Liveaboard Great Barrier Reef for 3k or 1k?

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Messages
4
Reaction score
1
Location
Australia
# of dives
25 - 49
Hi everyone

I want to fly to Cairns in a couple of months to dive the great barrier reef. My goal is to see the reef on a liveaboard the best way possible. I have found 1 company who goes to osprey reef, which was one of the best places to go according to my research. The only problem, they are booked out until jan and there is only one spot available for 3k for the following trip:

Mike Ball Coral Sea & Cod Hole Expedition - 5 Night

5 Nights / 18 Dives. Experience adventure diving in the Coral Sea for 3k

Now I really want to see the gbr as best as possible but on the other hand this breaks my bank account pretty hard and was wondering if I wouldn't have a similar experience on a trip like this:

Pro dive liveaboard for $ 915:

11 dives, including two-night dives, as well as some great snorkelling on a variety of our 19 exceptional Outer Reef dive sites over four magnificent reefs: Flynn, Thetford, Milln and Pellowe Reefs.

Pro dive also goes to the outer reefs for a better price. Of course not as far and not to osprey reef but I was thinking that the difference might not be so big between them? I hope some of you have experience with this and can help me decide. I don't mind paying a bit for a once in a lifetime dive trip but would like to know it's gonna be worth it.

Cheers everyone
 
I have dived liveaboards on the GBR twice--the first time about 20 years ago and the second time about 5 years ago. On both occasions, my wife and I (and my wife, another couple, and I) booked far ahead of time, got the best accommodations, and paid full fare. On both occasions, the liveaboard was not full just prior to taking off, and they went out and recruited last-minute passengers. On the first liveaboard, those last minute passengers constituted about half the customer manifest. I am sure they all paid a fraction of what we did.

So, if you want to save money, just show up and see what's open for you.

But I have another message. Twenty years ago I thought the diving was simply spectacular, something every diver had to be sure to see in a lifetime. Five years ago it was, meh. Nothing special. The Director of Diving on the liveaboard said that he believed that at the rate it was deteriortating, in 20 years there would be no reason to dive the GBR. Again, that was 5 years ago. If you check out the award-winning documentary Chasing Coral, you can watch a portion of the GBR die before your very eyes.

There are other places to dive nearby if you can't make this work out the way you want.
 
I have three trips on Mike Ball (all prior to the change of ownership) in the last 4 years. I did my AOW/Nitrox on a Prodive boat. The Prodive trip is fine. It has basic accommodation and the food is OK. The reefs are fine. You will enjoy your time with them. As you appear to have limited dives you will find the diving to be relatively easy. Mike Ball is upmarket and is a good operator. Food, accommodation and diving services are excellent. The diving experience is very good though it can be a little more challenging. The Coral Sea and the Ribbon reefs offer much better diving. The Mike Ball trip is a much better offering but you pay for the privilege. The Spirit of Freedom isn't operating at the moment. It offers similar trips to Mike Ball. I wouldn't take the risk on just showing up. But that's your call.
 
I've done Spirit of Freedom, Mike Ball, Pro Dive, Deep Sea Divers Den... Spirit of Freedom and Mike Ball are by far better trips. Getting out to the Coral Sea would be my recommendation. I did the 7 day Mike Ball trip just prior to COVID and it was a great trip.
 
"Outer" is relative. Personally I think the term is clever marketing that makes the area in question sound more remote and pristine than it is. Maybe that was accurate long ago before it was so heavily dove. Since you are a relatively new diver you will probably enjoy it just fine, but it's nothing like getting further north.
 
Thanks for all of the replies everyone. I just watched the David attenborough documentary about the great barrier Reef which also talked about the state of the reef a lot but also how unique it is. I reckon this will be the only time I'll be in Australia again to do this so I'll just go for it after reading some recommendations and advice here and just do it properly and pay the big moneys. I don't wanna take any risks so I just made a reservation for 3k for the only spot that is still available and I've been put on the waitlist to get a budget spot for $2300 if that would become available if it does. Hope a spot opens up cause it is a bit of a price difference on the other hand glad that there was at least a spot. Cheers guys
 
You will not regret it, the reef is still healthy in the parts I have visited.
 
As a Cairns local the scene is very different right now, and as far as the Ribbon Reef and Far North trips go only Mike Ball is running, Spirit of Freedom is out of the water still until at least March next year so MB has the monopoly and is taking full advantage.

You may be lucky to get some standby spots if border closures prevent interstate bookings for cancelling.

However Outer Reef still has some great spots and here is a link explaining the difference between the Reef areas.

Reef Encounter is running daily and offers some great variety of sites and as its stays on the Reef and has daily transfers out you can pretty much choose your itinerary.

The other 2 Outer Reef trips are Ocean Quest (Divers Den) and Scubapro (Pro Dive) but these are still on limited days running.

Summary of the trips and what days they run here. PM if you need more info.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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