On Mon, 15 Mar 2004 13:44:27 +1300, Geodyne wrote:

On Mon, 08 Mar 2004 20:22:15 +1300, BrianM
wrote:

I'm staying there in early May so I'll let you know how it was with
a
repost on this group. We're based at Bargara beach and flying out to
Lady Elliot island from there. The main attraction for me is the
diving
- I don't care about the accommodation. Included in the price is
two
feeds a day. Compared to Heron island, it's pretty reasonable imho.

As promised, a few words about our trip to Lady Elliot Island in early
May.
Flew out from Bundaberg in a 12 seater mid-afternoon and landed on the
grass
strip of the island 25 mins later. Given a safety and rules quick
tour
and shown to our reef unit which was clean and comfortable. Too late
for
a dive we went for a walk to the Lighthouse and had a look at the
reef.
Back at the resort it has a nice bar, and good food. Plenty of salads,
vegs, desert, cheeses, several hot meat dishes - bbq steak and chicken
etc.
There is also a bistro next to the pool for snacks, and a gift shop
with
a few essentials like film etc.
Next morning we snorkelled the shallow lagoon on the eastern side, and
saw a good variety of fish and a metre-long ray. Then we
booked in at the dive shop for the snorkel boat (there
were'nt many scuba divers around) and at 10am walked to the lighthouse
beach and they brought the flat bottom boat into the beach, dropped
the
nose and we all climbed on. Went out to the Second reef area and
dived
around there. Vis was brilliant, no wind, no swell. Got some good
video.
Didn't see any turtles there but there was plenty of big fish lurking
around the bommie edges. Saw some hurricane damage in places, eg
car-sized plate corals flipped over like tin plates; gullies with
broken
stag coral up to a metre deep - however, most of the coral we saw was
in
good nick. There were blue Antheas everywhere. Saw a large Batfish, a
few
small Moorish Idols and cleaner Wrasse etc. Others saw reef Sharks,
Mantas and
Turtles ( I always seem to be in the wrong place ).
Spent about 45 mins there and then climbed back on and motored to the
Lighthouse Bommie area where we saw large turtles on the surface and a
pair of Mantas skimming just below the surface. The dive boat boys are
friendly and adaptable, but also very professional, watching
everyone all the time.
The next morning we went out on our own from the beach at the
Lighthouse.
There was a bit of wind and a mod swell. The inshore area was a bit
murky
but still saw a lot of young turtles. One went past my wife at 100kms
an
hour and she didn't even see it !. As we reached the deeper water and
away from the sand the water cleared and we did some good drifting
toward
Coral Gardens for about half an hour before the wind and tide stirred
up
the bottom and the vis dropped. I had my camera and got some good
video
of the turtles etc.
Later in the morning we joined the divers boat and moored out at
Second reef. There was still a heavy swell and the vis wasn't as good
as
the day before - however I got some photos and had an enjoyable time.
I
didn't do any SCUBA diving the whole trip.
That afternoon we flew back to Bundy. We were staying at Bargara
Beach
so went over to Hoffman rocks and watched some SCUBA divers out there.
Spoke to one of them after exit and asked about the vis - not good.

Some comments on Lady Elliot...
It's good diving/snorkeling if there is no wind and no swell. check
with
the dive shop before you go out. High tide appears to be best.
Food is good, Bar is good, accomm is fine.
Seabirds rule - day and night.
Go in the off season say May/June. The island can accommodate 130 but
there were only about 25 when we were there.
Take an old pair of trainers for walking around onshore and on the
reef.
Everything is coral. Found sandals to be more of a nuisance than an
asset.
You don't always have to go with an organised boat dive party - on the
western
side of the island you can swim to the bommies from the beach (or from
the
edge of the lagoon at low tide).
For some lightweight fun, go on the "Night Stalker" tour in the dark.
We used 3/2 shorty springsuits, and for the western lagoon, a rashie.
Overall we liked it very much and will be going back same time next
year
for a longer stay.

There are some photos on my website - they may take a while to load.
http://linuxguide.co.nz

cheers
Brian
--multiplaza.nl.nu--