We wish all of our Lady Elliot Island friends and family a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!

We are very thankful for all of our wonderful guests and your continuing support.

Please be aware that we are heavily booked over the coming holiday season, if you would like to make a booking we suggest you contact our reservations team directly on 1800 072 200 or +61 5536 3644.

Image by Skye Newman ​

Managing Director Peter Gash jetted off to London earlier this month for a special screening of Sir David Attenborough's landmark series, 'The Great Barrier Reef'.

Australia House in London was transformed into a private cinema, as royalty, celebrities and media were treated to the pre-screening. Tourism Australia believes the Great Barrier Reef documentary will inspire greater interest and more visits to the world’s largest coral reef system.

Peter was one of the guests at the invite-only event along with the film’s presenter and renowned naturalist David Attenborough and his Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.

Atlantic Productions, who produced the 3 part series, visited Lady Elliot Island in June to film the manta rays in action.

The rest of us will have to wait until next year to see the documentary, it is expected to air early 2016 and will be distributed to more than 130 countries.

This year Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort was entered into two categories in the Queensland Tourism Awards. Hosted by the Queensland Tourism Industry Council, a total of 156 nominations were received from entrants throughout Queensland.

We were lucky enough to win Silver for the Qantas Award for Excellence in Sustainable Tourism and Bronze in the Steve Irwin Award for Ecotourism.

Congratulations to all of the finalists and winners at the awards.

This year marks 10 years since Peter Gash, family and partners took over the lease for Lady Elliot Island. 

"We feel both blessed and humbled to have been given the opportunity to be the stewards and guardians of this remarkable location for the next 30 years. It is unbelievably rewarding to see how far Lady Elliot Island has come in 10 years since our stewardship commenced, the vegetation plan continued and the green zone was declared. We have had the support and encouragement of so many amazing, dedicated and passionate individuals and organisations both private and government who share our commitment to making a difference. We could never have achieved what we have without that support and encouragement. We strive to provide unparalleled wild and natural experiences in this uniquie location while at the same time educating our guests and crew on how these wonderful experiences can continue in a sustainable manner for the long term good of the planet. We like to think that our philosophy is not about making a fortune, it is about making a difference. Our legacy is to strive to leave Lady Elliot Island and the planet a better place than when we found it" - Peter Gash, Managing Director of Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort

Peter Gash recently attended the 2015 Global Eco Asia-Pacific Tourism Conference held on Rottnest Island, Western Australia.

The Global Eco Asia-Pacific Tourism Conference is the longest running ecotourism conference in the world. The conference is designed to bring together leading tourism organisations and businesses within Australia and the world to further develop the industry for the future.

Peter was a Key Note Speaker on behalf of Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort discussing the successes that the Resort has achieved in sustainability and ecotourism.

Nature never ceases to amaze us. The first nesting turtle of the season turned out to be male!

The turtle was spotted outside Reef Unit 10 digging a nest but did not lay. According to Turtle Ranger John Meech, “this behaviour is very rare but occasionally you come across a male who is slightly confused about its sexuality”

You never know what you are going to see on Lady Elliot Island!

We have counted 56 Green and 32 Loggerhead turtle tracks over the past month with 4 confirmed nests. Hopefully this means another busy season for our Lady Elliot Island Turtles. Nesting season also means mating season and there has been a lot of amorous turtles in the water!

Lady Elliot Island Bird season is now in full swing! Lady Elliot Island has the second highest diversity of bird species on the Great Barrier Reef with up to 95 different species of seabirds, land birds and shorebirds. While some of these birds are residents to the Island all year round, the others are classified as migrants, as they visit the Island between the months of September to March to nest and raise their offspring.

Last week, a few of our guests spotted a Crimson Chat on the Island. According to Nev Capell, President of Birdlife Bundaberg, "That would be a first for Lady Elliot Island and indeed a first for the region"!

Photo (Crimson Chat) by Heyn De Kock

It has been another incredible year for amazing marine encounters from dolphins, false killer whales, humpback whales, turtles and manta rays.

But we have to say that this month’s encounter with a whale shark was definitely one of the year’s highlights!

Image by Eleana Hawke

If you have seen the underbelly of a Manta Ray before you would notice that this image looks quite unusual!

On a dive at the Lighthouse Bommie, which is known for amazing Manta Ray encounters, a Manta Ray was spotted with quite unique characteristics.

This Manta Rays' underbelly seemed to be a distinct shade of pink!

Manta Rays are typically grey to black on their dorsal (upper) side and white on their ventral (underside). After discussions with Kathy Townsend from Project Manta, in all of her years documenting Manta Rays she has never come across one like this.

We have heard of a few different theories that might explain the colouration of the Manta Ray but we would really like to hear from you if you have any suggestions.

Image by Ryan Jeffery

Santa visited Lady Elliot Island early this year and delivered a brand new rotisserie for the kitchen! The rotisserie has a rotating spit for roasting and barbecuing meat and has been used a number of times since its arrival.

Check out this picture of Head Chef Shane and his new toy!

See below a collaboration of images from our Instagram account. Thank you for sharing these amazing images! Don't forget to keep posting and tagging your favourite snaps, we all enjoy seeing them.

We are currently updating our image gallery on our website. If you have any photos that you would like to be included, please email them to [email protected]. We will be able to acknowledge photographers or you can include a small watermark. 

We have one new package on offer for the upcoming Turtle Season. The magic of turtle nesting/hatching season is something not to miss!​​

Turtles on Tour

Other packages available include;

Simply Nature... 2 Night Stay

Stay 5 Pay 4 - One Free Night

Stay 7 Pay 5 - Two Free Nights

Reef & Rainforest - 2 nights Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort/ 2 nights Kingfisher Bay Resort, Fraser Island 

Lady Elliot Island & Fraser Island - 2 nights Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort/ 1 night Mantra Hervey bay/ 1 night Eurong Beach Resort, Fraser Island

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