The secret is out about the “Boiling Sea”. The waters off Cairns in the Coral Sea offer a unique natural phenomenon that has to be seen to be believed. It is a blue water meeting of giants, of pelagic game fish and sharks. This phenomenon sees thousands of tuna (both Big Eye and Yellow fin tuna) turn up in the open crystal clear waters of the Coral Sea.

 

In December 2009 Rob Torelli led a pioneering blue water spearfishing trip to these waters with amazing results.

 

HOW?

Blue Water Hunting International run trips to these open waters utilizing two unique charter arrangements.

Option one is with a “mother ship” and a game fishing vessel. In this instance we live on the mother ship and we dive from the game fishing vessel. The mother ship stays at the nearest reef (can be up to 50 miles from the tuna aggregation) and we do day trips on the game fishing vessel and return to a nice calm anchorage of an evening. This is obviously the ideal method but it is obviously not a cheap charter.

Option two is we take just one game fishing vessel and we live-a-board this vessel. Vessel size is around 40-50 feet and thus numbers are limited to only 3 or 4 divers. This is less comfortable than option one but can work out ok for shorter trips IF the weather is favorable. If the weather is good we will stay offshore in the open waters.

 

HOW LONG?

All of the BWHI trips to fish this region are “customized” and the duration is worked out between the clients and Robert Torelli. To give your self the best chance with this style trip ideal duration should be a minimum of five days. These trips can be run in a similar style to Coral Sea trips and can be held over a 9-10 day expedition.

 

DIVING CONDITIONS:

These trips are held in the best time of the year with generally calm conditions and crystal clear waters. All dives in search of the Big Eye will be conducted in the open waters and divers should be comfortable with diving in these conditions. (Having a guide and safety diver helps heaps though) Water visibility can vary slightly but usually averages 100 feet. In the event of strong winds the charter will seek refuge on one of the Coral Seas numerous outer reefs and diver’s attention may then turn to other pelagic fish such as Dog Tooth Tuna, Wahoo and Giant Trevally.

 

SPECIES ENCOUNTERED:

	On our pioneering trip in 2009 we encountered thousands of Big Eye Tuna and numerous Yellow fin Tuna. Other game fish encountered were Black and Blue Marlin, Wahoo and Mahi Mahi.
Yellow Fin Tuna & Big Eye Tuna together.

A feature of this trip is a swim with the VERY friendly whale sharks. The whale sharks joined us on almost every dive and varied in length from 10-13 meters. It is quite possible we will encounter other oceanic sharks such as Silky sharks, Oceanic White Tips and even Tiger Sharks.

The best of time of the year is from October thru to December. This is a natural phenomenon and can vary from season to season in its location and intensity. The Coral Sea is a big open ocean but with our contacts and a little luck we should have a successful expedition.

 

COST:

As all of these trips are customized and the exact cost is advised upon finalizing things such as duration, number of clients, vessel choice and whether or not a mother ship is utilized. They are not cheap trips and the cheapest package starts at approximately $1300 per day per diver. Contact us for more information.

 

BIG EYE TUNA WORLD RECORD OPPORTUNITIES:

In 2009 Robert Torelli shot the World Record Big Eye Tuna in the Coral Sea. It was one of many opportunities presented during the trip. With fisherman catching Big Eye Tuna here up to 100 kg its not long before the record will be broken!