Mike Ball, Nimrod or Spirit of Freedom?

[jkimball]

Hi All!

I am a single diver and will be in Cairns Sept.7-Sept.16. I would like to do a 3 or 4 night liveaboard to Cod Hole and Ribbon Reef (they seem the best/most popular) and it sounds like the 3 dive operations I mentioned in the title are the best. They are all pretty comparable I'm sure, but I thought maybe one might be more accommodating to single divers? I was also thinking of making reservations on this site:

diving Great Barrier Reef with Save Money Diving

has anyone ever used this site before? It is cheaper than booking directly...

thanks!

 

[MA]

Hi,

I've been on Taka, SOF and Undersea Explorer. All great. All different. But all suitable for single divers.

Taka - bit cheaper and cheerful, med interaction with staff
SOF - luxury - beautiful vessel - staff great but you are the guest they are staff. ie. don't offer to help clear the dishes thats their job - which is great if thats what you're after. I prefer a bit more interaction.
Undersea - very high interaction - you're part of the adventure, you are asked opinions on options, you help research by identifying and counting certain species. By far my favourite, even though boat facilities are in no comparison to SOF or TAKA. Strange what a difference staff can make hey - although all are great.

Enjoly!!

 

[littleguppie]

I had the same question a few months back, but I was looking at Nimrod in place of Taka. We narrowed it down to SOF and Nimrod and went with SOF in the end. We are going on the 4 day starting Sept 4th. Just decided for how much money it costs what's another $100 to be on a luxury boat with top-notch service. SOF has been great so far with me e-mailing questions to them. I booked with 'Experience Cairns' and got a discount, but not sure if they are still offering that. Ask for Andrew or Carmen and tell em' Jodie sent you. Andrew and CArmen have helped out with hotel accomodations in Cairns and Port Douglas, rental cars and activities.

 

[littleguppie]

opps, I meant we were looking at Nimrod in place of the Mike Ball. Read some disturbing stuff about Mike Ball trips. Google it. Now it was quite a few years in the past, but left a bad taste in my mouth. To each is own though. Best of luck.

 

[Eau_Girl]

Hi,

I've been on Taka, SOF and Undersea Explorer. All great. All different. But all suitable for single divers.

Taka - bit cheaper and cheerful, med interaction with staff
SOF - luxury - beautiful vessel - staff great but you are the guest they are staff. ie. don't offer to help clear the dishes thats their job - which is great if thats what you're after. I prefer a bit more interaction.
Undersea - very high interaction - you're part of the adventure, you are asked opinions on options, you help research by identifying and counting certain species. By far my favourite, even though boat facilities are in no comparison to SOF or TAKA. Strange what a difference staff can make hey - although all are great.

Enjoly!!

I have done 2 trips on Undersea Explorer and 1 on SOF (just a few days after my second UE trip).

I agree with MA. SOF is a beautiful boat and you would have a great time. But there is the clear line between staff and guests.

UE's differentiation factor is around the research -- there is a place for a researcher on each trip. Plus one of the crew members will be the marine biologist for the trip. You will be involved in doing species counts at each dive site, etc. The food on my 2 UE trips rank in the top 3 stops of my liveaboard experiences to date! Like MA Undersea Explorer is my favorite due to the the interaction and ethos around research and conservation.

I went on my own on all of these trips. On my first UE trip in 2006, I made several new diving friends that I stay in touch with -- and still dive with! One took me for a weekend of diving in Forster/Seal Rocks, NSW in March this year. Note that some boats will not guarantee that you will share with some one of the same sex -- it will depend on how the numbers fall. I shared a cabin with a guy on the 2nd half of the SOF trip. Wasn't a problem as you don't spend that much time in your cabin.

You might look at a full week if you have time. Northern Ribbon Reefs and Cod Hole very nice but the Coral Sea/Osprey Reef are awesome. Getting to the Coral Sea was my reason to do the 2 trips in succession earlier this year. Getting out to Osprey is weather dependent so can be cut if conditions are rough.

 

[under water]

opps, I meant we were looking at Nimrod in place of the Mike Ball. Read some disturbing stuff about Mike Ball trips. Google it. Now it was quite a few years in the past, but left a bad taste in my mouth. To each is own though. Best of luck.

As I recall, I think that bad stuff about MB was about different management and before Mike Ball took his boats back therefore has no bearing on current operations. In the past few years there has been nothing but praise for Mike Ball's operation. Believe me, I looked.
I can't report on my trip yet, which will be at the end of the year with Mike Ball.

 

[Eau_Girl]

As I recall, I think that bad stuff about MB was about different management and before Mike Ball took his boats back therefore has no bearing on current operations.

This is consistent with what i have heard as well. I haven't been on Mike Ball trip. They were in maintenance period when I was in Oz this year so didn't consider them.

A couple on my SOF trip have done MB trips in the past and had nothing but good thngs to say. They guy had done several over a number of years (pre-sale, during sale and since Mike Ball took the boats back). He is a serious photo/videographer and MB boats are set up very well for camera equipment, etc.

In the end you probably can't go wrong at all out of Cairns/Port Douglas. Boats will have different levels of comfort and amenities, but the quality of the crews and safe standards will all be very high. The diving ain't bad either!!

 

[tracy_from_oz]

I always liked the Spirit.

 

[C8X]

Just got back from a 4-day trip with Taka, the only disappointment was the grey weather. It's the only liveaboard I've done, but I liked it a lot. Not sure about the other boats but Taka is allowed to put snorkellers in the water off a line when the dwarf minke whales are about -- awesome experience. Of the 24 people I'd say at least 6 were single travellers and everyone had a great time.

 

[mjh]

We have dove with Mike Ball twice and had a great time both trips. From the front office to the dive guides we found them to be top notch. Check out our site for more info.