Liveaboards from Cairns

[cjsagw]

Hi all,

I'll be in Queensland in August and was planning to do a 3D/2N trip to the outer reef near Cairns, but after some more reading I'm considering some of the (much more expensive!) trips further north, specifically to the Ribbon Reefs.

Are they "that much" better than anything further south? I've never dove in tropical water before, so I'm sure I'll be happy regardless. I just won't be back in Australia in the forseeable future and am wondering if I shouldn't splurge a bit.

I also know that bleaching was worse further north -- any reports from people who've been out recently? Or closer to Cairns? The only info out there is either news reports saying half the reef is dead !! or the tour operators saying, don't worry everything's fine...

 

[gwklein]

About two years ago, I did 4 days on the Spirit of Freedom in the Coral Sea. The trip included a twin-engine flight from Cairns to Lizard Island where I joined the cruise in progress. The cruise finished in Cairns. Alternatively, you can do just the first 3 days of the cruise starting in Cairns to the Ribbon Reefs and finishing at Lizard Island with a return flight to Cairns. The diving, the boat, the food, and the crew were all excellent. The coral bleaching had not started at the time I took the trip.
I don't know if it is still the case in Australia, but somethings to look in before you leave the U.S. are the baggage rules on domestic flights. Some people on the ship were hit with huge excess baggage fees (several hundreds of dollars) for their dive luggage on domestic flights in Australia. I didn't pay the fees because my travel agent booked my international flight on American and the four domestic flights on its local code-share. As a result, I got the international baggage limits on the domestic flights.

 

[RyanT]

I did a day trip out of Cairns last July. There was some reef degradation and a few bleached spots, but there was still a lot of cool stuff to look at. That was my first time on the GBR, so I thought it was great! Regardless of whether you stay near Cairns or go farther north, a live-aboard is the way to go. All the day trips out of Cairns are massive cattle boats. Many carry 100 passengers, although 2/3 may be snorkelers.

The El Nino event was just beginning last summer, so the reef conditions may be worse now, but at least as of last year, the reefs off Cairns/Port Douglas were in Ok shape.

 

[WetPup]

I was out diving a couple of weeks ago.

Yes, there is bleaching. No, it is not everywhere. The media reports are correct in a sense, but highly misleading. Some reefs are pretty much decimated. And while many others have some degree of bleaching, it's not the entire reef that's bleached - it may only be 5% of an individual reef that has bleaching, meaning 95% of it is still ok. The dive operators know which parts of the reef are more affected than others, and select their itineraries and dive sites accordingly. The skippers know where to go to give you the best dive experience possible. They're hardly going to take you to a dive site that's dead. It doesn't do them, or you, any favours.

Yes, the far northern itineraries are better in my (not so humble) opinion. Less visitors to contend with, and a better marine life experience.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

I can understand the concern a lot of travelers have over the bleaching and it is a worry. BUT its not as bad as a lot of media make out and reports are varied.

The bleaching is worse in the far north and gets less as you come closer to Cairns.

Most of the bad PR came from an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) report back in April that was very contentious.

We are in winter now so the water is cooling which means the coral will start to regenerate. We had significant bleaching events in 1998 and 2002 and although over 50 - 60% of the coral was bleached, only 5% was severely damaged and the rest came back. I don't know how this will end up but am confident that the places you will be taken to will still provide a breathtaking experience. Don't just take my word for it either, Pro Dive in Cairns posted a video of customer comments related to a recent live aboard trip. So maybe take a visitors word for it rather than the media for now and enjoy your trip out the the GBR.

 

[cjsagw]

Sure, I figured the news reports wouldn't be the best to plan my trip around... Thanks for the info!

Any more thoughts on Cairns vs. further north? Seems like the outer reef from Cairns is great, but the coral sea is the place to be for pelagics, big wall dives, and such.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

Very different places. Further north you go the more ancient the Reef is and more remote. Although there are a lot of decent Outer Reef sites (remember each operator has their own moorings so the sites are not swamped my lots of boats), the Ribbons are more versatile with more advanced diving and more variety.

If you can combine it with the Coral Sea for the shark feeds and great viz (30m / 100ft +) then all the better

I would go Mike Ball or Spirit of Freedom for sure if you an afford it. Once in a lifetime trip (unless you are WetPup who seems to be lucky enough to go out heaps Lucky bugger LOL

 

[cjsagw]

Hi again -- are there any other operators that visit the Ribbons besides Mike Ball and SOF? I dug up some info about Taka but it looks like they shut down. I'd gladly pay less for more basic accommodations.

 

[WetPup]

I think the resort on Lizard Island does...But that's another level of expense entirely. If you're looking for more budget friendly options, this is not it.

Mike Ball and SoF are the only lob's that go to Ribbon Reefs. It's too far away for the shorter itineraries the other boats offer.

Taka ended up in the Solomon Islands as I understand it.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

Yes Taka is no more and Ocean Quest only ran a few trips during Mike whale migration.

Mike Ball and Spirit are the only trips that run there and book out months in advance so best not to leave it too late.