Has anyone done a liveaboard dive boat in the GBR? We are thinking of a 7-day trip out to Osprey Reef, followed by some land time in Sydney and other destinations, not sure where. Any recommendations? We'll be traveling from So CA and are thinking of a month or so total length of trip.
Diving Great Barrier Reef
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harley
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I refuse to die until I do that. Best of luck, and take pictures.
Free To Canoe
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I saw the Great Barrier Reef on a day trip out of Port Douglas. This was a snorkel day trip on a small boat crewed by biologist. It was spectacular!
Not the same as being in the middle of the Coral Sea on Osprey Reef though. What an adventure you are preparing! I would like to do that.
Not the same as being in the middle of the Coral Sea on Osprey Reef though. What an adventure you are preparing! I would like to do that.
Throwdownmyaceinthehole
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We got to do a small cruise ship out of Brisbane to Cairns thru the Whitsundays, then went up to Port Douglas and did the day snorkel. Highlight of my life! Neither Sydney or Brisbane caught my fancy as they are both just big cities. We are headed to Tasmania in February as that was the one place we missed on our to-do list when we lived in Aus. It comes highly recommended and flights are pretty cheap right now. BUT DO NOT MISS GBR!!!!
bearkeley
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We had a trip booked on a 4day trip with sea plane. It was going to be the highlight of our 4 month trip to Australia but unfortunately, we both got a really bad cold and had to cancel at the very last minute. Some things to consider.....be sure to get trip insurance or use chase sapphire....they were amazing with crediting us for the trip! Some things to consider: Take a close look at weather and bleaching status. We booked for a shoulder period weather wise and heard that the trip was almost cancelled, but wasn’t, due to very rough waters out to Osprey. Be sure to check out WA, specifically, the Navy Pier....most expensive one tank dive but definitely worth it if you manage to be in WA (5hrs by plane from Sydney). Australia is amazing so if you can spend more time there, do it! We spent a total of 7 months there these past two years and need to go back to see more of it. Diving, however, is a good bucket list thing so we booked it. We wondered why most Australians go to Asia to dive....now we know....warmer waters, better viz and life, and a lot cheaper. Enjoy your trip!
Live aboards out of Cairns
Greetings Scuba!
An Aussie friend of ours recommended two live aboards to us for a future trip to The Great Barrier Reef. He's an experienced DM and we trust his judgement.
Cairns Liveaboard Dive Trips With Pro Dive Cairns - Great Barrier Reef Queensland Australia
Cairns Liveaboard Scuba Diving - Great Barrier Reef and Cod Hole - +61 (0) 7 4047 9150
Dive, Eat, Sleep, repeat.....
Greetings Scuba!
An Aussie friend of ours recommended two live aboards to us for a future trip to The Great Barrier Reef. He's an experienced DM and we trust his judgement.
Cairns Liveaboard Dive Trips With Pro Dive Cairns - Great Barrier Reef Queensland Australia
Cairns Liveaboard Scuba Diving - Great Barrier Reef and Cod Hole - +61 (0) 7 4047 9150
Dive, Eat, Sleep, repeat.....
Thanks for all the recommendations. I've researched the bleaching issue and it sounds pretty serious. Apparently there were two huge bleaching events - one in 2016 and another in 2017. While most liveaboard reviews are still positive, the experienced divers who have been all over the world are saying that indeed the diving is much better in other parts of the world due to the bleaching. [emoji30]
bearkeley
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Enjoy all the land based sights in Australia, but maybe, try to ‘swing by’ Indonesia to do some amazing dives (check out Calico Jack liveaboard....amazing life)! We are cruising on our boat down the ICW this year, hoping to get to the Bahamas before it gets too cold, but really enjoyed the summer way south these past two winters. Have fun!
Did one in 2000 out of Cairns. It was great, out for three days I believe. Did not have the best weather, but very enjoyable nonetheless. Can't for the life of me think of the outfitter, but I think we went to these reefs: Hasting Reef, Saxon Reef and Michaelmas reef and Cay.
We did it in 1990 (10 or 12 days, from Cooktown to Lizard (one trip), then back.). Will do it again now that we know what the heck we are doing and seeing--subject to passing the Australian dive physical: Dive Medical - The Diver Medical Assessment Questionnaire - AS4005.1 (not sure about where they draw line on medicine controlled cholesterol, etc.)
FWIW, spent 10 days with several extremely experienced Kiwis when diving Fiji who downplayed GBR compared to the latter destination. We are repeating that trip in 2018, along with other destinations sort of in the neighborhood.
FWIW, spent 10 days with several extremely experienced Kiwis when diving Fiji who downplayed GBR compared to the latter destination. We are repeating that trip in 2018, along with other destinations sort of in the neighborhood.
Onward
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I did a snorkel trip to the GBR out Cairns in 2001. I took a cheap one, and the food was terrible. So one lesson might be that you get what you pay for.
You said you wanted to spend some land time afterwards. If you're like me, you'll find the tropical area around (and above) Cairns much more interesting than Sydney.
You said you wanted to spend some land time afterwards. If you're like me, you'll find the tropical area around (and above) Cairns much more interesting than Sydney.
harley
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Hmmm... I've got a few conditions that would appear to disqualify me. Guess I'll have to find some unscrupulous captain to take me out there. I'll sign a form releasing him from responsibility, since dying on the GBR would be totally acceptable to me.
Went this year, 4-day Mike Ball liveaboard that included a puddle jumper to Lizard Island to meet the boat. There is one other liveaboard operator, and they both alternate 4 day liveaboard to Coral Sea and the other to Cod Hole and closer in places, both operate out of Cairns. We went on latter 4 day trip that starts on Lizard Island and ends in Cairns. The flight over the reef to meet the boat off Lizard Island was a huge highlight. It was awesome to see the reef patches from the air. It was def dive, eat, repeat several times a day, and sleep. We did see bleached coral. It was a bucket list thing for sure, but we have enjoyed seeing healthier coral in other places in SE Asia and the Caribbean.
Met a woman who worked as a marine biologist in the GBR for past 27 years, and she confirmed that it is nothing like it was. We met her on a whale watching snorkel in Moorea (and we saw lots of humpbacks up close and personal in the water there), and we also saw over 30 spotted eagle rays swimming over us, over and over again (surreal) on a dive in Bora Bora, something etched in my memory forever.
Still glad we saw the GBR when we did, but I think the flight over is the most memorable to understand the scale of the reef area (almost the size of Germany). A pinnacle we dove on the GBR had the healthiest coral. The problem, confirmed by the marine biologist, is that the coral in the northern areas has been badly damaged/bleached by several back-to-back warm water bleaching events and a cyclone last year. She said there is healthier coral in the southern area of the reef, but no liveaboards operate there. My advice would be to look to dive in the southern GBR area if possible. If you do either of the GBR liveaboards we found running out of Cairns, you will have fun and meet some cool people from all over the world and get in lots of diving. Frankly, we were disappointed in the reef life though, with the exception of a few pinnacles we stopped at. Still something to see and we did have a good time!
If you are able, try to fit in New Zealand while in the area. The South Island is just beautiful!
Met a woman who worked as a marine biologist in the GBR for past 27 years, and she confirmed that it is nothing like it was. We met her on a whale watching snorkel in Moorea (and we saw lots of humpbacks up close and personal in the water there), and we also saw over 30 spotted eagle rays swimming over us, over and over again (surreal) on a dive in Bora Bora, something etched in my memory forever.
Still glad we saw the GBR when we did, but I think the flight over is the most memorable to understand the scale of the reef area (almost the size of Germany). A pinnacle we dove on the GBR had the healthiest coral. The problem, confirmed by the marine biologist, is that the coral in the northern areas has been badly damaged/bleached by several back-to-back warm water bleaching events and a cyclone last year. She said there is healthier coral in the southern area of the reef, but no liveaboards operate there. My advice would be to look to dive in the southern GBR area if possible. If you do either of the GBR liveaboards we found running out of Cairns, you will have fun and meet some cool people from all over the world and get in lots of diving. Frankly, we were disappointed in the reef life though, with the exception of a few pinnacles we stopped at. Still something to see and we did have a good time!
If you are able, try to fit in New Zealand while in the area. The South Island is just beautiful!
Thank you for this update. Your comments mirror the research I've done. I'm going to hope the GBR can recover somewhat if they get a few years without back to back bleaching events and a cyclone. The liveaboard trips are pretty expensive and I'd rather just go somewhere else as we still have lots of places on our bucket list. And I don't want to go to Australia without diving the GBR.
We dove in Fiji about 6 years ago and it was beautiful. Pristine water, beautiful coral and lots of fish life. We stayed at Qamea resort off Taveuni.
Scuba, thanks for the mention of the Fiji resort you enjoyed, good to get a rec from someone who was there.
Bearkeley, thanks so much for mentioning Calico Jack as a liveaboard in Indonesia. We are thinking about Komodo & Raja Ampat next year, so looked up Calico Jack and it seems they go to both! Different times of year maybe, but still. You may have saved me alot of research, so thanks!
Bearkeley, thanks so much for mentioning Calico Jack as a liveaboard in Indonesia. We are thinking about Komodo & Raja Ampat next year, so looked up Calico Jack and it seems they go to both! Different times of year maybe, but still. You may have saved me alot of research, so thanks!
If we go back to Indonesia, we will do a liveaboard. We stayed 2 weeks at Gaanga Island resort in 2013. It was very nice, but we didn't get to see as many dive sites as we had hoped. Enjoy!
My best friend went to Qamea for her honeymoon in 2015 and they also loved it. Matangi is near Qamea and looked nice also. I would definitely stick with the Taveuni area of Fiji if diving is a priority.
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