The Manta Rays have returned in force! Lady Elliot Island has proven to be a major hotspot for manta rays on Australia's east coast. Although, manta rays can be found all year round the numbers peak during the winter season (mid-May to mid-August). At Lady Elliot Island, these gentle giants are commonly encountered while diving popular ‘cleaning stations’ around the reef, but also offer amazing memories for snorkellers who happen to be in the water during ‘feeding frenzies’. It is very common to see large groups of manta rays feed at the surface around the Island when the conditions are favourable and plankton abundant. Photo by Sean Scott. 

We have released 3 new packages valid from 1 May to 31 August 2015. The water visibility is exceptional at this time of the year, up to 30 metres, and this is when the Manta Rays are particularly prevalent. Don't forget that we also have the migrating humpback whales from June through to October.

3 Night Digital Detox

Dive the Southern Great Barrier Reef – Stay 7 Pay 5

Manta Migration – Stay 5 Pay 4

It has been a massive month for our social media team, we have reached 10,000 followers on both Facebook and Instagram! Thank you to all our amazing friends who follow our page and support what we do. Please keep sending us your amazing photos and videos.

On the 10th April 2015, Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort was vying for top honours at the Australian Tourism Awards in Adelaide. We were extremely humbled to be representing Queensland in the Ecotourism category, unfortunately we did not win, but we are extremely proud to have made it that far. A big congratulations must go to Rob Pennicott and his team from Bruny Island Cruises in Tasmania who won the Ecotourism category. Thank you for all your support and kind words of encouragement and congratulations to all the amazing tourism operators who won their respective categories, you have done Australia proud! Fingers crossed for next year!

Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort has successfully achieved platinum level in the TripAdvisor GreenLeaders Program! 

The TripAdvisor GreenLeaders program has been developed in consultation with the United Nations Environment Program and Ecotourism Australia, with an aim to help travellers around the world plan and book greener holidays. 27 ECO certified accommodation providers have achieved GreenLeader status, joining a further 143 accommodation providers to become the first GreenLeaders in Australia and New Zealand.

The properties are tiered between Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum awards. The more green practices a property has, the higher the TripAdvisor GreenLeader level it can achieve, so we are extremely proud to have achieved the platinum award!

Lady Elliot Island held its own ANZAC Dawn Service to commemorate our service men and women on the centenary of Gallipoli. It was a beautiful service and everyone was greeted with an absolutely stunning sunrise, followed by a lovely ANZAC breakfast. Thank you to everyone who joined our Island team to pay their respects.

On Saturday 28th March at 8.30pm, Lady Elliot Island not only turned off their lights to support the annual Earth Hour event, we also switched off the generator to demonstrate the capabilities of Solar Power! All of our guests enjoyed a candlelight dinner followed by an Earth Hour quiz.

The Lady Elliot Island Dive Shop is now equipped to provide divers with the opportunity to expand their diving skills into the world of Nitrox. For those not aware, the PADI Enriched Air (Nitrox) course is designed to teach divers the procedures of safe, recreational, no decompression diving using Enriched Air (air with an oxygen content from 22% - 40%). For divers who are already certified, Nitrox dives are also available on the Island. A number of guests have now completed this course and rave about its endless opportunities, Managing Director Peter Gash has also completed the course and says “I found the course very easy to complete. Now when I dive with nitrox, I no longer suffer head aches/drowsiness which I often felt when diving on scuba. I thoroughly recommend the course to anyone who suffers these symptons and no longer finds their scuba diving experience enjoyable. It certainly renewed my enthuaism for scuba diving!”

If you are interested in the PADI Enriched Air (Nitrox) course, please contact our Reservations team on 1800 072 200

Each year between June and October, Lady Elliot Island comes alive with the spectacular acrobatic displays of humpback whales. These charismatic animals migrate north over 5,000km to the tropical waters of the Great Barrier Reef after a summer of feeding on krill in the Antarctic waters. Their journey attracts thousands of visitors who watch in awe as the whales breach, roll their gigantic bodies, and slap their fins and tails on the water’s surface. Many of our guests are fortunate enough to witness these graceful creatures from, the air, the glass bottom boat or from the beach. Almost daily, the whale song can be heard under the water while snorkelling and diving around the Island. Photo by Justin Bruhn.

As you may be aware, Seair Pacific is the air charter company which operates the daily flights to Lady Elliot Island. Currently they have teamed up with ‘Reef n Outback Tours’ to showcase the beauty of Central and Outback Queensland. The tour includes the Birdsville Races, Lake Eyre and Longreach, all jam packed into 3 days!

It will be an exhilarating air adventure visiting destinations such as Birdsville and William Creek, featuring one of the world’s most remote pubs, the stunning Anna Creek Painted Hills, Lake Eyre, Innamincka and Longreach. Perfect for the time poor or a weekend escape from city life. Visit www.reefnoutback.com.au for more information and bookings.

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

We also have our popular packages that are valid throughout the year (conditions apply) these include;

Simply Nature - 2 Nights 

Stay 5 Pay 4 - One Free Night! 

Stay 7 Pay 5 - Two Free NIghts! 

Reef & Rainforest – 4 Nights

Lady Elliot Island & Fraser Island – 4 Nights