Good/Bad Experiences/Recommendations for Great Barrier Reef Liveabords?

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aengus - 07 Mar 2006 02:47 GMT

Hi All,

I'm looking to do a liveabord trip on some part of the barrier reef in
the next few months so I wondered what experiences others have had?

+ name of operator?
+ nice boat/company/living conditions?
+ equipment? ( I'll be renting all equipment except for:
mask,fins,computer )
+ good diving, good number of dives?
+ price?
+ where on the reef?

Thanks for any contributions - I'm sure many people would be interested
in what you have to say.

Aengus.

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Reef Fish - 07 Mar 2006 05:51 GMT

> Hi All,
>
> I'm looking to do a liveabord trip on some part of the barrier reef in
> the next few months so I wondered what experiences others have had?

General impression (liveaboard from Cairns):

Crowded boats; rough waters -- boat moves every night;
very mediocre diving (including some famous sites like
Kingdom of Doom; Cod Hole; etc. visibility and coral
like not very good). No burning desire to return there.
Had seen better IMAX and OMNI 3D diving film in an
hour better than days of actual diving there. :-)

> + name of operator?

Taca II.

> + nice boat/company/living conditions?

28 passengers in a boat about half the size of a
Peter Hughes or Aggressor boat of capacity 18.
I stayed at the only "suite" on the boat. Big enough
for two people to stand on the floor at the same time. <G>

> + equipment? ( I'll be renting all equipment except for:
> mask,fins,computer )

Dunno. I brought all my own, except tanks and weight.

> + good diving, good number of dives?

Reasonable number of dives. Mediocre diving. Plenty
of dead and bleached corals. (2002) Might have improved.

> + price?

Cheap. You get what you paid for. :-) Beware of the
pricing of some other operators such as Mike Ball (3 tiers:
Aussie price best; US price next best; Japanese price worst).
I don't patronize operators with discriminatory pricing.

> + where on the reef?

See dive charter itinerary for 4-night and 3-night trips.

-- Bob.

Reply to this Message

Reef Fish - 07 Mar 2006 14:13 GMT

> > Hi All,
> >
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> Taca II.

Correction: Taka II. I was confusing one Taka with another
Taca (Take A Chance Airline).

> > + nice boat/company/living conditions?
>
> 28 passengers in a boat about half the size of a
> Peter Hughes or Aggressor boat of capacity 18.
> I stayed at the only "suite" on the boat. Big enough
> for two people to stand on the floor at the same time. <G>

Actually 30 passengers on an 100 ft boat. I found this report:
http://tinyurl.com/eqvr6

>From the Scuba-SE archives:

Not that there weren't good moments in the Coral Sea and the Great
Barrier
Reef, but let me get this out of the way before further ado. :-)))

5. My room wasn't what was pictured on the Taka II webpage.
(Giovanni was right <G>)

4. The diving wasn't done as described on the Taka II webpage. The
capital
punishment for "reverse profile" doesn't even make this Top 5 list!
;-)

3. The Ultimate Cattleboat. The galley did not have enough standing
room
for 27 divers!

2. The Exquisite Cuisine. By about the 3rd meal, catsup became the
universal sauce (because it's the only available sause) requested
by
passengers for all dishes. All veggie dishes (the same ones
everyday)
are boiled and served in unseasoned water.

1. The sight and sound and feel of the Taka II boat somehow reminded
me
of the African Queen boat used in the Bogart-Hepburn classic! :-)

That's all I have the time for now. :-)))

The above was taken from http://tinyurl.com/mp3mw

That was the archives of the entire MONTH of Scuba-SE in Nov 2002.
If you folks want to see what a REAL and healthy Scuba Discussion
was like, that month (and many of the adjacent months) are good
examples. I was amazed at the number of threads (and their diversity
of SCUBA topics) and the number of POSTS (from DIFFERENT
divers in that group).

Alas, the good ole days of SCUBA discussion are gone forever,
I'm afraid, no thanks to Lee and his likes in his disruptive GANG
that's
ruining whatever little scuba discussion that REMAINS in rec.scuba.
locations. <sigh>

> > + equipment? ( I'll be renting all equipment except for:
> > mask,fins,computer )
>
> Dunno. I brought all my own, except tanks and weight.

> > + good diving, good number of dives?
>
> Reasonable number of dives. Mediocre diving. Plenty
> of dead and bleached corals. (2002) Might have improved.

This excerpt (again from Scuba-SE) explains better the
phenomenon of dead corals:

====================

>> From: "Reef Fish" <large_nassau_grouper@YAHOO.COM>
>(snip)
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
>I think that may have been referring to specific small areas rather than

the

>country as a whole. I certainly wasn't aware that 90% of the corals on Oz
>reefs had carked it! :-)

I think the keyword I missed used there was "killed" for "bleached"
because they are synonymous to me. :-) The 90% figure was given for
the entire country of Australia, since 2000. You'll have to find the
reporter and grill him for the factual details, but I did notice that
effect at the Kingdom of Doom, even though that wasn't the reason why
it was so named. :-)
===================

> > + price?
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> -- Bob.

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travelmom - 08 Mar 2006 17:30 GMT

We are looking for scuba buddies to go for week long trips on a
livaboard. We can do $550 per person if 10 or more buy reservations as
a group or $700 per person or $1500 for a private cabin for one person.
We have a main boat and another boate we do the diving off of. But we
are going to Andros Island, reefs, ship wrecks, etc. about 5 dives per
day and we move along so people get the most out of their trip. Meals
are included but it is a club. The dues are $25.00 per household per
year and every member's imput is important...so take a look, reply to
pplindsay@yahoo.com and join/help out with planning!

> > > Hi All,
> > >
[quoted text clipped - 119 lines]
> >
> > -- Bob.

Reply to this Message

Greg Mossman - 08 Mar 2006 17:54 GMT

> We are looking for scuba buddies to go for week long trips on a
> livaboard. We can do $550 per person if 10 or more buy reservations as
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> year and every member's imput is important...so take a look, reply to
> pplindsay@yahoo.com and join/help out with planning!

1) Andros Island is not in the Great Barrier Reef.

2) Stop your spamming. This is like the third time you've posted this. If
all the dive clubs, even the non-profits, posted their upcoming charters,
the rest of us would have no room to post what we like to post.

Reply to this Message

morgand@cix.compulink.co.uk - 07 Mar 2006 08:53 GMT

> *From:* "aengus" <aengus@gmail.com>
> *Date:* 6 Mar 2006 18:47:19 -0800
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> I'm looking to do a liveabord trip on some part of the barrier reef in
> the next few months so I wondered what experiences others have had?

Take a look at our Australia diving experience's at

http://www.seatreker.com/Australia%20&%20Barrier%20Reef.htm

If you need anything else just ask.......

Anyone else got trips planned they need advice on..........;^)

www.seatreker.com
Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK

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