Hotel Review: Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort

You don’t need to travel to Cairns to access the Great Barrier Reef, when you can skip the hordes of tourists and have a more exclusive experience, where the reef starts at Lady Elliot Island.

Lady Elliot Island is a coral cay located at the southern tip of Australia’s World Heritage Listed Great Barrier Reef. Approximately 80 kilometers north-east of Bundaberg and nestled in between Fraser Island and Lady Musgrave Island, Lady Elliot is the closest Great Barrier Reef island to Brisbane, Queensland’s southern capital.

What makes this spot so special is its location in the highly protected ’Green Zone’, which makes it a sanctuary for over 1,200 species of marine life, most notably the abundance of manta rays, turtles, amazing array of spectacular marine life and unspoilt coral reef.

How to get there

flight

Access to Lady Elliot Island is half the fun, with flights on small aircraft chartered by Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort from Seair Pacific to transport. Daily flights operate from Hervey Bay/Fraser Coast, Bundaberg, Brisbane (Redcliffe) and the Gold Coast (Coolangatta) to Lady Elliot Island. Flight Schedule and pricing does vary, dependent on Day Trips or Packages.

Where to stay

The unique location of the island is taken into account at Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort, offering a small unpretentious 41 room Eco Resort which strives to provide guests with a genuine eco-tourism experience.

The resort prides itself on providing guests with life changing moments and world class experiences through natural encounters both above and below the water and by the delivery of engaging and educational activities.

Education of the island’s fragile ecosystem with minimal impact through renewable technologies and sustainable eco initiatives is a big part of your stay here.

Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort offers a range of comfortable accommodation options, with each suite, unit and cabin designed to minimise impact on the island while enriching guest’s experience of the seasonal wildlife.

The Resort was established in 1984 when a series of prefabricated buildings were brought to the island and these buildings are still in use today. In keeping with the natural, eco-friendly lifestyle there are no telephones, television or radios and all rooms are fan-cooled.

The rooms are simple but comfortable and have everything you need for a nice and relaxing holiday. Full buffet dinner and breakfast are included in your stay and is served in the Beachfront Dining Room. For lunch, there is a choice of a buffet lunch in the Beachfront Dining Room or a range of light meals or snacks available from the Beachfront Café.

What to do

A stay on the island can be as adventurous or relaxing as you like, however one thing is for sure, that is it will be educational. There is so much to discover and plenty of activities on offer that takes in Lady Elliot Island’s unique history, flora, fauna and incredible marine life.

There is a dedicated Activities Team offeing a range of free guided activities and/or tours daily, including the popular water based activities.

Given Lady Elliot’s status as one of the best snorkelling and diving locations in the world, exploring the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef is one of the main activities on the island. Explore this amazing eco system by Reef Walking, Snorkelling or Diving.

If the weather turns bad, which sometimes happens on such a remote island, there are games to pass the day away, including beach volleyball, soccer, table tennis and a pool table.

For more visit www.ladyelliot.com.au

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