Spirit of Freedom offers cruises to the best dive sites of the Coral Sea, the Ribbon Reefs & Cod Hole. She also offers trips to swim with Minke Whales and Special Expeditions venturing well off the beaten track.Highlights of these trips and itinerary map.
The final itinerary is, of course, always dependant upon weather, sea conditions and where the best animal sightings are at any particular time of year
Spirit of Freedom does 3, 4 and 7 night trips – plus custom charters & special expeditions. Her itineraries cover all the best of Auatralia’s diving: Coral Sea, Ribbon Reefs & Cod Hole – with mid-year offerings to view the magical Minke whales.
A rare opportunity to dive the remote Far Northern Great Barrier Reef is offered annually by the beautiful Spirit of Freedom, typically in the month of November. These superb expeditions traverse the coastline from Cairns to Horn Island. One of the last totally pristine areas of the Great Barrier Reef, this area is seldom visited by liveaboards and many of the hundreds of reefs in the region are yet to be explored.
Ribbon Reefs: The Ribbon Reefs run from just north of Cairns to the east of Lizard Island. The chain of reefs lies in turquoise water and they’re a startling vision from above. They are visited by only a handful of liveaboards and offer divers walls, channels, caves & canyons. They host a range of marine life from the giant clam, with it’s violet fluorescent interior, to the elusive leafy scorpion fish. You’ll find huge plate corals, lovely pinnacles crowned in delicate corals and anemones and shallow coral gardens & good critters ….. Last, but not lease, is the always-popoular Cod Hole, where you’ll encounter the large, docile family of resident Potato Cod (Grouper). They’ll pose with you for a selfie at the drop of a hat!
Coral Sea: Lying west of Cairns and just south of the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, Australia’s Coral Sea covers over 1 million square kilometres. The topography is fabulous – coral reefs built upon ancient mountains, rising thousands of metres from the ocean floor. Given the relatively minor impact of the human imprint here, there are pelagic fish populations which abound, including grey whalers and white tip reef sharks, hammerheads, tuna, barracuda, big eye trevally, mackerel and manta rays. Rare sea creatures such as the Nautilus and Lacey Scorpionfish inhabit these waters, alongside an incredibly diverse range of corals, including massive soft corals and gorgonian fans. All of this in great viz !