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Not What we were expecting...

Video Credit: Our very own Master Reef Guide, Pieter D captured this engimatic Manta gliding elegantly, only to be photobombed by his buddy 😅 [20 sec in]

🏠 3 nights accommodation

✈️ Return scenic flights from Hervey Bay or Bundaberg

🍴Full Buffet Breakfast, lunch & dinner daily

🛥️ Glass bottom boat & guided snorkel tour

🎓 Snorkel lesson (if required)

🤿 Snorkel equipment (mask, snorkel & fins)

👫Range of free island activities & tours

🌱Environmental Management Charge (EMC)

🐢Turtle tours & talks

💰Bonus $100 Resort Credit!* (per room)

Credit can be used towards watersports activities, retail or food & beverage

Hurry & book by 31 August!

Travel between 1 November 2026 - 25 March 2027 (exclusion dates apply).

Photo credit: Tracey Olive

After two decades keeping the power running, the water flowing and the wastewater treated on the southernmost coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef, Maintenance Manager Laurie is hanging up the spanners and heading straight out to walk 1,200km across the Nullarbor. We sat down with him to talk generators, solar, trevally and what he'll miss most.

What first brought you to Lady Elliot Island?

I'd been a mechanic for many years and I was looking for a change. One of my apprentices had gone off into oil and gas and I looked into doing that myself. My Dad had just died, Mum was doing well and my daughters were at uni, so the opportunity to try something completely different was there.

I found an ad in the Courier Mail for a Maintenance Superintendent on Lady Elliot Island. The previous fellow, Dave Duncan, had been here seven years, so I figured it must be an alright job. I thought I'd give it three to five years. That was around 2006. The rest is history.

Twenty years is a long time. How has the job changed?

I started out as a mechanic and spent three months following Dave around before he left, taking notes on everything, including the boats, desalination, generators, wastewater treatment and kitchen equipment. I still have those notes today. 

Then I was in the deep end.

Over time we brought on another mechanic, Rob Thomas. Shayne was doing most of the resort maintenance. The island got busier, we employed more people, including a carpenter, and gradually built up a proper maintenance team with building sub-contractors. I moved into a Maintenance Manager role with a supervisor and a team under me.

What innovation are you proudest of?

The move from... Read more

Photo credit: Bundaberg Tourism

Treat yourself to a Bucket-List Day Trip to Lady Elliot Island with 
$100 off Day Trips

departing Hervey Bay and Bundaberg

Simply use the code QLD100 and spend $200 with Experience Oz.

Meet Nugget 🐦 The Remarkable Red-Tailed Tropic Bird

Photo Credit: Romney Edwards-Francis from Leaf to Reef: Biodiversity of Lady Elliot Island 

One of our favourite wildlife moments this month came from Nugget, a Red-tailed Tropicbird who hatched on Lady Elliot Island in 2022 and has now returned as a nesting adult with an egg of her own.

Her return is exactly why long-term monitoring matters. 

Did you know Red-tailed Tropicbirds return to the same nest year after year, can live for more than 25 years, and may travel thousands of kilometres across Australia to find a mate? 

Thanks to the incredible work of the Leaf to Reef research team, we're able to follow generations of birds and better understand how these remarkable seabirds live, breed and return to the island year after year.

Discover some fascinating facts about Lady Elliot Island's Red-tailed Tropicbirds, from lifelong partnerships and surprising "bird divorces" to 26-year-old record holders and journeys spanning thousands of kilometres.

Read more

*The Leaf to Reef project is proudly supported by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation's Reef Islands Initiative. All Leaf to Reef research is conducted with the utmost care for the animal’s welfare, with Animal Ethics approval through the University of the Sunshine Coast, and permissions from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

900+

Solar Panels

With the installation of 33 kWp of new solar, the resort now has more than 280 kWp of solar capacity spread across the island.

2.5×

More Powerful

Our newest solar panels generate 2.5 times more power than the original panels installed back in 2008.

90%

More Affordable

Solar panel technology has come a long way. Today's panels cost around 90% less than they did in 2008, while producing significantly more power.

18 Years

Still Going Strong

Those original solar panels from 2008 are still generating clean energy today! A testament to the quality of the technology and the longevity of our investment in renewable energy.

☀️ Looking Ahead

Together, our solar systems have already helped save millions of litres of diesel fuel, and this latest expansion allows us to continue reducing our environmental footprint while protecting the incredible reef ecosystem that surrounds us.

And yes… our seabirds occasionally like to use the panels as a perch! Thankfully, the latest shade-resistant technology helps ensure the system continues performing efficiently, even when our feathered visitors stop by.