Whitsundays Sailing Adventures Blog » Bait Reef

Cuttlefish at Bait Reef

Greg — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 19:40:32 +0000

Another one of the amazing creatures you will come across while diving Bait Reef is the Cuttlefish. Cuttlefish are sometimes referred to as the chameleon of the sea because of their remarkable ability to rapidly alter their skin color at will. Cuttlefish change color and light polarisation to communicate to other cuttlefish and to camouflage themselves from predators.

They use their camouflage to hunt and sneak up on their prey. When they get close enough, they open their eight arms and shoot out two long feeding tentacles. On the end of each is a pad covered in suckers that grabs and pulls prey toward its beak.

Yellow Spotted Box Fish

Greg — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 05:23:30 +0000

The Great Barrier Reef has an endless supply of interesting creatures.

This little guy is a Yellow spotted Box Fish and he seems as interested in our diver as we are in him!

Whales Whales Whales!!

Greg — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 05:30:30 +0000

Kiana’s trip on the 4-6 July was one to remember for our Guests. At Bait Reef the whales were everywhere. At a popular dive site, “Mantaray Dropoff “, our snorkellers were joined by two inquistive whales and the scuba divers had the same experience. During the time at Bait Reef the crew counted 30 whales on different occasions, although it was difficult to work out how often the same whales were spotted.

On the way home, about 6 miles out from Bait Reef, two whales decided the Kiana and our guests needed close inspection. Our skipper immediately stopped the vessel with whales in such close proximity. These two whales stayed with Kiana for over an hour. The video tells the story.

Small numbers make Kiana the best

Greg — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 04:28:01 +0000

2 weeks ago I joined the great and amazing sailing trip on your boat to the Whitsundays and the outer reef…. Today I want to say “thank you so much” for making these days so enjoyable and unforgettable, I have had really a great time and I always take these memories alive.

Ben:You are really an excellent diving instructor – I have never had a bad feeling and I felt confident all the time. Thanks for doing a great introducing to this marvelous sport and for showing us such a great underwater world (even more the German turtle .

Pete : Thanks for making these brilliant pictures under water – it is such a great “memory” on a really nice adventure. I loved your meals especially the dessert . Enjoy your stay in Australia and on this boat – I think it is something really special and you can count yourself lucky to be a part of the kiana crew

Brent :Thank you so much for driving (or cruising – I don’t know the correct english word ) the boat so comfortable and easy. I enjoyed the stay all the time; it was really an amazing experience and a great adventure. Thanks for telling us all the secrets about the stars, the moon and the season … (and sorry for jumping onto the roof while you are driving the boat .

Sarah :Wherever you go and whatever you do – enjoy your life, be happy and take always care about you.

Owner of kiana :You can be really proud to have such a brilliant, experienced and lovely crew on your boat and to be the owner of the beautiful kiana.

Last week I was on a second dive trip in Port Douglas … with 80 people on board … it was horrible (I am a bloody stupid German – I understood …” There are 18 people on board” instead of 80 …. L so I know where the differences are … People make the differences …

It was really a great pleasure for me to take part on this tour and it was so nice to meet you all.
Take always care about you!

Many greetings
Tania (the German turtle J)

Our 20th Anniversary on Kiana

Greg — Sun, 22 May 2011 00:02:41 +0000

Rob and I had a fantastic trip and celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary aboard the Kiana.

On the first day of sailing, we anchored near Whitehaven beach to explore the island. Although the weather was a little dreary, the group was enthusiastic about our guided walk in the rainforest including a brief history of the place. I could not get over the number of baby rays that were scattered throughout the water and the sand was whiter than anything that I’ve ever seen before.

Back on the boat, we were treated to a brilliant sunset and enjoyed a champagne toast. And – what could be better after a huge day of being in and on the water, than being rocked to sleep in our berth on the boat? Heaven!

Pete, our resident cook, provided us with delicious and generous meals to keep us fueled for our water activities.

Relaxing on Kiana

Diving and snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef was awesome. It was thriving, vivid and healthy and we saw all kinds of colorful fish, vibrant coral and turtles. We were even up early enough to catch a dazzling sunrise, which doesn’t happen very often in our busy lives.

The crew aboard Kiana were professional, fun to be with and always courteous. They shared local knowledge and stories and made all of the guests feel at home and welcome. Many thanks to Dave, Pete & Ben for helping to make this an anniversary that we will never forget!

Rob & Lori Laurette, Canada

Save Our Seas from Pollution

Gabby — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:52:21 +0000

Since Skipper Ian Thompson (Thommo) joined Whitsundays Sailing Adventures Islandive, he has always valued the company policy in helping protect and preserve our Great Barrier Reef Park and the marine life within.

Over the years, Islandive’s Company Directors Keith Roberts and Mike Keyte have avidly supported and been pro-active within local committees in the prevention of waste infiltrating our ocean. Islandive and its staff continually works in conjunction with the Queensland Marine Park and its environmental program.

Ian is a participator in Islandive’s Eye on the Reef Program and is well informed and knowledgable on the natural heritage, conservation and the colossal eco-system of the Great Barrier Reef and its environmental threats.

We are proud he is actively going out on his own in April 2010 in his quest to sail around Australia to raise awareness of plastic bags polluting our ocean, and the devastating effect this has on our marine environment. Ian has Islandive’s full support and we are pleased to be able to contribute to his campaign.

Plastic bags are a true menace to our marine ecosystem. Non- recyclable, the Australian Government is working with the industry and the community to reduce the environmental impact of plastic bags. Everyone shares some responsibility for this problem as nearly half a million plastic bags are collected on clean up Australia Day each year. It takes only four grocery shopping trips for an average Australian family to accumulate 60 plastic bags. Many people are starting to use reusable bags such as the ‘green bags” you buy at supermarkets.

Plastic bags which are made from natural gas or oil, are especially dangerous to turtles who mistake them for jellyfish, their main food source. 86% of all known species of turtles have had reported problems of entanglement or ingestion of marine debris. ,

Our marine creatures are dying and they need our help. We ask you to support Ian in his determination to break the record of the fastest person to sail solo around Australia, and to be the voice of our endangered marine creatures.

Islandive has put on every vessel a tin can in the hope that passengers touring on an Islandive vessel will donate a gold coin to contribute towards Ian’s food bill over the 50 days he is at sea. This donation will go directly towards his expenses and his voyage around Australia to save our wonderful marine creatures.

Anyone wishing to support his campaign should visit the campaigns website at www.sosoceanracing.com

A Fabulous Trip on Kiana

Greg — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:23:54 +0000

Dear Lisette,

Thank you very much for all of your help booking the Kiana for my family and me for the sailing on December 25th. We had an absolutely amazing time. It was actually the highlight of our 3 1/2 week trip for me. I was sad to not be able to meet you in person when we checked in for the sailing or when we returned so that I could properly thank you in person for all of your help, but I hope you also had a wonderful vacation over Christmas.

My family and I very much enjoyed the Kiana. The ship was perfect for us, as were our sleeping arrangements. The crew (Brent, Paul, and Paul) was absolutely phenomenal. I can’t say enough about how wonderful they were making us feel welcome with their outgoing personalities. The food that Paul cooked was excellent. The other Paul did a great job with teaching my family how to scuba dive and snorkel and Brent always greeted us with a cheery smile and was more than willing to teach us something new. I doubt if Brent ever has a bad day, he is such a positive and uplifting person.

Anyway, thank you very much for all of your help deciding upon and booking Kiana. I greatly appreciate it and will definitely share this excellent experience with all of my clients travelling to Australia and encourage them to include the Kiana in their vacation as well. Thank you again for all of your help!

Sincerely,
Christina Plesha
STA Travel

The above was received by Lisette in the WSA Reservations Office after Christina’s recent trip on Kiana.

Don’t Miss the Small Stuff

Greg — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:15:25 +0000

When most of us first start scuba diving it’s the “awesome” stuff that strikes us and dominates our diving stories. Sharks, Manta-rays, Sea Turtles, Maori Wrasse are the centres of our conversations.

But as our diving experience matures we start to notice that the small creatures are much more extensive, diverse and interesting.

One of the most interesting, cute, and often overlooked is the humble Goby. Gobies are the largest group of marine fishes, fresh and salt combined, and the dominant element in small-fish bottom fauna on tropical reefs.

Goby at Bait Reef

This little guy was photographed by the dive instructor from Kiana at Bait Reef. He has made himself a home in the coral and curiously watches as the photographer approaches.

Sailing Adventures on Emperors Wings

Rani — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 04:28:19 +0000

After a leisurely breakfast at Beaches Backpackers and a little last minute shopping around Airlie Beach, we arrived at the dock in the afternoon. The crew were all smiles as they welcomed us on board and we set off sailing! After quite an entertaining run down about living on board and what to expect during the trip we were split into groups: those wanting to snorkel, then certified and intro divers and we geared up for our first dive.

It was my first attempt ever at diving so I was excited and a little nervous but Richi my dive instructor was amazing, on our first attempt he made sure we were comfortable with our equipment while we were still at a spot where we could touch the sand with our toes and any nerves I had dissolved in the sea, Richi made it all so easy and I always felt safe.

He said…if you loved that, the next one will blow your minds… WOW!! It absolutely did!! My favourite was the dawn dive when the fish were still a little sleepy and Manta Ray Drop Off where I got to hang out with a sea turtle and see white tip reef sharks!

After a big day on the reef, Tanya cooked us a spectacular dinner, it was great food, meals like steak and chicken with salads and lots of fruit for breakfast, just what’s needed to start a big day. Our hostie with the mostie was Tanya such a cool chick and looked after me really well especially with lots of yummy gluten free food.

Playing silly buggers on the amazingly beautiful White Haven Beach was a heap of fun and all the girls enjoyed a natural beauty treatment, exfoliating with the powdered sand made and making our legs silky smooth. After a stunning sunset, we’d watch the shooting stars from the deck at night.

Our captain Mike was easy going and great to chat to about life on the reef, Stu our hilarious first mate helped keep us on course and laughing at all times, Dylan showed the certified divers around the reef and from looking at the photos we saw in the slide shows at night, they had a blast, (and just watch me smile with a regulator in my mouth)!

To the amazing Richi, I will be ever thankful for introducing me to the reef and for ’holding my hand’ on the first of many more dives to come. Diving for me was such a peaceful amazing experience and I’m so keen now I’ve booked in to become certified so I can do a night dive on my next trip!

Thank you so much Emperors Wings!!!!

Amber Pitt
Travel Adviser
STA Travel Gold Coast Uni

The Outer Reef on Emperors Wings

Russ — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:17:02 +0000

Winter in the Whitsundays is a truly magical time. Warm days, clear skies, no threat of rain to spoil days spent gently yachting around the pristine islands. Winter also brings a few extra surprises, some friends from down south, a certain elite group known as the “Megaptera Novaeangliae”. This group create quite the spectacle for seafaring tourists and locals alike and are more commonly referred to as the Humpback Whales!

Emperors Wings Dive Deck

Winter shined a lucky light on me this year as it was my turn to experience the newest (note: brand new!) addition to the Whitsunday Sailing Adventures fleet and the outer Great Barrier Reef at the same time! The 18 metre fibreglass, custom built dive catamaran was to be my home for the next three nights, and I was not complaining!

The first of the features immediately demanding my attention as I followed the 25 other passengers to the marina arm was the impressive, stainless steel dive platform that dominated the stern of the vessel. The platform serves many purposes during the trip, the first of which was being demonstrated with the collapsible arms folded down and supporting the Vessels large yellow tender. I would get to experience the other reasons for myself once we arrived at one of our numerous dive sites.

As soon as we stepped aboard we all felt very welcomed by the extra friendly crew who were as excited about the trip as we all were. As a side note, we had three dive instructors which indicated we were in for a REAL diving adventure! The next impressive feature I noticed upon stepping onboard was the shiny new Nitrox tank filling compressor. This will allow the crew to prep SCUBA tanks with a richer oxygen mix allowing for deeper dives and lower nitrogen build up in the blood. A very handy device to have on a serious dive vessel.

The comfortable big catamaran was to be the platform for a number of excited travellers first ever dive experience. With so many experienced dive instructors on board everyone was equipped and ready to dive with routine efficiency. First in the water were the introductory divers, completely ‘fresh’ and brimming with enthusiasm. The following two groups of certified divers were chomping at the bit to prove their skills in the calmer waters of the fringing barrier reef before the expedition to the impressive Bait Reef.

Manta Ray at Bait Reef

Although our vessel was perfectly equipped for diving she also had Whitehaven Beach set clearly in her itinerary of beautiful places to visit. Early morning had us waking up at Tongue Bay to the sporadic games of hide and seek played by the resident turtles surfacing to see if we were watching or not. The sheltered bay is a feeding site for sea turtles being home to plentiful floor coverings of sea grass. With that as the first sight of the day it was hard to see how the day would improve. Just thirty minutes later improvement arrived. We were standing atop Hill Lookout admiring the world famous Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet at low tide displaying for us the stunning artwork of ivory white sand and the most luminous sky blues; a unique tidal tapestry woven that morning for our eyes only.

Under full sail we point point the bow directly away from land and enjoy the journey. At the end of some pleasant sunbaking we arrive at the impressive and otherworldly sight of the Great Barrier Reef. Completely surrounded by the living organism protruding from the water with no land mass in sight, we are reminded it is low tide, and we are VERY lucky to have this as our resting place for 2 more days!

The return sail from Bait Reef to the mainland provided much more of the best, sunbaking, relaxing, sailing and of course more whale watching! Having been absolutely spoilt with freshly prepared and cooked food all trip I was feeling quite content and glint of disappointment crossed me as I realised I was returning to the real world! My aquatic playground home had come to an end and I was feeling much richer for the experience.