A luxury pontoon has officially arrived at Lady Musgrave Island, providing visitors with an all new way to experience the beauty of the ocean life below while sleeping on the reef.
The newest sleep-on-the-reef accommodation has been a passion project two years in the making for Lady Musgrave Experience's Brett Lakey.
The 35 metre by 12 metre pontoon has been built with the environment in mind and is completely wind and solar powered.
Lady Musgrave HQ offers visitors the opportunity to snorkel and dive by day, and by night, fall asleep viewing marine life in the underwater observatory or under the starlit sky on the upper deck in queen-sized glamping beds.
Mr Lakey said the pontoon had arrived at the reef on Monday with perfect weather and tide times allowing for a smooth trip.
“We departed Bundaberg Port Marina with the pontoon on Sunday night and it took 18 hours to get to the lagoon,” he said.
“We timed it perfectly, waiting for the right weather and tide window for the tugboat to hold the pontoon straight.
“There were a lot of logistics and weather factors involved but the operation of getting the pontoon to the reef ran smoothly!”
The facility provides independent snorkel and dive platforms and offers access to high-speed dive boats, the glass bottom boat and the luxury catamaran Reef Empress.
The Lady Musgrave pontoon also features an underwater observatory to allow visitors to get an up-close look at the marine life swimming by.
Mr Lakey said the whole Lady Musgrave Experience team were over the moon to now offer such a unique experience at one of Australia's most beautiful destinations.
“It’s been an absolute rollercoaster but such a big achievement and they should all be very proud of themselves,” he said.
“Our crew were all hands on deck, taking part in the build process, sanding, painting and cleaning, so now that it’s out there it’s incredibly meaningful for them.
“They can now enjoy the pontoon in the lagoon and show it to the rest of the world.”
Mr Lakey said Lady Musgrave HQ was open for overnight bookings.
“It’s great to see we’ve had a lot of booking requests and we can’t wait to welcome these guests for an overnight sleep on the reef,” he said.
“We have welcomed our first guests onboard this week with exclusive dive groups.”
Find out more about Lady Musgrave HQ here.
looks wonderful ! would love to send family over as they really look after us ,