Absolutely amazing great vessel great crew great food and great diving amazing service and... read more
Absolutely amazing great vessel great crew great food and great diving amazing service and... read more
I absolutely loved my Liveaboard experience with Mike Ball on Spoilsport. I did the 4 day/3 night... read more
My wife and I dove Cod Hole with Mike Ball and had a wonderful time. Wonderful staff, great food, very organized and amazing diving. If you’re booking a live aboard in Cairns look no further.
Hi Justin,
Thank you for the flattery :) We much appreciate to hear your positive feedback.
We hope to welcome you back on board anytime soon!
Kind regards,
Stella
Had the most amazing time on board spoilsport. I did the 4 night trip to Osprey reef and it is worth every penny!
The crew were amazing, friendly and kind people. When we weren't under the water I had some wonderful chats and giant belly laughs with these guys! As soon as I stepped on the boat, I really felt like I was looked after. Even the little things, like having your own water bottle provided for you with your name on, was a beautiful touch. The food was absolutely 5-star restaurant quality and all dietary requirements are catered for. At the end of the trip you can really let your hair down and party with the crew and guests as a storm is cooked up on the deck BBQ and a surprise guest performs some live entertainment.
The dive sites are beautiful, and its amazing to be able to dive at locations that aren't overcrowded by numerous other dive boats. You can dive as much or as little as you want. The are sooooooo many fish and sharks, and amazing displays of gregorian fan corals! Highly recommend hiring an underwater camera, or bring your own if you've got one.
The boat felt very spacious - the beds are comfy and the sun deck provides a great space to nap or do some yoga stretching after a day of diving. But the fun doesn't stop when the sun goes down...once its dark its time for night diving! Definitely do it - its when all the bigger fish come out to play, and if you're lucky you may get to see some flashlight fish. Plus, the low level flight back to Cairns provides an amazing bird's eye view of the reef!
If you're solo, don't worry. You get paired up with other divers on the boat of a similar level. I ended up getting paired with a girl, and we became friends, with us catching up later in our travels.
So all in all, I highly recommend these guys to anyone who loves diving. You're face will hurt from smiling so much.
Hi hannh001,
thank you kindly for your detailed and positive review about your expedition and our facilities and services.
We much share your opinion about the spectacular marine life and with us being one of only a few operators visiting the remote coral sea it definitely feels exclusive.
It's great to hear that you felt comfortable at all times as a solo traveller and made friends beyond your expedition. It sounds like you had a fabulous experience and made great memories to look back upon.
We hopefully see you travelling onboard Spoilsport again soon!
Kind regards,
Stella
Amazing dive sites,Rediculous amount of food and quality of food,professional but fun crew,great work space for photography equipment with knowledgeable and helpful staff with s huge dive deck.
I’ve done the 4 night which was amazing with the shark dive,3 night dive sites amazing with the best night dive I’ve done,tons of giant Travelly and sharks.
Hi Colin,
Thanks for travelling again. Much appreciate your loyalty and happy to hear that we are able to top your last great experience.
Hope to see some of the pictures. If you use Instagram, please ensure you hashtag #mikeballdive #spoilsportlive
Tropical regards,
Stella
Absolutely amazing, great crew, very friendly and ready to help. My cabin was Club. Luckily, I didn't have to share with anyone, otherwise it would have been rather small. And the rest on the trip was top. Special thanks to the chef Katie, the food was fantastic!
Hi Vlad,
Merci beaucoup for your positive review. It is the occasional luxury when travelling at this time of year that you can spread out on the boat even more. Though, don't we all spend hardly any time in our cabins? I hope so!
J'espère te revoir à bord!
Tropical regards,
Stella
This is a once-in-a-lifetime sort of trip that I hope to do again one of these days. The crew was amazing, the boat was great and the diving was other-worldly. I did my advanced diving course on the trip and only regret not having done this years ago. If this trip isn't already on your bucket list, it most certainly should be.
Hi Shari,
thank you for your review. I love your description "other-worldly". I think it nails it! The Coral Sea just offers such a different experience.
Tropical regards,
Stella
We did the 3 night cod hole trip and it was absolutely amazing! Before we even booked or arrived, the email communication from Bre in the office was excellent and very helpful then the trip itself was second to none. The boat is good - we were in an internal cabin without windows but you’re in there so little of time, it didn’t bother us at all. You can always pay more for a better cabin if that’s important to you. We hired all our dive gear too and it was all good quality and everything we needed. The dive sites were amazing with some quite varied places and marine life. What really makes this trip extra special are the staff and crew. They are absolutely brilliant. Kerrin was our trip director on board and went over and above to make sure everything was the best it could be. I was quite nervous and worried about some aspects of the diving and he was quick to make sure I always had the support I needed. The dive briefs were always detailed and clear - and unmissable thanks to Kerrin’s ‘dive brief’ calls he seems to enjoy so much! Whether you are an experienced diver diving solo or with a buddy or someone who prefers to dive as part of a guided group, this trip caters for everyone. The other staff were excellent with their dive equipment preparation, always willing to help out or make sure everything was ok and completely brilliant! I’d particularly mention Ricardo too, who dived as a guide on our first dive and realising how nervous I was and my terror of sharks, helped me hugely with his support on the evening’s nightdive as he was so keen to help me and show me the sharks while keeping me reassured. It was probably my best experience on the trip and all thanks to Ric for encouraging and accompanying me into the water for the Gotham City night dive. There aren’t really any negatives ... the cabins can get a little damp but that’s to be expected really. It can be difficult to keep the water from the bathroom/shower from getting onto the cabin carpet outside the door so maybe a mat would help. Towels are changed daily and every effort to keep things dry is made. Also, despite the name and photos to advertise the trip, there don’t seem to be any of the truely huge potato cod left in the cod hole - still some impresssively large ones - and other good marine life - but I don’t think the massive ones are there anymore. All in all, I would thoroughly recommend this trip - it was absolutely amazing in every way. Thank you very much!
Hi Pippa,
thank you for your fabulous review. We have also received your email and would like to thank you for your appreciation and informative details on your experience. Its great to hear that our crew is doing a great job in addressing their tuition and expertise towards personal requirements of our guests. Especially when they stand out like Riccardo on your dive. I really hope you have lost your fear for sharks and will enjoy your future dives with sharks in all comfort.
Thank you for your suggestion on an improvement of our bathroom facilities. The floors in the shower should allow for good grip. But we will keep an eye out for this issue and see how we can improve.
The image I guess you refer to about the diver size potato cod was taken last year on the expedition. We frequently release our videos from the most recent expeditions on our website (section: Reef Reports) to demonstrate what to look forward to.
Thanks again for your fabulous review.
We look forward to welcoming you back on board in the future.
Kind regards,
Stella