Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort

Discover the HOTTEST diving on the World Heritage Listed Great Barrier Reef. Lady Elliot is a true coral cay island, lying approximately 80km's off the coast of Bundaberg.

The island is regarded as one of the best diving and snorkelling locations in the world with over 1200 different species of marine life and healthy coral. Over 700 manta rays been recorded in the surrounding waters so it is easy to see why the island is known as the 'Home of the Manta Ray'.

The departure points from Hervey Bay, Bundaberg, Brisbane or the Gold Coast ensure easy access to the island. Once on island, the closest dive site is a mere 10 minutes by boat. Dive sites, each with their own descent line can be divided into the East and West sides and the island boasts 19 different dive sites in total.

Affiliation:

PADI

Training Level:

Instructor

Boat Description:

Sites Visited:

The east side is a ledge with a depth range of 10-25m and three dive sites including the famous BLOWHOLE, an L-shaped cave with an opening at 14m that drops down and out the side of the ledge at around 22m.

Drifting south along the wall will bring you to TUBES and finally HIROS CAVE where you might be lucky enough to find a manta ray or silvertip tip shark circling a cleaning station at 16m.

The west side consists of many scattered bommies and a wreck, over a sandy bottom with a depth range of 5-21m. At the northern end is SPIDERS LEDGE, a wall home to moray eels, lionfish, schools of fusiliers patrolled by trevally and large coral trout and nudibraches.

At MAORI WRASSE BOMMIE you'll find turtles, trumpetfish, Malabar grouper and morrish idols. Resident white tip reef sharks are usually resting on the sand.

CORAL GARDENS is a virtual aquarium with schools of big eye trevally, fusilers, garfish, surgeon fish, unicorn fish, coral trout, blue green chromis all in under 8m of water!

ANCHOR BOMMIE sits at 19m and is a great spot to find mantas cleaning. A huge admiralty anchor sits beside the bommie and is covered in soft corals. A colony of anemone shrimp occupies the west side, as do some Durban Hinge Beaked Shrimp. A variety of coloured anthias have also moved in.

THREE PYRAMIDS at 18m hides some great macro creatures. A couple of resident leaf-scorpion fish come up great under a strobe. Cleaner shrimp, glass fish, pipe fish and anthias to name a few. Barracuda lurk in small groups. The largest of the three bommies is also a stop off for mantas in need of a clean.

At 21m and sunk in 1999, the wreck of the SEVERANCE has grown some lovely hard and soft corals and has become home to sweetlips, trevally, morays, pipefish, blennies and moon wrasse. Manta and sting rays show up for a clean.

SECOND REEF is a great dive for those that wish to stay shallow. At 5-12m you will find gardens of branching corals, anemones, green, loggerhead and hawksbill turtles, coral trout, yellowfin goatfish, blue spotted lagoon rays, blue green chromis and giant trevally.

The SCATTERED BOMMIES are a group of small coral formations between the SEVERANCE and LIGHTHOUSE BOMMIES. At a depth of 14-19m you'll find manta rays, lion fish, QLD grouper, leopard sharks, shovel nosed sharks.

At 14m, LIGHTHOUSE BOMMIES is an absolute must dive. A virtual truck stop for manta rays, divers will be treated to an amazing show of acrobatics as these graceful creatures glide and swoop over head. Whole dives can be spent in this one spot watching this curious creatures watching us! Garden Eels pop their heads out of the sand while cowtail rays and shovel nosed sharks try to hide under it.

Facilities:

• Resort/Intro Dives
• Camera Hire
• Gear Service
• Diving seven days
• Showers

• Own pool
• Own accommodation
• Rebreather hire/training
• Scuba hire
• Own Boat(s)