Cairns: Liveaboard Trips (Overnight)
Taka, Taka Dive

5 days/4 nights departs Fridays

Departs Fridays includes up to 14 dives (12 day dives + 2 night dives)

Departs every Friday afternoon reaching the Cod Hole by the next morning. The first dive day is at the world famous Cod Hole where you will feed the Giant Potato Cod. This is a must for all photographers.

Over night you travel to Osprey reef in the Coral Sea, around 120 kilometers to the east. This is where you will generally encounter a minimum of 30 meters (100 feet) visibility and BIG FISH.

On your second dive at Osprey Reef at a place called North Horn you will have the opportunity to be under water during a shark feeding and come face to face with oceanic silver tips, gray whalers and white tip reef sharks. After the shark feeding we move to a different location on Osprey Reef and do two more dives. Tonight we depart the Coral Sea towards the Great Barrier Reef.

You will spend Monday and Tuesday diving down the ribbon reefs back towards Cairns. All up you have 4 days of the best diving Australia has to offer while doing up to 14 dives.

Book on-line this month to recieve 5% discount (Special)

Click here for full itinerary

see also:
4Day/3Night Cod Hole & Northern Great Barrier Reef - Tuesday departure
7Day/7Night Cod Hole & Coral Sea - Tuesday OR Friday departure

Prices valid until 30th June 2009

Book on-line before this month to recieve 5% discount (Special)

Snorkelers / non divers welcome, take AUD$100 off the prices above

Room types

Click on the image to enlarge (opens in new window):

Quad Share	Twin/Double Ensuite	Stateroom

Itinerary

Friday:

• Complimentary pick-ups from Cairns City accommodation commence between 4:30pm & 5:00pm. Passengers arrive to our vessel 'TAKA' at approx 5:10pm. Check in is then done by one of our experienced & friendly crew members.
• The first evening we travel overnight 150Klm to the Cod Hole. During this time passengers organize their dive gear or hire gear. We also have a brief period of introduction followed by paperwork and a briefing on the schedule for the next day. Dinner is served at approx 7:30pm with the rest of the evening for relaxation.

Saturday:

• 7:30am Breakfast
• 8:30am Arrive at the Cod Hole
• Dive Briefing
• Dive 1 Familiarization with the Cod Hole/ Check out dive for those who have done less than 50 dives or have not dived in the past year.
  Likely Sightings include Giant Potato Cod, Moray Eel, Reef Sharks & Maori Wrasse.
• Dive 2 Cod Feed at the Cod Hole- Close encounters with the Famous Potato Cod.
• Lunch
• Dive 3 Pixie's Pinacle/Reef/Wall or Challenger Bay
  Likely Sightings include Lion Fish, Nudibranchs, Garden Eels & Barracuda.
• Afternoon rest & Snack.
• Dive 4 6:30pm Night Dive at Challenger Bay
  Likely Sightings include Cuttle Fish, Sea Turtles, Reef Sharks & Manta Rays.
• 8:00pm Evening Meal

Sunday:

• 7:00am Breakfast
• 7:30am Arrive at Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea.
• Dive 5 8:30am North Horn. Wall Dive with drop-offs to 100m. There is a fantastic variety of sharks swimming off the wall- such as Gray Whalers, White Tip & Black Tips, Hammerheads, A Giant Potato Cod and the occasional Bull Shark.
• Dive 6 10:30am North Horn SHARK FEED. Divers observe this amazing spectacle from 15m sitting on dead coral palettes. The SHARK FEED can last anywhere from 5min to 30min depending on how many and how hungry the sharks are. Once the feed is completed, once the instructors gives the 'all clear', the divers can leave the wall and continue the dive.
• Lunch
• Dive 7 1:30pm Half Way Wall. Sightings include interesting coral formations, Feather Stars and Green Sea Turtles.
• Dive 8 4:00pm The Entrance. Sightings include Puffer Fish & Clown Fish.
• Evening Meal
• 8:00pm Depart Osprey Reef and head back to the Great Barrier Reef.

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Monday:

• 7:00am Breakfast
• Dive Briefing
• Dive 9 7:30am Clam Gardens. Likely Sightings include Giant Clams (150-200 y/o)
• Dive 10 10:00am Steve's Bommie.
  Likely Sightings include Red flame File Shell, Stone Fish, Wobbegong Sharks, Turtles & Thousands of schooling Anthias.
• Snack
• Dive 11 12:00/1:00pm Temple Of Doom. Sightings include Flatworms & Clownfish.
• Lunch followed by Afternoon Rest.
• Dive 12 6:30pm Beer Gardens. Sightings include Sleepy Turtles & Parrot Fish.
• 8:00pm Evening Meal
  

Tuesday:

• Dive Briefing
• Dive 13 6:30am Split Bommie. Sightings include Angelfish & Clown Fish.
• 7:30am Breakfast
• Dive 14 8:30am Split Bommie. Sightings include Octopus & various Butterfly Fish.
• As we sail back to Cairns, passengers have plenty of time to rest and relax in between snacks and lunch.
• Taka then arrives back to Trinity Wharf in Cairns at 3:00pm. Complimentary transfers to local accommodation between 3:00pm and 4:00pm.

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MEALS

On both trips all meals from dinner on the day of departure to lunch on the last day are included. Snacks are prepared after each dive. Fresh fruit, biscuits, tea, coffee, milo, water & cordial available at all times free of charge.

Beer, wine, soft drinks and chocolate bars are available from the Bar.

PADI Advanced Course

The advanced course is a PADI course that requires divers to go that one step further in understanding what Scuba Diving is all about. The tasks that are set out to be performed while diving do not detract from the enjoyment of the tour, but add a whole new range of possibilities to be enjoyed underwater.

During the advanced course, you will get an introduction to five specialities in the PADI system: Underwater Naturalist, Boat Diving, Underwater Navigation, Night Diving and Deep Diving. A fairly relaxed course, this focuses on the practical aspects of diving rather than theoretical classroom work.

The cost of the Advanced Course is AUD $140 in addition to the trip cost.

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Underwater Photography

Underwater photo and video services are supplied on each Taka trip by Scubapix.

The Photo/Video Pro offers a range of services on board Taka:

· Underwater digital camera hire
· Souvenir video filmed of the dive trip
· CD of over 150 digital photos taken on each trip
· Underwater photography courses
· Memory card download & CD burning service

DIGITAL CAMERA HIRE

New 3 megapixel digital cameras are available for rent aboard Taka. These compact cameras have a built-in flash and are easy to use with impressive results. Rental includes use of a colour correction filter and all your photos burnt onto CD. Divers can use the onboard computers to view and edit their photos.

Digital camera hire - 1 dive: AU$50
Digital camera hire - 1 day (4 dives): AU$100

For divers with their own digital camera, the Photo Pro can download your memory card and burn your photos onto CD (AU$15 per CD).

VIDEO

All the underwater action is filmed at the Cod Hole (all trips), Osprey Reef (5-day trip only) and the Ribbon Reefs to create a video of your dive trip (approx. 55 mins). The day's video footage is shown each evening on Taka's large plasma screens. This video is for sale at the end of each trip.

Video (VHS tape format): AU$75
DVD (DVD-R format): AU$125

PHOTO CD

The Photo/Video Pro uses a housed digital camera to photograph the reef, marine life and divers throughout the dive trip. Over 150 photos are put onto a CD which is available for AU$75.

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UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY COURSE

The program covers basic underwater photography with special emphasis on practical photographic techniques. The course is offered for both digital and 35mm film cameras.

The academic content of the program is divided into 3 main areas:
1. The planning, organisation, procedures, techniques and hazards of underwater photography.
2. General photographic principles, composition, flash versus available light photography and camera handling techniques.
3. The preparation, care and maintenance of underwater photographic equipment.

The course includes two photography dives. For students using digital cameras, the course includes a photo download and feedback session after each course dive.

Where possible, the training dives will be conducted early in the trip. It is expected that the total course time including lectures, dives and revision will be approx. 6 hours.

Course cost: AU$250

Extras:
- Camera hire for 1 day (4 dives) - $100 for digital camera.

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