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Summary of Mike Ball Expeditions
| Expedition |
Dive Days |
Solo Diving |
PADI Training
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Night Diving |
Shark Diving |
Drift Diving |
Deep Diving |
Nitrox Diving |
Wreck Diving |
Muck Diving |
Nautilus Diving |
Whale Diving |
Cod Hole
Expedition |
3
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•
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•
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Coral Sea
Expedition |
6
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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Ultimate
Adventure |
9
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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Exploratory
CoralSea
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7
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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Discovery
Adventure |
10
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•
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P1/PNG
Milne Bay |
6
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•
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•
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•
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•
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P3 /PNG
Milne Bay |
9
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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P4/ PNG
Kavieng |
6
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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•
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P4/ PNG
Kavieng |
9
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•
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•
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•
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•
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1. SHARK DIVING
Cod Hole
Whilst on every trip White Tip Reef sharks and Grey Whalers are occasionally seen, 2 or 3 White Tips per dive can be seen in the gutters at Shark Alley.
Coral Sea & Exploratory Coral Sea
Multiple sightings of Grey Whalers and White Tip Reef sharks happen on most dive sites. At Geronimos Wall 20–25 Silvertip and Grey whalers can be seen, with 30–40 observed in a feeding frenzy at Scuba Zoo. Great Hammerheads are occasionally observed on the deep wall dives such as Cod Wall and Berlin Wall.
Large Bull Sharks and Shovelnose Sharks are regularly seen at the Yongala Wreck.
Ultimate Adventures & Discovery Adventures
These expeditions combine the Cod Hole and Coral Sea—please refer to the above information.
Milne Bay (PNG)
Regular sightings of Grey Whalers and Silvertips happen at some reefs. Hammerheads are occasionally seen along the deep walls.
Kavieng (PNG)
Regular sightings of Grey Whalers and Silvertips occur at many reefs, with spectacular close encounters of large Silvertips at Valerie's reef.
Great White Sharks
See the oceans ultimate predator with Rodney Fox Expeditions, the world’s leading exponent of Great White Shark expeditions. Late April to September gives the maximum opportunity for Great White activity. May/June has the best combination of shark activity, temperature and weather.
All Expeditions
Epaulette and Leopard sharks are occasionally seen, especially at night, while Tawny Nurse, Tiger and Whale sharks are a rarely seen.
2. WHALE DIVING
Cod Hole
Minke Whales are commonly seen from June to August, with the best underwater encounters in June and July. Occasional Humpback sightings are from July to September.
Coral Sea & Exploratory Coral Sea
Humpback Whales from July to September are commonly seen close to the vessel, with occasional underwater encounters. Minke Whales are occasionally seen again from July to September.
3. MUCK DIVING
Muck Diving, now a generic term, was first coined by Bob Halstead when he operated the Telita in Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea. At one of Telita’s favorite night anchorages Bob discovered many new forms of exotic marine life previously overlooked by divers. Keen divers and photographers now flock to Milne Bay (PNG) to enjoy the rich marine life biodiversity rarely matched elsewhere. Our most popular site is Dinah’s Beach in Milne Bay. Some of the highlights include five different species of lionfish, six different species of anemone fish, blue ribbon eels, shrimp gobies, several families of octopus, cuttlefish, ghost pipefish to name a few!
4. NAUTILUS DIVES
One highlight of Papua New Guinea expeditions is the Nautilus dive. A trap is lowered to very deep water to collect Nautilus. The dive is very controlled, the Nautilus are released in 10m (33 ft) of water for a short duration before being retrieved by the Divemaster. The Nautilus are safely returned and released back down at 150 m (500 ft).
5. CORAL SPAWNING
Coral Spawning is the mass reproduction of hundred’s of species of coral. To ensure the best advantage of success this happens in a small time window. Corals synchronize their spawning to a number of factors: temperature, salinity, tides, position of the moon. The general time of year when all these factors match is late spring or early summer—late November or early December in Australia. About 2 or 3 days after the full moon, during the night, corals release millions of gametes into the water. A little like a snowstorm of different colored egg bundles are released. Aboard Spoilsport and Supersport we send members of the crew into the water every 30 mins to watch for the start. When the event occurs our guests then go in for a night dive to view natures biggest “orgy”!
6. WRECK DIVING
Coral Sea, Exploratory Coral Sea, Ultimate Adventure and Exploratory Adventure all include one day at the Yongala Wreck. The Yongala was a luxury passenger freighter that sank in a cyclone in 1911 with the loss of 121 lives. It lies on 30 m (100 ft) on its starboard side; the uppermost deck is 15 m (50 ft) below the surface. The wreck is in excellent condition with 75% of the deck and hull structure intact, fortunately the Historic Shipwrecks Act protects it. Most divers agree that they have never seen such a concentration of large exotic marine life as can be seen at the Yongala. Huge schools of fish, giant bull rays, eagle rays, turtles, sea snakes, shovel nose sharks and bull sharks are among a myriad of other marine life that congregate at the Yongala wreck to make it Australia’s best dive.
Milne Bay (PNG)
P38 Lightening, (included on some Milne Bay expeditions), this famous single seater fighter was ditched during WW2. In 1995 Chris Carney, diving from Telita, located the propellers. They now rest against their respective engines on the wreck. The P38 lies in 27 m (90 ft) with the guns in the nose pointing at a reef forward of the wreck.
Muscoota (dived on Wreck Special expeditions)
Originally built as a four-masted Royal Barque in 1888, the Muscoota now provides a home for an amazing diversity of marine life, including sea horses, wobbegong sharks and scorpion fish, just mention a few.
B17 Bomber “Blackjack,” (dived on most Milne Bay expeditions)
is one of the world’s greatest aircraft wreck dives. The historic
B17 lies in 46 m (150 ft) of water in perfect condition. Pay a visit to
the nearby village of Boga Boga with its beautiful golden beaches. Meet
the village elders who still tell stories of how they rescued the crew from
the sinking plane.
S’Jacob (dived on Wreck Special)
is a magnificent wreck of a 100 m long armed freighter, upright in 55 m
(180 ft) of water with its deck at 48 m (155 ft) and in perfect unsalvaged
condition. An extraordinary dive, the wreck is covered with marine growth
and visited by large marine life including manta rays, giant gropers and
the occasional tiger shark—a must for every serious wreck divers log book.
Yokonama Maru (dived on the Wreck Special)
was built during 1912
as a combination passenger/cargo boat, length 118 m (390 ft), with a gross
tonnage of 6,143. Drafted by the army for service in Guam and PNG, she was
sunk in Salamaua on the March 10, 1942. A truly great dive, but one only
for the most experienced of wreck divers. Descending through the calm waters
of Salamaua, only meters from the shoreline, the Yokohama sits in 75 m (248
ft) of water, with the bridge at 55 m (180 ft). Barracuda and manta rays
are often seen gliding along the deck, moving gracefully amongst the black
coral trees that now encrust the wreck.
Tenyo Maru (dived on Wreck Special)
Sitting at the end of the Lae airstrip, the wrecks stern is in 40 m (130
ft) of water, with its bow just beneath the surface. Largely intact with
130 mm guns aboard, this makes for a great dive, weather permitting.
Kavieng
Der Yang, (included on most Kavieng expeditions). A few minutes from harbour is the extremely photogenic Der Yang wreck. Der Yang was confiscated from poachers by the PNG government and deliberately sunk as an artificial reef. The vessel rests at 30 m (100 ft), with many sea fans and whip corals near the bow. North Easterly currents bring in schools of barracuda and trevally. Visibility is in the 20–30 m (60–90 ft) range.
Freighter (included on most Kavieng expeditions)
is on its starboard side in only 22 m (72 ft) of water. The wreck is smothered
with soft corals, sea fans and other marine growth. The freighter is mainly
intact with an average visibility on the site of 10–20 m (30–60
ft).
Japanese Mini-Submarine (included on most Kavieng expeditions)
This is
sitting upright in 22 m (72 ft) close to the freighter. This submarine was
caught alongside the ship when it was under attack from American bombers.
The twin counter-rotating propellers are intact at the stern and the periscope
and torpedo tubes are easy to photograph.
7. NITROX DIVING (EANX32)
Nitrox is currently available on Spoilsport and Paradise Sport. Nitrox fills are limited to 32% oxygen and a maximum operating depth of 34 m (113 ft). Nitrox divers are required to dive on computer. A complimentary computer workshop is offered to those renting a computer.
8. DEEP DIVING
Note: Dives in excess of 132 ft / 40 m can only be undertaken by divers
who have experience of the same depths to a maximum of 165 ft / 50 m.
Cod Hole
Most sites include sloping coral to 60 ft / 20 m. The Cod Hole dive is at
15 m / 50 ft, however the ledges drop off to 30 m / 100 ft as does Dynamite
Pass and Steve’s Bommie.
Coral Sea & Exploratory Coral Sea
Most sites in the Coral Sea have coral starting at 10–20 ft (3–6 m) and dropping off to 165+ ft (50+ m).
Milne Bay (PNG)
Many sites drop off to 165+ ft (50+ m).
Kavieng (PNG)
Many sites drop off to 165+ ft (50+ m).
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