LIZARD ISLAND-AUSTRALIA

Falling for Queensland's Lizard Island is easy, given its secluded beaches, superb resort and aquatic treasures. It is close to some of the most spectacular dive sites along the Great Barrier Reef and is one of the most isolated resorts in Australia. And, with 24 beaches to choose from, it is highly probable that you will have one to yourself, or only have to share it with a couple of reef heron. No wonder Russell Crow chose Lizard Island for his honeymoon last year.

WHERE TO STAY

• LIZARD ISLAND RESORT

  (00 61 3 9413 6288 )
  This picture-perfect island lies 17 miles off the coast of Queensland at the northern tip of the Great Barrier Reef. The only resort on the island, it has 40 rooms, suites and villas connected by wooden walkways. Osprey's serves Modern Australian cuisine with an emphasis on seafood, and the diving is incredible, with famous sites such as Cod Hole nearby. Guests can also go snorkelling and big-game fishing. There's a spa, gym, tennis court, library and a choice of 24 white-sand beaches.

• WHAT TO DO

  At the Lizard Island research station, teams of marine biologists conduct research on the future of the reefs. While they welcome the expanded green zones - areas where activities like fishing are banned - which have increased in size from 5% of the reef's 357,000sq km to 32%, they unanimously consider the reef's main enemy to be algae-promoting pollution from Queensland's sugar-cane fields and timber industry. At 27km from the nearest mainland, Lizard is distant enough for its reef to remain unharmed by such activities.
  
  BOAT TRIPS, DIVING AND NATIONAL PARKS
  Even if you can't snorkel, the resort will make sure you get to see the reef on a glass-bottomed boat trip. Divers are also catered for, with excursions to reefs and to the world-famous Cod Hole, where you can feed the huge, white, spotty potato cod. There's plenty to do on land too. A national park in its own right, the island, just 4km long by 3km wide, boasts a huge variety of flora and fauna, including the lizards the island is named after, which can be seen dragging their long bodies over the sand.
  
  PALFREY ISLAND
  Picnic here on the aptly-named Picnic Beach. Go snorkelling, and you may spot the spiky, red-tipped antler corals, purple-headed corals and miniature yellow gobies which can switch gender from male to female at the drop of a fin.
• AIRPORT
  The nearest international airport is Cairns, from where there is a daily transfer to the island.
  
  AIRLINES FROM THE UK
  (0845 774 7767; www.qantas.com.au). Qantas has frequent flights from Heathrow to Sydney and flies at least four times daily from Sydney to Cairns. Virgin Blue (00 61 7 3295 2296; www.virginblue.com.au) also flies regularly from Sydney to Cairns.

  (00 61 7 4035 9323; www.hinterlandaviation.com)   Hinterland Aviation operates regular scheduled transfer flights between Cairns Airport and Lizard Island twice a day on behalf of Voyages Hotels & Resorts. Private transfer charter flights to Lizard Island are also available upon request when booking.

  TOUR OPERATOR

  TURQUOISE HOLIDAYS
  (01494 678 400; www.turquoiseholidays.com) offers a seven-night holiday, including all meals, accommodation in an Anchor Bay suite, as well as return flights with Qantas/British Airways and Australian Airlines, plus all transfers.

• WHEN TO GO

  December to March sees the hottest conditions on Lizard Island. This is also the wettest time of the year, but you won't mind if you are scuba diving. The best month to go is February

• TRAVEL INFORMATION

  Visas: Every nationality except New Zealanders need visas. Tourists visas are generally valid for six months. Visas for less than three months are free.
  
  Public holidays: New Years Day; Australia Day (Jan); Anzac Day (25 April); Good Friday; Holy Saturday; Easter Monday; Christmas; Boxing Day (except for South Australia).
  
  Good buys: Aboriginal art, antiques, craft and design.
  
  Local dishes: 'Modern Australian' food is an amalgamation of Mediterranean, Asian and Californian cuisine.
  
  Good reading: The Songlines, by Bruce Chatwin, is a beautiful, elegiac and comic account of his experiences among the central Australian Aborigines