Lady Elliot Island

It's a genuine island, split down the middle by a grass landing strip running north to south. From their site:

Lady Elliot Island is a coral cay located at the southern tip of the World Heritage Listed Great Barrier Reef. Situated within a highly protected ’Green Zone’ the island is a sanctuary for over 1,200 species of marine life and is known for its abundance of manta rays, turtles, amazing array of spectacular marine life and unspoilt coral reef.

Photo from Google Images

My photo from arriving plane

My photo from departing plane

The island has two sides for snorkeling, a relatively easy lagoon on the east where the rooms and facilities are. On the west are two entry points to more advanced snorkeling. The tides are everything. During our five-day stay the tides made lagoon snorkeling possible only approximately between sunrise and 9 AM or between 4 to 6 PM. The western side was closed on two days. We got a taste of the beautiful coral gardens on the west on a group snorkel from a glass bottom boat but our attempt to go it alone a few days later was defeated by waves and a low tide.

We circumambulated the island in 50 minutes, walking over a shoreline with some sandy sections but mostly broken coral, which has not yet been turned into sand. Flip flops can be torture when small fragments become lodged under your foot. Reef shoes are better but irritating little particles still get inside and get caught in the holes on the bottom of some.

This gives a good idea of the typical beach surface and what sort of reef shoe the fashionable tourist is wearing these days.

  

Small stones and coral bits filled the holes.

 
The wind was very strong from the south on our first three days, sometimes blowing bird shit onto the laundry we hung on the front porch.

The small tree in front is full of birds and the wind is blowing straight in.

 I didn't take a camera on the snorkels but luckily a professional cameraman was around when I encountered a giant red grouper.

The island is a well-run operation, hosting about 100 guests in facilities that resemble the summer camps of my childhood. The staff was unfailingly friendly and helpful. The suite we stayed in was quite comfortable and the only quibble was that the hot water in the shower could run out too quickly. The air conditioner high on the living room wall cooled that room, the adjoining "master" bedroom and the second bedroom (which had a ceiling fan) adequately. Actually, the air con was used mostly at night so that the windows could be closed to block the noise of the birds and the wind. 

Internet and telephone were available for a fee. The internet was frustrating but moderately functional at times. I managed to send and receive email texts. In the last hour on the island I was able to send photos.

The food was buffet style - satisfying for animals such as myself. Breakfast and dinner included. Lunch had a choice of buffet or a la carte. There was nice small bar on the right with a decent selection of wines.

Overall, the difficulties and complications of snorkeling outweighed the special moments such as seeing turtle hatchlings zoom by us, taking their first trip into the water, turtles resting on the bottom just a foot below, a stingray in the same position or a black tip shark and many of the colorful fishes we have seen elsewhere.

The noddies were everywhere, visually beautiful, but the smell of bird shit may bother some people. And the health effects of pervasive birdshit is an important question. I had trouble manipulating these last pictures so they are somewhat mixed up.

Proof there are a lot of birds. Note the ecologically correct notice on the bottom. The island is ecologically very correct, except possibly in its reliance on a fleet of airplanes to transport visitors.