Spirit of 1770 Lady Musgrave Island Cruise Review
Hop on board the luxurious catamaran Spirit of 1770 for a fabulous cruise to the Great Barrier Reef and Lady Musgrave Island. An uninhabited island paradise awaits surrounded by a tropical coral cay within Capricornia Cays National Park.
Just
90 minutes cruising from the Town of 1770 lies the southern tip of the
Great Barrier Reef and a coral cay paradise called Lady Musgrave Island.
Each day, weather permitting, the luxurious, fast catamaran, Spirit
of 1770 takes passengers on one of the best day cruises to the Great
Barrier Reef and moors within the calm waters of this picturesque coral
cay. Having a narrow deep-water entrance into the coral cay, enables
small vessels to enter or leave the cay at any time of the tide, making
this ideal for cruise vessels such as the Spirit of 1770.
Spirit of 1770 departs for Lady Musgrave Island at 8.00am and returns around 5.30pm. Included with the cruise is morning and afternoon teas, a delicious, all you can eat, buffet luncheon and many water sports and activities. The crew actually spoils you with scones, jam and cream for afternoon tea. This is a cruise that will be remembered forever.
The Spirit of 1770 ties up to Reef Sanctuary, a floating pontoon with an
underwater viewing chamber. There are an unbelievable number of fish
to be seen from the underwater viewing chamber and one could spend hours
watching the fabulous fish show. From the Reef Sanctuary pontoon, day
guests can snorkel over nearby reefs, enjoy glass bottom coral viewing,
feed fish and participate in other water activities with most equipment
supplied.
One of the highlights of the day cruise is a guided tour of the island, conducted by a very helpful and informative crew member who truly enjoys her work and the various flora and fauna on Lady Musgrave Island. The island is uninhabitated and primarily covered by Pisonia Grandis rainforest, She-Oak and Pandanus palms. Surrounded by the largest navigable coral lagoon on the Great Barrier Reef, the waters are crystal clear, ideal for snorkeling and coral viewing.
In season there are thousands of nesting birds, White-capped Noddy Terns, Bridled Terns, Black-naped Terns and Silver Gulls are in abundance at breeding times, as are Eastern Reef Egret, Pied Oystercatchers and Sooty Oystercatchers all year round. There are many turtles seen during glass bottom boat tours over the coral reefs within the cay, and Lady Musgrave Island is home for up to 200 nesting female green and loggerhead turtles from late October to February.
This cruise can be rough at times, as you do travel 35 nautical miles
from the Town of 1770 to Lady Musgave Island. We made this cruise recently
during early June 2009, and the sea was quite rough with many passengers
becoming sea sick. Preparing for any voyage is essential and you can
purchase motion sickness tablets from the cruise office before departure.
We also strongly suggest that you take one or two pills and continually
suck on peppermints or lollypops which helps to ward off sea sickness.
The crew are extremely couteous and helpful throughout the day. They are dedicated to your service and among the best we have every had the pleasure to meet. We have no hesitation in recommending the Spirit of 1770 Lady Musgrave Cruise to all. We make many cruises along the Queensland coast and this rates as high as any we have experienced. The boat, the island, the experience are first class. Take this cruise if you can, it is simply fabulous.
There are optional scuba diving and fishing tours, which are additional and must be pre-booked.
