Orpheus Island Hotels

Orpheus Island is a national park in Queensland (Australia), 1189 km northwest of Brisbane. A research station, operated by James Cook University is situated on the island, as is an exclusive resort. Orpheus Island is a continental island.Palm Island is the closest location with government facilities. The Aboriginal name for this island is Goolboddi Island. The name 'Orpheus' was given to the island in 1887 by Lieutenant G. E. Richards, referring to the HMS Orpheus. There are two swimming pools, a tennis court, billiards table, workout room and two bars. At the latter I met a Johnny Jet reader (how cool is that?) from Colorado. He loved the island, and has been a return guest for many years. I learned that he and most other guests can be found either in the dining room, on the beach or taking part in one of the complimentary activities. These include feeding the mullets (carp-like fish) in the morning, hiking with Jenny (the head gardener), and taking out a catamaran, canoe, kayak or even Orpheus 1 to a deserted island, and snorkeling to a variety of nearby reefs (one is full of giant clams). You should've heard my reaction when a friend pointed out a lion fish just below me on our reef trip. Snorkeling was a little uneasy for me because as you see in the video below, while walking along the beach I spotted all kinds of baby sharks and manta rays. Out in the open water, I realized that if there was a baby shark nearby, a big mama had to lurk around the corner. Then the theme music from "Jaws" popped in my head. Soon I had no choice but to swim as fast as I could back to the boat.