Lady Musgrave Experience - Bundaberg Reef Tours
Lady Musgrave Experience - Bundaberg Reef Tours
Lady Musgrave Experience - Bundaberg Reef Tours
5
Scuba & SnorkellingBoat ToursEco ToursSightseeing ToursDay Trips
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Full view
About
Experience the Southern Great Barrier Reef, Lady Musgrave Island and lagoon from the closest accessible departure point – Bundaberg, Queensland. Only a 4 hour drive or 45 minute flight north of Brisbane, join Lady Musgrave Experience as we bring the Southern Great Barrier Reef to life. Being an Advanced Eco-Certified company, we operate with minimal impact on the environment and are committed to protecting the coral reef and marine environment while ensuring you have an unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime experience. There’s something for everyone with a variety of tours that are both educational and inspirational. Our aim is to inspire and encourage our guests to learn about the Great Barrier Reef environment and reef eco-system in an immersive and fun way. Select from a broad range of Lady Musgrave Experience day activities, encountering abundant marine life and wildlife, or spend the evening onboard the keenly awaited Lady Musgrave HQ pontoon.
Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia
Meets animal welfare guidelines
Awards
Travellers' Choice
2023
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Lady Musgrave Experience - Bundaberg Reef Tours
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5.0
1,291 reviews
Excellent
1,164
Very good
90
Average
15
Poor
7
Terrible
16
Angela R
Brisbane, Australia793 contributions
Jan. 2023 • Family
If you want the best reef experience, then visit. We stayed for 2 nights in January 2023, and it was our best reef experience ever. The staff were friendly, and the wildlife was unbelievable. We saw turtles, sharks, and so many fish. It was absolutely the best holiday of our lives.
Written 9 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Vanessa H
1 contribution
Nov. 2023 • Family
We went as a family group aged 32 - 74 years and everyone had the most amazing stay, we stayed on the Pontoon 2 Nights. Rui the Chef is very creative serving up Restaurant quality meals, his patience as a Dive Instructor is wonderful making you feel very comfortable all the way and just a beautiful person making you stay even more special. Jemma was ever so helpful in making sure everyone had the correct mask,flippers and vest that fitted so that we could have the very best snorkeling experience. I would recommend a day trip or a stay it is truly a beautiful spot.
Written 4 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks for bringing the family to enjoy Lady Musgrave Experience on the Great Barrier Reef! There really is something for everyone, no matter what age or interests. Your kind words have been passed onto Rui and Jemma. We hope to see you all again soon.
Written 7 December 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
chasserdy
Buckley, MI3 contributions
Nov. 2023 • Friends
Amazing experience seeing the reef and turtles up close. Staff was experienced, kind and helpful. Not too crowded.
Written 4 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Swimming with turtles and marine life really is an amazing experience. We're so glad you got to witness it on the Southern Great Barrier Reef!
Written 7 December 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
poppysames
Hobart, Australia2 contributions
Dec. 2023 • Family
An absolutely fabulous trip which we have completed twice now because we loved it so much! Snorkeling in beautiful clear water..and seeing plenty of marine life including turtles..
Written 4 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks for coming back to visit us in paradise again! What a fantastic experience for the whole family. We hope you have signed up to Club LME to enjoy our return rewards and loyalty perks. Looking forward to next time!
Written 7 December 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Dylan S
1 contribution
Dec. 2023 • Family
Our tour started out rocky with a 1 day delay due to unexpected maintenance. Over the course of the experience we joked that we had bad luck because of all the incidents around us. A life raft that accidentally deployed, a wind turbine destroyed itself, a railing snapped off, an engine failed, and the windshield wipers stopped working. Now I'm giving it 5 stars because despite these issues me and my dad had an unforgettable time during this experience. Moreover none of the issues impacted our experience in a significant way, the crew adapted and the day was a blast. The highlight of our entire Australia trip was scuba diving with Jessica. It was our first time scuba and we were pretty nervous, she taught us the core skills and in less than half an hour we were walking the ocean floor as she pointed out interesting coral and fish. Thanks to the crew and Jessica for showing us a great time, we hope to come back!
Written 2 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
That's the holiday spirit we love to hear! Thank you for your understanding as we resolved those rare incidences. We are so glad we still got to take you and your dad and the other guests out to enjoy Lady Musgrave Island and Lagoon that day. It is amazing to hear this was the highlight of your Australia trip! We hope this is just the beginning of your scuba diving experience. What better way to experience the Great Barrier Reef!
Written 7 December 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
neilschmeel
Toronto, Canada5 contributions
Nov. 2023 • Family
It’s a great place to snorkel, with a long reef wall and a huge lagoon full of sea life. Overall we enjoyed the experience, but we chose to include too many activities and it ended up feeling rushed.
It’s a long way to go (around 2 hours each way on the boat). It would make for a relaxing day if you just did snorkeling plus the island tour (which includes the glass bottom boat tour). We chose to also add an intro SCUBA dive and the Marine Biologist experience. That made the day too rushed, and we didn’t end up with any time to snorkel on our own.
The Marine Bio experience felt rushed and didn’t feel worth the money; we would have liked to have had more time to learn more about reef life. Again, this was likely because we did too many activities in the same day.
The intro SCUBA dive was a lot of fun and was a perfect introduction for our kids.
All of the staff were friendly and helpful, especially the dive master Raff, who was very patient and fun.
There was a big high school group on the tour the same day, which turned out to be fine - the staff did a great job of keeping the school group separated from the rest of the guests.
It’s a long way to go (around 2 hours each way on the boat). It would make for a relaxing day if you just did snorkeling plus the island tour (which includes the glass bottom boat tour). We chose to also add an intro SCUBA dive and the Marine Biologist experience. That made the day too rushed, and we didn’t end up with any time to snorkel on our own.
The Marine Bio experience felt rushed and didn’t feel worth the money; we would have liked to have had more time to learn more about reef life. Again, this was likely because we did too many activities in the same day.
The intro SCUBA dive was a lot of fun and was a perfect introduction for our kids.
All of the staff were friendly and helpful, especially the dive master Raff, who was very patient and fun.
There was a big high school group on the tour the same day, which turned out to be fine - the staff did a great job of keeping the school group separated from the rest of the guests.
Written 30 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for choosing us to visit the Great Barrier Reef. Scuba diving in Lady Musgrave Island Lagoon straight off the pontoon would have been a fantastic experience for the kids! We are grateful that you chose all of those additional activities and can understand how the marine bio experience would have been a lot to do on the day tour on top of scuba diving, guided island walk and glass bottom boat tour. What an adventure packed day on the reef! We hope to welcome you back soon, perhaps for an overnight visit. There's always something new to see no matter what time of the year with Lady Musgrave Experience.
Written 7 December 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Stan d U
2 contributions
Nov. 2023 • Couples
Lady Musgrave Experience thoroughly ruined a chunk of our vacation. We booked this experience in July for a November trip. We left our email and cell phone number as contact. The instructions ask that you confirm the day before, which I did. I received a response confirming that our trip was on for the next day.
Two hours later I get a text message to urgently call the office. I am advised that they have been “attempting” to reach us since November 27th. Bear in mind that both the email AND text had no issues going through. I was advised that our tour was cancelled, even after I was confirmed just a few hours earlier. We were advised that they have known about this issue since the 27th but “had not been able to reach us.” We have no email, voicemail or texts from them.
We were offered a later date which would’ve impacted our flight back to the US. Due to Lady Musgrave Experience’s inability to make reasonable efforts to cancel in a timely manner, we had to pay two nights hotel stay in Bargara due to the cancellation policy of 48 hours. This cost us $340 on top of leaving us without a plan for our stay. We only scheduled a stay in Bargara for this experience.
Also, adding that our hotel advised us that Lady Musgrave Experience did the exact same thing to 5-6 people last week. We are avid travelers and do understand that issues arise but in this case Lady Musgrave Experience did not make reasonable attempts to reach us to allow us time to cancel and potentially reschedule this portion of our trip.
I’ve attached the email from the day before our scheduled trip CONFIRMING that we were on. Although just a few hours later, they had been “attempting to reach us” since the 27th.
Consider using a company that values their customers and will not leave them high and dry when avoidable.
Two hours later I get a text message to urgently call the office. I am advised that they have been “attempting” to reach us since November 27th. Bear in mind that both the email AND text had no issues going through. I was advised that our tour was cancelled, even after I was confirmed just a few hours earlier. We were advised that they have known about this issue since the 27th but “had not been able to reach us.” We have no email, voicemail or texts from them.
We were offered a later date which would’ve impacted our flight back to the US. Due to Lady Musgrave Experience’s inability to make reasonable efforts to cancel in a timely manner, we had to pay two nights hotel stay in Bargara due to the cancellation policy of 48 hours. This cost us $340 on top of leaving us without a plan for our stay. We only scheduled a stay in Bargara for this experience.
Also, adding that our hotel advised us that Lady Musgrave Experience did the exact same thing to 5-6 people last week. We are avid travelers and do understand that issues arise but in this case Lady Musgrave Experience did not make reasonable attempts to reach us to allow us time to cancel and potentially reschedule this portion of our trip.
I’ve attached the email from the day before our scheduled trip CONFIRMING that we were on. Although just a few hours later, they had been “attempting to reach us” since the 27th.
Consider using a company that values their customers and will not leave them high and dry when avoidable.
Written 30 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
J G
3 contributions
Nov. 2023 • Family
Absolutely fabulous experience. The crew were so helpful and provided everything that was needed. The tour of the island makes this better that just snorkeling the reef. We drove from Brisbane and stayed overnight so we worried it wouldn’t be worth the effort but it certainly was!
Written 27 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hannah
Manchester, UK6 contributions
Nov. 2023 • Couples
We stayed on Lady Musgrave HQ for two nights and had the most incredible time - it’s an experience we will remember forever.
From start to finish the staff were all fantastic, but special thanks to the four crew members who were with us overnight - Chloe, Jess, Dylan & Rui. We couldn’t believe how multi-skilled they all are - from gourmet chef to dive instructor, housekeeper, boat skipper, waiter and island tour guide: they did it all! We were especially impressed by the food - quality gourmet meals despite only having a small kitchen on the pontoon.
Facilities were great - we loved sleeping in the canvas glamping bed and toilets & showers were always kept clean. Lots of nice touches too like reusable water bottles and cups for our stay.
Finally, surroundings - we had the best time exploring the reef and were lucky enough to swim with so many turtles early in the morning before the day guests arrived. We also did the turtle nesting tour over to the island with Jess and loved getting a close up view of them nesting; Jess was so knowledgable and considerate of protecting the turtles as well.
Overall, can’t fault a thing and would 100% recommend for a once in a lifetime experience of the reef.
From start to finish the staff were all fantastic, but special thanks to the four crew members who were with us overnight - Chloe, Jess, Dylan & Rui. We couldn’t believe how multi-skilled they all are - from gourmet chef to dive instructor, housekeeper, boat skipper, waiter and island tour guide: they did it all! We were especially impressed by the food - quality gourmet meals despite only having a small kitchen on the pontoon.
Facilities were great - we loved sleeping in the canvas glamping bed and toilets & showers were always kept clean. Lots of nice touches too like reusable water bottles and cups for our stay.
Finally, surroundings - we had the best time exploring the reef and were lucky enough to swim with so many turtles early in the morning before the day guests arrived. We also did the turtle nesting tour over to the island with Jess and loved getting a close up view of them nesting; Jess was so knowledgable and considerate of protecting the turtles as well.
Overall, can’t fault a thing and would 100% recommend for a once in a lifetime experience of the reef.
Written 26 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Egg H
Brisbane, Australia1 contribution
Nov. 2023 • Family
Cancelled last last minute as were driving up to to Brisbane. Very rude and unhelpful this is a scam. No help or reason why they cancelled. Please don't waste your money on this scam.
Written 17 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Keith A
2 contributions
Please can you advise whether there are restrictions for snorkelers aged 60 plus?
Realtor4u99
Wilmington, NC66 contributions
No, there were no specific rules, just need to be able to swim and life jackets are provided - I’m 58 and managed to climb the small ladder section at the rear to enter and exit. An amazing experience, you won’t regret it.
leenabarick
Mumbai, India10 contributions
Hi, Thank you for your response. Could you reconfirm your cancellation policy? The page here mentions a full refund if cancelled 24 hours prior to the start of the tour.
Also, are there any family discounts that we can avail? We are a family of 4 accompanied by a friend, totaling 5 in all.
leenabarick
Mumbai, India10 contributions
If you could confirm the cancellation part, I'd like to go ahead and confirm the booking. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks again.
Leena
leenabarick
Mumbai, India10 contributions
Hi, We're planning to book this tour on 10 May 2019. Wanted to know if that's a good time to do the tour. Also, we're keen on introductory squba diving, what are the charges per person and inclusions.
Yes May is an amazing time of the year to visit. The clarity is amazing! Introductory dives are $110 per person on top of the day tour price of $220/Adult, which includes all gear hire and day tour activities and food.
How much this trip , thank you
Hi, The prices for our Full Day Reef Tour is Adults/$218, Children 4-14yrs/$118 and Concession/$198. Includes morning tea, buffet lunch and afternoon tea, snorkeling and equipment, glass bottom boat tour and guided island tour.
lexy123709
Brisbane, Australia
My children dont want to snork.. is there anywhere to do the glass bottom boat only?..
Shelley W
Brisbane, Australia53 contributions
So sorry I missed this. Of course they can do glass bottom boat only but I feel you don’t get the full effect of the reef from a glass bottom boat.
I want to know more information about this trip
Thank you
LMExperience01
Lady Musgrave Island, Australia
Thanks for helping out Shelley hpwever dont serve instant coffee it is ground coffee through a percolator! Snorkeling, diving, glass bottom boat tours and guided island walks are all on offer!
Elaine L
3 contributions
Are the showers on board just for rinse off from snorkel or dive? Are there any real shower room for real shower and changing? We have to drive to Hervey bay after the tour.
Max O
Brighton, UK10 contributions
Hi Elaine. The showers on board were located in the same room as the toilet. So you can enter the room and lock the door and have a shower alone in the room but you are in the same room as the toilet. It is not luxury, but you are in a room alone and you will be able to wash with soap/shampoo (I cannot remember if the bathroom contains soap already or if you have to bring it). I also cannot remember if they have hot water or just cold cold water, sorry. There are only maybe 2-3 shower rooms so there may be a queue. Also,if you get seasick then it may be difficult to use the shower when the boat is sailing as it is quite bumpy. I hope that answers your question. Let me know if you have any more questions.
Max
Elaine L
3 contributions
Can we shower on the boat while heading back?
LMExperience01
Lady Musgrave Island, Australia
Hi Elaine, you certainly can. There are 3 showers onboard and are available all day.
Bundaberg Whale Watching
Bundaberg, Australia14 contributions
How long did it take to get to the island and how long did it take to get home ??
Michelle R
2 contributions
It's about 2 hours each way. Funny to think of the reef as being a barrier out there away from the land but that's actually what it is. You get breakfast on the way out and tea (as in tea the meal with snacks) on the way back. If you, like me, tend to get sea sick (and even if you don't) make sure you take something. That way you'll enjoy the food which was pretty good.
Steven Diver
Bargara, Australia31 contributions
hi guy's
we are wondering when sleep on the reef will start again. ..
LMExperience01
Lady Musgrave Island, Australia
Hi Steven, at this stage it should commence again in August. We will notify everyone as soon as we have a confirmed start date!