MIKE BALL DIVE / ABYSS SCUBA DIVING EXPEDITIONS

Coral Sea Yongala  Townsville to Cairns

This experdition has been designed to meet the specific requirments of Abyss Scuba Diving. It will not only enable us to dive the wreck of the Yongala at the best time of the year but will aslo give some great diving in the Coral Sea. The trip offers unlimited diving.

Spoilsport Vessel Features:

• Spoilsport is Australia ’s most ‘Awarded’ live aboard,
• Length 30m (100ft); Beam 10m (36ft); Speed 15 knots,
• Passenger average 20 (max 28) Crew 11,
• Twin hull’s reduce seasickness and maximises stability, space and privacy,
• Twin or double cabins, most with ocean views. Daily cabin service,
• Spacious: dining room; lounge; alfresco deck and sundeck,
• Sensational chef prepared meals and in-between meal snacks,
• Complimentary soft drinks and Australian wines (with dinner).

 

Thursday 18th November: Check-in and Departure

· Meet your fellow guests at 7pm at the Jupiter’s Casino Marina, Townsville.

· Board Spoilsport 8pm.

· Cruise overnight to the Yongala, the first stop on your 700km dive odyssey.

Friday / Saturday: SS Yongala

· Explore one of the worlds best wreck sites – the historic 120m (360ft) passenger freighter SS Yongala which sunk in 1911 with the loss of 122 lives.

· Hover with huge stingrays and masses of fish schooling over the wreck.

· The uppermost port hull is richly adorned with multicoloured soft coral trees, whips and sponges, gently moving with the current.

· Witness more marine life here than on a whole trip elsewhere.

Sunday: Great Barrier Reef

· Appreciate unparalleled diversity in coral species and marine life on a rarely visited outer Great Barrier Reef site.

· Look under overhangs and stacked shelving plate coral for lion fish, sleeping sharks and moray eels.

· Be amazed at the density of coral associated fish atop pristine coral gardens at Dip Reef.

· Glide amongst schooling chevron barracuda and trevelly at Myrmidon Reef.

· Overnight cruise to Flinders Reef.

Monday / Tuesday: Coral Sea - Flinders Reef / Flinders Cay

· Scan spectacular walls that drop over 300m (1000ft) with crystal visibility averaging 40m+ (120ft).

· Descend to gorgonian fans up to 4.5m wide (the Gigantus Gorgonus) and huge soft coral trees.

· Mingle with patrolling sharks, tuna and barracuda.

· Flinders Cay – stroll with seabirds and turtles during nesting season (October – March) on this isolated sand cay.

· Celebrate the end of a fantastic day with a sunset drink and Aussie BBQ.

· Overnight cruise to Holmes Reef.

Wednesday: Coral Sea – Holmes Reef

· Steep slopes and vertical walls rising up from 1500m (4920ft).

· Caves, tunnels and caverns are dotted around shallow sheltered lagoons.

· Drift dive sites such as The Abyss& The Cathedral.

· Overnight cruise to Cairns.

Thursday: Arrive Cairns / Disembark

· Early morning docking at Trinity Wharf – Cairns.

· Breakfast onboard

· 8:00am courtesy transfers to Cairns city hotels, the MBDE office or the airport.

Note: Itinerary subject to change.

Prime dives sites - GUARANTEED!

· This itinerary has been designed to include the ‘prime’ Coral Sea, Great Barrier Reef and Yongala Wreck sites.

· If weather forces an itinerary change our surety of access to a large volume of prime reef sites is your guarantee of the best possible diving.

· Spoilsport’s outstanding stability minimises disruption to your itinerary and your diving experience.

The 115 meter SS Yongala sank in 1911. After descending through oversize jacks and spadefish you see the Yongala shrouded in a myriad of marine life. At 15 meter's you are level with the uppermost deck. The Yongala rests at 30 meter's leaning on her starboard side. The uppermost port hull is richly adorned with multicoloured soft coral trees, whips and sponges, gently moving with the current. Enveloped in baitfish, slowly fining above this colourful parade you see all manner of fish moving amongst this colourful haven. You sense they are oblivious to your approach and realize this is something very special! This tranquility may be broken by predatory giant trevally torpedoing through the baitfish. Descending across the sloping deck you see companionways and compartments crowded fish life. Purple-banded angelfish blend with purple soft corals; hundreds of yellow perch hover in the current while super size coral trout observe you glide by. Both turtles and venomous sea snakes foraging for food are common sightings on the wreck.

 

Under the bow, throngs of mangrove jack and sweetlip mingle with large estuarine cod. Moving along the sand towards the stern you are likely to see 2 meter long bull rays shadowed by schools of cobia. Large inquisitive napoleon wrasse swim by while, large chinamen and scribbled puffers peer out from under the hull. From the deck broken spars lean onto the sand, each with it’s own squadron of fish tightly bunched close by. Many species of brightly coloured nudibranch can be found. Some of the most highly prized Yongala sightings include the family of shy 500-pound groupers, 2 meter shovelnose rays and large bull sharks. A school of sweetlip hovers above artifacts under the stern while photographers will be more attracted to the photogenic rudder section. One circuit of this historic shipwreck will display an awesome amount of marine life, but one dive or even one day is not enough. Nitrox is recommended to maximize your enjoyment. Don’t miss the opportunity to witness the huge bull rays hanging motionless in the current during the night dive. Note: Weather conditions prevent us from diving the Yongala 1 in 14 expeditions; the success rate is 93%. If conditions are unsuitable for the wreck we go to the reef. November is the best month to dive the wreck.

Average Ratings: 5

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"Once in a lifetime opportunity!!" Jamie on 23/9/2009 8:23:45 AM 5 Comments: This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity!! Dive sites visited on this trip are untouched and marine life thrives! I have been lucky enough to dive the Yongala, GBR and Coral Sea before... Having dived other destinations around the world, these 3 spots still rate as my top 3! The best dives I have ever done were on the Yongala, followed closely by the GBR. There is more marine life per square meter of the Yongala than I have seen anywhere - and it's all twice as BIG! This trip may never be r... More details