It’s not at all difficult to fall in love with Lizard Island’s coral-fringed curls of sand and the cornflower-blue bays that beckon snorkellers under the sea. Travel writers and reef lovers besotted with this tropical isle call it idyllic and wild, and while Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is littered with such beauties (some far more verdant and with coral reefs in much better shape), the allure of Lizard Island lies in its being so very far away.
Reaching its national park-protected shores is an adventure in itself, ensuring very few people converge on Lizard’s 24 shimmering white sand beaches at any one time. Those who do make the journey — by plane, charter boat or private yacht — amount to an incongruous bunch of castaways: five-star resort guests, adventurous grotty yachties and fly-in campers who arrive with tents and snorkelling gear, and pay in pocket change for their rustic beachfront views. All come seeking seclusion under the sea and Lizard Island never fails to disappoint.
Lieutenant James Cook named the island for its resident yellow-spotted monitor lizards and it’s here where naturalist Sir David Attenborough began his 60-year-long love affair with the Great Barrier Reef, which he calls “the most magical
