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NOTE date change for this trip...
Papua New Guinea, October 19 - 29, 2001
We are going back to PNG--Papua New Guinea--Oct.
19 - 29, 2001. We had a great time in Oct., 2000. The diving was certainly
different from any other trip we have taken. We often dove on dull
gravel slopes or sea weed flats and I asked myself why had I bothered
to travel halfway around the world to see this? But when I approached
a lone crinoid, I soon noticed the beautiful harlequin ghost pipefish--no--
two, no-- three ghost Pipefish. And on the gravel swam a long,
black pipefish--new to me, and by the rock under the crinoid a rare
saran shrimp, new to me and not in any book that I could find either.
And that is the point of Milne Bay diving--you don't always see a
lot on every dive, but WOW, what you do see is all new. We opted for
a few dives on the lovely reefs--but we had all seen corals and beautiful
gorgonians and lovely sea fans and schools of fish. Most of the group
opted instead for the lovely emperor shrimp on the cucumber, new nudibranchs,
pipefish that look like the halimeda algae, yellow frogfish with odd
gray patterns, mating octopus (at least three pairs in one small area
15 feet deep), and on and on. It was fabulous.Herb and I will not
be doing a land tour on this particular trip--time and business constraints
will keep us in Grand Cayman. If you wish to tour the highlands and
the Sepic River area, we will suggest an itinerary to you so that
the group can travel together. It is a wonderful tour, and everyone
should do it at least once in a lifetime. We've done it three times,
and each was unique and special. Due to the onset of the rainy season
in late October, we highly recommend that you do your land tour before
the dive portion.
MV PARADISE SPORT
We will dive from Mike Ball's wonderful MV
Paradise Sport--a 100 x 33-foot catamaran for 22 divers. (However,
we often dove individually at our own pace, so the sites were not
crowded.) The multi-hull design provides incredible stability and
lots of space. There is an ample dive deck, plenty of camera space,
nitrox facilities, photo and video lab, indoor and outdoor dining
rooms on the upper deck, with a comfortable lounge for viewing slides
and video. The top sun deck is half shaded so that everyone has the
perfect setting for their needs. This boat was designed for diving
and comfort from the hull up.Mike knows how to pile on the services,
so there will be plenty of help to process film, find us critters
underwater, help us to dive usually from the main vessel or occasionally
from the tenders. You get a hot towel after every dive, a hot drink
with your wake up call, and complimentary soft drinks and Australian
wines. The food on the last trip was outrageous.The cabins are on
the main deck, and most have ocean view windows. The two premium rooms
are 166 square feet with king and single beds, private head, sink
& shower. The standard rooms are 107 square feet with queen lower
and single upper bunk, private bath; economy is around 70 square feet,
two single bunks, and some shared facilities. Budget is 60 square
feet with connecting bathroom.
THE DIVING
This trip (like the 1999 one) will be in Milne
Bay--a Mecca for unusual critters. There are dozens of articles in
every dive magazine about this location. Our last trip was incredible
with several
elusive harlequin ghost pipefish, 2 weedy scorpionfish, 3 frogfish,
2 harlequin shrimp, 2 blue ribbon eels, many strange symbiotic shrimps,
and a red and white lined sea cucumber. The crew also captured live
nautilus in deep water and brought them up for the divers to see in
shallow water before releasing them without harm (I am told) to return
to their deep daytime home. (I have been assured that this does not
hurt them, but if anyone knows to the contrary, let me know and we
will discontinue this activity instantly.)
COST
The cost for ten nights aboard Paradise Sport,
with diving and meals, taxes, is, if paying by credit card, $3011
(economy), $3635 (standard), $4154 (premium). Discount cost for using
cash or check is $2895 , $3495, $3995 respectively. Herb and I usually
fly from LAX but connecting stopovers have not been decided. We often
fly through Australia. There is one internal flight from Port Moresby
to Alotau where we get on the boat. This flight will be arranged by
Seven Seas Tours for the entire group. Details on this portion of
the trip will be available later.We can arrange stopovers and side
trips on the way if you wish, including a land tour and inland river
cruise in PNG. It is impossible to get final pricing from the airlines
and often from PNG land operators, and prices may change up to seven
months before departure. Thus, be patient when making your plans for
your PNG land tour.This is one of the most spectacular trips that
we do, so call now for a reservation--345-949-7415.
Click here to
reserve your space
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