Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort

Lady Elliot is wonderful. The snorkling is fantastic. Such a relaxing place. My wife and I said many times that this place is perfect for us- No crowds, quiet(except for the birds), beautiful water, snorkeling, no TV , little internet but enough to use if needed, great food, great friendly knowledgeable staff, simple accommodations,, turtles birds and marine life.

For me, this is one of the great places that I've visited in a world of travelling. I do love to see nature and I also love snorkeling, so what I'm saying applies to people who like that sort of thing. They also appeared to have an excellent dive shop and diving opportunities for the divers out there. The actual accommodations are nice enough but are not luxury level, more of a 3 star type of room. Also, no air conditioning, but good ceiling fans, and it's part of the ambience of the whole place. No tv either, thank goodness. It's a place to get away, be in nature, have great snorkeling available just a short stroll from your room, look for sea turtles at night. And there are various talks available throughout the day on nature and environmental topics. Also, one free glass bottom boat and snorkeling trip are typically included in a package, and many people also bought additional snorkeling or diving excursions, which seemed reasonably priced. The food was pretty good considering the number of people being cooked for. The only slight annoyances occurred around lunch time when you are sometimes slammed with a tour group that is just coming through for a few hours and totally clogs up the works in the dining area. I stayed for a couple nights, and I strongly recommend that, as you can do a lot in the morning and late afternoon and thereby miss the crowd that might pass through midday.

What is not to love about this place. This year was my fourth trip and every time it is amazing. If you want nightlife, luxury, bars, music, crowds.....this is not for you. This is nature, this is calming, this is eco lodges and going to sleep with the sound of the ocean (and yes, the birds!). This is waking up at 6.30 and snorkling straight from your cabin on the beach in a blue lagoon full of coral, exotic fish, giant turtles who swim right next to you. This is having breakfast on a deck overlooking the lagoon. This is having sundowners on the beach watching the sun going down over the ocean, and maybe spotting a turtle coming in to nest. This is re-setting. No internet, no phones, just beautiful nature. Malives - eat your heart out ! Treat yourself.

An excellent eco-resort where yoou can visit for the day or stay overnight. My wife and I just returned from a 3-day/overnight stay at Lady Elliot and it was outstanding. We stayed in one of the Glamping Tents for one night, and then stayed in one of the 2-bedroom suites for 2 nights. They also offer accomodations that are less expensive, so they have rooms that fit all budgets. The food is excellent, and the snorkeling is outstanding, of course.

Having snorkelled and dived all sections of the Great Barrier Reef for nearly 50 years, and having visited Lady Elliot every year for the last 28, I can’t speak highly enough of this island, the way it is managed, the staff, its conservation efforts, and the natural environment. This year in particular I would like to mention Kris from the dive team for going far beyond his expected duties to look after my family and I during our stay. Thanks as always to Kim and Richard for fostering the right culture in that team for the last couple of decades. See you all next year.

I won't repeat all the - extremely well deserved - praise and wonderment other reviewers have heaped upon this magical and most professionally and warmly run eco resort. It was a truly magical place when we first visited some 15 years ago and it's still one of our favoured holiday destinations today, despite the small rise in visitor capacity. I'll just mention a small gripe which might help other potential visitors; bring your own fins. We didn't bring our own fins on our last visit and found that the fins they supply snorkelers at the dive shop were not very good at displacing enough water to enable you to dive down properly, to keep up with certain critters that you might come across and, most importantly, to swim against the current comfortably. The popular snorkeling areas don't typically 'suffer' from particularly strong currents but even a medium current requires a bit of an effort when you're swimming from bommie (coral outcrop) to bommie a bit further out from the reef edge. The freely supplied fins at the resort don't make this easy. So pack your own fins and.....GO! It's an amazing place staffed by helpful and friendly staff.