Main Menu
Join Undercurrent on Facebook

The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975 | |
For Divers since 1975
The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975
"Best of the Web: scuba tips no other
source dares to publish" -- Forbes
X
 

Dive Review of Mike Ball Dive Expeditions/Paradise Sport in
Papua New Guinea/Milne Bay

Mike Ball Dive Expeditions/Paradise Sport, Dec, 2006,

by Janet & Bob Czapski, MI, USA (Contributor Contributor 14 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 3504.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 3 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving 1 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments This leg of our adventure didn't start out well because AirNuigini sold our seats while we were clearing PNG Immigration! Our connecting flight from Port Moresby to Gurney Airport in Alotau left without ten of the 11 of us and AG put us up in the Airport Hotel for the night! We were on the 6:30 a.m. flight the next morning and arrived in Alotau the next morning to be met & told that the boat had departed without us!

Mike Ball's ground rep made arrangements to "cart" us over to the other side of Alotau...it was 2-1/2 hours of grueling roads with spectacular scenery. He was supposedly in communication with the boat and they were going to pick us up at "Point A". When we arrived there, no boat. After further communication, we were advised that we were to be taken a beach area where the Tawali boat would pick us up and take us to the resort where the Paradise Sport would meet us....after waiting on a beautiful beach for over an hour, it was determined that the Tawali boat had gone to "Point B" rather than this beach we were waiting at! We had to drive to that dock area to get a pick-up! It was a 20 minute boat ride from there to Tawali where we were served cool beverages while we waited for the Paradise Sport to arrive.

Apparently, it's Mike Ball's company policy to NOT wait for guests to arrive (although we found out that the NEXT week, they waited for several guests whose flight from Brisbane to POM was delayed). The boat had sailed with one of my group members and five Polish guests...leaving behind TEN group members! It wasn't a great start to the week....

Diving commenced at Dinah's Beach which is one of the premier sites in Milne Bay; we moved on to Kathy's Corner and other "muck" sites. We did a few open water bommie dives, one of which revealed a huge green/black rhinopia! The B-17 bomber dive was enjoyed by all those who did it and the Boga Boga Village visit is always a high spot in a Milne Bay trip. Most of the diving is done directly from the back of the boat and all you had to come up for was a refill of air/Nitrox and fresh camera batteries!

The Paradise Sport was doing its last few charters in Papua New Guinea before the boat was sold. It was apparent from the Captain & Cruise Director's attitudes that they were just "biding their time". The chef was great, food was fantastic and the rest of the crew were friendly & competent.

Overall, Milne Bay was as good as we remembered it; next time we'll visit it on a smaller, more intimate boat!

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Thailand, Bali-Komodo, Raja Ampat, Lembeh Straits, Malaysia, PNG, Solomon Islands, Caribbean
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm, currents, noCurrents
Water Temp 82-84°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 30-100 Ft/ 9-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions No restrictions except on B-17 bomber dive.
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish 1 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

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

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Camera storage area is the top shelf behind the diver's station. Secondary shelves hold peripheral gear. Charging area was separate and plentiful. Cameras were handled very well by the crew. If you were looking for specific "critters" you could ask one of the dive guides to take you right to it! They also placed sticks in the sand where unique critters had been spotted....
Was this report helpful to you?
Leave a comment (Subscribers only -- 200 words max)
Subscribers can comment here
 

Subscribe Now
Subscribers can post comments, ask the reviewer questions, as well as getting immediate and complete access to ALL 157 dive reviews of Papua New Guinea and all other dive destinations. Complete access to all issues and Chapbooks is also included.

 
Featured Links from Our Sponsors
Interested in becoming a sponsor?
Best of PNG
Best of PNG
The PNG diving and land tour specialists. No-one knows PNG above and below better. Resorts, liveaboards, festivals, villages, flight deals.
Reef & Rainforest, Let our experience be your guide -- Reef and Rainforest
Reef & Rainforest
is an agency for travelers that scuba dive. Want biodiversity, critters, tribal villages, birds of paradise? We specialize in Papua New Guinea.

Want to assemble your own collection of Papua New Guinea reports in one place?
Use the Mini Chapbook Facility to create your personalized collection.

Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

Undercurrent Home


Get more dive info like these and other important scuba updates sent monthly to your email.
And a FREE Recent Issue of Undercurrent

Free Undercurrent Issue
Get a free
monthly email and
a sample issue!


Find in  

| Home | Online Members Area | My Account | Login | Join |
| Travel Index | Dive Resort & Liveaboard Reviews | Featured Reports | Recent Issues | Back Issues |
| Dive Gear Index | Health/Safety Index | Environment & Misc. Index | Seasonal Planner | Blogs | Free Articles | Book Picks | News |
| Special Offers | RSS | FAQ | About Us | Contact Us | Links |

Copyright © 1996-2024 Undercurrent (www.undercurrent.org)
3020 Bridgeway, Ste 102, Sausalito, Ca 94965
All rights reserved.

Page computed and displayed in 0.08 seconds