オーストラリア、ケアンズで最も評価の高いワールドクラスのダイブクルーズボート【スポイルスポート号】でグレートバリアリーフとコーラルシーを潜る

Fabulous two weeks on the Spoilsport ! Fantastic variety of dives, amazing crew, delicious food (Thanks again Emily!) all enjoyed with wonderful friends. 2 week trip that included visits to Thursday island and Cap York (Northern most point is Australia). The final night BBQ with a concert by the captain was a special treat. Highly recommended !!

We had a unique opportunity to do a 2 week exploratory SCUBA excursion/charter in October. It was an amazing variety of reef life! Lot of opportunity for up to 5 dives daily. We had the most wonderful and synergistic crew imaginable. Food by Emily was delicious and a great variety for a 14 day trip. We were also able to go ashore on Cape York (Northern most point in Australia), Thursday island and Stanley island. Highly recommended.

Mike Ball Great Barrier Reef... book it. The Great Barrier Reef was awesome, better than I had hoped. Healthy corals, very little bleaching. Amazing biodiversity, big and small.

Mike Ball Dive Expeditions is an incredible company. My brother dove with them 30+ years ago, and now it was my turn. The crew truly loves their jobs; they worked all week tirelessly, smiling the whole time. Need help with something big or small? They'd get an answer fast or solve the issue without me even knowing it. The crew was wonderful.

Meals were excellent, too. The 2 chefs on board made all kinds of food from scratch; it looked and tasted amazing, with tons of variety (and quantity). I noticed they were happy to accommodate GF/Vegetarian needs, which I appreciated, even if it wasn't for me.

Spoilsport is set up for diving, and while she is not new, she's up to date, and I never saw one mechanical issue all week. Plenty of hot water, and they kept the ship tidy and clean.

I got a cabin with a window, but I really spent very little time in it. Twin-sized, but it was comfortable. Having our own bathroom was good. Plenty of storage in the dresser and under the bed. The cabins are cleaned daily, and you get as many fresh towels as you want. One thing to note: I had a female cabin mate for the first half of the week and a male roommate for the second half. I wasn't sure how it would be, but it turned out just fine. This seems to happen frequently, but if you're uncomfortable, I am sure they're happy to move you.

At the end of the week, they give you hundreds of pics from the dives. They don't sell it; they give it. This was a great added value.

One of the things I most appreciated about the trip was the attention to safety. I've been diving since the 80s, and I've never seen this level of attention to detail when it comes to diver safety. They know who is in the water, who is not, and where everyone is, always. They check, recheck, and document tank fills with air and nitrox. They post lookouts during each dive, and on top of all that, everyone is issued their own Nautilus GPS emergency beacon. Throughout my diving career, I haven't gone with another operator who does this much. And none of it feels restrictive. Want to go for 85 minutes? Have at it. Want to go with a group? Great. A guide? Sure. Want to skip the dive? No worries. It should be the bar all operators strive to match. Maybe some do; I have simply not gone with any other operator who does this much.

So go. Book with these guys; you'll be glad you did.

My dad and I did the 3-night, 4-day Cod Hole trip and genuinely couldn’t have had a better time! The crew was absolutely amazing, and the level of service throughout the entire trip made everything feel so seamless.

Everything was incredibly well organized, while still being relaxed enough that you could do your own thing, which I really appreciated. I especially loved the marine life presentation and the incredible photos and videos from Helen.

The dive sites were beyond words, and getting to experience them with no other dive boats around made it even more special. I couldn’t recommend Mike Ball Dive Expeditions more if you’re considering a liveaboard on the Great Barrier Reef. I definitely hope to be back for another trip in the future!

Thank you to the whole crew for such an unforgettable experience! 💙
– Liv & Chris

The best week of my life! Absolutely one of the best experiences of my life.
The only thing better than the incredible dive sites were the crew. Everyone went above and beyond, nothing was too much trouble. Particularly trip director Nat, she was professional, friendly, helpful and made my experience absolutely unique and awe inspiring.
I am a baby diver with only around 60 dives under my belt, far less experience than most of the other guests. But thanks to the encouragement, knowledge and trustworthiness of the crew, my confidence really grew and now I feel far more confident than ever before!
An absolute must do for any diver!!
Food was incredible, cabins were lovely and the whole experience was just mindblowing.

We had an amazing time on the 3 night fly dive cod hole expedition. Sadly missed seeing the giant cod since we were being vetted with our orientation dive, but that's the only negative thing I could possibly report.
The flight over to lizard Island went smoothly, and we were rapidly transferred to the Spoilsport. Facilities on board were excellent. We stayed in the double cabin with shared washroom and shower, and found it to be very comfortable. As we were all conscious of sharing the facilities, only once did we need to wait for shower access.
The staff were phenomenal. Our chef prepared abundant delicious food, and was able to accommodate everyone with dietary restrictions, from vegan to gluten-free. The food was absolutely top notch and we ate multiple times a day. I definitely should have left my emergency snacks at home! Days began with a light pre-dive snack of yogurt, cereal, fruit salad. Full breakfast after first AM Dive. Typically there was an open deck for 2 dives at the same site, cookies + fruit bowl and tea/coffee were available during the surface interval and throughout most of the day. Lunch was served family style, dinners usually buffet though one night was a preselected main. There was a nice cheese/fruit/nut/chips/crackers snack on night dive days as dinner want served until that dive was complete.
Dive sites were great, and were selected with care based on the weather conditions. Dive briefings were very thorough, and there was a huge emphasis on safety. We were all given GPS locators and SMBs for use if we got lost. Divers were logged in and out of each dive, with nitrox and duration/bottom time tracked for everyone. We set up our own equipment, but we were always given a second buddy check to ensure full open tank and dive computer on before entering the water. Staff assisted us in getting back into the boat if needed as the waves could make climbing back up the ladder a little challenging.
If anyone ever needed a dive partner, one was organized for us, whether a similarly skilled diver or one of the crew. Buddies were free to explore on their own, but there were always one or two staff hopping in as well who you could tag along with if you wanted. At the dive site with stonefish and wobbegong sharks hiding in caves/nooks, staff were sent in to find them and tag the locations with glow sticks to give us a fighting chance at finding them. When an aggressive red snapper bit my finger at the end of one night dive, they provided good first aid and no infection developed.
Abundant safe charging stations for camera batteries and dive lights were available. Rental equipment was good quality, though we brought our own boots and fins to avoid needing to rent the full foot fins they have available. Everyone tied their suits and dive skins to the railings to give them a chance to dry a bit between dives. There was plenty of room for everyone's stuff.
We did the nitrox course while on board, and with 3-5 dives daily with no limit to bottom time (apart from the one set by your computer), using it is likely a good idea.
The amazing photos and video put together by Pablo, the trip photographer, were provided for free pretty quickly after the trip. We look forward to sharing them with family and friends.
We absolutely loved our whole trip and would highly recommend Mike Ball trips to anyone.

Awesome first liveaboard experience - highly recommend! We had an amazing time on the 3 night fly dive cod hole expedition. Sadly missed seeing the giant cod since we were being vetted with our orientation dive, but that's the only negative thing I could possibly report.
The flight over to lizard Island went smoothly, and we were rapidly transferred to the Spoilsport. Facilities on board were excellent. We stayed in the double cabin with shared washroom and shower, and found it to be very comfortable. As we were all conscious of sharing the facilities, only once did we need to wait for shower access.
The staff were phenomenal. Our chef prepared abundant delicious food, and was able to accommodate everyone with dietary restrictions, from vegan to gluten-free. The food was absolutely top notch and we ate multiple times a day. I definitely should have left my emergency snacks at home! Days began with a light pre-dive snack of yogurt, cereal, fruit salad. Full breakfast after first AM Dive. Typically there was an open deck for 2 dives at the same site, cookies + fruit bowl and tea/coffee were available during the surface interval and throughout most of the day. Lunch was served family style, dinners usually buffet though one night was a preselected main. There was a nice cheese/fruit/nut/chips/crackers snack on night dive days as dinner want served until that dive was complete.
Dive sites were great, and were selected with care based on the weather conditions. Dive briefings were very thorough, and there was a huge emphasis on safety. We were all given GPS locators and SMBs for use if we got lost. Divers were logged in and out of each dive, with nitrox and duration/bottom time tracked for everyone. We set up our own equipment, but we were always given a second buddy check to ensure full open tank and dive computer on before entering the water. Staff assisted us in getting back into the boat if needed as the waves could make climbing back up the ladder a little challenging.
If anyone ever needed a dive partner, one was organized for us, whether a similarly skilled diver or one of the crew. Buddies were free to explore on their own, but there were always one or two staff hopping in as well who you could tag along with if you wanted. At the dive site with stonefish and wobbegong sharks hiding in caves/nooks, staff were sent in to find them and tag the locations with glow sticks to give us a fighting chance at finding them. When an aggressive red snapper bit my finger at the end of one night dive, they provided good first aid and no infection developed.
Abundant safe charging stations for camera batteries and dive lights were available. Rental equipment was good quality, though we brought our own boots and fins to avoid needing to rent the full foot fins they have available. Everyone tied their suits and dive skins to the railings to give them a chance to dry a bit between dives. There was plenty of room for everyone's stuff.
We did the nitrox course while on board, and with 3-5 dives daily with no limit to bottom time (apart from the one set by your computer), using it is likely a good idea.
The amazing photos and video put together by Pablo, the trip photographer, were provided for free pretty quickly after the trip. We look forward to sharing them with family and friends.
We absolutely loved our whole trip and would highly recommend Mike Ball trips to anyone.

Motoring the boat at night leaves people sleepless The only issue I have is that no one let me know about the boat relocating and motoring through the swell at night. My previous live aboard experiences had been moored at night. On Mike Ball for two out of the three nights we bashed through swell. By 9pm we were expected to be in our cabins and it felt like we were out of sight out of mind as the boat then smashed through waves for the next few hours (upwards of 3 hours). It made sleep impossible for hours and was really uncomfotable. I think letting people know that this will happen before they book is a bit of a must rather than them finding out at night. Knowing their sleep will be adversely affected is important.
I did write this privately in a review to Mike Ball Dive but no one has contacted me to chat about it

Great fun meeting new people & exploring the underwater world. The captain & crew are fantastic, & that includes the chef who fed us throughout the day & evening (great food with different event nights). That kept us energised & able to dive up to 5 times per day (including night dives). Some of the best diving in the world with reefs, pinnacles, bomies & fantastic night diving. You can do courses with the instructors to advance your learning on the boat. I could not fault the crew on anything & found it a memorable experience. I plan to do it all again in the future sometime. Thank you very much!