Dive Review of Mike Ball - Supersport in
Australia/Ribbon Reefs/Great Barrier

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Mike Ball - Supersport, Jun, 2005, by Rene Umberger, HI, USA ( Reviewer 5 reports). Report 2083.
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	Planned this trip to be there with the Minke Whales. Absolutely beyond what we expected. A must do trip for anyone desiring close encounters with cetaceans. Shortly after hooking up to a mooring the whales showed up and approached, oggled and circled the boat, divers and snorkelers for hours! They seemed to want to communicate with us and approached closer and closer as the day went on (a testiment to the well controlled program). These whales are hunted by the Japanese once they head for Antartica to feed, and are in need of protection. As for the crew, they're in need of retraining. The staff, service & food quality was well below what we had encountered the previous year. The briefings were much too long and extremely repetitive - a definite waste of precious time. The cook was inexperienced, even serving leftovers for lunch (that weren't that great the first time around). They let their "interns" (free help) enter the water before paying customers. We logged our complaints with Dorothy, Mike Ball's office manager, and she responded perfectly by acknowledging and addressing our concerns and making sure that our next trip with them, 2 days later to the Yongala, was up to par. She went out of her way to provide great service, even taking her own personal time to deliver a forgotten item to us at the dock before departure!
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Calif., Hawaii, Roatan
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	cloudy	Seas	calm, currents
Water Temp	73-75°F / 23-24°C	Wetsuit Thickness	7
Water Visibility	30-80 Ft/ 9-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Approaching the whales while on scuba is prohibited. Crew seemed to have a hard time discerning hovering from approaching and were a bit over the top at times, but better to be over protective...
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	>2
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Mike Ball - Supersport in Australia/Ribbon Reefs/Great Barrier

Mike Ball - Supersport, Jun, 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 - Supersport in
Australia/Ribbon Reefs/Great Barrier