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Mike Ball-tastic

February 14, 2013 2 min read

On my dive computer I have set an alarm for 7:45am to subtly beep 3 times. Often I’m awake before this. However, this alarm is more of a “you’re-wasting-you’re-life-alarm”. You see, if I’m still in bed at 7:45am, or something alike, then this alarm is a wake up call to go do something ‘cool’. Majority of the time, I am working on my thesis ...which is at times a downer, but in the big picture I deem it as pretty damn ‘cool’.

However, over the last 4 days, when that alarm has begun to beep, I have been 30m deep far out in the Coral Sea surrounded by some of the most beautiful marine life I have ever seen. Yep, the Sarah Shark crew and I were on the Mike Ball Liveaboard out at Ospray Reef.

It was such a remarkable, larger-than-life trip and what’s more is that it was also full of so many remarkable people. The food was absurdly good, the crew were charming and fun – and always up for a chat under the starry night sky. Some of the highlights were; the freshly hot towels at your dive station after the dive, my special requested chocolate mousse (thanks Chef Jade), the private ‘hard n shoot’ dive (by ‘shoot’ they mean ‘film’ – not literally shoot) led by the knowledgeable Shae, the night dives, the perfectly toned wakey wakey song by Kerrin, and Sarah Shark’s Tim doing his discovery scuba with stud instructor Mark.

Below the waves we made friends with potato cods, huge morays, ~10 giant bumphead parrot fish, human-sized tuna, schools of the beautiful oriental sweetlips, beautiful soft corals and gorgonian fans, hunting giant trevally at night and of course the stars of the trip - white-tip, silver-tip and grey reefies, and a hammerhead!