The serene, reef rimmed paradise of Lady Elliot Island is the Great Barrier Reef’s southernmost coral cay, located north of K'gari, off Central
Queensland’s coastline.
The Queensland island’s surrounding reef is a highly protected 'Green Zone' home to some of the most diverse, vibrant and interesting marine and reef life on Earth. Thanks to its rich diversity of species, the island is regarded as a prime ecotourism destination renowned for its exquisite diving and snorkelling opportunities.
The Great Barrier Reef island resort’s restricted visitor numbers intake means you’re ensured an uncrowded, serene Southern Great Barrier Reef experience during your stay on the island.
Take a glass bottom boat guided snorkel tour, venture off on a snorkel safari, or simply walk out your front door to snorkel straight off the beach less than 100 metres away. You can also enjoy self-guided (and guided) lagoon reef walks, bird watching tours, historical tours, island discovery tours, and behind the scenes tours, amongst other fun activities.
The Dive Shop team run a minimum of 2 dives per day taking you to some of the spectacular dive sites in the island’s waters (a total of 20 dive locations are found around the island).
As for evening tours/activities, you can enjoy glass bottom boat night tours, bingo & game evenings, turtle tours, runway star gazing and more!
Come during the right season and you’ll luck out being privy to the Queensland island’s magical bird and turtle nesting, turtle hatching, and humpback whale migration.
Where else can you slip out of your room and walk less than 100 metres into the crystal clear waters of the reef lagoon encircling the island to be immediately greeted by brilliantly coloured fish, turtles, sea urchins, starfish, crabs and anemones?
Aside from quick beach access from no matter where you are on the island, Lady Elliot’s aquatic allure is elevated by its manta ray population. The coral cay is the home of the majestic manta ray. To date, researchers have discovered over 1000 individual manta rays living and thriving in the island’s surrounding waters!
Want to see these beautiful rays for yourself? Take advantage of the Great Barrier Reef island resort’s snorkelling gear hire services, or book in for a snorkelling tour.
The coral cay can only be accessed by plane from Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Gold Coast and Brisbane (Redcliffe). For more information on getting to Lady Elliot Island from Redcliffe (about 40 minutes north of Brisbane Airport) visit the Redcliffe Brisbane to Lady Elliot Island Return Flight Experience page.
Want to enjoy Lady Elliot Island for just the day? Call the resort to enquire about day tours leaving from Redcliffe Aerodrome.
Day tours include 6:30am Brisbane hotel pick-up and complementary transfer to the aerodrome, a glass bottom boat & guided snorkel tour, buffet lunch, and the option of another guided tour or leisure lazing time before your 2:30pm departure.
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The Queensland island’s abundance of animals include: Majestic manta rays, nesting turtles, migrating whales, and resident & migratory bird populations, amongst diverse reef life.
You’re best time to spy humpback whales in the Great Barrier Reef is during their annual migration journey north from the waters of Antarctica during Australia’s winter and early spring seasons – June to October. If you’re visiting during migration season you may be lucky enough to hear whale songs underwater when swimming around Lady Elliot Island.
Loggerhead and green turtles visit the coral cay between November and March to nest up to 9 times in a season, laying anywhere from 80 to 120 eggs per clutch. About 8 to 12 weeks on, sometime during January and April, the young hatchling turtles leave their nests to scuttle home to the ocean.
Guess where the second highest seabird diversity of any Great Barrier Reef island resides? That’s right, Lady Elliot Island! The coral cay is a vital seabird nesting site and a haven for more than 50 species of wading birds and tropical seabirds. During the summer breeding season more than 100,000 birds nest on the island!
The Queensland island’s seabird population includes:
The Great Barrier Reef stretches for 2,300 kilometres off the east coast of Australia, extending from shallow estuarine regions into deep oceanic waters. Within this vast expanse are about 3,000 coral reefs, 300 coral cays, 600 continental islands, and some 150 inshore mangrove islands.
The unique range of ecological communities, habitats and marine species make the Great Barrier Reef one of the most complex natural ecosystems in the world!
$872.00 per adult & $644.00 per child departing from Redcliffe
All activities are subject to weather and tide conditions. Cancellation Fees Apply. No flights available on Christmas day. Minimum tour numbers apply.
Book and travel between 2 June – 30 September 2024