There’s An Amazing New Stay Off Lady Musgrave Island
A recently launched pontoon off Lady Musgrave Island has provided a glorious new accommodation option that gives new meaning to “sleep with the fishes”.
She could only hide her charms for so long. Until now, if you wanted to experience Lady Musgrave Island, a coral cay at the end of the Southern Great Barrier Reef, 96 kilometres north of Bundaberg, you had to either rough it in a tent or take a daytrip from Bundaberg or the quaintly named town of 1770.
But now, with the installation of Lady Musgrave HQ, a 35-metre pontoon moored 400 metres off the island, it’s possible to sleep in comfort, wake with the sun and drop from a platform straight into the island’s opalescent lagoon.
The pontoon has an underwater observatory with 24 retractable bunks. Expansive windows and UV lighting mean wide-angle views of the reef as you doze off and, if you’re lucky, a school of curious clownfish when you open your eyes. Should sleeping under a vast, twinkling sky hold more appeal, there are luxury swags on deck. The pontoon has a kiosk and bar, dedicated dive deck, 20-metre snorkel platform and a slide from the top deck into the briny.
If spending the day with manta rays, migratory birds, giant clams and potato cod isn’t thrilling enough, in the evenings (between November and March) you can join marine biologists and watch the amazing phenomenon of turtles nesting.
The irony. First there was no place to stay. Now there’s no desire to leave.
Good to know: Your phone won’t work, there’s no shop or café and you have to bring your own food and water. For many, that’s the point of this castaway adventure. There’s a 40-camper limit on Lady Musgrave Island and you need a permit.
