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Context
Liveaboard: Turtle Spectacular by Mike Ball, northbound trip (booked directly)
Dive Location: Great Barrier Reef
Timeframe: November, 2023
My Credentials: PADI Advanced; 203 dives across 10 countries
Trip Pictures: Mike Ball's Facebook post
Review of Diving
The excursion was an 8 day / 7 night liveaboard that started in Cairns and ended at Horn Island. The schedule almost every day was 2 morning dives, an afternoon “pool’s open” (enough time to fit a full dive plus a ~40min dive at the same site), and a night dive. The night dive site was always the same as the afternoon, making it easier to navigate in the dark. In total, I completed 26 dives. Bottom temp was 27C, and viz on average was 25m.
The diving was fantastic! Although there's a bleak outlook on the Great Barrier Reef and the coral bleaching (I regularly read the GBRMPA’s reef updates), the northern parts we visited were absolutely spectacular. Dive sites such as Raine Island were an expansive coral garden full of color and multiple highways of fish. Marine traffic included schools of black snapper, bluestreak fusilier, twinstripe fusilier, threestripe fusilier, and surgeonfish, with the occasional grey reef shark in the blue. At pinnacles like Twin Peaks, as we spiraled upward, we found tiny creatures such as a tambja morosa nudibranch, racing stripe flatworm, orange-spotted pipefish, and baby octopus. We did a drift dive at Pirate’s Wall and Catcher’s Mitt. At the latter, I was drifting at 18m depth with 30m visibility out in the blue, and I couldn't always see the bottom. As I “laid back,” schools of bumphead parrotfish, twinstripe fusiliers, and threestripe fusiliers passed by, as well as several trevally and barracuda, with a blacktip reef shark in the distance. Snake Pit continued to be my favorite GBR dive site because the whole area just feels so eerie, as if the site is haunted. And the fact it’s so easy to get lost even though the site map looks simple is kinda exciting. As we navigated the perimeter, we ran into King Koopa (my name for the huge resident loggerhead turtle). It’s also the only place I’ve consistently found barramundi over the years.
The main purpose of the trip was Raine Island, where we spent 4 dives. Truly, a green sea turtle spectacular. There were two types of turtles: the incoming and the outgoing. Both were mission driven and solely focused on one task. The incoming were weary from their long trek across the ocean and were completing the final leg of their journey before laying eggs. The outgoing were speeding like a bullet out into the deep while watching out for the lurking tiger sharks. We even saw two outgoing turtles get into a quick fight! In total, I saw about 45 green sea turtles. And the coral wall was impressive: no matter how far we swam along, we kept finding more beautifully colored gorgonians and coral trees.
There was one dive, though, I really did not like: HMS Pandora. Per Wikipedia, it’s “one of the most significant shipwrecks in the Southern Hemisphere.” The wreck sits at about 32m deep on a flat sandy bottom. We were informed there was medium-strength current at depth, but since all the divers’ dives were spaced out over a 2 hour time span, by the time my group (the last group) got to the wreck, the current was incredibly strong to the point that we had to swim at full energy with legs and arms just to move forward centimeters. I eventually lost my buddy, and another buddy team got split up too. Although we all made it back on board safe, it was a very scary dive I would not have done in hindsight. I think they should’ve done more to provide up-to-date conditions information for the later groups.
Marine Life
Across all the dives, the highlight marine life were the green sea turtle, loggerhead turtle, whitetip reef shark, blacktip reef shark, grey reef shark, epaulette shark, bluefin trevally, giant trevally, blackfin barracuda, pinkhandle barracuda, pygmy seahorse, sculptured slipper lobster, panulirus versicolor lobster, painted spiny lobster, spotted porcelain crab, white-spotted hermit crab, juvenile and intermediate midnight snapper (personal favorites), female spotted boxfish, whitebanded possum wrasse, juvenile Diana's hogfish, blackbelt hogfish, papuan toby, black-saddled toby, leaf scorpionfish, spaghetti garden eels, orange-spotted pipefish, broad banded pipefish, schultz’s pipefish, humphead wrasse, bumphead parrotfish, concentric pleurobranchus, goniobranchus coi nudibranch, tambja morosa nudibranch, chelidonura inornata nudibranch, nembrotha cristata nudibranch, chromodoris strigata nudibranch, hancock’s flatworm, and racing stripe flatworm.
It’s also important to list the vast amounts of schooling fish, as they created such a vibrant ecosystem! Schools of bumphead parrotfish (personal favorite), diagonal-striped sweetlips, striped catfish, crescent-tail bigeye, glass fish, false moorish idol, scissortail sergeant, sergeant major, white-belly damselfish, bluefin trevally, female purple anthias, yellowtail amberjack, bluestreak fusilier, blue and yellow fusilier, twinstripe fusilier, threestripe fusilier, and double-lined fusilier.
Review of Dive Operator, Mike Ball
This was my third liveaboard with Mike Ball, and it was amazing as always. Spoilsport is a spacious boat: it’s easy to find privacy outside your cabin when needed. Both the crew and passengers were, and have always been, lovely and friendly people. The food was fine but a bit bland throughout the trip. They organized quite a lot of fun events for each evening to add some onboard entertainment, including a BBQ night.
In terms of diving services, the dive deck was also spacious. Besides the HMS Pandora near-miss I mentioned earlier, I felt safe throughout the experience. Every dive had a thorough dive briefing with a detailed drawing of the dive site. Also, every diver was given a Nautilus Lifeline Rescue GPS. All equipment was in great working condition. Dive times longer than 60 minutes were allowed as long as we told the crew our expected return time beforehand. I’m thankful that the crew were eager to quick refill my tank during the “pool’s open” sessions so that I can squeeze in another dive those days.
Review of Non-diving Activities
Because the liveboard ended at a location different to the start, Mike Ball organized a low-altitude flight from Horn Island back to Cairns. This by itself was a lovely mini-adventure with a picturesque view of the coastline almost the entire way south, all from a plane so small that the front seat passenger could have grabbed the control wheel if they reached forward.
Another activity (optional) was the disembarkment at Stanley Island to view the Indigenous rock art. I’ve already seen plenty of wonderful Indigenous rock art near where I live, so this wasn’t anything special to me.
Summary
I loved the journey! I’m a big fan of turtles, and to see so many experiencing a huge and important moment in their lives was just phenomenal. The landscape of Raine Island was humbling, and watching the orchestra of schooling fish swim to the silent tune was a delightful performance.
(Thank you to the entire community for all the existing posts that helped me determine what I had wanted to dive and how! This trip report is my way of giving back.)
Liveaboard: Turtle Spectacular by Mike Ball, northbound trip (booked directly)
Dive Location: Great Barrier Reef
Timeframe: November, 2023
My Credentials: PADI Advanced; 203 dives across 10 countries
Trip Pictures: Mike Ball's Facebook post
Review of Diving
The excursion was an 8 day / 7 night liveaboard that started in Cairns and ended at Horn Island. The schedule almost every day was 2 morning dives, an afternoon “pool’s open” (enough time to fit a full dive plus a ~40min dive at the same site), and a night dive. The night dive site was always the same as the afternoon, making it easier to navigate in the dark. In total, I completed 26 dives. Bottom temp was 27C, and viz on average was 25m.
The diving was fantastic! Although there's a bleak outlook on the Great Barrier Reef and the coral bleaching (I regularly read the GBRMPA’s reef updates), the northern parts we visited were absolutely spectacular. Dive sites such as Raine Island were an expansive coral garden full of color and multiple highways of fish. Marine traffic included schools of black snapper, bluestreak fusilier, twinstripe fusilier, threestripe fusilier, and surgeonfish, with the occasional grey reef shark in the blue. At pinnacles like Twin Peaks, as we spiraled upward, we found tiny creatures such as a tambja morosa nudibranch, racing stripe flatworm, orange-spotted pipefish, and baby octopus. We did a drift dive at Pirate’s Wall and Catcher’s Mitt. At the latter, I was drifting at 18m depth with 30m visibility out in the blue, and I couldn't always see the bottom. As I “laid back,” schools of bumphead parrotfish, twinstripe fusiliers, and threestripe fusiliers passed by, as well as several trevally and barracuda, with a blacktip reef shark in the distance. Snake Pit continued to be my favorite GBR dive site because the whole area just feels so eerie, as if the site is haunted. And the fact it’s so easy to get lost even though the site map looks simple is kinda exciting. As we navigated the perimeter, we ran into King Koopa (my name for the huge resident loggerhead turtle). It’s also the only place I’ve consistently found barramundi over the years.
The main purpose of the trip was Raine Island, where we spent 4 dives. Truly, a green sea turtle spectacular. There were two types of turtles: the incoming and the outgoing. Both were mission driven and solely focused on one task. The incoming were weary from their long trek across the ocean and were completing the final leg of their journey before laying eggs. The outgoing were speeding like a bullet out into the deep while watching out for the lurking tiger sharks. We even saw two outgoing turtles get into a quick fight! In total, I saw about 45 green sea turtles. And the coral wall was impressive: no matter how far we swam along, we kept finding more beautifully colored gorgonians and coral trees.
There was one dive, though, I really did not like: HMS Pandora. Per Wikipedia, it’s “one of the most significant shipwrecks in the Southern Hemisphere.” The wreck sits at about 32m deep on a flat sandy bottom. We were informed there was medium-strength current at depth, but since all the divers’ dives were spaced out over a 2 hour time span, by the time my group (the last group) got to the wreck, the current was incredibly strong to the point that we had to swim at full energy with legs and arms just to move forward centimeters. I eventually lost my buddy, and another buddy team got split up too. Although we all made it back on board safe, it was a very scary dive I would not have done in hindsight. I think they should’ve done more to provide up-to-date conditions information for the later groups.
Marine Life
Across all the dives, the highlight marine life were the green sea turtle, loggerhead turtle, whitetip reef shark, blacktip reef shark, grey reef shark, epaulette shark, bluefin trevally, giant trevally, blackfin barracuda, pinkhandle barracuda, pygmy seahorse, sculptured slipper lobster, panulirus versicolor lobster, painted spiny lobster, spotted porcelain crab, white-spotted hermit crab, juvenile and intermediate midnight snapper (personal favorites), female spotted boxfish, whitebanded possum wrasse, juvenile Diana's hogfish, blackbelt hogfish, papuan toby, black-saddled toby, leaf scorpionfish, spaghetti garden eels, orange-spotted pipefish, broad banded pipefish, schultz’s pipefish, humphead wrasse, bumphead parrotfish, concentric pleurobranchus, goniobranchus coi nudibranch, tambja morosa nudibranch, chelidonura inornata nudibranch, nembrotha cristata nudibranch, chromodoris strigata nudibranch, hancock’s flatworm, and racing stripe flatworm.
It’s also important to list the vast amounts of schooling fish, as they created such a vibrant ecosystem! Schools of bumphead parrotfish (personal favorite), diagonal-striped sweetlips, striped catfish, crescent-tail bigeye, glass fish, false moorish idol, scissortail sergeant, sergeant major, white-belly damselfish, bluefin trevally, female purple anthias, yellowtail amberjack, bluestreak fusilier, blue and yellow fusilier, twinstripe fusilier, threestripe fusilier, and double-lined fusilier.
Review of Dive Operator, Mike Ball
This was my third liveaboard with Mike Ball, and it was amazing as always. Spoilsport is a spacious boat: it’s easy to find privacy outside your cabin when needed. Both the crew and passengers were, and have always been, lovely and friendly people. The food was fine but a bit bland throughout the trip. They organized quite a lot of fun events for each evening to add some onboard entertainment, including a BBQ night.
In terms of diving services, the dive deck was also spacious. Besides the HMS Pandora near-miss I mentioned earlier, I felt safe throughout the experience. Every dive had a thorough dive briefing with a detailed drawing of the dive site. Also, every diver was given a Nautilus Lifeline Rescue GPS. All equipment was in great working condition. Dive times longer than 60 minutes were allowed as long as we told the crew our expected return time beforehand. I’m thankful that the crew were eager to quick refill my tank during the “pool’s open” sessions so that I can squeeze in another dive those days.
Review of Non-diving Activities
Because the liveboard ended at a location different to the start, Mike Ball organized a low-altitude flight from Horn Island back to Cairns. This by itself was a lovely mini-adventure with a picturesque view of the coastline almost the entire way south, all from a plane so small that the front seat passenger could have grabbed the control wheel if they reached forward.
Another activity (optional) was the disembarkment at Stanley Island to view the Indigenous rock art. I’ve already seen plenty of wonderful Indigenous rock art near where I live, so this wasn’t anything special to me.
Summary
I loved the journey! I’m a big fan of turtles, and to see so many experiencing a huge and important moment in their lives was just phenomenal. The landscape of Raine Island was humbling, and watching the orchestra of schooling fish swim to the silent tune was a delightful performance.
(Thank you to the entire community for all the existing posts that helped me determine what I had wanted to dive and how! This trip report is my way of giving back.)
