Reef Encounter - The best competent and friendly crew!

30 years diving many times to the Great Barrier Reef been on several liveaboard just experienced the best value, best service, best equipment and best food, best crew – this is the best package I have experienced for the first time a good value for money dive experience

Mr John van der Laan – Australian-  June 2007

The crew were excellent! Very friendly and helpful but also extremely professional. It was very obviously safety first throughout our stay.

Really enjoyed it thank you so much. It was the crew that really made it – like being in a little happy family and I always felt 100% safe to try anything because the high safety standards were obvious from the beginning.

The food was absolutely gorgeous thank you for being so accommodating about my allergies – the chef really knew his stuff.

The marketing that we saw didn’t do it justice – get some customer comments on there. The atmosphere should be a really selling point.

Thanks again! Katherine Dunn - Irish

We very much enjoyed the crew they were helpful and cheery – Reef Encounter was an excellent experience Thank you so much for a wonderful memory

David Mary & Jason Gillum USA

Leaving Australia in 2 days, we could not go without telling you THANK YOU !!!!!

What an amazing journey ! We had such a good time on board with you. This would be unforgettable birthday and honeymoon.

Thanks to all the team ! .... and special ones to :

- Micky for bringing Leo underwater and for him to love this experience.
- John and Cristel for having giving us a lift to Palm Cove, luggage and people !

Please give this e-mail to anybody concerned and say hi to George (the Compass photograph) for us !!!

You can count on our prescription services in France !!! ... and come and say Hi if you come in Paris !

Hi Guys, I stayed on the reef encounter in December and I just wanted to say a big thank you to the whole dive team. I had the best time and the staff were so friendly and helpful.
A special thank you to Mike for taking me and my partner out diving as it has to be the best thing that we have ever done. The good thing that has come out of my time on board is that I am now going to do diving lessons as it has totally blown me away. Thank you again and i hope to be on board the reef encounter in the years to come.

Catherine Houlder CAT

Hello Reef Encounter.

Just wanted to extend my thanks to you and your staff. Recently, my Dad and I had the opportunity to spend four days and three nights on the Reef Encounter. Our stay was excellent with special attention provided by Kerrence, Dave and Kye.

The food was spectacular.. Kye definitely impressed us...

We also want to give kudos to Issac.. Your new Captain. He was great and added a lot to our trip experience.

This is belated, but needs to be said!

Kris and I had the pleasure of doing a day trip with your crew at the end of May last. We wanted a smaller operation and were prepared to accept that quality of food etc maybe not as good as one of the larger enterprises.

But hey - no way! A fun crew in a relaxed environment, fantastic spot on the reef, great food and plenty of it, and the ability to hire wetsuits at reasonable prices made the trip one of our two highlights of our stay in Cairns.

Fanbloodytastic !!!

You have a great team of people and a great product - keep up the good work.

Cheers, Ian and Kristin Brown.

Lyndell,

I wanted to tell you how much we enjoyed our four days on reef encounters. And again think you for the refund for our son who could not make the trip.

We had a great and relaxing time. The food was great as well as our quarters. The staff was both laid back and efficient and good mix. The cost was reasonable given the great setting. If you would like to send me some promotional material I would be pleased to give to my friends.

Thanks again, Phil Hanley

Exceptional and fun, awesome time will be coming again.

Angus Smith 28th May 2007

Excellent meals, excellent guides, congratulations and thanks for the good times and dives

Sensational!

Rapheal Silva Brasil

Outstanding! Dive staff, purser, dive master and hosties all great & helpful thoughtful and safety conscious helpful and understanding vessel was excellent, clean well maintained, comfortable. We would definitely do this again. I got so much out of my dives and out of my time onboard. Meals were excellent plentiful, delicious catered for individual tastes.

Stephen Tokar USA

Excellent food, lots of vegetables, plentiful varied met any special requests , accommodation excellent clean, cozy, comfortable beds. Crew were the best ! all were excellent make us feel relaxed on our dives and very secure
Vessel is well maintained and very comfortable. The biggest plus is the staff they make all the difference between the great experience we had an unhappy one.

Beth Katz USA

Wow, what a great adventure, even if the weather wasn't the greatest. We were on board the Reef Encounter from April 10 - 12 with the Top Deck Service. It was a marvellous trip, great accommodations, excellent food and our private dive guide, Jordy (sp?) went above and beyond. What a wonderful guide, gentleman, and seemed like our private valet!

Just wanted you all to know that we WILL be back (maybe a couple of years) and will stay a week this time! We didn't get off the first reef due to the weather so will look forward to seeing others when we return.

Thanks again. Helen & George Heinlein

Hello: My friend and I recently spent the night on Reef Encounter and had a great time. It was my first experience diving and I was nervous, but the staff was skilled and friendly and put me at ease.

Thanks for the wonderful experience. I'll tell my friends in the States to use Reef Encounter when they visit the GBR.

Cheers, Julie Harrer

Hi Lyndell

How are you? Before I begin, I have to apologise for not writing to you sooner as I meant to. We have had a hectic 10 days or so travelling to Uluru and now are in Perth, and this is the first time I've been able to get to a decent internet cafe. The good thing is though it's given me plenty of time to think about what a fantastic time Ali and I both had on Reef Encounter.

In my experience, of 10 years as a wheelchair user, I haven't come across any other outdoor activity specialist/organisation who match you in terms of positive attitude and not making a deal out of 'special requirements' which is so refreshing! And aside from a personal love of outdoor stuff, my line of work is planning and organising adventure courses, skiing, skydiving etc for people with spinal cord injuries so I do have a fair bit of experience in this area(in Europe and N. America). Without exception everyone on board was so laidback and helpful. I remember you saying the first time we met you 'Not only will the staff on board help, they will be happy to help' and that really was true. At this point I have to say a special thanks to Roy, who could not have been a kinder, more helpful guy and Clint who was just a great instructor to dive with. In terms of the access around the boat, it was pretty good compared to other boats I have been on; in particular the common area/dining area was really spacious, and I was able to get around the whole of the lower level. The hydraulic lift into the water was an excellent facility. The only improvement that I can think of would be if the bathroom within the cabin could be accessible but that is something you are obviously aware of.

I'm not sure if the following is useful information or not but it will at least tell you what a great deal you gave me! About 3 weeks before we arrived in Cairns I emailed 4 diving companies that we had heard about. I've listed them below along with their responses.

Pro-Dive - replied to my email saying would be happy to assist but I would need to pay for a private instructor (they did not specify how much this would be)

Cairns Dive Centre - Emailed "Sorry but we are not able to help as we have no wheelchair access on our boats"

Down Under Dive - No reply!

Deep Sea Diver's Den: Their initial reply was the most positive although they did not mention costs at this point. It was when we arrived in Cairns and I went to see them that I was given these costs. $160 for a day trip and 2 dives + $240 for a private guide so $400 in total.

Just writing this down makes me so happy again that I came into your office that day! I can't imagine I would have had anything near as good an experience with them, plus it would only have been for a day.

I would be more than happy to help promote what you do in any way that it might help, whether in the UK or here such as in contributing to a magazine article or brochure or writing to any organisations you want to raise your profile with. Please just let me know. I think I mentioned to you that one of the other guests took some great photos and a video clip of me on the boat, getting in and out of the water etc which when I receive them I will send on to you.

Many thanks again for everything - I definitely had an unforgettable time at the Great Barrier Reef.

With very best wishes, Sarah Orr

Hi all staff,

This is just a quick note to say how much we enjoyed our 2 day 1 night cruise last week. The staff were excellent and great fun to be with. My husband and I also enjoyed the food which was well prepared and fresh. The safety aspects of the cruise was also well covered. We were only did snorkelling but enjoyed it immensely and we saw so much.
We will definitely be recommending the cruise to other friends and family. Hopefully we will be able to do the cruise again in the future.

Kind regards, Pam and Pat Martin

The crew were the best I have ever met, almost like family a great day out for all!

Oliver Evans UK

Very friendly and helpful crew Have a very enjoyable day despite the weather the crew were fantastic, good fun where do they get their energy from – I want some !!

Will Carpenter AUSTRALIA

The crew were Excellent far better than the cruise I took out of Port Douglas more time in the water less crowds.

Lance Armstrong Waters Australia

Dear Reef Encounter

We have just returned from the most fabulous holiday in Australia. Part of the trip included a 2 day snorkling experience on Reef Encounter which was one of the highlights of our trip. We had a fantastic two days, the staff on the boat were extremely helpful, approachable and a pleasure to be around. the food was excellent - a truly memorable experience. Both our children are desperate to return to learn to dive and work on the boat. Thank you so much.

Once again thankyou and we will recommend you to anyone we know who is visiting Oz.
Regards

The Butel Family - Trevor, Janet, Sophie & Tom

The food was excellent delicious and plentiful appreciated having the soy milk option and having fruit available all day the accommodation was also excellent clean spacious and comfortable, the crew were friendly very helpful delightful group, This was a fantastic experience I was very pleased with the safety procedures and seriousness toward water activities.

Natalie Manzino USA

Hi lyndell, I'm just touching base to let you know how wonderful our trip was out on the reef. George and I had a magic time, and because he was experienced and I was a beginner we took the "no scuba school" option, yet the fact that we had a dive instructor who was so experienced and interested in our needs, completely committed to making our experience with reef encounter a memorable one, It suited both our needs completely.

The entire crew was incredible, so helpful and ready to meet any need. I have to say, our dive instructor 'Puk', James is his given name i believe, was our main reason to decide to come back in October with another group of people. His assistance, care, encouragement, and friendship, together with the highest level of professionalism made a huge impact on us and we will look forward to joining you again in a few weeks for more fun under the water!

Thank you so much, and please pass along our genuine thanks to Puk for his incredible underwater excursions... we couldn't have enjoyed ourselves so much without his help. Kind regards,

Christi Terry and George Mairs Australia

We recently stayed on the Reef Encounter for two nights and wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed the trip.

All of the crew were really helpful and friendly and we were especially impressed by the dive team who were both enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

Thanks for a great trip - hope to see you all again soon

Miles and Jane UK

I had the great pleasure of being on the reef encounter end November, with my slightly mentally disabled son. I would just like to pass on a special thanks to the crew who made our trip so enjoyable, especially Ashley, mike (dive master) and Steve (not the cook, the other one), and Lisa, the hostie. Nothing was too much trouble, and the whole staff were professional and extremely friendly and relaxed. It will be a year or more before i get to cairns again, but i will definitely be back on reef encounter again.
thankyou

Tina dial

Hello Lyndell,

Just a short note to thank you for your generosity in regards to our stay on Reef Encounter, as usual the Crew were fantastic, Gary and Sam are both Legends!!!!!!!!!!
If you ever need Tiles just let me know!! I should have told Tony about the Chef's position earlier!.....

Again thanks, and next year is a go for at least a week,

Kind Regards, David McEwan

Just wanted to let you know that I greatly enjoyed my reef trip with Compass yesterday (Saturday, 30 July). The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable, and very helpful to those of us who were diving for the first time. Even with the rough seas, they made it a delightful trip, and I am so glad I was able to experience it during my time in Cairns!
Keep up the good work!

Nika Strzelecka

The food was excellent all made fresh, wonderful salads, light meals, private serving meals, comfortable rooms suits the purpose excellent crew, well trained educated really friendly have their eyes on the wishes of passengers, it seems that it’s a good team to all starts by Captain down to the Hosties fine well organised thank you

We would come back to Reef Encounter at our next travel to cairns the complimentary champagne for our honeymoon whirlpool under dark sky of bride stars was really surprise thankyou

Joeg & Jens Heinert Germany