Just back from 4 day Coral Sea Spirit of Freedom Liveaboard Cruise
 

Had a great time! The facilities and staff on the SOF were excellent. We were so lucky with the weather at this time of year - sun the whole 4 days except for one early morning dive when it rained. When we arrived back in Cairns yesterday morning there were traffic jams everywhere due to the tsunami alert. We had planned to take the SkyRail up to Kuranda - seemed like a good thing to be at 2000+ feet ;)

Happy to answer any questions.

y (

Whoops, a puppy just hit the post button.

Glad you had such a good time on SOF, Elizabeth and the weather did the right thing.

My daughter rang me from Byron Bay (we're near Cairns) when she heard the tsunami alert and suggested that we spend the day on Skyrail, although would have been tricky getting through traffic jam at Smithfield.

Pat - we had a great time - thanks for your earlier help.

Martin - they did a shark feed - going into it I wasn't sure I "approved" (still not sure, actually) but it was an amazing experience.

A few pix here on our blog - more to come

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/2...me_intere.html

Elizabeth, thanks for the blog posting. We are booked on SOF in October and nice to hear you had such a good experience. Loved the pictures of tree ferns on your blogsite. I also am in love with cycads!
Sally in Seattle

Hi Sally - watch the blog for updates - we'll do a more extensive posting on the SOF. We rented one of their underwater cameras for a day so have lots of fish pix!

Hi Elizabeth, so glad you had a great time! Great Pictures :) We're headed on the Taka dive boat to the Coral Sea and Osprey Reef on the 20th of this month. Couple quick questions what kind of wetsuit were you using? I'm trying to figure out if I should rent one since I have a 3mm shortie. How rough is it? I know you said the weather was nice, but trying to figure out if I needed to bring any extra seasickness medicine. Any extra tips on something people should bring on a trip like this that you wouldn't normally think of? Thanks so much!

Hi Karen - we rented a 3mm suit and lycra liner - all we wore was the liner for protection against the coral - the water was 25 degrees C so your shortie should be fine.

Regarding the seas - we picked up the boat at Lizard Island and the overnight passage to Osprey Reef was through heavy seas - the boat really rolled a lot - same thing the final night back to Cairns. It apparently was pretty normal so I'd be sure to have all your medication with you.

Other tips - earplugs are handy for nighttime,disposable underwater camera - if I think of any more I'll post them - have a great trip!

Greetings Elizabeth S

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip on SOF. We think its the only way to enjoy the GBR/Coral Sea

Cheers

Steve

Hi Elizabeth S---Definitely a trip of a lifetime! My husband and I are planning a trip to GBR in Sept 2012. It appears SOF is highly regarded. I am curious----I noticed on the SOF website that they recommend for the 4 day trip (as opposed to the 3 day trip) that folks are Advanced Divers/Advanced Open Water certified. My husband and I are Open Water Certified, but not Advanced. We have done about in total 30+ dives--- in the Caribbean, Red Sea, and Pacific. We are definitely not expert divers, so were curious about the "toughness" of the dives.
I am also concerned about rough seas. I am usually fine if I take medicine, but is it typical to expect rough seas all year round for the overnight passages? Because of the seasick factor, I am also researching staying in the Whitsundays instead of a liveaboard.
Kind Thanks, Skigirl74

skigirl74 - your diving experience and ours is very similar. The diving conditions were some of the most challenging we've experienced, but well within our competency. (I looked at the current 4 day itinerary and it looks pretty similar to ours)

The first day they did a very detailed interview with us (and we were absolutely honest about our experience) and then we did a fairly shallow water dive where they observed our skills/comfort/etc (no formal check out, though). After that dive they told us we could dive without direct supervision (i.e. we didn't have to follow one of the dive masters around). They were pretty blunt with some of the divers - they were only allowed to dive as part of a group (some of the passengers had recently been certified and this was their first actual dive)

The next dive we went around on our own - but after that we pretty much stuck near a dive master - they know the sites so well and pointed things out we would have missed (and the groups were so small it was practically a private tour!)

Alternatively - the 3 day cruise would have been fine for us too and it might be less rough as it doesn't go out to the Coral Sea.

Sorry - can't comment on seasonality for the seas.

for anybody interested SOF are going on a remote area exploration expedition. This a a divers dream trip (though very big $$) and will take place January 2012. It is 14 days so a big trip.

http://www.spiritoffreedom.com.au/expedition