Description: Living aboard a dive boat at the Great Barrier Reef - scuba
heaven! We chose a 3 day Lizard Island/Cod Hole/Reef expedition. It started with a flight on a small plane (you could sit next to the pilot) over the reef - gorgeous! We landed on Lizard Island where we saw some huge reptiles, then boarded our new home. Stormy seas made the first hour sheer hell, but things calmed greatly after that.
The accommodations were nice enough (we generously gave the last "snuggly" room to a friend of ours and had separate bunks). The staff were knowledgeable, professional, extremely competent divemasters and fresh tanks of air always awaited us. The cook was wonderful! They were also very friendly - nightly drinking bouts ensued and we even adopted one of the crew into our pack after hitting shore. We were lucky enough to have a professional videographer on board, but don't count on this.
The dives were amazing, and included a wide array of sealife (see separate journal entry "12 dives in 48 hours").
We were even allowed to dive off the top of the boat from swimming/relaxation and even chased a huge por of Dolphins in two zodiacs - Wow!
Tips:
1) You'll want a dive computer to max your dive time. They rent them, but just go ahead and buy one YOU like (don't waste money on features like PC interface).
2) You'll need dive insurance. Check out DAN (diver alert network).
3)Buy anti-seasickness patches. You may need them.
4) If you go with Mike Ball, you cannot possibly be disappointed!
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