Sea Air

After staying in northlake for about a day (one night) and doing the whole koala experience, we got up really early the next day to fly out of Redcliffe Airport. This is not an international airport- it's small and difficult to find your way around. It took us a while to get to our hanger for our plane but we fianlly made it. Just go early and leave with plenty of time. Sea Air was the plane company we used (and probably the only one available) to fly to Lady Eliot Island. 

Here is our hanger where the plane landed

We boarded our plane at 7:30 in the morning. This is the flight where only 15kg is allowed per passenger. That doesn't seem unreasonable until you remember that the only reason to really go here for more than a day is to dive and snorkel and all that stuff plus camera gear gets heavy real fast. Fortunately, we were able to bring all of our luggage on board and the pilot was able to accommodate us. I highly highly recommend packing lighter than I did because I was quite embarrassed. 
My mom was also freaking out about her underwater camera the whole time so I got embarrassed about that too. 
If I went back to Australia, I would for sure pack lighter... They have PLENTY of shopping whether it's nice clothes or bikinis. I don't really know what I was thinking taking all that. I needed two swimsuits and 3 teeshirts and two pairs of shorts and I'll buy the rest. I do, however, regret only bringing one pair of flip flops. More on that in the Lady Eliot island blog post...

Lady eliot blog post

The poor pilots manually load our luggage. All of this is outdoors the whole time. There are no security or lines or anything. 

Inside The Plane

The seats are small but super comfortable. The isle was the smallest thing you will ever see. I could barely fit. We had a co-pilot going out there but not coming back so I let my mom (since it may be her last time ever) sit in the front of the plane with the pilot so she can see. If there isn't a co-pilot, go ahead and volunteer yourself. It has to be someone up there so they can balance the plane so why not you!

From Redcliffe, the flight is about 80 minutes. There are flights going from all different airports up the coast out to Lady Eliot. 
Once we took off, we flew low most of the time so we could see. I saw 5 manta rays in the water and got to see a lot of open beach that you could drive down. That's so cool to me because it would never happen in the United States. 
​Heres Some pictures:

The flight overall was really nice and relaxing. I'm one to not do well on planes but I liked this one. They even gave us a breakfast meal getting on the plane and a water when we were flying home. 

How it works

Getting there- flight departs early in the morning. For us it was around 7:30 which means an early start to pack up, check out of our hotel, and get there. The plane flies in (it's not already there) and picks you up. It is empty when it gets there. Everyone jumps on board (around 10 total) and takes off to a grass runway destination.
Going back- The planes are already on the island parked off to the side. They flew in day-trippers and new guests that morning. When your plane is ready to leave, they give you a ticket that morning and you give them all your bags to go into the departure lounge. The bags are loaded for you and you should show up on time to get into the plane and depart. All flights depart in the late afternoon so you can make the most of your morning and snorkel. You cannot dive and fly.

Very enjoyable experience overall! No need to stress about flying out to Lady Eliot.

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seaair.com HERE