Snorkeling masks that is!!
Like most of the world right now, we have been missing travelling. Whilst it will still be some time before we can travel internationally, and we’re still a bit nervous to risk interstate travel with our regular state border closures, we are still able to travel freely within our own state. Fortunately, we live in a pretty beautiful one! So when February rolled around, we decided to squeeze in a holiday before I start another school year.
We considered trying somewhere new, but once again, we found ourselves at Lady Elliot Island. It is truly such a magical place…we just can’t stop going back! Every time we go there we are so impressed with how well things they do things and how helpful everyone is. And we always feel so privileged to be so immersed in the nature there!
The only way to get to Lady Elliot Island is by a small plane. You can catch flights from a few areas, but the closest to us is from Bundaberg airport, which is about four hours south of us. We generally drive down the day before and stay just outside of Bundaberg, at a little surf town called Bargara. It’s actually one of our favourite little towns of the places we’ve been in Australia so far. This year, it was pretty grey and cool when we were there, but we still managed a walk on the foreshore before dinner.
The next morning, we headed to the airport for our flight. When you book more than one night’s stay at Lady Elliot, you are booked on the mid-day flight so they can leave the morning flights open for day trippers and overnighters. However, they tell you to call the day before because if there is space, they’ll happily put you on the earlier flight at no cost. So far, we have always been given seats on the earlier flight.
The planes are small and take about 8 to 12 people only. Based on current health guidelines, everyone had to wear a mask (my first time all year!). And Rob was able to sit next to the pilot which made the flight even better.
The flight to Lady Elliot is about 25 minutes. The initial views are of the farmlands of Bundaberg which includes bright greens and lots of red soil. Once you leave the shores of Bundaberg and Bargara, it’s sea everywhere around you. The planes fly fairly low so I always enjoy being able to look down at the waves. Then, out of nowhere, you see Lady Elliot on the horizon. Before landing, the pilot will fly around the island two to three times from two different sides so that everyone can see the island and get in a few photos. Then it’s time to land on the grass airstrip that runs from one end of the island to the other.
When you arrive, you are greeted warmly by a staff member at the door of the plane. That staff member then gives you a short orientation to the island. The island is located in a green zone so they are very committed to ensuring people respect the coral and the various wildlife that call it home so they definitely stress this in the orientation. They also provide some important information about snorkelling and swimming there – info on where to snorkel but also information about the tides and currents so you can stay safe.
Once the orientation is finished, you are able to check in. Usually it’s another hour or two until your room is ready, but they bring your bags straight to your room. In the meantime, you can head out for the glass bottom boat tour that is part of your package, or just enjoy a coffee while you take in the beautiful view.
The rooms at Lady Elliot have a great coastal feel. They are simple, well maintained and have everything you need. The rooms are located on the lagoon side of the island. We always book a reef room which includes a deck on the front where you can sit and watch the tides go in and out.
You can only snorkel in the lagoon when the tides are high, but even then the water is still only about waist or chest deep. The tides range from ankle deep at low tide to more than 2 and a half meters deep at high tide. It’s quite extraordinary to watch! As the tides get lower, the coral is exposed.
We love staying in the reef rooms because we can walk right out of our room straight into the water to snorkel. Snorkelling in the lagoon is amazing. The coral is so nice and close that you can really see the details and you can watch the small fish dart about inside. This year we even saw an octopus!
Generally, most of the fish in the lagoon are smaller inside with lots of bright colours. I often find myself smiling and laughing in my mask as they surround me.
And there are always tons of turtles
And even some reef sharks.
This visit though, we were amazed to see a 3 meter long shovel nosed ray or what some people call a guitar shark. The front half of it looks like a ray but it moves like a shark. I was actually quite impressed with how calm I was when I caught sight of this. What an amazing experience to see something like this so close!
We usually snorkel two or three times a day when we stay at Lady Elliot. When the tides are low, we walk across the runway to the other side of the island to snorkel. This is called the Lighthouse side. While the tides still go in and out, this really only impacts how far you have to walk in before you can start swimming. Then there’s quite a drop off and you can snorkel above the coral where the waters are always deep. Some of the coral is still quite close to you can it really does feel like swimming through tunnels or mazes. We spend a lot of time just swimming up and down the various channels this year.
Snorkelling on the lighthouse side of the island is an entirely different experience to the lagoon. When you snorkel in these deeper waters, you see a completely different variety of fish, and they’re much larger in size. We saw a few fish this year that were just massive!
On the lighthouse side of the island is also where you will see the rays. So far, we’ve never been lucky enough to see a Manta Ray but we have been able to swim with different types of sting rays. These spotted eagle rays are just beautiful to watch! They seem so relaxed when they swim next to you, but wow, can they disappear quickly when they decide to move!
They also like to hide themselves in the sandy bottom of the sea.
The tides were often low as we finished our snorkels on lighthouse side this year and the turtles were happily enjoying easy access to the coral. We spent a lot of time standing in the ankle deep water and just watching them.
If you’re not a swimmer, you can still enjoy Lady Elliot. The low tides let you stand at the edge and still see the coral, fish and even the crabs.
We even got this great pic of an eel in ankle deep water!
And of course you can always take a walk along the beach, though I would probably recommended taking your fins off first!
After a day of swimming and snorkeling, nothing beats champagne and sunsets!
But you have to get creative to keep your champagne cool! Rob calls this his Birkenstock cooler.
One of my favourite things about Lady Elliot is that is is an eco island. They are solar powered and all the water on the island is reverse osmosis desalinated water. And even better…you are completely cut off from the rest of the world. There is no phone, no news, no television and no internet. It’s glorious (But it means we miss calls from some pretty special people…Sorry Cory!!)
Thank you Lady Elliot for another perfect holiday!
