Liveaboard November 2013

[scarke]

Ok, so the hubby will be in Sydney for a conference and I can join him. We are then planning to go to GBR..he is advanced open water, nitrox, deep certified, over 70 dives etc. We have done liveaboards before. He has done them in Red Sea, Malaysia and Indonesia. So we are thinking of Mike Ball because it would appear that it would be mostly experienced divers not people learning open water qualification. Prob one of the 7 days trips. Is it possible for me to scuba dive and swim on these trips as I don't dive ? I have always done this before but it seems maybe I can't some of the trips, not sure. Also I know November to March is Box Jelly Fish season which scares the living daylights out of me so are they everywhere ? Also someone just mentioned sea water crocs as well,,I am presuming these are on the beaches not on the reef ? Sorry for sounding stupid but I am a bit of a coward about stuff like this !

Thanks in advance.

 

[OnTheSpot]

Hello Scarke, the Spoilsport would be a great choice from your husbands point of view but although snorkelers are welcome some of the deep water sites in the Coral Sea are not suitable for snorkeling. Box jelly fish are more prevalent at the inshore waters and are rarely seen on the outer reefs. Irukandji can be present on the outer reefs but I belive in over 40 years of expeditions there has only been a couple stings none of them required treatment apart from immediate first aid. Stinger suits are inexpensive and also offer some UV protection, if you're a frequent snorkeler then it would be a worthwhile investment (although not for the fashion conscious ). The same can be said of the salties, they are very capable of traveling long distances out to sea but this is usually males looking for new territory and sightings in the Coral Sea are extremely rare. For me neither of these animals would be a consideration in choosing a liveaboard to the Coral Sea and certainly wouldn't detract from the wonderful experience you'll have there. You can take a look at available expeditions and compare prices to other boats here.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

Hi scarke. OnTheSpot has covered it very well and I agree the trips to the Ribbon Reefs are not ideal for snorkelers, but do offer the best diving. Having said that a lot of the sites on these trips are good snorkeling and it depends on your capabilities. If you can duck dive under there are some great opportunities for seeing the life and you don't have to be deep. Probably around half the sites are good for surface snorkeling.

As an alternative look at trips that visit the Outer Reefs (see here) as these are all suitable for snorkelers.

Don't worry about crocs. I live in Cairns (far north Queensland) and you have as much chance of seeing a croc whilst diving as being hit by a flying elephant