Ribbon & Osprey Trip Report...

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ElmDiver

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Hi guys,

I have just got onto dry land after doing the 5 day/4 night Northern GBR and Coral Sea trip wth Taka out of Cairns. I have to say overall it was very good although seas between Osprey and Ribbon Reefs were quite rough and it definitely went to quickly.

Highlights for me were definitely the dive sites at Osprey Reef - all had unbelievable visibilty (apparently 40m or so) and the drop offs to 1000m were awesome. I am not one who likes the whole 'feed the fish' thing but have to say the shark feed was a great spectacle and the Potato Cod are wondrous fish. Other sites that I enjoyed were Steve's Bommie (although far too many divers for site size) and Temple of Doom but have to say there was a lot of coral rubble evident at almost all of the GBR sites.

Also I have to say that the two night dives were very disappointing - I have done one other in Cozumel and it was far clearer and enjoyable than at Challenger Bay or Beer Gardens. At Beer Gardens we caught site of a huge Hawksbill turtle during the night dive but as soon as my torchlight hit its shell there were divers all over it...very sad.

Would seriously recommend Taka...less expensive than competitors, awesome crew and great new boat. They let you dive to 50 mins (enough for most) or 50bar (again okay for most) and give very good site briefings/orientation.

Let me know what others have thought about this trip/dive sites. I have to say that overall I probably would prefer to go back to the Poor Knights Islands off NZ if I had the choice...I like rays and sadly saw none on this trip (although Mantas were spotted...luck of the draw eh!).

All the best,

ElmDiver
 
did you book in advance online or you just hop on the boat? I've been looking through the web about GBR/Coral Sea liveaboard for our next diving holiday in Nov but the price a bit high than i expected (around A$1,300 min. that rates ends in July 2004).
Any advice would be much appreciated.

Regards,
 
ElmDiver:
Hi guys,

I have just got onto dry land after doing the 5 day/4 night Northern GBR and Coral Sea trip wth Taka out of Cairns. I have to say overall it was very good although seas between Osprey and Ribbon Reefs were quite rough and it definitely went to quickly.

Highlights for me were definitely the dive sites at Osprey Reef - all had unbelievable visibilty (apparently 40m or so) and the drop offs to 1000m were awesome. I am not one who likes the whole 'feed the fish' thing but have to say the shark feed was a great spectacle and the Potato Cod are wondrous fish. Other sites that I enjoyed were Steve's Bommie (although far too many divers for site size) and Temple of Doom but have to say there was a lot of coral rubble evident at almost all of the GBR sites.

Also I have to say that the two night dives were very disappointing - I have done one other in Cozumel and it was far clearer and enjoyable than at Challenger Bay or Beer Gardens. At Beer Gardens we caught site of a huge Hawksbill turtle during the night dive but as soon as my torchlight hit its shell there were divers all over it...very sad.

Would seriously recommend Taka...less expensive than competitors, awesome crew and great new boat. They let you dive to 50 mins (enough for most) or 50bar (again okay for most) and give very good site briefings/orientation.

Let me know what others have thought about this trip/dive sites. I have to say that overall I probably would prefer to go back to the Poor Knights Islands off NZ if I had the choice...I like rays and sadly saw none on this trip (although Mantas were spotted...luck of the draw eh!).

All the best,

ElmDiver

you dont sound very enthusiastic ? I dived with Diversety last year and was disappointed. Code hole I found to be pathetic divers hanging on to the only cod there. We dived different sites than you on the GBR but just the same lots of coral rubble. Osprey impressive drop off's highligh for us were two huge manta rays. We had just come from PNG the day before and I must say I would go back to PNG but not the GBR or Osprey
 
I paid about 1200 Australian dollars for the Taka trip...I booked direct with the company over the phone - I was in NZ at the time and we had a tight schedule to get it done. When I got to Cairns though I did hear that there were offers for last minute Taka trips (to fill up beds) for 550 Aussie dollars!! I have to say that I did not see any deals with my own eyes and even if there are deals of this nature you maybe disappointed if you cannot get the dates you want. If you have plenty of time then i'd say come over and see if you can shop around face to face with the dive operators, if not for what I got (twin ensuite cabin, 14 dives and great food), the 1200 dollars was an okay deal.

Let me know what you do,

ElmDiver
 
I did the same Taka 5 day trip to Ribbon - I thought it was great. Lots of sharks and wide open spaces out beyond the tourists. Sad sites on the inner reef though...
 
Hi ElmDiver.
I worked on Taka 1 and 2 as a 'hostie' way back in '95 and did the same trip as you.I worked in the kitchen and it paid for the trip. I did more diving than most of the paying customers. One woman didn't even leave her room!
I found beer gardens dissapointing, the further away from cairns you get the better the diving is. This is because of the pollution from sugarcane farms along the coast. Fertilizer and soil are washed onto the reef, it clogs the coral and cause an algae to form, the coral eventually dies. This isn't my opinion, there was a documentary on TV here last year all about it, I saw it just before I left for another trip to Cairns!
I thought Osprey Reef was an incredible place, the water is so clear! And those thousand metre dropoffs, mindboggling. If you like the macro and not the micro, this is the place for you. I wrote about it in another thread about your favourite dives.
I think the rubble on the GBR is caused by cyclones
 

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