to do with getting out the Opspry reef and back while allocating enough time for Whale exploration and encounters, so it really was just a small thing.
Food – As you can tell from the daily rhythm section of this post there was no shortage of food on board. The chef did an amazing job of producing a varied menu with lots of choices for everyone’s taste. The one thing he did not do well was eggs. The scrambled eggs were more like soup then what I am used to and all of the guest I spoke with shared the same opinion that other than the morning that we were served poached eggs we all just ate other items off of the breakfast menu.
Summary – I would HIGHLY recommend Mike Ball’s SpoilSport and the Minke Whale expedition. The two negative comments I made above should really be viewed for what they were, tiny nits in an otherwise perfect trip. A trip whose memories will last a lifetime.
