5 Days liveaboard from Cairns

[hallboy]

hello down there

I intend to come from France to dive in your garden. but im a litlle confused: i cannot stay to long on boadr: 5 days would be ok; 7 days would be hard to manage, but maybe possible.
So i will have to make a choice: Cod hole?reebonreeef? osprey reef?coral see? holmes reef? and i don't really know the specs of each one ( exept cod hole )

it seems that i can mix and match some of those places, but not all of them.the only sure thing, is that i wwould put those big cods on the top of the list. second thing i will come in March or may. third im nitrox certified and with such amount of dives, i will prefer a boat with Nitrox on board.

Bthe way, sorry for my english

About the boat: as long as i have food, and hot water, i dont care: the cheaper the better.

any advice would be appreciated

 

[Andrew Jones]

Hello H.B.

When were you planning on coming to Australia, 2008 or 2009.

Dive pricing here is like the stock exchange........ when counts.

Weather wise, march proves to be tough, however the accommodation deals in March and may are very good, as is the Extended standby's.

Nitrox isnt a problem on any of the Northern stuff. About $10 a fill, however I have $50 free nitrox vouchers at the moment.

Cheers Andy

 

[sw5555sw]

Hi hallboy

I was on the Nimrod last November 3 Nights 4 Days 15 Dives and Low level flight back to Cairns over the reef ! Very Good value for money.
The boat is not the Newest but very clean. Staff all very Friendly and Food was great on board. Equipment if needed is also in good condition
Nitrox also available on Board. Nimrod leaves from Cairns

 

[hallboy]

probably on beginning of May 2009. coming from france to cairnsjust to dive , i will look for a 7days cruise; and or what i read, osprey reef as much as possible ( it seems that anyway, cod hole is mandatory).

I did not really get that plane thing: i dont know if it s good or bad: less diving, but better diving??

at that moment of the year, can i hope to get a special offer to cut down the price, or is that a momnet wher everybody wan to dive?

3mm? 5mm? how would be the visibility?


sorry to add so much questions to any answer . and thank you guys

 

[Eau_Girl]

OK, here's my 2-cents worth--

I saw your question about the plane issue. I would discount that. Basically, it seems that many of the operators offer a week trip split into 2 parts (3 days GBR/Cod Hole + 4 Day GBR/Coral Sea-Osprey trip). They do this as many people are not willing to commit to an entire 7 day trip. Thus, the same operator can offer something to a variety of clients.

The plane is mainly a way to allow people to join up with the boat or leave the boat as the case may be. If you are doing a 7 day trip, I wouldn't consider flying as you will be out of sync and will have to go back into and out of Cairns between the trips (and likely leave the boat whilst they re-provision).

Personally, if possible I would look for a 7 day trip where there is not change over of passengers. You will lose time on the change over because they have to go back into some port to pick-up and drop off passengers and they new arrivals have to go through orientation and check out dives.

As Andrew mentioned, with May you start to run into the Minke whale season which sounds interesting but means less diving. Just be aware of what you book.

Cod Hole is good but from the trips I've been on most people enjoyed it but it wasn't the most memorable dive site for anyone I know. Do it if you can, but personally, I would opt for Osprey over Cod Hole any day. However, you should be able to do both on a 7 day trip.

If you have some chill-out days before or after your diving, head up to Port Douglas over Cairns. PD is a great little town to chill out in. I love it.

 

[hallboy]

merci :}

 

[Andrew Jones]

3mm wetsuit is fine, however all vessells will have the stock on board to offer you a choice.

I just came out of a meeting with Mike Ball, and I feel confident I can offer you a pricing break on Mike Ball and Nimrod Explorer.

If you can be flexible with dates I am more than happy to see if there is someone " special " doing the Undersea Expeditions during early May.

Just to clarify " someone special ", in case you are not aware, Undersea is a Research Exploration Vessell that has reef projects as an ongoing thing. Scientists from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority are on board at different times to carry on their different projects.

When EAU ( Lauren ) was here we had Climate Change and Nautilus Shell Projects happening on the same trip.

EAU is absolutely right about the Flight Interruptions affecting a Mornings Diving, however the Low Level Flight over the Great Barrier Reef in good weather is something special to understand just how big it is.

Cheers Andy

 

[Eau_Girl]

Hallboy,

Andrew's right about a low-level flight giving you a good overview of the GBR. However, you can do a flight out of Cairns on your own before or after (just make sure it is a low-level flight!). That way you can pick your day and the weather conditions if you are lucky. Of course you won't go as far as Lizard Island unless you specifically plan a day trip up there. The crew on Spirit of Freedom do the changeover flight on a regular basis. They said it is nice when the weather is good but if cloudy you don't see that much.

I thought about a flight when I was in Cairns but I ran out of time!

 

[mig_diver]

I did the Spirit of Freedom and the low-level flight over the reef but it was hard to appreciate because I was so tired from all the diving that I just fell asleep on the plane

 

[hallboy]

As i will have something like 20 hours of flight to come back home, i wonder if i will not have some reasons to skip this one.