101 replies to this topic

[georoc01]

To all of those who paid better attention during the dive briefs than I did, what was the name of Steve's Brommie before it was named Steve's brommie? Remember they said the previous name was moved to another site? What was Steve's Brommie before it became Steves Brommie?

Dave

It is in Fact Steve's Bommie.........and I think previously named Tower of Doom or something like that which another site has been now named.

I had noted Temple of Doom ala Indiana Jones.

[WreckWench]

Thanks Mark! Can you also forward them to shadragon so he can get them uploaded on our site? Some people's computers block youtube so we'd like to have them on SD as well! You can email them to admin@singledivers.com and either Simon and/or George will upload them for you!

I'll need some help here. My email limits the size of attachments, and each of these is in the hundreds of megabytes.

If someone has an FTP server available, that would be the way to go.

Ok if you can't resize them down with your video editing software I'll see what we can do about an FTP server. -ww

In the meantime...the photo gallery is still empty

[Travelgal]

To all of those who paid better attention during the dive briefs than I did, what was the name of Steve's Brommie before it was named Steve's brommie? Remember they said the previous name was moved to another site? What was Steve's Brommie before it became Steves Brommie?

Dave

It is in Fact Steve's Bommie.........and I think previously named Tower of Doom or something like that which another site has been now named.

I had noted Temple of Doom ala Indiana Jones.

Temple it is! Found it in my notes as well....where did I get Tower? I think it was really early this am so not thinking clearly!

[Scubatooth]

folks yall are killing me in that no one has posted any photos from the trip in that this is a location on my list and im looking for all the visuals i can get along with honest reports on hotels, boats and other providers

[Wildcard]

I bet there would be a lot more pics posted hed this not been the "lost camera trip from hell". What was the total? Three floods, two lost and founds and one lost card? Oh yea, I lost my camera on the Ungala too but it turned up. I have to rethink my camera carry system.
Add to that four lost passports, three by one person who shall remain nameless or she will edit this. Oh and my leg bag fell in AFTER I took my weight belt off. Diving with no belt or mask is harder than you might think.
I guess I needed a new light, SMB, reel and bag anyways

[georoc01]

I just posted a few of my surface shots. I hope to get with Dolphin Lover this weekend and may post more later.

[WreckWench]

folks yall are killing me in that no one has posted any photos from the trip in that this is a location on my list and im looking for all the visuals i can get along with honest reports on hotels, boats and other providers

There are LOTS of pictures....some uh...more revealing than others!

Just need to get people to post a few in our gallery or send them to our admin to post for them.

[georoc01]

folks yall are killing me in that no one has posted any photos from the trip in that this is a location on my list and im looking for all the visuals i can get along with honest reports on hotels, boats and other providers

Ok..here were my negatives..

The hotel in Cairns (Mantra Trilogy) I would say was Ok. The fruit bats in the belfry, lack of maid service, etc, kind of were downers for me. We also had mix ups where singles were getting one bed.

The tour at the end of the trip wasn't as I thought it was. I thought we were doing a full day on the skyrail/Kuranda. Instead we did an aboriginal tour, which was interesting, and only had 90 minutes for the Skyrail/Kuranda as Kuranda closes fairly early. I also thought we were doing the train return from Kuranda.

There was an extra $140 fuel service charge pp that wasn't spelled out until we were underway on the trip. Also I thought the nitrox was all inclusive flat rate, but instead it was $8.50 a tank.

I personally didn't think the low level flight from Cairns to Cooktown was worth the time or the weight restrictions that it caused. We ended up wasting most of that day anyway, and given the new inland road, could have drove up and not had to deal with the 20KG weight restrictions.

Which is what led me to leave my BC behind. And the boat didnt' have enough of their own Scubapro BCs in the proper sizes. Those all looked good and were as advertised. Instead the crew brought old Aqualung BCs on the plane with us (eliminating any weight savings that leaving my BC behind), and had evidence of low upkeep, and the crew refused to touch as they weren't EVs.

[WreckWench]

Ok..here were my negatives..

The hotel in Cairns (Mantra Trilogy) I would say was Ok. The fruit bats in the belfry, lack of maid service, etc, kind of were downers for me. We also had mix ups where singles were getting one bed.

To be fair George some of those issues were not the hotel's entirely. Maid service was only a real issue switching rooms daily without actually checking out. The rooms were cleaned they just didn't change the sheets except every 3 days or you specially requested it. And changing rooms on a daily basis from what I submitted originally due to necessary rooming changes also challenges the best of hotel staff. While not perfect they did an adequate job with all the last minute changes we kept giving them.

The tour at the end of the trip wasn't as I thought it was. I thought we were doing a full day on the skyrail/Kuranda. Instead we did an aboriginal tour, which was interesting, and only had 90 minutes for the Skyrail/Kuranda as Kuranda closes fairly early. I also thought we were doing the train return from Kuranda.

I agree you need all day for the tour. We would of had to start at 7am and end at 7pm to schedule the full day tour so not having that much time available we went with the half day tour. However less time in the open ended Aboriginal Tour and more in the Kuranda is good advice! And don't forget to head to the top FIRST and see the koala bears and other cool things. All but four of us missed that part of the tour entirely not realizing that Kuranda was a full town to see and there were cool things to do at the top. We spent most of our time doing the stops along the way and only realized after the fact that we missed the lionshare of the tour. Although what we saw was pretty cool. So yes I recommend you do the full day version of this tour but be prepared to do it from 7a to 7p.

There was an extra $140 fuel service charge pp that wasn't spelled out until we were underway on the trip. Also I thought the nitrox was all inclusive flat rate, but instead it was $8.50 a tank.

Now I'm confused too. There is always a fuel surcharge but due to our special intinerary of 8 days vs 5 or 7 getting our final price on things such as nitrox and the fuel surcharge was not as clear as it usually is. Also I have dozens of questions that I track with every vendor we use per trip often 2 times a month so sometimes a few of them get away from me. I believe the nitrox was a flat rate of $185 AU for the 6 days of diving. That is what I'm sure I paid but I'd have to look at my bill. The fuel surcharge got away from me and for that I apologize. Every liveaboard has a fuel surcharge...it is only a matter of how much.

I personally didn't think the low level flight from Cairns to Cooktown was worth the time or the weight restrictions that it caused. We ended up wasting most of that day anyway, and given the new inland road, could have drove up and not had to deal with the 20KG weight restrictions.

I inquired about the drive option and it is quite time consuming with some parts needing off road vehicles which keeps it from being reliable enough to use. Trust me the boat has looked at all options to make the commute as expeditious and cost effective as they can. The alternative is to do what many of the other liveaboards in the area do and that is to offer 3 and 4 day back to back intineraries where you spend most of your time steaming rather than diving.

Which is what led me to leave my BC behind. And the boat didnt' have enough of their own Scubapro BCs in the proper sizes. Those all looked good and were as advertised. Instead the crew brought old Aqualung BCs on the plane with us (eliminating any weight savings that leaving my BC behind), and had evidence of low upkeep, and the crew refused to touch as they weren't EVs.

Here I agree completely. While many of the boat's gear was as advertised they did need to obtain add'l equipment which to George's point offset us bringing our own gear. However in order to cover the extra weight of the bc's they paid for a larger plane and therefore extra spots to carry the extra gear. Perhaps the option to do something similar so that people can use their own gear would work for us as well.

Would I recommend this operator? Yes. Would I recommend this trip? Yes. Would I suggest adding things on both in tours and other sightseeing? Yes. Can you learn from this group? Hell yes as many of them did all of the above.

Also keep in mind that everything is more challenging as a group. More fun...but also more challenging. Often the issues you encounter as a group don't show up as individuals. Also we pride ourselves in being flexible. In fact sometimes too flexible. That does not always translate to others as easily. In fact many of the resorts that we use require final changes 30 days prior to the trip...not 2 days prior or even while at the check in counter with a completely full hotel and very little options for change. Trust me we are not always the favorite client when we do this.

[fishome25]

is there a site that everyone is uploading pics? was jodie offering a website? I know a few of you have pics of me underwater, I'd like to get them, although some are on a lost card

[WreckWench]

is there a site that everyone is uploading pics? was jodie offering a website? I know a few of you have pics of me underwater, I'd like to get them, although some are on a lost card

Yes Jodi has offered to let us use her company's servers to easily swap out lots of pics. I am getting the after trip forum set up and she can share the details there now that most everyone is home from this trip!

Can you upload a few of your pics in the thread and the gallery?

[georoc01]

Here is how Trent broke down the Nitrox for me..

I did 22 dives at $10 a dive = $220
less 15% discount
Total $187

So while I did pay $187 AU, it was only because I skipped 4 dives. If I had done all 26 dives that we could have done, the Nitrox charge would have been $220.

Would I do the trip again? Certainly..These are more nitpicks than anything else.

Edited by georoc01, 20 December 2007 - 05:05 PM.

[WreckWench]

Here is how Trent broke down the Nitrox for me..

I did 22 dives at $10 a dive = $220
less 15% discount
Total $187

So while I did pay $187 AU, it was only because I skipped 4 dives. If I had done all 26 dives that we could have done, the Nitrox charge would have been $220.

Would I do the trip again? Certainly..These are more nitpicks than anything else.

Now that is wrong as we were supposed to have a flat rate of $185 AU. I will address this matter with the boat/corporate however at this point it would be difficult to attempt a refund. Thank you for calling this to my attention. kamala

[scubafanatic]

Ok..here were my negatives..


I personally didn't think the low level flight from Cairns to Cooktown was worth the time or the weight restrictions that it caused. We ended up wasting most of that day anyway, and given the new inland road, could have drove up and not had to deal with the 20KG weight restrictions.

Which is what led me to leave my BC behind. And the boat didnt' have enough of their own Scubapro BCs in the proper sizes. Those all looked good and were as advertised. Instead the crew brought old Aqualung BCs on the plane with us (eliminating any weight savings that leaving my BC behind), and had evidence of low upkeep, and the crew refused to touch as they weren't EVs.

....while I didn't participate in this trip, I appreciate the candor here ....most trips will have various levels of 'issues' , unfortunately...be they logistics....misunderstandings.....cost overruns...heck, I stopped going to Cozumel when every trip there ran 50% over budget....blowing $ 1200 for a weekend there makes no sense !

...I am curious, though....can you explain exactly what you mean when you say the boat crew refused to touch the worn out BC's they provided ?

(...anyone who knows me knows I'm VERY picky about my dive gear, so I will never travel anywhere where severe weight limits dictate I use local rental gear...and your report substantiates my worst fears, and I find it astounding the BC's were in such sorry condition that the boat crew 'distanced' themselves from them...I find that SHOCKING !!! )

Karl

[georoc01]

Ok..here were my negatives..


I personally didn't think the low level flight from Cairns to Cooktown was worth the time or the weight restrictions that it caused. We ended up wasting most of that day anyway, and given the new inland road, could have drove up and not had to deal with the 20KG weight restrictions.

Which is what led me to leave my BC behind. And the boat didnt' have enough of their own Scubapro BCs in the proper sizes. Those all looked good and were as advertised. Instead the crew brought old Aqualung BCs on the plane with us (eliminating any weight savings that leaving my BC behind), and had evidence of low upkeep, and the crew refused to touch as they weren't EVs.

....while I didn't participate in this trip, I appreciate the candor here ....most trips will have various levels of 'issues' , unfortunately...be they logistics....misunderstandings.....cost overruns...heck, I stopped going to Cozumel when every trip there ran 50% over budget....blowing $ 1200 for a weekend there makes no sense !

...I am curious, though....can you explain exactly what you mean when you say the boat crew refused to touch the worn out BC's they provided ?

(...anyone who knows me knows I'm VERY picky about my dive gear, so I will never travel anywhere where severe weight limits dictate I use local rental gear...and your report substantiates my worst fears, and I find it astounding the BC's were in such sorry condition that the boat crew 'distanced' themselves from them...I find that SHOCKING !!! )

Karl

One of the ladies was having trouble with her own BC and they gladly helped her with it. I was talking with one of the dive instructors and he was talking about how all of their BCs were Scubapros and all were serviced in the last month. When I asked him about this Aqualung I had and the rust in the dump valve he said that they had to rent some additional bcs and since they weren't theirs, they couldn't service them on the boat.

And let me point out, that we had zero failures on the boat of the rental gear. And at the end of the trip, they were very throrough in cleaning all of the gear, including the other rentals and even personal gear.

For me, it had more to do with a configuration with the weight belt that I have never dove before. To drop off the back of a boat into 100' of water in the middle of the coral sea with a setup you aren't used is a bit scary and it took me a couple of days before I was totally comfortable and had my weight dialed in. Part of this is being a relatively new diver. But when I change my configuration at home, I do a pool dive to check everything out prior to hitting the open water. I didn't have that luxury in this case.

Edited by georoc01, 21 December 2007 - 05:18 AM.