Great Barrier Reef: The best private island resorts
Jason LoucasHamilton Island
Hamilton Island
Once seen as little more than the location for the main Whitsunday Islands' airport, Hamilton Island is enjoying a new lease of life thanks to the efforts of Australian tycoon Bob Oatley. Since buying the island in 2003, the billionaire - and avid sailor - has built a swish, up-market resort called Qualia, a stunning new yacht club (with 35 luxury villas) and an 18-hole golf course on neighbouring Dent Island. Oatley's sense of razzmatazz is well illustrated by the curved copper roof of the Hamilton Island Yacht Club, dubbed 'the Opera House of far north Queensland', representing a new era of glamour for both Hamilton Island and the entire Whitsunday archipelago.
The Oatley effect is already being felt: apart from the long-running Hamilton Island Race week (held every August), the island is now hosting fashion events, ballet shows and cooking masterclasses by international chefs such as Tetsuya Wakuda. But Hamilton's resurgence really began with the opening of Qualia in 2007. Although the island has always attracted a fair share of celebrities (George Harrison owned a house here for many years), its reputation nosedived in the 1980s thanks to a rash of ill-advised tourist developments.
Surrounded by 30 acres of manicured grounds, Qualia is everything the old Hamilton Island was not: sophisticated, contemporary and elegant. Set on the northern tip of the island, well away from the marina and busy shopping strip, the resort has just 60 one-bedroom pavilions and a magnificent private Beach House. The air of calm is further enhanced by the absence of children: guests must be aged 16 or over.
Each pavilion has a generous living area, large deck and galley kitchen; Windward Pavilions also have private plunge pools, a bigger bathroom and a separate bedroom area, as well as elevated views of the neighbouring islands. All guest rooms are provided with electric golf buggies (very handy on a property this size).
The resort's facilities include a lavish spa, fitness centre, two swimming pools and the Long Pavilion, which houses the reception, restaurant, bar and wine cellar. There is a small water-sports centre stocked with sea kayaks, snorkelling equipment and 17ft catamarans for excursions to the Great Barrier Reef. Private yacht charters are available from the island's marina.
For those who want to be closer to the bustle of Hamilton Island - or are travelling with children - the impressive Yacht Club Villas (each with four bedrooms, kitchen, entertainment area and outdoor terrace) are a worthy alternative. Guests have access to the yacht club facilities (gym, lap pool and sauna), as well as the marina and the new, 18-hole golf course on Dent Island. Despite its formidable-looking fairways, club officials say the course is suitable for everyone.
Things to do: Sailing, golf, scuba diving, snorkelling, luxuriating in the spa.
Don't miss: Lunch at the clubhouse for just A$65 a head (about £40), including transfers. You don't even have to pick up a golf club, just enjoy the views.
Qualia (00 61 7 4948 9222; www.qualia.com.au)
Jason LoucasWilson Island
Wilson Island
If you are allergic to superlatives, stop reading now. Pristine, exquisite and utterly remote, pint-size Wilson Island makes most other places on the Great Barrier Reef look ordinary. Although it is just 72km from the mainland, this beautiful coral cay feels a million miles from civilisation. With no TVs or phones to disturb the peace, guests soon sink into a shapeless, South Seas idyll. Days are spent beachcombing, dozing in a hammock, watching impossibly perfect sunsets and listening to the sound of the surf breaking on the reef (as loud as an express train at night).
I spent one happy afternoon watching newly hatched turtles scurrying down the beach like wind-up toys to hurl themselves into the ocean. Two reef sharks were patrolling out at sea, awaiting their arrival. 'The survival rate for green turtles isn't very high,' said Toby Layton, the island's [former] chef. 'If the sea birds don't get them, the sharks will. They reckon only one in a thousand reaches adulthood.' Just metres from the white-sand beach lies a beautiful coral reef that is home to turtles, manta rays, triggerfish, parrot fish wrasse and anemones, plus the occasional (harmless) reef shark. The protected waters are safe enough for even the most nervous snorkeller. A honeymoon couple told me they'd been snorkelling every day for a week and still hadn't got bored.
Since turtles have never been hunted in the waters around Wilson, they are remarkably unfazed by the presence of humans. Don't be surprised if you find one of these huge creatures swimming nonchalantly alongside you under the waves. It is an unforgettable experience.
There are just six luxury tents and a full-time staff of two, so you'll have the island very much to yourself - apart from the boobies, herons, shearwaters and other seabirds that come here to breed each year. The tents (on raised timber platforms with king-size beds and verandahs) are well screened and positioned far apart. Mine was called, appropriately, Serenity. Showers and loos are in a separate block and, given the eco-friendly nature of the resort, are surprisingly luxurious. Each tent is assigned its own shower, but the basins and (flushing) loos are shared by all the guests.
Using the most basic cooking equipment, Layton rustled up a series of astonishing dishes, including venison medallions in a red-wine jus, scallops with a fennel and apple salsa, and chocolate brûlée with strawberry and rhubarb compote. All meals are eaten at a communal table in The Longhouse, an open-sided structure that also houses the kitchen, library and a chill-out area; guests are invited to plug their iPods into the sound system. The dress code doesn't extend far beyond shorts, T-shirts and flip-flops; and one of the few organised arrangements is sunset drinks and canapés served on the main beach. With the sun sinking into the Pacific Ocean and a glass of Champagne in hand, it's hard to imagine a more tranquil place to be.
Things to do: Idling, taking short walks, snorkelling.
Don't miss: A drift-snorkel on the reef, alongside an inquisitive turtle and an indifferent reef shark (or two).
Wilson Island (00 61 3 9413 6288; www.wilsonisland.com)
Jason LoucasHaggerstone Island
Haggerstone Island
Lying off Queensland's Cape York Peninsula, this remote speck of land is just about as far north as you can go before hitting Papua New Guinea. Getting here involves a 660km flight from Cairns to nearby Hicks Island followed by a 20-minute boat transfer (just pray for calm seas). The accommodation could be described as charming, primitive or basic, depending on your mood. There are just three thatched wooden huts and a larger house, House Mawu, to choose from. they all have electric power, hot and cold running water, queen-size beds and private decks.
Mercuriaal Aussie bushman Roy Turner has presided over Haggerstone with his English-born wife Anna since 1985. Together they built the main pavilion, an impressive open-sided structure that acts as the central meeting place, office and dining room, and planted the kitchen garden that provides many ingredients for the restaurant. Magical and remote it may be, but just how much you enjoy Haggerstone will depend on how well you get on with Roy Turner. 'King Roy' treats the island as his private domain and tends to inspire either positive or negative feelings in his guests, with little in between.
Things to do: Spear fishing, game fishing, snorkelling, bird watching and helicopter tours.
Don't miss: Snorkelling at the nearby coral reef, followed by lunch on the island's 39ft boat.
Haggerstone Island (00 61 7 4060 3423; www.haggerstoneisland.com)
Jason LoucasLizard Island
Lizard Island
'The only land animals we saw here were Lizards and seem'd to be pretty plenty which occasioned naming the island Lizard Island', wrote Captain James Cook on 12 August 1770. The bow-legged monitor lizards are still here in abundance, but one part of their habitat has changed beyond recognition.
Lizard Island Resort, the most northerly on the Great Barrier Reef, is an oasis of luxury with 40 guest rooms and suites, the Azure Spa and Osprey's Restaurant, which combines modern Australian, Asian and European cuisine (the seven-course degustation menu can also be served at a private beach location).
The island retains a certain mystique due to its remote location anad celebrity visitors, who have been checking in since the 1970s when Lee Marvin was a regular guest, attracted by the lure of black marlin.
Dive sites (such as Cod Hole) are easily accessible in the resort's 51ft cruiser, and the water-sports centre will arrange any number of activities. There are no fewer than 24 beaches to visit, plus Cook's Look - at 359 metres the highest point on the island - where Captain Cook charted a safe passage through the 'insane labyrinth' of the Great Barrier Reef.
Things to do: Snorkelling, paddle skiing, scuba diving, tennis, catamaran sailing, whale watching and visiting the nearby research centre.
Don't miss: Taking a motorised dinghy to a remote beach with a picnic hamper.
Lizard Island (00 61 3 9413 6288; www.lizardisland.com.au)
Jason LoucasHeron Island
Heron Island
For anyone raised on the South Sea tales of Robert Louis Stevenson, Heron Island, a slither of sand and rainforest off Queensland's Capricorn Coast, is the embodiment of childhood fantasy.
Declared a National Park in 1943, the island remains devoted to the preservation of its marine and land-based species, including the Eastern Reef Egret which gave the coral cay its name. With 24sq km of coral reef surrounding the island, snorkelling involves simply diving in from the beach, although the resort also offers guided adventurers for experienced divers.
Some guest rooms are rather dated (book a Wistari or Point Suite, the latter with private terraces and ocean views) and the restaurant menu is very 1980s. On the plus side, Heron Island has one of the best spas on the Great Barrier Reef, its own marine research centre and a Jules Verne-style underwater viewing vessel (known as a semi-sub).
Things to do: Snorkelling, scuba diving, reef walking, bird, whale and turtle watching.
Don't miss: A guided dive trip onto the reef, to swim with turtles and and giant manta rays.
Heron Island (00 61 3 9413 6288; www.heronisland.com)
Hayman Island
Hayman Island
This 1950s hotel has long been considered by Australians the most glamorous along the Great Barrier Reef. Since it reopened last year after a £40million refurbishment, it's certainly become a lot more polished. Although the architecture is still very Dr No (a long, white, three-storey brutalist building set off against a tropical-island fantasy), its rooms are softly sexy, with muslin-draped beds, egg baths for two and fragrant Malin + Goetz body products. Not that you're inside much, given the number of outdoor distractions, from dinghies and jet-skis to lake-sized pools (one for adults, the other for families), tennis and squash courts, and a spa with a Bastien Gonzalez pedicure room and a James Duigan-staffed gym.
Being the northernmost Whitsunday island, it's close to the reef and the bright sand of Whitehaven Beach. If you're more sloth than squirrel, this is a place to lie supine for days, sipping fresh Piña Coladas under palm trees and rolling between sensational breakfast buffets (13 different breads are made daily) and moonlit dinners of lobster curry. By Lisa Grainger
BEST THING TO DO ON HAYMAN ISLAND It's extravagant, but a helicopter ride over the reef to Whitehaven is worth every penny.
Hayman Island, the Whitsundays, AustraliaTelephone:** +61 749 401 234 Website: http://hayman.oneandonlyresorts.com/www.oneandonlyresorts.com Price: Doubles from about £395
Jason LoucasOrpheus Island
Orpheus Island
Orpheus Island is a jungle paradise some 80km north of Townsville. Starting out as a humble guesthouse in the 1940s, the resort has evolved into one of the most sought-after getaways in far north Queensland. An early visitor was Vivien Leigh, and guests still arrive in true Hollywood style, stepping off a seaplane.
Most of the 1,300-hectare island is a protected National Park and the surrounding ocean is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The resort itself can accommodate just 42 guests and there is a strict policy about noise levels: no telephones, televisions, day-trippers or children under 15 are allowed. All 21 rooms are on the beachfront, surrounded by tropical gardens. Most visitors will obviously want to explore the waters and coral reefs surrounding Orpheus Island and the resort will arrange a wide range of reef-based trips, including guided scuba and snorkelling expeditions on its custom-built dive boat. The island's dry sclerophyll forest is also worth exploring: island wildlife includes echidnas, bandicoots, green tree frogs, ospreys and brahminy kites.
Food is a cornerstone of any stay on Orpheus Island, from breakfast in the open-air restaurant to the seven-course degustation dinners. The executive chef prepares a fresh menu daily, and dishes include sea scallops tossed with an angel-hair salad of spring onion, chilli and water chestnuts, and cardamom-crusted loin of pork and fruit sushi. For something really special, dine under the stars on the island's private jetty or pick up a gourmet hamper and sail off to a secluded bay.
Things to do: Scuba diving, snorkelling, seaplane charters, luxury cruising, game fishing, sea kayaking, fish feeding, dinghy sailing and interpretative nature walks.
Don't miss: An early-morning walk to share the sunrise with the island's resident colony of sea eagles.
Orpheus Island (00 61 7 4777 7377; www.orpheus.com.au)
Jason LoucasDaydream Island
Daydream Island
At just 1.5km long and 800 metres wide, Daydream Island is one of the smallest (and the most accessible) of the Whitsunday islands, which include Hamilton, South Molle, Lindeman and Hook. Daydream Island Resort & Spa may lack the glamour of its more expensive rivals, but it is an affordable option for families. Direct flights from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne to nearby Hamilton Island plus a regular ferry service from the mainland also make Daydream a good stepping-off point for anyone on a tight schedule. The 1980s decor and buffet meals won't be to everyone's taste, but Daydream has a truly impressive range of outdoor activities, plus a very well-run kids' club. Children will also enjoy the private lagoon, which is stocked with all manner of marine life, including bamboo sharks, barramundi, cod, bream and parrotfish. The aquarium contains a mini reef system, featuring 50 types of coral.
The Rejuvenation Spa is well run, with an extensive menu of massages, facials, exfoliations and body treatments. Daydream Island is a bustling, family-friendly Australian resort. If you value some peace and quiet, book a room well away from the pool area, such as an Ocean View Room or one of the suites.
Things to do: Tennis, bocce, beach volleyball, snorkelling, jet skiing, kayaking, mini-golf, rainforest walks, snorkelling expeditions to Knuckle Reef, sailing on a maxi yacht and private helicopter tours (including a Champagne lunch on Whitehaven Beach).
Don't miss: Hug a baby shark or feed a giant stingray at the private outdoor aquarium.
Daydream Island (00 61 7 4948 8426; www.daydreamisland.com)