Tweed Heads & Cook Island Byron Bay Ballina Coff's Harbour
South West Rocks Port Macquarie Norfolk Island
North Haven Forster-Seal Rocks Port Stephens
Newcastle-Swansea Central Coast - Terrigal Sydney North
Sydney South Wollongong to Kiama Jervis Bay Uladulla
Bateman's Bay Narooma-Montague Island Tathra Merimbula
Lord Howe Island deemed as Australia’s most beautiful island, Lord Howe Island is straight out of the fairy tales, a magnificent make-believe with everything anyone could wish for in a holiday resort.
It’s the perfect paradise for scuba diving, snorkeling, underwater photography and `getting back to nature’, recreation and escapism without deprivation, eco tourism at its best!
A spiritual rendezvous magnetised by a million happy memories, it is without doubt one of the most visually exciting extravaganzas in the world.”
Very few islands in the world could match this remarkable island that has everything for the eco- minded tourist interested in escalism and adventure. From little kids to big kids, lord Howe Island has it all. A true family holiday venue. ( photo: Neville Coleman)
“Deemed as Australia’s most beautiful island Lord Howe Island is straight out of the fairy tales, a magnificent make-believe with everything anyone could wish for in a holiday resort. It’s the perfect paradise for `getting back to nature’, recreation and escapism without deprivation. A spiritual rendezvous magnetised by a million happy memories, it is without doubt one of the most visually exciting extravaganzas in the world.”
A mere speck in the vast South Pacific Ocean, Lord Howe Island and adjacent islands and rock stacks are the remnants of an ancient volcano rim perched on flat-topped sea mounts pushed up from the Norfolk Ridge 700,000,000 years ago.
The waters and reefs around Ball's Pyramid have species not so far located on the reefs nearer the island. The currents here are somewhat stronger and there are huge Black Coral 'trees' up to 3 metres in height.
The diving is nothing short of absolutely spectacular. Its huge country, with an underwater terrain comprised of giant boulders and caves and crevasses and giant sea whips, and everything is oversize. The schools of trevally, kingfish, sweep and drummers wheel and turn, and my most difficult task, was trying to stay focussed.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Surrounded on all sides by depths of several thousand metres and constantly washed by swells and currents from all points of the compass, the rugged battlements, shaped by time have never been tempered by human settlement. They remain as they have for millions of years; ancient relics of yesterday in a modern world of today.
Lord Howe Island is around 700 kilometres north-east of Sydney or south-east of Brisbane, off the north coast of New South Wales.
Tourism
There are only 350 residents and a ceiling allowance of only 400 beds available for tourism. Except for fishing trip excursions in the four or five boats available for hire, the entire island and all its residents are geared towards minimal modification of the landscape and protection of the environment and its creatures.
All the accomodation at Lord Howe Island is maintained by personalised guest houses. Some like 'Somerset Holiday Accomodation" are self contained, whils others maintain full room and board. With only a few hundred visitors allowed on the island at any one time the beaches often appear deserted and traffic is comprised of push bikes and a few smaller vehicles of residents and hire cars.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
Every guest house and accommodation style lodge is set amid gardens of flowers bordered by palms, lawns and grasslands, many with magnificent views. The accommodation is versatile with both serviced and self-service units.
Flora and fauna
Besides the fantastic views there are 243 species of flowering plants. (105 are endemic) with 105 mosses, 57 kinds of ferns including 23 endemic ones to see on the island. Although over 165 various species have been recorded, there are only 18 species of breeding land birds.
Water-based eco-experiences
The “Busty’s Boatshed”. Operated by the Busteed family the boatshed caters for every eco-experience water-based activity. Divers for over 20 years both Brian and Peter have wide experience in and on the water. Brian is in charge of all scuba activities.
Lauren and Tas run Pro Dive Lord Howe Island and offer a competitive professional service next door.
Both operators have excellent services and equipment.
Phillip Rock is a brilliant dive site, but can only be dived during periods of low swell. The offshore visibility often exceeds 40 metres and rarely drops to less than 20 metres. ( photo: Neville Coleman)
The Ballina Angelfish Chaetodontoplus ballinae is one of the world's rarest fish, only ocuring on a few deepwater reefs around Lord Howe Island and adjacent areas on the east coast of Australia. ( photo: Neville Coleman)
Scuba Diving
Erscott’s Hole inside the lagoon is an excellent shallow-water dive. Behind the sheltered main reef visibility often exceeds thirty metres and the white sandy sea floor reflects the light, so that everywhere is a kaleidoscope of colour. Tame fishes of every shape, size, hue and design, flit around. Emperors, wrasses, butterflyfish, demoiselles, parmas, moorish idols, bannerfish, parrotfish, morwong, sweetlips, goatfish, lizardfish, fairy bassets, rock cods, puffers, trevally, drummer, bluefish, and many more.
First discovered at Lord Howe Island in 1999 Tomsmith's Glossodoris Glossodoris tomsmithi was one of the highlights of my many fauna surveys of the islands and reefs. Although it was known from Hawaii and Guam it was a new record for lord Howe and Australia. ( photo: Neville Coleman)
Dive locations inside the lagoon are buoyed to minimise damage to the coral by anchors and to make locating dive sites easy, which is especially important for night diving.
Malabar is without doubt the best medium depth, second dive of the day location at Lord Howe Island. The reefs in ten to twenty-five metres of water are covered with corals and honeycombed with myriad caves and labyrinths. The deep gutters and overhangs give divers constant pleasure as they glide through the clear blue waters searching caves and ledges with torches, discovering new things at every stop.
Gorgonians, soft corals, feather stars and ascidians, everywhere there is brilliant colour, not as many fish species as other dives, but the invertebrate life and the ruggedness of the underwater terrain make up for it. The entire reef face at Comet’s is one gigantic complex of fish cleaning stations.
Schools of butterfly fish hover above the reef while drummer, goatfish and morwong vie for positions. Sometimes, huge rays dig holes in the soft, silty bottom, searching for molluscs. Here and there are scorpionfishes, firefishes hang beneath ledges and cheeky anemone fish rush from their host anemones to chase giant, wet-suited monsters from their territory.
Around the pyramid and its sister rock stacks the sea floor is scattered with giant boulders covered in a thick carpet of living sea creatures; a world of eternal twilight where true colour and discovery is only made possible by the beam of an underwater torch.
Spanish dancer nudibranchs are common and colourful sea stars cling to the substrate. Schools of kingfish, trevally and fusiliers mingle in the water column while Japanese boarfish, half-banded angels and Lord Howe Island butterflyfish can be seen beneath the ledges or swimming through the crevices.
Giant black coral trees grow where the current is strongest; the branches of the white-skinned black corals are entwined with brilliant red serpent stars, while families of commensal shrimps and the ever-elusive spindle cowries live on brown-skinned black corals.
In the distance a flash of black and white heralds the presence of one of the South Pacific’s rarest and most sought after fish, the Ballina angelfish, which has only been rediscovered in the last few years.
The original fish was brought up in a fish trap from very deep water off Ballina, New South Wales in 1959, yet it was another 35 years before a few pairs were found living in diving depth water around Ball’s Pyramid, the only place in the world where this fish can be seen, or photographed.
The wealth of marine wildlife discoveries we have made over the last 30 years is only the beginning. With marine park status, World Heritage listing and a new understanding of natural history values towards the sea I have no doubt that future underwater exploration will find even more and continue to elevate Lord Howe Island’s status as the South Pacific’s premier adventure holiday destination.
(Left) Coleman's Pygmy Sea Horse Hippocampus colemani was named after the author who discovered the first 2 specimens in the lagoon at Lord Howe Island in only 3 metres of water, almost beneath the dive site buoy.
( photo: Neville Coleman)
(Right) Known from South Africa to the Galapagos, this amazing little sapsucker Souverbie's Lobiger Lobiger souverbii was found in the lagoon beneath the kid's pontoon, in only 2 metres of water.
With over 800 dives over 40 years already undertaken at Lord Howe Island, my passion for this island is well known, but it is always a pleasure to return and rekindle friendships and experience everything that is Lord Howe Island.
Will I be back?…you can bet I will be trying!
Information for Visitors
How to get to Lord Howe
QantasLink offers year-round scheduled services to Lord Howe Island. Flight time is under two hours, with flights departing from Sydney on most days, and from Brisbane on weekends.
A seasonal weekly service to the Island is also available direct from Port Macquarie from February to June and September to December.
There are connecting services with Qantas from all Australian capital cities and with QantasLink from many regional centers.
Tourist Levy
The tourism levy is included in your airline ticket. The levy helps maintain a beautiful environment and particularly visitor's facilities such as walking tracks, picnic areas, BBQs, shelter sheds and toilets.
When to go
Anytime! Lord Howe Island's climate is mild, year-round. Sea breezes prevent the summers from being too hot, while surrounding warm seas ensure pleasant winters.
Maximum temperatures on the island hover around 25 degrees Celsius throughout summer, dipping to an average of 19 degrees in winter, while daily minimums range from 20C in summer falling to around 12-14C in winter.
The most popular time to visit Lord Howe is between September and June, however even in the winter months (July and August), the days can be sunny and warm, while at night, roaring fires keep things cosy.
Restaurants
The Island has a number of fine restaurants serving modern Australian cuisine and offering a wide selection of wines, spirits and beers.
What to do
Bushwalking, trekking, guided and self-guided walks, fish feeding, swimming, surfing, SCUBA diving, snorkelling, kayaking, birdwatching, reef walks, golf, tennis, bowls, deep sea, rock and shore fishing, picnics, BBQs, bicycling.
Available for hire are golf clubs, tennis racquets, bicycles and helmets, SCUBA and snorkelling gear, paddle skis and spyboards.
Spear fishing is not permitted.
Dress
Dress is casual, smart casual for evenings
Swimming costume, hat and sun protection
Shoes for bush and reef walking, flip flops, but bare feet are the island "uniform"
Day pack for walks and beach trips
A raincoat and wind-cheater are recommended owing to occasional showers and squalls that can occur at any time of the year.
Post Office
Australia Post has a postal agency on Lord Howe Island open from 9.00am to 1.00pm and 2.00pm to 5.00pm Monday to Friday. From September to May, airmail is despatched and received every day except Friday. In the winter months, mail is despatched whenever flights operate. Surface mail arrives fortnightly by ship from Iluka in northern New South Wales.
Transport
You'll quickly understand why Lord Howe does not need public transport. All accommodation properties meet flights, providing free transport for arriving and departing guests. Walking is a pleasure on the Island as you're never far from shops, restaurants or beaches. There are bicycles and helmets for hire and a limited number of rental cars.
Is it safe?
Yes! Families love Lord Howe: children can safely roam free. There are no snakes, no sand flies, no stingers. There is a limited number of cars and a 25 kph speed limit.
Communications
Many Island holidaymakers are delighted that Lord Howe Island is beyond the reach of mobile phone calls. Public phones are available, so are faxes. The Visitor Centre is open Monday-Friday 9am to 12.30pm and has an internet cafe. For further information please phone 1800 240 937 (freecall in Australia).
Medical
A small hospital and dispensary is situated on Lagoon Road. Consulting and dispensary hours at this four-bed hospital are 9.00am to 12.30pm Monday to Friday. However, the doctor and nursing staff are on 24 hour call in emergencies.
Time
Time Zone
Australian Eastern Summertime during daylight saving. Winter is 30 minutes ahead of Australian Eastern Standard Time.
Banks, credit cards and money
The currency is Australian Dollars. There are two banks on the Island: Westpac and Commonwealth. Credit cards are accepted widely but not everywhere. Please have cash or cheque book as a back-up. No auto tellers, however, Eftpos is available at some businesses.
Note: Foreign currency and/or travellers cheques are not processed on Lord Howe Island.
Shopping
A variety of stores carry groceries, liquor, fruit, vegetables, pharmaceuticals, clothing, souvenirs and snacks. There is also a small hairdressing salon, limited beauty and masseur facilities and arts and crafts. Island prices are generally higher than mainland prices owing to freight costs.
Electricity
240V AC 50 cycles, three-pin plug Ð the same as mainland Australia.
Lord Howe Island Visitor Centre
http://www.lordhoweisland.info/
Copyright Neville Coleman
Book Store
Tweed Heads & Cook Island Byron Bay Ballina Coff's Harbour
South West Rocks Port Macquarie Lord Howe Island Norfolk Island
North Haven Forster-Seal Rocks Port Stephens
Newcastle-Swansea Central Coast - Terrigal Sydney North
Sydney South Wollongong to Kiama Jervis Bay Uladulla
Bateman's Bay Narooma-Montague Island Tathra Merimbula
Neville Coleman's diving expeditions, fauna surveys, photographic fauna surveys and marine life identification courses include every major group of marine life.
Neville Coleman's expertise in marine life identification extends to the identification of Algae, Sea Grass, Forams, Sponges, Stony Corals, Soft Corals, Sea Anemones, Sea Jellies, Zoanthids, Corallimorphs, Black Corals, Flatworms, Segmented Worms, Crustaceans, Barnacles, Shrimps, Rock Lobsters, Hermit Crabs, Squat Lobsters, Molluscs, Chitons, Univalves, Bivalves, Cephalopods, Octopus, Cuttlefish, Squid, Opisthobranchs, Nudibranchs, Sea Slugs, Bryozoans, Sea Mosses, Echinoderms, Sea Stars, Feather Stars, Brittle Stars, Sea Urchins, Sea Cucumbers, Ascidians/Sea Squirts, Marine Fish, Sharks, Marine Reptiles, and Marine Mammals, all found in the waters around Lord Howe Island and Ball's Pyramid.
( Copyright Neville Coleman)