BHWookiee
Registered
Part 1 — Intro, Why I Chose ProDive, My Prep
Hi All, I’ve never written a trip report before, but I wanted to share my experience for anyone planning a Great Barrier Reef liveaboard. Here’s my review on a recent 3-day, 2-night trip out of Cairns.
TL;DR: I’d recommend ProDive for the 3D2N liveaboard. It’s not luxury, but it’s safe, well-run, and lots of fun — I’d go again, time and budget allowing.
I originally asked for recommendations here on ScubaBoard, plus my wife and I did our own research. Mike Ball and Spirit of Freedom came up often — they’re highly regarded but typically run 4+ day itineraries. I could only spare 3 days, so I went with ProDive, which still gets solid reviews.
A bit about me for context: I’m Rescue and Nitrox certified with about 75 dives. I’m pretty confident in the water, buoyancy and trim are solid, but my SAC rate and navigation skills still need work. I was slightly nervous about burning through air too fast or getting lost on self-guided dives, which I’d read were common for GBR operators.
I updated my gear before this trip too: new BCD, serviced regs, new hoses, more streamlined setup. I also did a few warm-up dives beforehand to check everything. Diving the GBR has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember — so I wanted to be ready. It was also my first liveaboard as well, so a lot of firsts on this trip.
The day before departure, I dropped off my gear at the shop and did paperwork. Staff were friendly, the shop was well stocked, and I grabbed a couple of last minute items. My gear went into a storage bin to be loaded on the boat.
Check-In & Crew
On check-in day, I met the crew and other divers. The crew included the skipper, two Open Water instructors, an advanced instructor, a divemaster, and a cook. They did a good job matching cabins — I bunked with another solo male diver about my age.
I’d split passengers into three groups: about 50% Open Water students, 40% Advanced Open Water students, and 10% certified divers just doing our thing. So for most of the trip, people were busy with courses until the last day when they were “set free.” I was the only one using personal gear and one of just two people diving on Nitrox, so the other Nitrox diver became my insta-buddy.
Dive Style vs Expectations
Before the trip, I'd heard and imagined GBR dives would be drift diving: drop in, follow a strong current, surface, then wait for a pickup. In reality, the boat stayed anchored the whole time. You follow a line down, do the dive, then swim back and use the line or a bar at ~5m for your safety stop. The tender dinghy or SMBs were only really needed if someone got lost — which only happened once, for a newer group on their first independent dive. The crew gave solid briefings with clear headings to and from the boat, and visibility was great — you could spot the boat easily from a distance. After the first dive, my worries about navigation were gone.
Self-Guided Dives & Nitrox
My SAC rate around 0.60 was plenty adequate, my buddy was a little more efficient, but fills were generous (about 220 bar), and generally, we surfaced because it was time to end the dive, not because I was out of gas. On several dives, I turned back a little too early and spent the last bit just circling near the boat - but better safe than sorry..
Certified divers were mostly unguided, except for the first dive and first night dive. Sometimes a crew member (like the cook) would hop in when free and offer to guide. We did 11 dives total over 3 days and 2 nights. I was thankful to be on Nitrox, because I was pretty exhuasted by the 4th dive each day as is, but I wouldn't miss a dive for the world. A few people skipped the last day’s dives all together to fly the next day, I wouldn’t book flights so tight on a short liveaboard, but I get it...
(Continued in Part 2…)
Hi All, I’ve never written a trip report before, but I wanted to share my experience for anyone planning a Great Barrier Reef liveaboard. Here’s my review on a recent 3-day, 2-night trip out of Cairns.
TL;DR: I’d recommend ProDive for the 3D2N liveaboard. It’s not luxury, but it’s safe, well-run, and lots of fun — I’d go again, time and budget allowing.
I originally asked for recommendations here on ScubaBoard, plus my wife and I did our own research. Mike Ball and Spirit of Freedom came up often — they’re highly regarded but typically run 4+ day itineraries. I could only spare 3 days, so I went with ProDive, which still gets solid reviews.
A bit about me for context: I’m Rescue and Nitrox certified with about 75 dives. I’m pretty confident in the water, buoyancy and trim are solid, but my SAC rate and navigation skills still need work. I was slightly nervous about burning through air too fast or getting lost on self-guided dives, which I’d read were common for GBR operators.
I updated my gear before this trip too: new BCD, serviced regs, new hoses, more streamlined setup. I also did a few warm-up dives beforehand to check everything. Diving the GBR has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember — so I wanted to be ready. It was also my first liveaboard as well, so a lot of firsts on this trip.
The day before departure, I dropped off my gear at the shop and did paperwork. Staff were friendly, the shop was well stocked, and I grabbed a couple of last minute items. My gear went into a storage bin to be loaded on the boat.
Check-In & Crew
On check-in day, I met the crew and other divers. The crew included the skipper, two Open Water instructors, an advanced instructor, a divemaster, and a cook. They did a good job matching cabins — I bunked with another solo male diver about my age.
I’d split passengers into three groups: about 50% Open Water students, 40% Advanced Open Water students, and 10% certified divers just doing our thing. So for most of the trip, people were busy with courses until the last day when they were “set free.” I was the only one using personal gear and one of just two people diving on Nitrox, so the other Nitrox diver became my insta-buddy.
Dive Style vs Expectations
Before the trip, I'd heard and imagined GBR dives would be drift diving: drop in, follow a strong current, surface, then wait for a pickup. In reality, the boat stayed anchored the whole time. You follow a line down, do the dive, then swim back and use the line or a bar at ~5m for your safety stop. The tender dinghy or SMBs were only really needed if someone got lost — which only happened once, for a newer group on their first independent dive. The crew gave solid briefings with clear headings to and from the boat, and visibility was great — you could spot the boat easily from a distance. After the first dive, my worries about navigation were gone.
Self-Guided Dives & Nitrox
My SAC rate around 0.60 was plenty adequate, my buddy was a little more efficient, but fills were generous (about 220 bar), and generally, we surfaced because it was time to end the dive, not because I was out of gas. On several dives, I turned back a little too early and spent the last bit just circling near the boat - but better safe than sorry..
Certified divers were mostly unguided, except for the first dive and first night dive. Sometimes a crew member (like the cook) would hop in when free and offer to guide. We did 11 dives total over 3 days and 2 nights. I was thankful to be on Nitrox, because I was pretty exhuasted by the 4th dive each day as is, but I wouldn't miss a dive for the world. A few people skipped the last day’s dives all together to fly the next day, I wouldn’t book flights so tight on a short liveaboard, but I get it...
(Continued in Part 2…)
