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Detailed Trip Itinerary for Mike Ball Dive Expeditions, 4-Night Cod Hole/Minke Whale Fly/Dive Trip
Thursday: Check-in and Departure
·Prior to 4:00pm. Check-in luggage at 2/3 Abbot St, Cairns.
·7:00pm board Spoilsport at the Marlin Jetty - Berth 16, Cairns.
·Cruise overnight to the magnificent Ribbon Reefs, the dry season home of Dwarf Minke Whales.
Day 2 (Friday), Day 3 (Saturday) and Day 4 (Sunday): This section of the Ribbon Reefs is the winter home range for a population of Dwarf Minke Whales.
Every effort will be made to assure that contact is made with the whales as the boat travels south towards Cairns, stopping at one amazing dive site after another on it’s way.
Besides having contact with the whales Spoilport will make up to four dives each day, selecting from a variety of amazing dive sites to find you the best diving conditions possible, which vary during the day with the tide and wind. The dives will be from a select list of amazing dive sites, which include Challenger Bay, Lighthouse Bommie, Pixie Reef, at Steve’s Bommie and Cod Hole.
Day 5 (Monday): Today marks the return to Cairns. After breakfast divers transfer to Lizard Island, and make the short flight back to Cairns. This is a very scenic flight, with great views of the reef, the rainforest covered mountains, and the coastline. The 12 ½-hour surface interval since last night’s dive exceeds the DAN minimum limit for flying, and the low altitude (700ft) normally taken by this flight adds to the safety margin.
This Mike Ball Dive Expeditions Minke Whale trip is much more than a ‘dive’ trip. These trips are scheduled when the numbers of these whales is at it’s maximum, with a focus on snorkelling and diving amongst these majestic creatures during this period of high aggregation.
Each passenger is able to partake in Minke Whale behaviour monitoring and research, attend lectures by trained crew on the ecology of the reef and discuss all facets of Minke Whale behaviour, biology and research with research volunteers.
Since commencing Minke Whale Expeditions in 1996 Make Ball Dive has had a 98% success rate of being able to provide their guests an in water encounter with these whales.. The largest pod seen was 28 whales, the longest encounter was 10 hours. Every day has a high probability of dwarf minke encounters
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