3rd April, 2007

7th April 2008

10th April, 2008

14th April 2008

17th April 2008

21st April 2008

24th April 2008

28th April 2008

Spoilsport - 3rd April, 2008

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones

A very relaxed dive trip with guests from USA, Canada and the UK. Although weather conditions prevented us getting to Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea we were able to dive some of the best sites on the Great Barrier Reef where conditions were much more comfortable. Dive highlights included huge Giant Clams at the Clam Beds, Lionfish, Nudibranchs and Flame Fire Shells at Pixie Pinnacle, a school of hundreds of Big-eye Trevally under the boat at Challenger Bay; and of course all teh White-tip Reef sharks and Potato Cod seen at The Cod Hole.

Seven guests flew out from Lizard Island and enjoyed a scenic flightback to Cairns over the Great Barrier Reef, while the other guests stayed with us for the southbound trip.

Guest Comments

John Knebel, Canada . “Kerrin was great!!! The entire crew was great!!! Simon's meals were far beyond expectation.”

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones

The diving was kicked off at the world famous Cod Hole where divers had close encounters with sveral large Potato Cod and a few White-tip Reef Sharks. The following day was spent diving some great sites near the southern end of Ribbon Reef No. 10. Starting off at Lighthouse Bommie where Lionfish, Nudibranchs, Turtles and Sea Snakes were seen, then over to Acropolis for some of the best hard corals of the Great Barrier Reef and finishing off the day with the opportunity to dive Pixie Pinnacle as a night dive.

Some more great marine life was spotted on the final day of diving with the rara Rhinopias (or Lacey Scorpionfish), Leafy Scorpionfish and some Stonefish seen.

Guest Comments

John Knebel, Canada . “Kerrin was great!!! The entire crew was great!!! Simon's meals were far beyond expectation.”

Spoilsport - 10th April, 2008

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones

The first day was spent diving some of the very best dives of the Great Barrier Reef, with excellent dives at Challenger Bay, Acropolis (with its amazing hard corals) and The Cod Hole with plentty of Potato Cod and White-tip Reef Sharks. We then spent a day of diving Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea with sheer walls and soft coreals and lots of sharks. Highlights were a Manta Ray seen up close at Admiralty Anchor, and what may have been the best shark feed ever at North Horn, with a couple of visiting shark researchers wrestling sharks, providing extra excitement. Weather forced us back to the Great Barrier Reef for the third day of diving with some great divess at Fanbelt and Lighthouse Bommie. We celebrated the end of the trip with an Aussie BBQ at Lizard Island and a glass of champagne.

Guest Comments :

Brad Graham, Australia "Great diving with a well run and professional outfit - thank you!!"

Peter Jalkotzy. “The best part was having the fortune to participate in this most excellent adventure - as was said to me - 'you do it right!'”

Jo Evans, UK & Hong Kong. “The diving, turtles! and friendly staff."

Spoilsport - 14th April 2008

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones

After a low-level scenic flight to Lizaard Island over the Great Barrier Reef our newly arrived guests boarded SpoilSport for their dive trip heading south down the Ribbon Reefs. The Cod Hole was first up, with divers encountering a great variety of marine life including the friendly resident Potato Cod, White-Tip Reef Sharks, Clown Triggerfish, Cuttlefish and an unusual Pipefish

Challenger Bay was a great night dive with hunting Giant Trevally, Red Bass, Moray Eels and more. Other popular dives for the trip were Pixie Pinnacle with lots of nudibranchs spotted, Steve;s Bommie with Lionfish, Stonefish and Leafy Scorpionfish and Flare Point where some lucky divers had a close encounter with a friendly green turtle.

Guest Comments :

Philippa Luscombe, UK. "Diversity of marine life and excellent crew who couldn't have done more to make diving safe and enjoyable."

Jeremy PAck, UK "Quality end to end, the enthusiasm and helpfulness of the crew - this is a real quality package."

Kimberley Reedy, USA "The staff was phenomenal - always there to take care of us. Having the dive sites all to ourselves made a huge difference. I can't even single out any staff, ever single one of them deserve a raise!"

Spoilsport - 17th April 2008

Written by Trip Director - James Hutchinson

This week's triip started well with guests arriving from Germany, Denmark, Brazil, England and various parts of Australia. We began our diving at Flare Point and then on to Clam Beds, with an abundance of fish life. With the prospect of diving Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea diminishing due to weahter conditions, the upper Ribbon Reefs put on a show for all and the outcome was spectacular. Finding such rare creatures as Pygmy Seahorses, Hairy Ghost Pipefish and Halimeda Ghost Pipefish, Barramundi Cod and Orangutan Crabs couple with the always popular Potato Cod at the Cod Hole turned this trip into one to remember. Guests also thoroughly enjoyed the culinary delights provided by our wonderful chef Simon and good times and laughter from Captain Trevor and he Ukelele.

Guest Comments :

Rohan Rivett, Australia. "Friendly staff service and amazing diving locations."

Mariana Krym, Brazil "Having the opportunity to be really close to the cod fish [was] the best part for me. The crew was very friendly and made us feel welcome."

Pam Mainwaring, UK "What was the best thing about your expedition? - Everything"

Spoilsport - 21st April 2008

Written by Trip Director - James Hutchinson

Every now and again some things come up on a trip that stun even a veteran like me. This week it was the turn of the little creatures to inspire even the most travelled divers into a frenzy of gear-donning and racing for the dive platform. What was causing the fracas? The stunning discovery at Challenger Bay of the platinum rare Hairy Ghost Pipefish. Not one day later just a few miles north at the Cod Hole, both the Pygmy Seahorses and Halimeda Ghost Pipefish were found and photographed extensively. For lovers of the big stuff, an enormous Great Hammerhead was spotted mixing it up with the squadrons of Trevally and Barracuda at Lighthouse Bommie. All the while, divers basked in the 250C crystal clear waters of the magnificent Ribbon Reefs.

Guest Comments :

Roly O'Connell, UK/Australia "Awesome diving and 1st clas service - fantastic food"

Rebecaa Sherlock, UK "Dive sites were amazing coupled with great staff!"

Alice O'Connell, UK/Australia "Excellent dive sites, great crew, delicious food."

Spoilsport - 24th April 2008

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones

Perfect weather and good sea conditions made for a great Coral Sea Safari this trip. Our first day of diving was spent around Ribbon Reef No.10, where after getting comfortable back in the water at Challenger Bay we moved up to Acropolis which has some of the best hard corals to be seen anywhere on the Great Barrier Reef. In the afternoon we headed up to the Cod Hole for an afternoon and night dive, with plenty of Potato Cod and White-Tip Reef Sharks spotted.

The following two days were spent diving Ospreay Reef in the Coral Sea which provided some fantastic diving. As well as the sheer walls, great viz, huge fans and soft corals, diving highlights included some amazing close encounters with Manta Rays at the cleaning station at Roung the Bend. There was also an exciting shark feed at North Horn, with a couple of big Silvertip Sharks coming in for a particularly close look at dive instructor Steffen.

Sunset champagne, an Aussie BBQ party night announcement of the underwater photo competition winners and a viewing of the trip video finished off an awesome expedition.

Visisbility: 25m

Guest Comments :

Alice Trosch, USA "Smooth Operation - Seamless! The crew was the best organised and congenial. They worked together very well."

Geoff Gander, Australia "Great crew and food. Diving was excellent and weather was very kind to us."

Chris Wenban, Australia "Fantastic dive sites, and facilities (computer and camera table), good dive operational processes and fantastic food."

Spoilsport - 28th April 2008

Written by Trip Director - Kerrin Jones

Our southbound trip began with a visit to scenic Lizard Island, after which we headed for the Cod Hole to begin our diving. While our newer divers were doing orientation dives and spotting Potato Cod, the more experienced divers went down to 33m to visit a Sea Fan with a few resident Pygmy Seahorses. After a second Cod Hole dive we headed south to Challenger Bay which is always a great night dive.

The highlight of the second day was Lighthouse Bommie where we had and open deck for around three and a half hours in the middle of the day. 30m visisibility , two very friendly and relaxed Green Turtles and an Olive Sea Snake of two, as well as plenty of Lionfish and Nudibranchs were seen by excited divers. Our final day of diving was spent at Steve's Bommie and Flare Point. Underwater highlights included a great Barracuda under the boat and some Stonefish and a Flame File Shell spotted at Steve's and the great Hard Corals at Flare Point.

Guest Comments :

Andrew Currie, Australia "Professionalism, quality of food and accommodation, great staff."

Pete Williams, England "Smooth running, choice of quality dive sites - top quality maintained dive equipment."

Tanya Ward, Canada / Australia "Great atmosphere and crew attitude - they really love their jobs and it shows. Open dive platforms, solo diver program, freedom and relaxed diving environment - smooth running operation."