We are very excited to launch our new Lady Elliot Island website.  The streamlined site is easier to navigate and mobile compatible.

A free field-guide app for Lady Elliot Island is available for both iPhones and iPads and android devices. Including detailed species descriptions, this app makes it easier for island visitors to find out about the diverse wildlife that they may encounter. It can also be used to record and share your personal sightings along with your images. To whet your appetite, consider installing and exploring the app before your arrival.

iPhones and iPads

Andriod Devices

Whether you love photography as a beginner or an experienced enthusiast, Foto Frenzy on Lady Elliot Island is an event that will help you take your photography to the next level.

Based on the concept of "Capture to Print", the 5-days of shooting opportunities, review sessions, group presentations and break-outs will culminate in a print exhibition of participant's work on the final night. Prizes will be awarded in various categories including underwater wildlife; underwater wide angle; underwater macro; landscape; terrestrial wildlife and; abstractions.

Canon Master underwater and wildlife photographer Darren Jew will be your host, joined by special guest ocean landscape photographer Sean Scott. Both photographers will be on hand to help guide your photography at the moments of capture and to help you identify areas of improvement through review and discussion.

Experienced tutors will also be available to help with all your questions, and to provide assistance with shooting, processing and printing your images. State of the art equipment will be on hand, with Canon Australia providing a range of cameras and lenses for you to try out in the field, plus printers to create the exhibition prints. Nauticam will provide underwater housings for a range of cameras from compacts to DSLRs.

SCUBA divers will join Darren for special photography-focused dives on Lady Elliot's world-renowned sites. Snorkelers can join in the action closer to the surface with friendly turtles in the lagoon or off the western side with the mantas that are prolific this time of year. Land-loving shooters can capture the amazing changing colours of the island and the lagoon throughout the day and learn nature/landscape photography techniques first-hand. Early and late island light will be captured on dawn and dusk photo-walks – either at your own pace or you can join our expert photographers to glean tips on improving your landscapes.

So immerse yourself in photography on the Great Barrier Reef – join us for a Foto Frenzy on Lady Elliot Island.

Congratulations to our February Photo Competition winner - Howard Cosier. Entry details for our next competition will be released shortly.

Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort strives to minimise its impact on the environment. We see ourselves as custodians of this precious little island - charged with the responsibility of keeping both the Island and the surrounding reef in pristine condition for future generations.

Therefore, in 2008 one of the first of its kind in Australia 'Hybrid Solar Power Station’ was installed on Lady Elliot Island, one of the first of its kind in Australia. Since the inception of the station, diesel use and carbon emissions have been reduced by close to 70%.

Recognising the savings made since installing the system, resort management has invested in its expansion. In 2012 the resort added a third bank of batteries (bringing the total to 72) and increased the number of panels from 96 to 128. In 2013 we added an additional 60 solar Panels. This has brought the systems renewable energy production capacity up from 20kw to 43kw.

We have ordered another 125 panels to be installed by the 30 June 2014, to increase our renewable solar power to 73kws. This will bring us even closer to our ultimate goal of being 100% renewable energy powered.

Dreaming of your next holiday to Lady Elliot Island? Take a look at our range of packages including:

1 Night - Escape Package

2 Nights - Dream. Explore. Discover.

5 Nights - Stay 5 Pay 4

5 Nights - Foto Frenzy Workshop

7 Nights - Hottest Diving on the Great Barrier Reef

We also offer the following packages in conjunction with Fraser Island and Kingfisher Bay Resort:

4 Nights - Reef and Rainforest

4 Nights - Lady Elliot Island and Explore Fraser Island

Our resident historian Heidi is researching the history of Lady Elliot Island and currently focusing on the lighthouse and it keepers. If you are an old lighthouse keeper or a relative and have any interesting stories or photos you would like to share please contact Heidi at [email protected]

In late 2013, the Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort teamed up with Southern Cross University to investigate the island’s aquifer, which we believe plays an important role in supporting the island’s vegetation and supporting the teeming marine life in the waters around the island. We know that trees such as the island’s iconic pisonia are able to survive extended dry spells by putting down roots that tap into the aquifer. Research carried out in recent years has led to the realisation that a coral cay’s aquifer is a large reservoir of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), regularly recharged by seabird poo, and that the aquifer drip-feeds the nutrients to the surrounding marine waters. This may well explain the long standing mystery of why islands like Lady Elliot Island can host such incredible marine biodiversity, when the oceans around the island are known to be nutrient poor. To better understand the Lady Elliot Island aquifer we have managed to drill six boreholes around the island, finding the aquifer at a depth of 3 to 4m.

Laboratory analyses of borehole samples confirmed that the aquifer indeed is a reservoir for nutrients – it holds something like 30 tonnes of nitrogen in the form of nitrate – hardly surprising when you remember that the island was strip-mined for guano in the late 1800's. Coral is very porous and very permeable, and the regular rise and fall of the tide around the island act to pump the nutrients out of the aquifer. Seawater enters the island at high tide, mixes with the aquifer, and when the seawater drains out of the island at low tide it brings nutrients with it. This is known as tidal pumping, and is one of several mechanisms that help to drip feed the nutrients to the waters surrounding the island.

To read the full article, please click here.
 

Imagine diving with no bubbles and noise - just like a fish and as nature intended. Lady Elliot Island's Dive Team have been trialling Poseidon mk V1 rebreathers with excellent results. Air consumption is no longer an issue with closed cicruit breathing loop technology with a mouth piece, hose, counter lungs, backpack and two independent air cylinders. The features of the rebreathers is that it enhances dive time, safety and due to the silent operation and no bubbles, divers can have a greater marine life interaction. Ideal for photographers and those that tend to use their air quicker. Future plans will see Rebreather Courses conducted on Island by the Dive Team and the ability for certified divers to hire this equipment.

One of our return guests, Ricky McGowan provided the following feedback. "Diving with a rebreather was a very exciting experience, it was almost like discovering the island all over again. Without the bubbles and the noise the fish of all sizes seemed to truly accept us as one of their own, providing much closer encounters than I have ever experienced before. This was especially true for the larger creatures like the rays and the sharks which appeared in greater numbers, stayed for longer, and came far closer than on any of the dives without rebreathers. Combined with the extended no deco times and comparatively endless air supply, the rebreathers really do provide a superior diving experience. I will be back!"

Over the next few months, Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort will be upgrading our facilities including a kitchen and dining room overhaul and an upgraded shower and toilet block for Eco Cabin guests. 

As this work will be carried out in stages, disruption to Resort guests will be minimal.