Louwphotography
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My husband and I recently returned from a 2-week trip to Fiji and Australia. I posted my Fiji trip report here.
For the Great Barrier Reef, we chose a 4-day liveaboard on Mike Ball's Spoilsport. I was glad we dove in Fiji for my first open water dives. I was naively expecting calm waters at GBR, but the waters were a bit choppy, especially on the first day. By the time we arrived at GBR, I had a mere 6 open water dives under my belt and my husband had 17. I was quite glad we both got our nitrox certifications -- regular air in Fiji tired us out but the Nitrox was pure heaven!
Mike Ball was fantastic -- excellent crew and great food. Top-notch service too -- we lost our little digital camera in a dark night dive, and the trip director immediately got in the water to search for it. We were convinced it was gone forever -- the water was choppy, the camera was a sinker and you wouldn't be able to see it unless you pointed the flashlight right at it... but about 20 minutes later he surfaced with camera in hand! It was an amazing recovery! Anyway, on to the dives...
Day 1: 2 afternoon dives and 1 night dive at Cod Hole. I was hoping to see really gigantic potato cod like I've seen in the pictures, where they are bigger than people. We did spot the cod and they were pretty big, but around 3-4 feet long. At the end of the 2nd dive, several potato cod were hanging out under the boat. We also saw tons of different sea cucumbers on the bottom, a white tip reef shark, and a giant purple clam.
Day 2: Morning dive at Pixie Wall, 2 dives at Lighthouse Bommie and afternoon and night dives at Pixie Gardens. At Pixie Wall we saw large fan coral, a pufferfish, and blue christmas tree worms.
At Lighthouse Bommie, we decided to go without a dive guide for the first time. I was a little nervous but the site was perfect for our first go -- just drop down to the bottom of the bommie and swim clockwise up. No risk of getting lost. I loved the site -- we saw a sea turtle posing for photos, a giant clam, parrotfish, anemonefish, a school of trevally, olive sea snakes, several lionfish and some blue starfish.
Pixie Gardens was much more challenging. The weather was getting stormy so the visibility was not good.
Day 3: 2 morning dives at Steve's Bommie and afternoon dives at Flare Point. Steve's Bommie was terrific. We saw tons of fish here, including a big school of yellow striped snapper, lionfish, small scale scorpionfish, flame file shell, lots of anemones... and at the very top, a true clownfish! He was very difficult to photo though -- racing in and out of his anemone so fast I barely had time to point the camera at him, let alone press the shutter!
Flare Point was pretty neat -- saw more blue christmas tree worms, a moray eel, and there was a HUGE barracuda hanging out under the boat! He looked about 6 feet or so, I've never seen such a big barracuda. Apparently he's a regular since the crew knew him well.
Bottom line -- some rough moments but overall a great time! Thanks for reading!
For the Great Barrier Reef, we chose a 4-day liveaboard on Mike Ball's Spoilsport. I was glad we dove in Fiji for my first open water dives. I was naively expecting calm waters at GBR, but the waters were a bit choppy, especially on the first day. By the time we arrived at GBR, I had a mere 6 open water dives under my belt and my husband had 17. I was quite glad we both got our nitrox certifications -- regular air in Fiji tired us out but the Nitrox was pure heaven!
Mike Ball was fantastic -- excellent crew and great food. Top-notch service too -- we lost our little digital camera in a dark night dive, and the trip director immediately got in the water to search for it. We were convinced it was gone forever -- the water was choppy, the camera was a sinker and you wouldn't be able to see it unless you pointed the flashlight right at it... but about 20 minutes later he surfaced with camera in hand! It was an amazing recovery! Anyway, on to the dives...
Day 1: 2 afternoon dives and 1 night dive at Cod Hole. I was hoping to see really gigantic potato cod like I've seen in the pictures, where they are bigger than people. We did spot the cod and they were pretty big, but around 3-4 feet long. At the end of the 2nd dive, several potato cod were hanging out under the boat. We also saw tons of different sea cucumbers on the bottom, a white tip reef shark, and a giant purple clam.
Day 2: Morning dive at Pixie Wall, 2 dives at Lighthouse Bommie and afternoon and night dives at Pixie Gardens. At Pixie Wall we saw large fan coral, a pufferfish, and blue christmas tree worms.
At Lighthouse Bommie, we decided to go without a dive guide for the first time. I was a little nervous but the site was perfect for our first go -- just drop down to the bottom of the bommie and swim clockwise up. No risk of getting lost. I loved the site -- we saw a sea turtle posing for photos, a giant clam, parrotfish, anemonefish, a school of trevally, olive sea snakes, several lionfish and some blue starfish.
Pixie Gardens was much more challenging. The weather was getting stormy so the visibility was not good.
Day 3: 2 morning dives at Steve's Bommie and afternoon dives at Flare Point. Steve's Bommie was terrific. We saw tons of fish here, including a big school of yellow striped snapper, lionfish, small scale scorpionfish, flame file shell, lots of anemones... and at the very top, a true clownfish! He was very difficult to photo though -- racing in and out of his anemone so fast I barely had time to point the camera at him, let alone press the shutter!
Flare Point was pretty neat -- saw more blue christmas tree worms, a moray eel, and there was a HUGE barracuda hanging out under the boat! He looked about 6 feet or so, I've never seen such a big barracuda. Apparently he's a regular since the crew knew him well.
Bottom line -- some rough moments but overall a great time! Thanks for reading!
