Orpheus Island Lodge

This was my wife Tracey & my 4th Trip to Orpheus Island 🏝️ Lodge after discovering it when Covid hit & the world 🌎 stopped. From Chrissie the General Manager to all the staff once you fly into Orpheus on your 30 minute Helicopter 🚁 flight from Townsville Airport you...

This was my wife Tracey & my 4th Trip to Orpheus Island 🏝️ Lodge after discovering it when Covid hit & the world 🌎 stopped. From Chrissie the General Manager to all the staff once you fly into Orpheus on your 30 minute Helicopter 🚁 flight from Townsville Airport you have arrived in paradise 🏝️ The Service - The Rooms - The Sunsets - The Sunrises - The Ocean - The Swaying Palm Trees 🌴- The Infinity Pool - The Food OMG The Food - The Wine - The Reef - The Sea life - The Dinner with The Tides - The Snorkeling. It’s truly Heaven on Earth 🌍 & if you have the pleasure to Have Head Chef Josh cook for you , you will return just to eat his magnificent dishes again 🙏❤️👍 We have just booked our 5th trip for our 10th Wedding Anniversary in November 2026. It’s a Sad day when you see that Helicopter 🚁 land at 2.30 on a Sunday Afternoon to leave and return to reality, but it’s never goodbye 👋 it’s see you next time Orpheus Island Lodge 🏝️🚁❤️🙏👍

It’s hard to describe how wonderful Orpheus Island Lodge is. From the moment you arrive and are welcomed with a glass of champagne it feels like an incredibly special place. The staff are all excellent and very friendly and the food is amazing at every meal. The lodge is extremely...

It’s hard to describe how wonderful Orpheus Island Lodge is. From the moment you arrive and are welcomed with a glass of champagne it feels like an incredibly special place. The staff are all excellent and very friendly and the food is amazing at every meal. The lodge is extremely well managed and the manager Chrissie is always present and hands on which we feel is a very good sign. We rarely say that we would love to return to a destination but we definitely would love to return to Orpheus Island Lodge.

This was our third visit to Orpheus Island. During our first trip for my birthday in 2022, we loved the place so much that we advance booked for five years in a row; and I'm pleased to say that each visit has been just as memorable as the previous. There...

This was our third visit to Orpheus Island. During our first trip for my birthday in 2022, we loved the place so much that we advance booked for five years in a row; and I'm pleased to say that each visit has been just as memorable as the previous. There are two things, which to us, are the essence of what makes our time on Orpheus so special, and what keeps bringing us back. Firstly there's the food. Each meal is curated individually under the control of, for the second year now, Chef Josh Childs. We've eaten in some of the finest restaurants in the world, and Josh's creations I believe would equal any of them. It's rare in a high end restaurant to meet the Executive Chef, but as soon as you arrive on the island Josh is there to talk to you, to understand any dietary preferences that you may have. Josh is also apparently intolerant of delays longer than about 10 seconds in getting prepared meals out to guests, as on more than one occasion we've heard the familiar 'hello', and looked up to see Josh himself bringing a meal to a guest's table. One final point on the food at Orpheus, the 'Dining With The Tides' experience at the end of the dock is absolutely unique, and we book that once on each of our visits. The second thing that's so special about Orpheus Island is the staff. Nothing is ever too much trouble, and the staff are united in the singular purpose of ensuring that your stay is simply 'just perfect'. The Management/Supervisory people - Chrissy, Nicole, Elise, have been there for multiple years; and much to my surprise they remember and implement our unique preferences automatically from the instant that we arrive. The rest of the crew are all just simply nice people, from all over the world; and so friendly and accomodating. We talk at length with many of these people, they're genuinely happy to stand and chat, and as a result we become close to many and regard them as friends. Unfortunately most of them though will only spend one season on the island, then they move on to somewhere else in their journey; but that's good for them, and it's also necessary for us, so that we have the opportunity of getting to know the crew who will be there on our next visit. Thank you to everyone at Orpheus Island Lodge, past and present, for making our visits so special.

We had a fabulous 7 night stay at Orpheus Island. The laid back, personal vibe with only 20-25 guests and 30 staff was perfect. Daily laundry service, housekeeping and basic resort functions were all excellent. We greatly enjoyed chatting with the staff from all over the world, and they were...

We had a fabulous 7 night stay at Orpheus Island. The laid back, personal vibe with only 20-25 guests and 30 staff was perfect. Daily laundry service, housekeeping and basic resort functions were all excellent. We greatly enjoyed chatting with the staff from all over the world, and they were happy to stand and chat without anyone feeling rushed. Many other things stood out. The food and wine was good enough to make it the primary reason for a visit to the island with delicious meals interspersed with dips in the infinity pool, but there is so much more: the giant clam garden and coral reef just a few feet below the surface at low tide and only a 15 min self-guided dinghy ride from the lodge; taking out paddle boards and kayaks to explore the nearby bays and mangroves; visiting the marine research station on the island; walking the loop trail through the island forest with some spectacular views of nearby islands (you'll need decent walking shoes for the rocky, uneven trail); visiting one or more of the many nearby reefs as part of daily lodge trips that also included wine tasting, cocktail making, low tide and land nature walks. And my favourite, taking the Hoobie Cat out in decent winds to sail the bay. There are also multiple fishing and further afield site seeing charters available. The SE trade winds were not so favourable during our visit (the resort is on the west side of the island and relatively sheltered) so we didn't take any additional charters but other guests brought back fresh spanish mackerel, coral trout, etc., which we were lucky enough to share some evenings. Looking forward to returning for the moderate summer weather during our southern winter.

We hesitate to write this review, because small crowds are part of the allure! We just finished a five night stay at Orpheus - our thirtieth anniversary celebration. We had travelled almost 12,000 miles to get there. The staff of Orpheus change with time, but the quality of the experience...

We hesitate to write this review, because small crowds are part of the allure! We just finished a five night stay at Orpheus - our thirtieth anniversary celebration. We had travelled almost 12,000 miles to get there. The staff of Orpheus change with time, but the quality of the experience remains unsurpassed. Foodies love the food; I was more impressed with the overall experience. Dining with the Tides, for example, is a celebratory romantic meal that can hardly be surpassed. We wish we remembered everyone’s name - I’m sorry, we don’t - but we’re sending our gratitude to Chrissy, Nicole, Hayden, Ben, Ash, Gabriella, Mathilde, and our friend from Vancouver. We realize that there were many others who made this work behind the scenes, and we enjoyed our time at the spa today. With a guest max count of about 28, it’s fun to make new friends- but you don’t have to. In summary, we can’t say enough - this is our highest recommendation.

A stay at any luxury resort is not cheap so I thought I’d give you a review of some of Australia’s best tropical luxury resort options. First a few general comments. If you’re spending over $10k for 3 nights you should try to pick a time of the year when...

A stay at any luxury resort is not cheap so I thought I’d give you a review of some of Australia’s best tropical luxury resort options. First a few general comments. If you’re spending over $10k for 3 nights you should try to pick a time of the year when the chances of being seriously impacted by rain is minimised. Easier said than done with the way weather has been lately. Also some people are happy to lay by the pool for their stay.. we like that too but also love snorkelling with beautiful fish and coral and some not too hard bushwalking. All the costs are approximates Lizard island (2021) You get a small plane out of cairns, we shared ours with a couple. Lizard is expensive and you can get Beachfront suites for $4,300 and Oceanview villas for $3,700… there’s also a range of other accommodation from garden villas to a private house on the clifftop. We went for a beach front suite located about 50 metres from the beachfront which was very convenient. The downside was that on our last day the island had a barge come in and it was busy and noisy for a few hours.. but no big deal. Food was amazing, incredible but OMG it was soo slow. Can take 2 hours for lunch and 40 minutes to get entrees. That’s ok as you’re on holidays but we wanted to do stuff and it’s not great to loose the best part of 4 hours for breakfast and lunch. Hopefully that has improved. Service was good and the staff were really nice. We had a lovely welcome at the airport and check in. Activities… there are dinghies available and you can get picnic with nice food and whatever you want to drink to take to a nearby beach… we went to Watsons Bay There are sunset cruises, snorkelling tours and nice walks Lizard is beautiful with gorgeous white sandy beaches. You can walk out of your beachfront suite and swim out 30 -50 metres to coral reef with beautiful fish and coral… like wow. The other side of island past the airstrip (30 minute walk) was a beach totally littered with plastic. Watsons Bay is bit of a walk up the hill and back down, nice boardwalk and gorgeous beach. Qualia October 21 & December 22 Yes twice in a windward suite. They are drop dead gorgeous. You will be met at the airport and it’s a short drive to the resort. Their are spectacular views from the main building. I found the welcome a bit ordinary… sure you get a nice glass of bubbles but they didn’t seem to know we were returning guests and it was all a bit impersonal and standardised.welcome. Leeward and Windward pavilions Leeward approx $2k a night Windward $3k a night with a plunge pool Amazing views from the bed, the room and the plunge pool. You get a nice breakfast included and the staff there were lovely and way better than the front desk staff. Poolside we had good burgers and great service in the poolside cabanas. We had a lovely lunch at the restaurant pebble beach. We never ate dinner there but I am sure it would be good. You will be given a golf cart during your stay. There’s not much to do but can book to go out to the reef.. takes a couple of hours to get there, be sure to book in way in advance for lunch at the golf club. The food is typical club style but nice and the boat ride is good. The snorkelling near the very ordinary resort beach is pretty poor. Catamarans are available for use too. We loved the cabanas at the pool and spent hours there relaxing.. great service there too. The environment is beautiful with lovely gardens and really amazing views. The whole island seem to gather for the sunsets about 5 minutes from the qualia gate. Orpheus island April 24 You get there from Townsville or Cairns by helicopter. Its a fair bit cheaper from Townsville (30 minutes). Here’s the thing the helicopter was really small.. too small for my liking… if windy you could get stuck so think about insurance. We were welcomed by staff and took a short walk to the pavilion where we met Josh the amazing chef. The accommodation is in suites and smaller rooms. Our suite was large and lovely… we stayed in south suite. Garden views but lovely lounge by the beach 10 metres away. The activities on offer change daily.. snorkel, wine tasting, low tide walk etc You get use of a dingy and they can provide picnic lunches or prepare fishing gear and snorkelling equipment. Bush walks are limited and steep to the lookout(30 minutes return) or 50 minutes return to picnic bay. The coral and sealife was pretty ordinary. The food was amazing. Lunch changes daily eg Mediterranean, Thai, Japanese etc. The dining with the tide’s was a great experience on the jetty The staff were all fantastic, lovely, couldn’t do enough, very personalised, less stuffy than lizard. Can’t really swim on the beach.. need reef boots, low tide mud flats. So what resort was the best Room… qualia windward pavilion for the view and plunge pool, orpheus suite for the casual feel and quality Food. Orpheus was fantastic. Albeit a burger and a drink in the cabana at qualia was soo nice. Staff and service. Orpheus were relaxed, friendly, and fantastic. Only 14 rooms so you really get a personal experience Environment. Lizard is an amazing place. Wow.

Perfectly executed resort stay. 28 guests enables professional staff to make you feel like you're the only one there. Beds are sublime, pool is spectacular in dimension, clarity and temperature and the food is brilliant. On the latter we have never come across a chef that commands different cuisines with...

Perfectly executed resort stay. 28 guests enables professional staff to make you feel like you're the only one there. Beds are sublime, pool is spectacular in dimension, clarity and temperature and the food is brilliant. On the latter we have never come across a chef that commands different cuisines with such confidence and brilliant execution. For us having been to Lizard and Bedarra, each wonderful in their own right, this eclipses both hands down.

After lots of research, my husband and I chose to visit Orpheus Island for our honeymoon. It was absolutely heavenly. I can’t think of anywhere that would have been more perfect. From the moment we disembarked from the helicopter to be greeted with drinks and cold towels, our final evening...

After lots of research, my husband and I chose to visit Orpheus Island for our honeymoon. It was absolutely heavenly. I can’t think of anywhere that would have been more perfect. From the moment we disembarked from the helicopter to be greeted with drinks and cold towels, our final evening spent on the jetty for the “Dining with the tides” experience, we loved every minute. It was by far the most luxurious and pricey holiday we had ever had, so I was anxious that it wouldn’t live up to our expectations - but it exceeded them in every way. It’s luxurious but not pretentious. The staff were super friendly and seemed like they were enjoying their work, and always made sure we were looked after without being intrusive. The room had a great view and was just metres from the infinity pool overlooking the beach. The food (which was one of the main attractions for me) was incredible. We eat out regularly at fine dining restaurants in Melbourne, and Orpheus is up there. They seamlessly acommodated my dietary requirements (gluten free, alcohol free) and I never felt like I was missing out. Activities wise, it’s choose your own adventure, whether you want to laze by the pool with a cocktail, take a boat out with a picnic and go snorkelling, or explore the coastline in a kayak. The weather was beautiful, and the sunsets over the ocean are spectacular. This was such a special way for us to start our married life together, I can’t recommend it enough. Thank you to Nicole and the wonderful team who looked after us. We will be back! 🙏🌴🌺🍹🍾💖

Wow, I just read the previous review and I'm astounded! We were at Orpheus Island from 10th to 15th September and I certainly didn't see anything like what's in that review. We first went to Orpheus around the same time last year, we fell in love with the place, and...

Wow, I just read the previous review and I'm astounded! We were at Orpheus Island from 10th to 15th September and I certainly didn't see anything like what's in that review. We first went to Orpheus around the same time last year, we fell in love with the place, and we're booked now to go back for the next three years as well. Since last year almost all of the staff (except one) have changed, but the level of focus, service and quality are all exactly the same. Meals on Orpheus are fine dining at its best, this year under the control of Chef Josh Childs, who I'm sure would be at home in any of the finest restaurants in the world. This year we also met Manager Chrissy Williams who wasn't there last year, but I believe she's been the manager there for the 5 years prior as well, and she is a very special person. The single most significant factor though that brings us back to Orpheus every year is the staff. Management knows that, and it's obvious the outlook and those attitudes stem from the top. We certainly appreciate the efforts of all the crew in making our stays as special as they are, nothing is ever too much trouble, and we do look upon all those people as being our friends. Thank you to all the staff, and we look forward to seeing everyone again next year.

Honestly it should be called awfulness lodge Amazing island, not a lot of sea life or coloured coral’s compared to further north Grumpy staff or on auto pilot- a few genuine but if you arrive on the grumpy staff roster…. good luck. 70% will walk straight past you without even...

Honestly it should be called awfulness lodge Amazing island, not a lot of sea life or coloured coral’s compared to further north Grumpy staff or on auto pilot- a few genuine but if you arrive on the grumpy staff roster…. good luck. 70% will walk straight past you without even a hello Be prepared to eat at their convenience not yours. Weird food combos, we appreciate good fresh, simple local food. The chef loves to purée and loves salt. Ill post photos on here, they tell the story Flys everywhere - lunch all dishes served at once, no covers. You spend most of your time shooing flys away. We were advised to sit under a fan. Gourmet picnics are wraps - chicken schnitzel if you’re lucky 😂 it read’s something like multiple courses of local produce- you’ll get 3 frozen prawns with your wrap and some salad Room service you need to call the general managers mobile from your mobile - no phones in room or walk over to the restaurant and hope a staff member is around Lumpy pillows - we tried twice for feather and got more lumpy ones and memory foam Mouldy curtains Very little tv coverage- from the bed the tv is down so low only the person closet can watch. We had 6 nights, 2 days of rain so movie time was needed. We put it on the ironing board because every just felt too hard Games room is not a games room- only a wobbly pool table with holes in the felt Rooms very close together. Water view rooms are not private at all. Our water view room was right next to the heli pad. We could say the whole welcome speech by the time we left If you are familiar with 5 star accommodation give this one a miss. We didn’t find it value for money at all, not even close. My partner is more forgiving than me (I’ve managed hotels/motels etc) and he absolutely would not recommend We were so looking forward to having a luxury break and we returned stressed, hungry and tired Manager is great but inexperienced at this level

We were lucky enough to spend a week on Orpheus Island and it was the best holiday ever! I cannot remember a time in my whole life where I felt so relaxed. The environment and wildlife are very special. We saw sharks, rays, giant clams and an assortment of fish...

We were lucky enough to spend a week on Orpheus Island and it was the best holiday ever! I cannot remember a time in my whole life where I felt so relaxed. The environment and wildlife are very special. We saw sharks, rays, giant clams and an assortment of fish just a short walk from our little bungalow. We were also lucky enough to see a whale calf playing out in the ocean near its mum. The facilities are terrific. We enjoyed time in the beautiful pool, in kayaks and had heaps of fun meandering about in the motorised dinghies. The food and drinks are sensational. The standard inclusion food is hatted restaurant quality and then they take it up a notch for the ‘dining with the tides’ experience, where we had the best scallops we have ever had. But what makes this place so perfect and so amazing is the staff. They are professional but friendly and create such a relaxed vibe while going above and beyond to make sure every guest has the best possible experience. We will cherish many memories made during our time on the island but none so much as those created by the amazing people who took such good care of us.

Beyond belief. Travelled to Orpheus for a birthday celebration and have never experienced service, luxury, food and accommodations like this before. Attention to detail was on point and Chrissy and her crew are a truely well oiled machine. From the linens to the tea, the cocktails to the food there...

Beyond belief. Travelled to Orpheus for a birthday celebration and have never experienced service, luxury, food and accommodations like this before. Attention to detail was on point and Chrissy and her crew are a truely well oiled machine. From the linens to the tea, the cocktails to the food there is not a thing we can fault. The diving, the fishing, the picnics, the sunsets….. nothing needed, nothing too hard for the amazing staff. Having a fair bit of travel experience, this was exceptional at every turn. We can’t really rant on for too long, just to say that this was honestly the most amazing place we have ever visited and it is going to be very hard to beat it. Thanks to all the crew who made it so memorable. Matt and Clea.

Probably the best overall tourist experience that I have had in Australia. There was such an emphasis on service and excellence that is usually missing in this country. The right balance of friendliness and privacy. Very good food and excellent staff.

A truly outstanding place to stay with lovely facilities, excellent food, outstanding service - catered for you! Several water activities to participate in which are all inclusive. The suite was very comfortable, great sunset views, lovely infinity pool. Although the location is spectacular the staff, in particular, really make the...

A truly outstanding place to stay with lovely facilities, excellent food, outstanding service - catered for you! Several water activities to participate in which are all inclusive. The suite was very comfortable, great sunset views, lovely infinity pool. Although the location is spectacular the staff, in particular, really make the stay special. Worth the cost.

Could not fault the friendliness, willingness to accomodate any request and the stunning location , will definitely be going back ! Some highlights: The food was impeccable Shark feeding off the jetty Snorkeling Staff were super friendly

This was our second visit to the island and I honestly can't say how good the place is when comparing to other luxury stays around Australia. Firstly it is boutique.. you aren't sharing with 100s of guests and there is plenty of room. I find this one of the best...

This was our second visit to the island and I honestly can't say how good the place is when comparing to other luxury stays around Australia. Firstly it is boutique.. you aren't sharing with 100s of guests and there is plenty of room. I find this one of the best parts of Orpheus. It is instant relax mode!!! The island is magical too.. Crystal clear water, fish everywhere. Arriving by chopper is a great add on and gives you a sense of how remote a place it is. The staff are amazing and nothing is ever a problem and they get everything sorted quickly if anything needs attending too. Food is amazing and we particularly enjoyed the daily different "country" themed lunches. Accommodation is great too... clean rooms, with a quality fit out. We loved the outdoor bath in this room, last time we had an outdoor shower which was great too. Both of us had a massage during our stay and this was also a highlight. I do recommend that if you are going... book your activities in advance as this can be sometimes a little tricky due to weather and tides etc so best to get in early. I have raved about Orpheus to many people including my business colleagues that we are now even looking at booking out the entire Island for a staff reward program! Highly recommend. You simply can't have a bad time at this place. It is impossible!