You will be picked up from our hotel in Cairns and will travel in an air-conditioned vehicle to the jetty from where you will board the ship for your cruise. The ship has air-conditioned cabins which are luxuriously decorated. It has a master stateroom, 5 double/ensuite cabins, 5 standard twin cabin, 2 quad share cabins. The cruising speed of the ship is 11 knots. The crew onboard is friendly and will assist you in whatever way it can.
Settle into your chosen accommodation and later enjoy a brief introduction where you will be told about the schedule.
Dinner will be served later in the evening.
This morning your ship will be at Cod Hole.
After breakfast, get ready for the first dive of the day. On all dives, you will have 2 instructors diving alongside with you. The average dive time is approximately 45 minutes and you can dive up to a depth of thirty five meters.
Dive One is at Cod Hole. Here you may see huge potato cods, the Maori Wrasse, which gets its name from the unique patterns evident on its face. If you are adventurous enough, you may go to Shark Alley where you might be able to find a couple of sleeping white-tip reef sharks.
Dive two will again be at Cod Hole where you will have close encounters with the famous Potato cod.
Dive three will be either at Pixie’s Pinacle or Challenger Bay where you may spot lion fish, garden eels and Barracuda.
After this dive, return to the ship, enjoy lunch and relax in the afternoon.
Dive four is your first night dive in Challenger Bay. Night diving gives you the chance to explore the underwater environment from a different perspective. You will be given suitable gear (like flashlight, back-up light). You may spot parrotfish, bioluminescent algae and a host of other fishes snoozing.
Return to the ship for your evening meal and to spend the night.
After breakfast, get ready for the dive five. You will dive in Clam Gardens. The main reef is replete with giant clams which are up to 2 meters long. In addition, there are a handful of small caves for the more adventurous divers in the group.
Dive six will be at Steve’s Bommie which is an area full of a variety of pelagics, anthias, and gorgeous corals. The site is named after Steve, an engineer on a dive boat who was particularly fond of this site. He passed away in a tragic motorbike accident. There is a plaque in his memory at about 20 meters. This is one of the most spectacular dive sites on this trip. You may spot red flame file shell, wobbegong sharks, turtles and thousands of schooling Anthias.
Return to the ship for a snack.
Dive seven will be at the Temple of Doom. You may spot large pelagics, anemone fish, turtles, and sharks. Closer to the surface, you should find schools of fusiliers, moorish idols, butterfly fish, and angel fish. During winters, you may get lucky and spot a Minke Whale.
Dive eight will be at Beer Gardens where you may spot sleepy turtles and parrot fish.
Later return to the ship for dinner and to spend the night.
Get ready for an early morning dive nine at Hogs Breath. Here you will dive to a depth of about 25metres. You may see the blue spot lagoon ray and the clown fish.
Return to the deck to catch a spectacular sunrise.
Dive ten will be at Split Bommie where you may spot Octopus and various butterfly fish.
After the last dive of this cruise, return to the ship and relax on the deck as the ship sails back to Trinity Wharf at Cairns.
You will be picked up from here and taken back to your hotel in an air-conditioned vehicle. The tour ends at your hotel.