RECENT TRIP GALLERIES ON SPIRIT OF FREEDOM
Re-live your experience and share it with friends at home by visiting our trip gallery. The trip gallery is a snapshot of hundreds of photos taken on board each week. If you would like to purchase your complete Trip CD from a recent trip, please contact us at guestservices@spiritoffreedom.com.au.
Thu 19th January 2012 - Sun 1st January 2012 - (24) images
Day 1: What a start to the trip. On the first dive a 5 meter whale shark swam under the boat, just amazing. On the second dive, divers were treated to a beautiful manta ray. Also making an appearance was an octopus, razor fish and other cool macro subjects.
Day 2: A great way to start the morning with a nice slow and relaxing drift dive over the amazing cleaning station at ATB. Sharks a plenty with white tips and greys the main attraction. The pristine soft corals were a standout as divers enjoyed 30m+ visibility. Silver City was a great place to push up into the shallower reef and find a few playful octopus. The Gap was much the same with divers enjoying the shallower reefs admiring the yellow margin trigger fish breeding grounds. Not as aggressive as the titans, they were happy to have divers swim around them making for some great shots. Admiralty put on a great show with lots of sharks and amazingly beautiful coral gardens. Admiralty at night soon got divers hooked on night diving ith even more sharks and great night time critters.
Day 3: North Horn Eastern Wall was just beautiful. With heaps of pelagic species including sharks, dog tooth tuna, barracuda and trevally swirling around the depths. The Shark Feed was epic with around 50 sharks including white tips, grey reefies and a couple of very interested silvertips coming in for some great shots. The current was pushing through Secret Caves but diver determination saw them push harder into the current and into the beautiful shallows and vibrant colours that Osprey Reef have to offer. False Entrance was the perfect way to finish off two amazing days of diving on Osprey Reef. The water was clear, the current was non existent and the abundance of marine life plentiful. Including octopus, a beautiful turtle, a massive school of big eye trevally, barracuda and loads of macro.
Day 4: Steve's Bommie was amazing as always. Both dives brought with them new and exciting creatures for the passengers. Sharks, GT's, schooling trevally, huge schools of yellow lined snapper, a dazzling array of colourfull anthias, chromis and damsels, lion fish, stone fish, scorpion fish, disco clam, cleaner shrimp, mantis shrimp...the list goes on. A standout dive. Flare Point was excellent with passengers enjoying the shallows, finding all sorts of nudies, schooling fish and other small critters. A group of three eagle rays cruised past to get the punter's hearts racing. Flare Point was a great way to end the week with the cephalopods keeping everybody smiling. Both octopus and cuttlefish were more than happy to hog the lime light. A nice relaxing end to a full on week
Congrtatulations and well done to Naoko & Jean-Luc on completing your Advanced Open Water certification and Jean-Luc, Carl and Michael who were Nitrox certified.
Mon 16th January 2012 - Thu 19th January 2012 - (23) images
Day 1: Caves was a fantastic dive with a couple of turtles and a few sharks thrown in for good measure.
Day 2: Cod Hole was fantastic. Lots of white tips and a nice grey reefie. Lots of cod could be seen in the beautiful clear water funnelling in from the Coral Sea. The cod feed was ‘most excellent' with around 6 cod coming in for a sticky beak. A couple of the more game cod were happy to try and get into the action before the largest of all the cod hurried them away. After the cod feed we swam out into the Cod Hole and found a few white tips, grey reefies and an absolutely gorgeous leopard shark that just lay there happy to have it's photo taken. Two Towers was a great dive with a couple of nosey sea snakes that kept the divers entertained. Challenger Bay lived up to it's reputation for having beautiful coral life with lots of little creatures nestled amongst it all. Challenger at night proved to be a highlight for some with a load of white tips and greys, moray eels, lot's of GT's, heaps of macro. All made even that more enjoyable by some spectacular visibility.
Day 3: Pixie Wall saw some divers see their first manta ray. After which a group of 6 devil rays sped past for a final drive by before divers surfaced. Epic diving! Rod's Rock and the amazing visibility that surrounded it had passengers all talking about how healthy the coral life is in this part of the world. Lots of macro and schools of baitfish showed that Rod's is one of our stand out dives. A drift dive on Dynamite Pass is always a good way to get the adrenalin flowing. The coral life along Dynamite Pass is extremely healthy and is home to all sorts of life including a very curious cuttlefish who loved showing off in front of the camera. The Snake Pit was our last stop. A relaxing dive around some of the best feather star gardens I've ever seen. Massive schools of glass perchlets that hung close to the coral were being prayed on by all sorts of small hunters. Sea snakes and different varieties of coral cod and coral trout were pigging out the whole dive. Fantastic to watch.
Congratulations to our Honeymooners - Mark and Angela. Congrat's and well done to Yvette and Rod for completing their Advanced Course and to Robb, Celene and Matt on their Nitrox Certification.
Thu 12th January 2012 - Mon 16th January 2012 - (23) images
Our 7-day passengers, Demelza & Craig, Orlaith and Sally were joined by our 2 new passengers at Lizard Island after our walk through the mangroves and up over Chinaman's Ridge. Spirit of Freedom left Watson's Bay with not a breath of wind blowing and the sun shining down on us as we headed to the Cod Hole for our afternoon dives. What a great start to the 4 Day Coral Sea trip with 2 dives at the Cod Hole where the big Potato Cod were probably quite surprised to see us again so soon! There were white tip reef sharks, grey reef sharks and a huge school of trevally there also to greet our new divers.
Overnight we steamed across the flat and calm Coral Sea and woke up with a beautiful sunrise over the glassy ocean at Vema Reef. The deep sea mount was a stunning start to the day with crystal clear water and several grey reef sharks but Shark Reef for the second dive had 5 Silver Tip Sharks under the boat and lots of grey reef Sharks along the beautiful coral gardens on the edge of the drop off. To top those two dives required something special so we headed to Osprey Reef and dropped the divers in at Rapid Horn for a taste of the 1,000m plus wall diving that Osprey is famous for. A stop at the legendary Admiralty gave us some canyons and crevices to explore alongside the swim through with the anchor inside which is always a highlight of the dive; although the collection of Grey Reef Sharks circling under the boat as the night dive drew closer was almost as much fun from the top deck as it was from underwater! The sun set in glorious fashion as a huge red glowing ball that seemed to shimmer as it hit the ocean and lit up the clear sky with a fiery red and orange glow.
We started Day Three with a great dive at North Horn, along the Soft Coral Wall, and then prepared ourselves for the Shark Feed. Over 35 Grey Reef Sharks were circling around as Ahi and I pulled the shark feed bin down to the bommie and once the bin was opened, the sharks went into an awesome feeding frenzy. From out in the blue a 3m to 4m Silver Tip came in and cruised slowly around in the background, coming close enough for us to get a great look at the size and power of the oceanic sharks. Our third dive was at False Entrance, which was stunningly beautiful in the late afternoon sunshine with the huge fans on the wall, reef sharks resting on the sandy patches between the giant coral mounds and formations and a school of Jacks circling under the boat that gave us all an opportunity to get in the middle of them and be surrounded by fish.
With the amazing diving and perfect weather conditions we headed south from Osprey over night and woke up to see the wrecks of the Atlas and the Antonia Terrabocchia on the horizon as we approached Bougainville Reef. With the lack of wind we pulled out all the stops with tender drops, live boat entries and temporary moorings to give our divers access to wonders of the wall, gigantic ridges of corals, canyons, swim throughs and masses of schooling fish at Bougainville Reef. Eagle Rays were seen along with even more sharks and before too long the perfect trip was coming to an end. It really has been a phenomenal four days in the Coral Sea; the diving has been sensational and the group of people onboard has been fantastic.
Congratulations to our new Advanced Open Water Divers Craig, Demelza and Ian; special mention to our recently certified Open Water Divers Shao and Christian, you guys have been amazing and I hope you have enjoyed some of the best diving around!
Nick Leigh (Trip Director)
Mon 9th January 2012 - Thu 12th January 2012 - (22) images
The sun was shining and the ocean was calm and still as Spirit of Freedom departed Cairns with 21 passengers heading out for the 3 Day Cod Hole trip. We started with 2 check out dives at Caves on Norman Reef where the reef fish were in abundance amongst the coral gardens.
The sunrise was stunning over the glass ocean on the second day and we jumped in for 2 superb dives at Pixie Pinnacle with a Moray Eel, two Banded Boxer Shrimps and a juvenile Lionfish hanging out in the hole next to the Flame File Shell! Banded Pipefish were all over the shallow part of the pinnacle and the Mantis Shrimp was out rushing around his little domain moving pieces of coral around. Two Towers had a mild current running through the gap between the pinnacle but there were lots of Olive Sea Snakes winding their way amongst the coral gardens, a Green Turtle, Bumphead Parrotfish, White Tip Reef Sharks and huge schools of Fusiliers and Snapper feeding along the walls. Challenger Bay stunned everyone with the coral gardens along the reef wall before we hopped in for an awesome night dive. I have to congratulate all of our first time night divers who had a brilliant dive with the G.T.s and Red Bass hunting in the torchlight, White Tip Reef Sharks lazily swimming over the top of the reef and a big Grey Reef Shark coming to check out what was on offer in the torchlight.
An awesome drift dive at Dynamite Pass started the third day off with big Grey Reef Sharks down deep on the wall, before we moved to Snake Pit. As we put the mooring line on the stern an 8m Whaleshark swam along the starboard side of the boat and we all grabbed masks, snorkels and fins before jumping in to swim with the largest fish in the ocean! As we descended down the line the Whaleshark cruised past the divers with an effortless kick of the tail and headed off into the depths. The rest of the dive at Snake Pit was awesome with thousands of fusiliers and trevally feeding on the plankton in the water; batfish hanging under the ledges and on our safety stop the Whaleshark returned to grace us with another 10 minutes of beauty. All in all we were privileged to spend nearly 2 hours snorkelling and diving with one of the most graceful creatures in the ocean. The last 2 dives of the trip at the Cod Hole were excellent with the huge Potato Cod playfully biting my glove, obviously very hungry, before being fed right in front of each of the divers. Our surface interval between the two dives was a case of basking in the sunshine and watching the Potato Cod and Sharks swimming around the Cod Hole as the ocean was like glass with not a breath of wind around to make a ripple on the surface. The big Grey reef Shark followed us on the second dive and the huge Potato Cod were hiding under ledges at almost every turn.
Our BBQ night at Lizard Island was treated to a stunning sunset and three Tawny Nurse Sharks turning up at the back of the boat with the usual collection of G.T.'s and Black Tip Reef Sharks.
Congratulations to Luis and Paula on their honeymoon and to all our first time night divers. It has been a fantastic 3 day trip with perfect weather conditions and unbelievable marine life sightings, making it an extremely memorable start to 2012.
Thu 5th January 2012 - Mon 9th January 2012 - (22) images
Day 1: Pixie Gardens was a perfect choice to relax back into diving. A nice easy dive with minimal current meant the punters were able to enjoy reef sharks, turtles, barracuda, schooling bait fish and a lot of macro including nudies, darts, antheas, and more.
Day 2: Around The Bend always produces. This time around half a dozen grey reef sharks, 4 or 5 white tips and a very inquisitive dogtooth tuna which circled very close to some of the divers. A small school of chevron barracuda stirred underneath the boat which kept divers entertained on their deco stop. The shark feed was another epic display of teeth! Two oceanic silver tips decided to join the foray and put on a great show by buzzing the crowd a few times. Admiralty was amazing! The swim-throughs always impressive, the healthy coral, the abundance of fish life, and to top it off, another majestic manta Admiralty at night was just amazing. The bump-head parrot were everywhere! The glow fish kept the divers entertained as we swam through large caves. 3 octopus were a highlight for some.
Day 3: The Eastern wall of North Horn was filled with large oceanic marine life. Masses of grey whalers, white tip reefies and yet another manta.The second dive at North Horn on the magnificent soft coral wall was breathtaking. With the visibility around 45 meters guests could enjoy the beautiful coral and then look out to the many schooling trevally or grey reef sharks. A lone silver tip kept eyes wide open. Secret Caves was a leisurely ‘stroll in the park' with excellent vis and a lot of macro to keep divers happy. Especially a juvenile leafy scorpion, the second for the week. The vis at False Entrance made for an epic final Osprey dive. Lots of white tip shark action and heaps of pristine coral.
Day 4: Steve's Bommie is always epic. As a crew favourite we were all eager to get in the warm water. Awesome macro. Lion fish, stone fish, nudies, flatworms, mantis shrimp, pipe fish, glass shrimp, chromis, anthias, just amazing! Joanies Joy was a great relaxing wind down dive. Lots of the usual suspects kept the crowd happy. Flare Point was a great end to the day with the big highlight being a very friendly leopard shark.
Mon 2nd January 2012 - Thu 5th January 2012 - (23) images
Day 1: Turtle Bommie was a great way to introduce the divers to the Great Barrier Reef. Minimal current and lots of marine life meant two great dives. A group of eagle rays and a couple of white tip reef sharks were the stand out sightings.
Day 2: Cod Hole is always a winner. Especially when you not only find the cod, but awesome little critters like a lacy scorpion fish, or bigger critters like the large black manta ray that floated majestically by. It was amazing! The cod feed was excellent with three beautifully playful spuds coming in to have a bit of a feed and fun. Two Towers produced three sea snakes, two turtles and a colourful cuttlefish. Pixie Pinnacle was a fun and easy dive with lots of macro. Nudies, lion fish, pipe fish, all sorts. Pixie Pinnacle at night was even better. Sharks, morays, lion fish, nudies, but the best of all was a large frog fish, just awesome!
Day 3: Geisha's Garden was a relaxing way to start the day. The coral came to life as the sun rose into higher into the summer sky. Acropolis has to be some of the healthiest coral life on the Great Barrier Reef. The divers were amazed by the sheer beauty of the coral, not just the turtles, sharks and other life that surrounded it. A truly amazing site. Cathedrals was a macro marvel with all sorts of weird and wonderful life to be seen including lion fish, nudies, crusties and a massive school of glass perchlets. The Snake Pit never disappoints. With an abundance of reptile life including snakes and turtles, the site also showed that some of it's smaller life was just as mesmerising.
