mike ball or peter hughes for png

[panz]

Any comments or suggestions on one vs the other?

 

[blueeyes_austin]

My wife and I took the Star Dancer on the exploratory route through South New Britain for our honeymoon. I'd have to say that it was one of the peak experiences of my life...not just the diving (which was great) but the cultural side of it as well.

Being on first-human-to-dive sites was amazing as well. We hit one wall and there were about a dozen grey reef sharks going absolutely crazy over the THINGS that had just dropped intheir midst. You could almost see the synapses firing in their heads: ANGER...FEAR! ANGER...FEAR! They'd swoop in then dart away.

 

[Allison Finch]

I go to PNG for a month every year. My choice would be PH. Alan Raabe is a legend in PNG who has forgotton more about diving there than most people will ever know. He's a real hoot, too. Let me know who you choose. I'll be happy to fill in any info gaps.

 

[Laine]

Hi,
Went to PNG Milne Bay with Mike Ball. We had a wonderful time above and below the water. This was my first Pacific trip so I nothing to compare it with. But WOW! What an experience. The DM's were great, the chef was surperb, and the boat was the nicest Livaboard I have been on. This was our first and only trip to PNG but it won't be our last. So I cannot speak to the PeterHughes operation although we have loved them for Galapagos (twice) and Tobago. I believe the PeterHughes operation dives a different location then where we were.
Laine

 

[Cacia]

Aloha, Allison Finch. everyone says I should speak to you about our PNG trip we are planning....I will PM. Parabolic topside photography:http://www.kenbondy.com/png.htm

I have heard (don't know if it is true) that if you book your MB trip through an Australian address, you get a huge discount.(???) I have been told this by different divers from SoCal.

 

[mjh]

We had a great time w/Mike Ball.

Trip Report
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=123719&highlight=mike+ball

Slide Show
http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewshow.html?fl=2498992&alb=0

 

[ScubaKai]

I have heard (don't know if it is true) that if you book your MB trip through an Australian address, you get a huge discount.(???) I have been told this by different divers from SoCal.

Don't know about the address part. For most operators, it's all about WHERE you book. If you can book through a local (Cairns) based travel agent, that would be where I would start. A few simple emails should be able to get some idea as to the prices that have not been adjusted for inflation. This is known as tiered pricing systems (think of it as a sort of Retail Price, while the Tiered pricing systems accounts for things such as inflation, Retail pricing accounts for things such as credit card charges etc.)

Please be advised that many hospitality/tourism services (transportation/accomadation/etc) also publish inflation adjusted rates. This is just smart business sense. Just so that the correct information is being relayed to this board regarding tiered pricing systems, see post: http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=48669&postcount=29

If it is possible to get the better rate without inflation adjustments (i.e. the "discounted" rate), I don't believe those rates will be released in advance. Most likely those rates are only released closer to the date of departure, should the dive not be full. So if you try for that situation, you do risk missing out on the dive completely if it is sold out.

Don't know if it makes a difference but if I were enquiring, I see no need to tell the person where you are coming from at all unless you're requesting some package deal that may be available.

 

[caymaniac]

We had determined that we wanted to make a trip to the GBR happen. After researching who were the liveaboard choices we would want, I contacted Mike Ball first with a choice of several dates. We received notice of what the rates were and that they were booked for those dates. I continued to research and found out that if you were American or Japanese the rates were alot higher than anyone else. I continued to check with the Mike Ball in case something opened up since the flight over the reef & Lizard Island sounded great. Nearing a point when we had to make a decision, Mike Ball continued to say they were booked, we chose Quicksilvers Diversity out of Port Douglas and booked through Pro-Dive. Upon arriving in Cairns, we had a few days to sight-see before taking the ferry to Port Douglas. The rates down town Cairns for the Mike Ball trip were nearly half the price I was quoted and they said that there was room available. This was quite frustrating.
We had a great time with the Diversity and we were happy with the choice. We enjoyed Osprey Reef, Cod Hole as well as other Ribbons sites. The Minke whales, flashlight fish, sharks and other marine life was fantastic.
Fast forward to our trip to PNG last July. We looked at booking again with Mike Ball even though we thought our treatment as Americans was shabby with the price gouging, we found there practice had not changed. We checked on the Peter Hughs boat and found the price was excellent.
We enjoyed a wonderful trip on Star Dancer out of New Britain. Walindi also has some excellent diving.
I've been told that MB practices are no longer discriminatory torward Americans, I haven't seen this to be true yet.

 

[mjh]

Caymaniac how long ago did you have this experience with Mike Ball? As I understand it this was the policy several yrs ago(?) With Mike Ball repurchasing the company he has eliminated this practice of charging a different rate for American and Japanese, so now everyone pays same rate.

 

[ScubaKai]

Nearing a point when we had to make a decision, Mike Ball continued to say they were booked... The rates down town Cairns for the Mike Ball trip were nearly half the price I was quoted and they said that there was room available.

Are you saying Mike Ball deliberately turned you away when they had space? Sounds odd, I wonder why they would turn away business.

Recommendation: Always book through the cairns travel agents if you can. They do well to find you a better price.