Orpheus Island Lodge

“Lizard Island or Qualia or Orpheus Island”

A stay at any luxury resort is not cheap so I thought I’d give you a review of some of Australia’s best tropical luxury resort options. First a few general comments. If you’re spending over $10k for 3 nights you should try to pick a time of the year when the chances of being seriously impacted by... more

A stay at any luxury resort is not cheap so I thought I’d give you a review of some of Australia’s best tropical luxury resort options. First a few general comments. If you’re spending over $10k for 3 nights you should try to pick a time of the year when the chances of being seriously impacted by rain is minimised. Easier said than done with the way weather has been lately. Also some people are happy to lay by the pool for their stay.. we like that too but also love snorkelling with beautiful fish and coral and some not too hard bushwalking. All the costs are approximates Lizard island (2021) You get a small plane out of cairns, we shared ours with a couple. Lizard is expensive and you can get Beachfront suites for $4,300 and Oceanview villas for $3,700… there’s also a range of other accommodation from garden villas to a private house on the clifftop. We went for a beach front suite located about 50 metres from the beachfront which was very convenient. The downside was that on our last day the island had a barge come in and it was busy and noisy for a few hours.. but no big deal. Food was amazing, incredible but OMG it was soo slow. Can take 2 hours for lunch and 40 minutes to get entrees. That’s ok as you’re on holidays but we wanted to do stuff and it’s not great to loose the best part of 4 hours for breakfast and lunch. Hopefully that has improved. Service was good and the staff were really nice. We had a lovely welcome at the airport and check in. Activities… there are dinghies available and you can get picnic with nice food and whatever you want to drink to take to a nearby beach… we went to Watsons Bay There are sunset cruises, snorkelling tours and nice walks Lizard is beautiful with gorgeous white sandy beaches. You can walk out of your beachfront suite and swim out 30 -50 metres to coral reef with beautiful fish and coral… like wow. The other side of island past the airstrip (30 minute walk) was a beach totally littered with plastic. Watsons Bay is bit of a walk up the hill and back down, nice boardwalk and gorgeous beach. Qualia October 21 & December 22 Yes twice in a windward suite. They are drop dead gorgeous. You will be met at the airport and it’s a short drive to the resort. Their are spectacular views from the main building. I found the welcome a bit ordinary… sure you get a nice glass of bubbles but they didn’t seem to know we were returning guests and it was all a bit impersonal and standardised.welcome. Leeward and Windward pavilions Leeward approx $2k a night Windward $3k a night with a plunge pool Amazing views from the bed, the room and the plunge pool. You get a nice breakfast included and the staff there were lovely and way better than the front desk staff. Poolside we had good burgers and great service in the poolside cabanas. We had a lovely lunch at the restaurant pebble beach. We never ate dinner there but I am sure it would be good. You will be given a golf cart during your stay. There’s not much to do but can book to go out to the reef.. takes a couple of hours to get there, be sure to book in way in advance for lunch at the golf club. The food is typical club style but nice and the boat ride is good. The snorkelling near the very ordinary resort beach is pretty poor. Catamarans are available for use too. We loved the cabanas at the pool and spent hours there relaxing.. great service there too. The environment is beautiful with lovely gardens and really amazing views. The whole island seem to gather for the sunsets about 5 minutes from the qualia gate. Orpheus island April 24 You get there from Townsville or Cairns by helicopter. Its a fair bit cheaper from Townsville (30 minutes). Here’s the thing the helicopter was really small.. too small for my liking… if windy you could get stuck so think about insurance. We were welcomed by staff and took a short walk to the pavilion where we met Josh the amazing chef. The accommodation is in suites and smaller rooms. Our suite was large and lovely… we stayed in south suite. Garden views but lovely lounge by the beach 10 metres away. The activities on offer change daily.. snorkel, wine tasting, low tide walk etc You get use of a dingy and they can provide picnic lunches or prepare fishing gear and snorkelling equipment. Bush walks are limited and steep to the lookout(30 minutes return) or 50 minutes return to picnic bay. The coral and sealife was pretty ordinary. The food was amazing. Lunch changes daily eg Mediterranean, Thai, Japanese etc. The dining with the tide’s was a great experience on the jetty The staff were all fantastic, lovely, couldn’t do enough, very personalised, less stuffy than lizard. Can’t really swim on the beach.. need reef boots, low tide mud flats. So what resort was the best Room… qualia windward pavilion for the view and plunge pool, orpheus suite for the casual feel and quality Food. Orpheus was fantastic. Albeit a burger and a drink in the cabana at qualia was soo nice. Staff and service. Orpheus were relaxed, friendly, and fantastic. Only 14 rooms so you really get a personal experience Environment. Lizard is an amazing place. Wow.

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