Dive Review of Mike Ball in
Australia/Great Barrier Reef/Coral Sea

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Mike Ball, Nov, 2005, by Mort Rolleston, DC, US . Report 2777.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We embarked on the 1-8 November 2005 liveaboard trip out of Townsville on the Spoilsport. It visited sites in the Bowl, Dip, ANZAC, and Wheeler Reefs within the Great Barrier Reef; Flinders Reef out in the Coral Sea; and the world famous Yongala wreck. It was our first liveaboard experience and we definitely got hooked: nothing to do but eat, sleep, relax, and dive – almost like camp for adults. Most days had four opportunities to dive – to include night dives. Other than a very small treeless islet in Flinders Reef, at which we stopped to explore for a few hours, we did not see land for a week. The night skies were unbelievable so far away from the lights of civilization. The crew, most especially its leader AJ, was top notch, worked hard, and took care of you. They provided as much assistance as you wanted and would guide you or dive with you if you requested or lacked a buddy. With our eternal gratitude, they also delayed departure to wait for us as our flight was very late. One of the crew ran various diver education courses and photos throughout the trip. Dive briefings were detailed and useful and even included detailed site maps on chalkboards. The food was somewhat straightforward, but very good and quite varied. The crew also conducted various fun group activities on some nights. The diving ranged from surprisingly average to the best. The Yongala wreck is truly world class and worth the hype as one of the world’s great dives. Because the wreck is an oasis on the otherwise bare ocean floor, was unknown for decades, and has been protected by law for many years, marine life has been able to evolve unmolested. They included mass upon mass of overgrown jacks, jewfish, snapper, pufferfish, sea snakes, turtles, moray eels, Napoleon wrasse, groupers, huge bull rays at night, barracuda, mackerel, baitfish, and on and on. A few bull sharks apparently patrol nearby, though I never saw them. The coral on the ship turned bright orange at night. Unlike the reefs, the coral on the Yongala is mostly soft coral, including some that looked like purple leaves. The coral covering is so dense you hardly know there is a large intact freighter there. In sum: absolutely unbelievable. Not far behind were a few dives among truly pristine fields of hard coral(though some was pure white – I assume bleached) of all shapes and sizes as far as the eye can see. The shark feed at Scuba Zoo, while somewhat contrived, was also quite enjoyable as it drew a dozen or so blacktips and reef sharks. Unlike my experience in Nassau, this crew doesn't handfeed the sharks. They instead put the sharks' natural food in a garbage can that they move around for 10-15 minutes on a pulley system around the group perched on top of shark cages along the bottom to attract the sharks and give everyone a chance to get up close and personal. They then mechanically lift the lid, from which a long chain with fish on various hooks extends. At that moment, the sharks very quickly pounce on the food in a "frenzy" and after several minutes disappear. A couple of dives involved some impressive steep walls and interesting rock and cave formations. Most of the rest of the diving was among spur and groove like groups of “bommies” or rock formations that raise off the bottom with small canyons in between, some better than others. Most of the usual suspects you see in any tropical waters were there. Shark encounters averaged perhaps one whitetip per every other dive. In addition, we did see completely new types of fish compared to the Caribbean: fuseliers, giant clams, sweetlips, napoleon wrasse, unicornfish, moorish idols, clownfish, cuttlefish, large red sea cucumbers, lionfish, batfish, triggerfish, and large bumphead parrotfish. Noticeably missing for the most part: lobsters, crabs (and most any critter at night for that matter), as well as eels and soft coral. In sum, while the Yongala and perhaps a half dozen of the other dives as well as the liveaboard experience with Mike Ball were worth the trip, maybe half of my 20 dives were surprisingly not significantly better than my Caribbean diving experience as far as fish life. We had a great time overall.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Ko Samui Thailand, Nassau Bahamas, Bonaire, Key Largo FL, NC wrecks, Santa Catalina CA, Brockville Ontario wrecks
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas
Water Temp	78-80°F / 26-27°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	40-100 Ft/ 12-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	You could download digital photos on a computer on the ship. plenty of camera only shelves above dive stations and plenty of camera only wash tanks. Several on board had multi-thousand dollar cameras and video cameras and had no problems.

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Dive Review of Mike Ball in Australia/Great Barrier Reef/Coral Sea

Mike Ball, Nov, 2005,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Mike Ball in
Australia/Great Barrier Reef/Coral Sea