Tusa Spirt of Freedom July Trip Report...

[bridgenet]

Part I.

My wife and I recently spent an awesome 3 ½ weeks in Australia with one week on the Tusa Spirit of Freedom (departing Cairns), one camping in the outback (Ayers Rock to Alice Springs) and one discovery Cairns/Cooktown. Tusa offers two trips, back to back, you can book either or with a slight discount, both, as we did. The first left on Monday, June 28 (noon) from Cairns to Cod Hole/Ribbon Reefs, returning at 6:30AM on Thursday, departing again at noon to the Coral Sea and returning at about 6:30AM on Monday, July 5. This repeats weekly.

This was our second live-a-board, previous was on the Belize Aggressor, November 2003. Given this was one of those trips of a lifetime and we found the Aggressor twin bunks a bit crowded with two in a twin :Kissy:, we opted for the Ocean Deluxe Cabin. There was plenty of room; queen bed, TV, small private bath, and small closet/dressor/nightstands. We were on the top deck which got rough at times and was really bad only one night. That was the night we steamed to the Coral Sea but we made a recommendation they put seat belts on the bed for the next guests :yl2jump:… That night the room looked like a wind tunnel hit it in the morning. Needless to say guests on the lower levels didn’t have such a problem so think about that when you book the nicer rooms. Boat is a lot like the Aggressor line, bit worn but still nice. Pictures on their web site are the same as the boat, just add the scratches: http://www.spiritoffreedom.com.au/flash/spirit_vessel_plan.htm

We booked a few months in advance but the boat was not full on either trip and you could have gotten a significant discount if you had waited until you got to Cairns. But then again you would not have had a cabin choice either, so depends on your priorities. The boat leaves from Trinity Wharf which is within walking distance of many of the major hotels and shopping areas. This is useful as there is about 3 hours you can spend on Thursday, walking around, when the boat returns to port in the morning while you await the next leg of your 7 day trip. A shuttle bus is provided which is easy to find as it has “Tusa, Spirit of Freedom” written on the side and will pick you up or drop you off wherever you like.

Overall we would highly recommend the Spirt. My wife and I always dove Nitrox (certification available on board if needed) and went off by ourselves without a guide but there was a divemaster available to lead a tour if you wanted it. The crew always had people on the upper deck watching for problems and made sure that everyone personally signed the dive list, regardless of whether you dove, and upon return each time. Guess they had seen the preview for the new ‘Open Water’ movie. All divers were required to have a noise device such as a whistle, a snorkel, and an inflatable safety tube. We had them but those who didn’t were given a safety pack with whistle and cheap safety tube for free. Also all drinks other than water, coffee and tea are billable. This includes soft drinks ($1.50 each AU). Bar is on honor system, prices were reasonable and a free beer, wine, or soft drink was available at dinner.

Photo’s of both our above and below water trip can be seen at www.pbase.com/bridgenet.
We had a new Olympus 5050 with Inon D180 strobe for the underwater photo’s, nothing like the first dives with a new camera being on the GBR, on the job training :read:… Fuji S2 for above water photos.

In summary we found the Coral Sea the best trip, much better visibility and coral life. Detailed dive information is in the next post since this is getting long… :lam:

Kev

 

[bridgenet]

Part 2:

Cod Hole/Coral Sea Trip Dive Log:

Me – 5 mm full suit, 3 mm full would have probably been fine as well. Rentals were available but would recommend bringing your own as they looked a bit used.
Wife – 7/5 full suit with hoodie and gloves (she tends to get cold even in the Caribbean).
Bottom temperature 72-75 degrees, surface around 75 during the day, 65 at night.

Both advanced and newly certified divers were on board. Most of the newbies dove with the divemaster, but it was their option.

Day 1 – Bashful Bonnie, Opal Reef, 63 feet our max depth.
Boat departed Cairns at noon. Single dive at 5PM as we headed to Cod Hole, ending in the dark. Many times they do two dives the first day but the crew said they would do 5 dives the next day given the visibility wasn’t the best. Used the dive to get use to the new camera and check for leaks. Yeah, bought from Marine Camera (Tom Harmon) and guess they really did the pressure test… There was a high current and lots of surf. Lets just call this a checkout dive for things to come. Reef was very green, not much in the way of color but not dead either. Not much to photograph… still we got wet in Australia!

Day 2 – Ribbon Reef 10, Cod Hole, 7:45AM, 78 feet max.
Ah, worth waiting for, although only fair visibility. Numerous white tip reef sharks, beautiful giant blue clams, 3-4 feet long, 5 foot long cod, sea cucumbers, clown fish, surgeon fish… Nice dive although visibility not the best for photo’s.

- Ribbon Reef 10, Cod Hole, 11AM, 40 feet max (that was bottom).
Clown fish, Nudibranch, sea cucumbers, large cod, parrotfish, triggerfish, wrasse. Good dive but visibility still not what we expected. Made for a lot of back scatter with the photo’s.

- Challenger Bay, 2:49PM, 74 feet max.
Lion fish, cuttle fish (real cool and emit neon colors as hovers, see web site), large cod, clown fish, anemone’s, barracuda, jacks. Better visibility but still a lot of back scatter, but we’re in Australia and still loving it!

- Challenger Bay, 5PM, 74 feet max
Dive was at dusk, Blue starfish, bad notes on this one… Must have been hungry for dinner.

- Challenger Bay, 8PM, we didn’t do the night dive, enjoyed wine with dinner.

Day 3 – Gorgonian Wall, Ribbon Reef 5, 8AM, 103 feet max.
Barracuda, trumpet fish

- Andy’s Postcard, Ribbon Reef 5, 11:11AM, 88 feet max.
Strong current, bommie, unicorn fish, stripped red/with starfish.

- Clam Beds, Ribbon Reef 5, 2:15PM, 61 feet max.
Minke whales greeted us before the dive and my wife was able to snorkel near them as I snapped some photo’s. Green sea turtles, white tip reef sharks, giant clams, starfish…

- Clam Beds, Ribbon Reef 5, 4:30PM, 74 feet max.
Giant clams, small octopus, red/white lion fish, goat fish, hermit crabs angel fish, parrot fish, cone shells…

- Clam Beds, Ribbon Reef 5, 8PM, we didn’t do the night dive, yes wine and beer with dinner.

Day 4 – Arrive back at Cairns to disembark at 7:30AM, end of the Cod Hole version of their trip. Thankful we didn’t stop here as the best diving and visibility was yet to come, Coral Sea is the way to go, at least for this week. Boat left at noon, Thursday…

Day 4 – Bashful Bonnie, Opal Reef, 5PM, 62 feet max.
The same location as Day 1 first dive. Guess the first dive for both trips is just good checkout dives; visibility was extremely poor, worst of trip. Still we saw cuttle fish and lion fish.

Overnight steam for the Coral Sea, batten down the hatches and take the meds, was definitely bumpy. Was told can get worse. Don’t suggest the top deck on this trip. Thanks to the doc for the patch. A number of people spent time on the deck staring at the horizon and feeding the fish. I only watched the horizon, my wife drank the wine…

Day 5 – Halfway Wall, Osprey Reef, 10AM (no 8AM dive as boat arrives late), 115 feet max.
Finally good visibility, worth the trip and the meds! Spotfin lion fish, feather star.

- Round the Berd, Osprey Reef, 12:30PM, 115 feet max.
Good visibility, snowflake coral, 6 large white tip reef sharks resting on the bottom at about 130 feet. Dropped down on them for a photo as the back one swam behind me, I aborted after a couple of quick photo’s, wasn’t my day to play chicken. Tuna, dotted sweetlips, surgeonfish, moray eel, butterfly fish, angel fish, unicorn fish, puffer’s, big eye, goatfish… Great dive and lots of photo’s.

- The Entrance, Osprey Reef, 4PM, 100 feet max.
Well one thing to watch on these dives is the current, little tidal shift and watch out. A divemaster always inspects each site prior to diving. We were told there wasn’t much of a current and there wasn’t when we started the dive… 20 minutes later this became a major drift dive with poor visibility. Missed the boat in the vis coming back. By the time we hit the surface we were a decent distance away . Crew was watching though and got a free rubber dingy ride back to the boat, as did a number of others so didn’t feel so bad. Poor visibility in Osprey is what I would call poor for the Caribbean, but probably awesome for Massachusetts.

Day 6 - North Horn, Osprey Reef, 8AM, 110 feet max.
Numerous Ramoras, which means lots of sharks nearby… Grey Whaler and white tips. Lion fish, both red and spotfin, long nose file fish… Good visibility.

- North Horn, Osprey Reef, 11:30AM, 100 feet max.
Shark feed, potato cod, squirrelfish, beautiful coral. Shark feed was awesome. They sat us all along a wall with a pillar about 50 feet in front of us. Suggest bringing extra weight with you, I don’t carry much and was a pain trying to inhale and stay sitting on dead coral at the same time while holding a camera. The crew then lowers a steel bucket containing a feast for the sharks. Went from about 2 sharks in the area to about 30 in a matter of seconds. Wild sight! When they were done we were able to move off the wall and I dove down below the sharks and caught a few photo’s. Felt heavy water circulation under my right arm. Looked down and a white tip was swimming under it at my waist (quick head shot on web site). Guess he ate already… Wife got a real good view, wish she had the camera on that one.

- Half Way Wall, 2:40PM, 86 feet max.
Good visibility, nudibranch, black anemone, Pennant Bannerfish, forcepfish, Schooling Bannerfish, Regal Angelfish, Chrismas tree worm, clams, mushroom coral, sea fans, featherstar… Glad my wife writes this stuff down…

- Half Way Wall, 4:30PM, 115 feet max.
Good visibility, Nautilus drop, featherstar, boxfish, filefish, puffer… A research ship, the Undersea Explorer I believe, was next to us during the night and caught a number of Nautilus’s at about a 400 foot depth. They deploy traps at night and then check them in the morning. They were nice enough to give our boat two of them to release. The crew released them at about 30 feet, once the maze of diver’s cleared I dove down deep to get a clear shot as it was freefalling. Best shot of the trip and was one of those drop sideways while exhaling, clearing, watching depth gage, chew gum, and click the camera the same time type of shots. Was worth it. First time we had seen a Nautilus.

Day 7 – Steve’s Bommie, Ribbon Reef 3 (on way back), 8AM, 86 feet.
Well when you jump into rough sea’s with a camera make sure your fin is fully snapped, even if it clicks! Just so you know, Apollo Bio, sink, quickly… At least by the time I noticed it, strange when one foot kicks quicker than the other … Needless to say I learned quickly how to dive on one fin (exhale…) … Good visibility. Lots of good coral color and small fish life.

- Steve’s Bommie, Ribbon Reef 3, 10:30AM
Good visibility. Spotted lionfish. Nice dive. Sorry bad notes on this one, must have been hungry for lunch.

- Temple of Doom, 2PM, 100 feet max.
This is a neat dive. You can swim around this pillar which rises from a few hundred feet down to about 5 feet below the surface in some locations. Great for macro photography at the top where there are cutouts in the coral with lots of small fish and it blocks the current. You can swim around the entire pillar on about a half tank of air, depending on current. There is always some which means part way with the current and part way swimming back into it. What you have to be careful of is as you enter the far end of the pillar it would be easy for a beginner to get pulled away into the open where tidal changes can affect you. What is strange on this dive is one minute the current is behind you and as you go around it suddenly shifts direction. Beautiful dive, lots of small life and color.

- Temple of Doom, 5PM, 50 feet max.
Fair visibility, strong current. As we dropped and began around the pillar I could feel the surge picking up and signaled to my wife to forget it. The last dive the end of the pillar had a much stronger current and I didn’t trust it. Didn’t need a drift dive and boat pickup on the last dive of the day. We headed into the pillar and swam in an out of the cutouts staying near the boat line. Was hard taking photo’s with the current but got a few good ones. Still a nice dive and glad we didn’t do battle with the current.

Temple of Doom, 8PM, night dive, we skipped. Enjoyed wine and beer with the crew.

Definitely Osprey Reef, Coral Sea is the way to go! Ride back to Cairns was extremely smooth, no seat belts required. Enough typing for one night, sorry for the length but in short loved Australia, great country and great people. :yelclap:

Kev

 

[h3o]

wow, sounds like you had a blast. Great trip report. I look forward to diving the GBR again next month... This time I'm going to make it up to the Coral Sea (last time I just did the Ribbons).

 

[jnylaw]

Hi Bridgenet,

Sounds like you have a lot of fun in this trip! We are planning to go to Cairns in
Dec this year. We will have time to do only one live-abroad, and couldn't decide
whether we should go to the Cod Hole/Ribbons Reef or to the Coral Sea. We are
beginners, do you think Coral Sea would be too rough or too advanced for us?
But the kinds of fish that are in Coral Sea sound more attractive to me (I want
to see some sharks, etc.) Also, we will be there from Dec 18 (Sat) till Dec 24 (Fri).
Seems like all the live-abroad that go to the Coral Sea leaves on Thurs.

 

[caymaniac]

:dazzler1: Excellent report Bridgenet. Brings back memories from last summer when we did the liveaboard out to the Coral Sea- Osprey. Since it was so calm when were there we moved to Shark Reef and did a couple of dives as well. Did you happen to see any Minkes, we did and were treated to some time snorkeling with them. Our boat arrived at Osprey on the 28th of June so we were there in the same season. The temp at Osprey was 81 and 3mm body suit was plenty. The temp on Steves Bommie was 77 and at night I used a 1mm over the 3mm which for me was just right.

 

[caymaniac]

I really liked your pictures, you must have taken allot to get the good shots on the web site!

Dive Safe,
Caymaniac

 

[alc16]

Bridgenet

Great report.....brings back memories of the trip I did with them a couple of weeks ago - sadly not the Coral Sea trip (was full). Regardless, service was good and I was a happy chappie.

Would highly recommend this operator!

Al.

 

[bridgenet]

Haven't been trolling the board for a couple of weeks and come back and there is some life here .

caymaniac:

Yup, wife got to swim with the Minke's, I took a couple of pics. They were awesome, just wish they stuck around while diving. Had fun taking pics underwater using our own gear for a change and wonders of having a 1G compact-flash card. Can't wait to head out again, but alas will have to wait till next spring. Might be Coco's next.

Thanks for your previous trip report as well. Helped us plan some of our land time while in Cairns.

jynlaw:

Go to the Coral Sea, good chance you will be disapointed with the Ribbons Reef. Cod Hole is cool but visibility for us at least wasn't the greatest and made for poor pictures and alot of back scatter. Beginners will be fine and there is a dive master to lead you around if you want. On the way out you dive a couple of the same sites you would on the Ribbon Reef cruise, as well.
-------------
Overall Tusa, Spirit of Freedom, was a great group, can't go wrong with these people.

Kev