Jayne Jenkins makes a welcome return to Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort, and finds herself in manta season
Photographs by Jayne Jenkins
It had been at least 15 years since I had last visited Lady Elliot Island.
I was so excited when a last-minute spot became available, giving me an opportunity to visit the island again, and with a group of friends. I jumped at the chance as the island is so popular, especially during the magical mantas ray season. Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort is about 80km northeast of Bundaberg. Located roughly halfway between Fraser Island and Lady Musgrave Island, it is the southernmost island on the Great Barrier Reef.
Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort is about 80km northeast of Bundaberg. Located roughly halfway between Fraser Island and Lady Musgrave Island, it is the southernmost island on the Great Barrier Reef.
The small island is a coral cay and with its own airstrip is accessible by a short scenic flight (the pilot gave us a fantastic fly around the island before landing) from the Gold Coast, Brisbane (Redcliffe), Hervey Bay or Bundaberg.
The island (coral cay) is surrounded by spectacular reef and is situated within the highly protected ‘Green Zone’ of the Great Barrier Reef.
Being protected the abundance of marine and healthy coral life is amazing and includes over 1,200 species along with turtles, manta rays and various shark cruising round, such as leopard sharks, blacktip reef sharks and silvertip sharks.
Did you know?
While stingrays prefer digging through the sandy sea bottom, manta rays love to cruise the open oceans and only get close to the sea bed to get cleaned. Mantas have to swim constantly to stay alive – the forward propulsion flushes water over their gills.
Accommodation and Eco-Friendly Living on the Island
Accommodation on the island comes in five categories from comfortable eco-cabin style (with up to four bunks and share facilities) or you can go up market and have a glamping tent only metres from the lagoon.
The cabins are designed to minimise impact on the island and the environment and there is no phone, TV, radios, or Wi-Fi available in the rooms. Limited Wi-Fi is available at an extra cost in public areas.
All accommodation rates include full buffet breakfast (and divers have breakfast saved for them) and buffet dinner in a beachfront dining room. The meals were fantastic with so much choice, plus they cater well for all styles of diet, which is clearly marked on the menu board.
Drinks can be purchased at the bar but plenty of juices and tea and coffee are always available. Use of snorkelling equipment and a full range of guided tours and activities are also included.
We stayed in an eco-cabin and found it very comfortable and never had to wait to use the bathrooms and showers which were all spotlessly clean.
We were there during manta ray and humpback whale season, so I could not wait to get in the water. We were not disappointed as every dive we saw mantas and heard humpback whale songs during our dives plus experienced breaching from the dive boat.
The dives are all boat dives and run twice daily. You cannot pre-book your diving until the day before so when you arrive – get in quick to book your next day’s dives.
The dive sites are decided on the day due to weather and current making sure you get the best possible dive experience. The boat is comfortable and the rides to the dive sites are short so no fear of seasickness. There is easy exit and entry points with plenty of help from the dive crew.
All sites have moorings so no damage to the reef is done and easy to descend. The dives are guided by knowledgeable guides with great briefings and are happy to show you the very best of the sites, but still allow plenty of time for photography.
As most dives are no deeper than 20m, plenty of bottom time was had, although I still found it hard to leave each dive, they were so good.
The dive sites are varied and each one as amazing as the other. Some of my personal favourites were:
Diving with Magical Mantas at Lighthouse Bommies
This for me was the very best dive site during manta ray season. Every dive here did not disappoint, and we were treated to some spectacular manta ray encounters.
These magnificent creatures, huge in size, hovered over bommies for cleaning plus danced and glided above us before coming in to be cleaned. The bommies themselves are covered in corals, cleaner wrasse, and schooling glassfish.
The coral life around these bommies is very healthy and nearly always a turtle or two cruising or grazing on the sea grasses. The dives on this site were non-stop action.
Did you know?
The waters surrounding the island are particularly rich in sealife because of a total ban on fishing or taking anything from the surrounding waters.
Exploring the Severence Wreck and Local Marine Life
The Severence wreck is a sailboat that sunk off the island in 1999 and could not have sunk in a more-convenient place for divers. Sitting on the sand in 21m of water, although not a large wreck, the amount of fish life and corals make it quite an amazing dive.
The vis was great and ascending the mooring line I could just see a mass of fish life. The amount of glassfish schooling around the wreck and the soft corals growing on the superstructure just looked like a photographer’s dream.
Swimming around there was so much more from the smaller life like pipefish to the rigging lying on the sand with sweetlips, emperors and trevally.
Swimming around the wreck and peering inside there was a huge Queensland grouper and a large turtle hiding under the stern. The more you dive this wreck, the more you find, and we were lucky enough to also have a few mantas swim by. Another of the highlights on the wreck dive was the leopard shark just slowly cruising around.
Other Unforgettable Dive Sites: Three Pyramids and The Blowhole
This was another of my favourite dive sites and once again we were blessed with manta rays. There were three just hanging around being cleaned plus there were sweetlips, glass fish and the leopard shark came to hang out.
As I had a wide-angle lens a beautiful leafy scorpionfish was ignored but this just shows the amount of life around here.
The Blowhole
Our last dive was on the eastern side of the island and when we jumped in the vis was not the best, but we were joined by three silvertip sharks the whole dive. What I did notice here, the corals were amazing including some beautiful gorgonian fans plus we had mantas and lots of anemones and clownfish.
Most dives ended with a great shallow swim along the coral gardens with heathy coral. The amount of fish life living in the corals was so abundant plus huge schools of small squid.
We did not get to see Inspector Clouseau, the pink manta that has frequented the island, but we were lucky enough to see Taurus, the world’s oldest known manta ray, which celebrated its 40th birthday last year.
Snorkelling, Reef Walks, and Eco-Tours on Lady Elliot Island
Another highlight for me was snorkelling with Bubbles the local friendly bottlenose dolphin. Bubbles came shooting over to where the big-eye trevally were circling and started to play with them. We could hear the sonar the whole time she was swimming around and picking on one trevally.
After about 20 minutes of play, she poked it with her snout, and it threw up its food, which she promptly ate. She still played around a while, but I had just experienced one of the highlights of my diving life just while snorkelling.
The diving is amazing and two dives a day may not seem like much but believe me, you really want to spend time snorkelling the reefs plus joining the educational reef walks and many of the other activities.
One tour not to miss is the ‘behind the scenes’ tour on how the resort operates so well and how sustainability is at the core of everything at Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort. Also not to be missed are the evening presentations about the local marine life and island history, plus Bingo night, which is not only fun but educational.
The island is also family friendly not just catering to divers. The PADI-run dive shop offers both dive and Discover Scuba Dive courses.
I hired the bulk of my dive gear as the baggage allowance on the flight out to the island is only 16kg (you can buy an extra 10kg, but make sure you pre-book this). The hire gear was excellent, but I always like my own mask, fins and wetsuit.
Beach towels are supplied and as far as clothing, minimum is fine as it is very casual and there is a free guest laundry. There are guest showers and departure lounge for storage of your bags for the day you leave, so you can go snorkelling or reef walking up to the last hour.
What you will find at Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort is a flourishing marine sanctuary where you can go diving or snorkelling in clear water with amazing marine life and friendly, happy staff.
Did you know?
The Severence wreck sunk off the island in 1999 and could not have sunk in a more-convenient place for divers!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
When is the best time to see manta rays at Lady Elliot Island?
Peak manta ray season at Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort is generally from May to August, when large numbers gather for cleaning and feeding.
How do you get to Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort?
You can reach Lady Elliot Island by a short scenic flight from Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Brisbane (Redcliffe) or the Gold Coast.
What marine life can divers expect at Lady Elliot Island?
Over 1,200 species, including manta rays, turtles, leopard sharks, blacktip reef sharks, silvertip sharks, dolphins and abundant reef fish.
Are the dive sites suitable for all experience levels?
Yes. Most dive sites are less than 20m deep with moorings, short boat rides and experienced guides, making them ideal for all levels.
What facilities does Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort offer for divers?
Eco-friendly accommodation, buffet meals, included snorkelling gear, guided tours, PADI dive shop, and sustainability-focused activities.
This article was originally published in Scuba Diver ANZ #62
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