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Spirit of Freedom
Great Barrier Reef (Cairns)
Australia
One of Australia's largest liveaboards, The Spirit of Freedom allows you to travel to awesome locations in luxurious comfort. Itineraries include three, four or seven day excursions to see the family of giant potato cod at the world famous Cod Hole along the Ribbon Reefs or out to the Coral Sea Reefs to hang out with the mantas, the massive swarms of sharks, and inquisitive minke whales.
You will be met with pristine coral gardens, and presented with sheer walls that plummet 1000 meters to the ocean floor, covered with massive soft corals and gorgonian fans.
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Water Temperature
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24 - 30°C / 75 - 86°F
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Wetsuit Recommendation
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Protective Lycra or 3mm Suit
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Dive Sites Unique To Area
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- Shark Attraction
- Castles
- Cod Feed
- Rob's Rock
- The Snake Pit
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Blog Links
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110,000 Reasons to Go Liveaboard
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Video Links
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Spirit of Freedom Spirit of Freedom [Video]
Description:
One of Australia's largest liveaboards, The Spirit of Freedom allows you to travel to awesome locations in luxurious comfort.
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You will receive an orientation dive the first day and a safety instructor dives with you on most of your dives. Guided dives are offered once or twice daily. The crew will not limit you as long as you stay within the realm of safe diving practices.
Four gourmet meals are served, highlighting the best in Australian and international cuisine. Starving is not an option. There are 11 spacious, air conditioned cabins, each with their own private bath (and unlimited fresh water). Accommodations vary; the three premium types of cabins offer TV/DVD combos and CD players. A maximum of 26 passengers and 8-10 crew are allowed onboard. The lounge area is comfortable and welcoming and there is a widescreen TV/DVD. Just because you're away at sea, doesn't mean you have to lose touch. The Spirit of Freedom is outfitted with the Seawave Satellite System so you can phone and email home as necessary.
The Spirit of Freedom is docked in Cairns.
Free Wi-Fi.
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- Hairdryer
- TV
- Internet Cafe/ WiFi/ Business Center
- Dive Equipment Rental
- Camera Rental
- SCUBA Certification and Instruction

- Wall Diving
- Macro Life
- Underwater Photography
- Coral Reefs
- Shark Encounters
- Manta Rays
- Whale Migration
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From the giant clams to the baleen and humpback whales, everything is bigger in the Great Barrier Reef. Great is right, the reef system is the largest in the world and is home to a diverse and abundant aquatic life. Where else can you potentially swim with the local Irrawaddy and Indo-pacific humpback dolphins, threatened sea cows and large green turtles as well as see cone shells and nudibranches all in one dive?
If you prefer wrecks to reefs, The Coral Sea is a littered with schooners, freighters and more. An ecological delight, the city of Cairns is surrounded by both reef and rainforest. Adventure seekers will thrill at the various activities, including skydiving, the flying leap, helifishing and rapids kayaking. After your pulse returns to normal, you can visit the local markets, golf courses, casino and night clubs.
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- Wreck Diving
- Macro Life
- Underwater Photography
- Coral Reefs
- Shark Encounters
- Whale Migration

- Rainforest Tours
- Kayaking
- White Water Rafting
- Sky Diving
- Hang Gliding
- Bungy Jumping
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Date:
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Overall, we enjoyed our dives and the Spirit of Freedom. We were not prepared for the often extremely rough seas and unexpected cold water temperatures, 72 to 77 degrees F. It is now their winter, but we still thought the water would be warm. We were wrong. Visibility was generally excellent. A 3 mil wetsuit was not sufficient, and a 5 mil wet suit was still cold. Our Spirit of Freedom (SOF) trip included a rough and rocky overnight journey to the Coral Sea, a ways beyond the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) for a special shark feeding, which was very well done and worth the trip. Lots of sharks were attracted by a cage of fish heads. The cage was opened from a roped latch. As divers we viewed the feeding with our backs to a coral wall. Queensland does not allow shark feeding on the GBR.
The dive master who arranged all the dives and who managed the dive locations was helpful in keeping an inconsiderate and rude guest away from us in the dive groups. While our cabin was probably the largest on the ship, we did not have hot water for showers, luke warm. This was a disappointment, especially given the cold water temperatures. Since our cabin was on the top deck, we really got the most rocking from the rough seas. There were 23 divers and a crew of about 10. Nitrox was available. But the seas were very rough, so our cruises to different dive sites were always all very rocky. The food, however, was excellent given the very small galley/kitchen. Our cook even cooked for the Queen! The number of dives per day, 4-5, made it like boot camp. The one night dive was unnecessarily crowded into and with one dive master. Even though the SOF does not provide guided DM dives (only one DM during dives for safety), I will make sure any next live-aboard night dives are with smaller groups lead by DMs to avoid the hoards underwater in the dark, with big fish and a few sharks around.
P S.
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USA
Date:
Friday, May 11, 2012
Spirit of Freedom was top notch. This was our first experience with a liveaboard dive vessel. We have a 42' Hunter sailboat that we dive off all the time in California so we are used to high quality. Captain Tony, of Spirit of Freedom, had worked his way up from dive master of 20+ years to now Captain. He and his crew were very professional on every level. The diving conditions weren't perfect due to weather but we made the best of it. The Cod feed in the Coral Sea was breathtaking. Cod up to 5 feet long. But the most spectacular experience was the SHARK FEEDING!!! We were 10 feet away from a shark feeding of fresh tuna heads! All catch on video. Some 25+ sharks in total, up to 7 feet long. Saw a giant manta during one of our dives. There were up to 4-5 dives available per day. The food was outstanding as were the accommodations. We also celebrated my 50th birthday while on board. The chef asked what he could make me for my b-day dessert and I requested pecan pie which he made without hesitation. It was the best... Almost as good as Grandma's! We hope to return one day.
UW Photography Comments: The vessel was very accommodating for UWP. The staff was very helpful in setup and general care of underwater camera's. Separate fresh water tub for rinsing. There is a dedicated computer for guests to upload or download pictures. It even gets better than this... One of the dive masters noticed our camera wasn't secured with a lanyard so he gave us one from his personal stash. How thoughtful was that!
R Gibby
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usa
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