📍Lady Musgrave Island: Honest Remote Camping Experience Review. (Capricornia Cays National Park.)

LOOKING FOR AN IN-DEPTH REVIEW OF WHAT IT’S LIKE CAMPING ON LADY MUSGRAVE ISLAND?

As the second southernmost coral cay of the illustrious Great Barrier Reef, the monumental 344,400 km2 underwater ecosystem that’s home to the most intensely rich biodiverse marine environment in the world, Lady Musgrave Island has some incredibly prolific credentials and outstanding opportunities for seeing marine animals in their natural environment.

While you can take a day trip cruise to this distant offshore island from the regional city Bundaberg or the coastal town of 1770, with commercial companies, that would simply not suffice. At least, not since I learned that this distant pristine wilderness has a campground where you can see majestic sea turtles come ashore at night to nest and lay their eggs in the very dunes where these long-living aquatic creatures themselves hatched!

However, seeing those magical moments happen before my eyes was just the tip of the spectacular iceberg that was my unforgettable one-week camping trip to Lady Musgrave Island, so enjoy my comprehensive review where I go into detail about what makes this place the unequivocal highlight of any visit to the Rum Capital Of Australia and the Birthplace Of Queensland.

Note: This post focuses primarily on the camping proponent on the trip. To read about my camping transfer with the Lady Musgrave experience, click here.

In this detailed review of my 7-day camping trip to Lady Musgrave Island, I explore all my favourite aspects of staying on the Great Barrier Reef’s second southernmost coral cay and mention the areas where I felt the experience fell short. I cover all aspects, such as the island, the wildlife, and the campsite, before concluding with my overall thoughts on the stay and whether I thought it was well worth the money spent to get there.

Is Lady Musgrave Island Worth Visiting?

An unequivocal hell yes!!! It’s no secret how much I absolutely loved camping at this place. It’s easily one of the greatest things I’ve ever done thanks to the incredible experiences I had here. The abundance of wildlife here is insane, not just under the water, but on the island too.

To give you a quick understanding of how fantastic and plentiful the animal interactions are, here is a quick rundown of the ones that happened during my stay. One of the numerous sea turtles I saw snorkelling swam directly towards me, stopping so close I could almost touch it. Another time, one climbed up the beach and went right past me during the day while at night, many more were coming ashore dug their nests and lay their eggs in the dunes, some of them right in front of the campground!

I also saw two giant sharks on separate occasions sleeping on the sea floor between the intricate coral formations and enjoyed listening to the haunting sounds the shearwaters make at night. There was an injured boobie resting on a rock by the ocean and thousands of black noddies in the trees, including many babies.

Those guys unleashed a literal shitstorm unloading their back doors over everything which I came to think of as an honourary right of passage. Plus, getting caught in a heavy rainstorm while walking back to the campsite was incredibly cool and I got to meet the kindest and most awesome people who were also camping on the island And that was just seven days on the island, so I truly cannot recommend camping here enough! And certainly over just doing a day trip, because there is absolutely no comparison.

✔️ Pros.

• The lagoon was an absolutely gorgeous and alluring azure blue colour.
• Snorkelling was incredible. The best spots were at the edge, where it’s deeper and that’s where the corals were the most spectacular, stunning diverse intricate and colourful.
• I saw several sea turtles majestically swimming in the water, but the encounter that stayed with me the most was beelined right towards me and came so close, that I felt like I could just reach out and touch it before it swam away.
• As magical as the turtles were, the two sharks I saw on separate occasions accounted for the most unforgettable moments I had snorkelling. IDK what species they were exactly, but they appeared to be the same type, were huge and both slept on the seabed between the coral formations. It was simultaneously incredible and terrifying at the same time. (The caretakers staying on Lady Musgrave and the worker on Lady Elliot Island thought they were friendly grey nurses, even though only one was grey while the other was white! Albino?) Unfortunately, my GoPro died, so no video of them or much else, which I will never not be bummed about. 🙁
• In the shallows just off the beach, there were probably hundreds of sea cucumbers, which was great as the greater their number, the healthier the ecosystem is. Plus there were some individual clams and corals too.

❌ Cons.

• Whatever was going on in the sea on the last day was weird.
• There were possibly fish spores in the water or spawning of some kind happening in the waist-deep water.
• And the water just off the beach near the campground was incredibly hot. Hotter than a spa hot. I love hot temperatures, but I couldn’t stand walking through this. It was crazy! Poor sea cucumbers and clams.

✔️ Pros.

• The island and beaches were so pristine.
• The turtles! They were the whole reason I wanted to camp on this island. October-December is turtle nesting season, and while you can see this happening with a Mon Repos Turtle Centre Nightly Encounter* during these months or watch the babies hatching between January and March, I’m someone who likes to see nature as authentically as possible without the crowds, and needless to say, this trip delivered that experience monumentally.
• There were so many of these massive green and loggerhead sea turtles hurling themselves up onto the beach at night to search for the perfect spot to dig a hole in the sand dunes and lay their precious eggs, sometimes a few metres from the campground.
• What made it even more special is that most of the time, I was the only one there, and it was indescribably magical to be the sole human witness to one of nature’s miracles.
• While the sea turtles usually nest after dark and disappear before dawn, I saw several doing their thing during the day, plus a few more were heading back to sea just after sunrise, and one even came up on the beach and walked right past me in the afternoon!
• There are also delightfully thousands of birds inhabiting the island which was incredible to be amongst so many. There’s no telling how many individuals I saw, it was that many, but species-wise, at least 6!
• Black noddies (adults and many babies!), bridled terns, and short-tailed shearwaters were seen the most as permanent residents on the island. Also saw a booby (get your mind out of the gutter!), a herons and some silver terns.
• I loved the ambient sounds they made, especially the short-tailed shearwaters that have a very strange and eloquently haunting call you can hear at night.
• Ah, I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to be somewhere so remote with such a huge wildlife population. It was truly like being in a National Geographic documentary, except to say I 10/10 recommend camping on the island for at least several days to get the full experience!
• As a photography enthusiast, who loved taking photos of landscapes and wildlife, I had an absolute blast taking pictures of both the sunrise and the sunset, the wonderful sea turtles that came to nest and the many bird species I saw.

P.S. – I did a nightly encounter with QPWS and the Mon Repos Turtle Centre and while I enjoyed it and it’s a good opportunity to see this incredible moment up close for those who can’t get across to the island. But it’s a lot more touristy and you only get to see one. Plus, it seems much more intimidating for the mommy turtle.

❌ Cons.

• When looking for nesting turtles at night, you aren’t meant to have a light on too bright, otherwise that’ll disturb them. Normally, they do their thing in the dunes where it’s grassy, or sometimes on the naked beach nearby. But there was one doing it right on the pathway that cuts through them to connect the campground to the beach and I didn’t notice it as I was checking out the one like 2m away from it, until after standing next to her for like 5 minutes!!! Luckily, it was on the other side of the wide footpath, but that could have been disastrous if I ran into her, scaring her away, or worse, stepping on her eggs, so be very wary walking around, especially when there’s no moon.
• Because this is a wild island and is home to a huge bird population, it also smelt bad from poop and death. Yup, it’s unfortunate, but there were numerous bird carcasses in various stages of decomposition on the island’s interior. Most appeared to be baby black noddies, which most likely fell out of their nests in the trees, and were too heavy to be retrieved. You can even see some that are still alive are just sitting on the ground calling for their moms to get them… Others may have died because they got stuck to the sticky Pistonia trees and couldn’t free themselves, eventually falling to the ground where the nutrients from their decaying bodies can be absorbed into their roots allowing them to morbidly sustain themselves. I wish I could have taken them home. 🙁
• The sandy beaches were hot and covered in white coral pieces and seashells which made walking across it challenging, but you also don’t want to get cut by them as coral infections are no joke, especially when there’s no help on the island. The water shoes I took were fantastic as it made it significantly easier to walk around the beach and lagoon with them, so I highly recommend wearing those.

There is only one campground on Lady Musgrave located on the western side of the island, about 400m from the boat landing area. It is basic with the only facilities being a non-flushing bush toilet and decompression chamber for divers experiencing the Bends.

✔️ Pros.

• The campground is right by the beach just behind the dunes.
• There are several pathways leading down to the shore, so you don’t always have to walk past other people’s campsites.
• Large campsites, perfect for sizeable groups or big setups.
• It’s a short distance to go to lay on the sand, swim or snorkel in the ocean, search for marine life in the shallows and watch birds using the thermals to soar in the skies above, and absolutely no distance to see the black noddies who especially love nesting in the trees around the campsite in droves, along with several other birds!
• The campground also faces west so you can just walk a short distance to the beach and watch the sun setting over the ocean. Magical.
• The ambient sound of the birds is wonderful.
• And my favourite part of it all was that I barely had to go anywhere at night to see the sea turtles nesting as several did it in the grassy dunes between the camping area and the beach!!!
• The toilet was also clean and didn’t have a foul smell.
• Couldn’t see any litter which was fantastic.

❌ Cons.

• As a remote island and also a national park, there are no shower facilities, which I didn’t mind for the most part, but sometimes the stickiness of the salt water and sand on the skin was unpleasant. A lovely fellow camper I met on the island uses a spray bottle filled with water to help deal with it which is a brilliant idea as I was itchy because of it but didn’t want to use my drinking water.
• The birds poop everywhere!!! As incredible as it is to be in an environment with so many birds, all animals got to go when nature calls. And unfortunately, the black noddies, who spend most of their time hanging out in the trees, particularly around the campsite have no etiquette and no chill and just unload anywhere. It’s like a dodging aerial artillery fire. Nowhere is safe!
• No, for real. I underestimated the importance of taking a large tarp or shelter to cover my site and took something small and inadequate not knowing I would be dealing with a raining poop storm. And those guys seemed to be putting some effort into getting those bad boys out too, as they were firing at angles and getting it into places they had no business going, such as almost inside my tent, instead of straight down like gravity intended. But I eventually realised getting shat on by them is a Lady Musgrave right of passage.
• Some people might find the sounds that the short-tailed shearwaters make at night haunting, but I loved it as it reminded me of Halloween!
• Big, beautiful caterpillars ate through the bottom of my expensive tent! It even had distinctive chomp marks like it was the hungry, hungry caterpillar.

I took my own camping equipment, but if departing from Agnes Water/1770, you can hire a set of equipment from Abracadabra Camping you can take to the island for 3 days or 5 days.

I don’t usually have a section on people unless it is the staff or crew that was part of a tour, experience or hotel, but because the ones I met on the island were very kind, I wanted to give them a shoutout, because they were all so lovely and helpful, very much making the experience so much better, which is saying something from probably the most socially awkward and inept person you’ll ever meet.

There are no words to adequately relay how profoundly special camping on Lady Musgrave Island was, but here is a feeble attempt to sum up how magnificent this experience was.

Being a remote island of the Great Barrier Reef, the marine life and coral formations were always bound to be exceptional. However, I could have never predicted that I would see not one but two giant sharks sleeping on the sea floor amongst the corals, and have a sea turtle swim directly towards me so close that I thought that I could touch it! It was mesmerising.

But it was the island itself that surprised me the most. Being amongst such a huge concentration of wildlife, especially on such a small coral cay in the middle of nowhere was so spectacular I can’t stop describing it as like being in a National Geographic documentary, it was that abundant with animals. It was so special that even being shat on by them felt like an honourary right of passage.

Then there was what I went camping for: observing sea turtles nesting in the dead of night. Watching these marine animals that spend their entire lives in the ocean nesting in the sand dunes behind the beaches that they were also born on up stupendously close, sometimes right by the campground, was incredibly magical, like I was watching one of the secrets of the universes that humans weren’t ever meant to see unveiling itself in front of my eyes. The fact that I was the only person in the world to witness the particular turtles I saw during their most personal and intimate moments only made everything feel more profoundly special. Plus, some of them even did it during the daytime, which was another thing I wasn’t expecting.

And then there are the other campers. I can confidently say, with hand-on-my-heart honesty that they are undoubtedly the best people I’ve ever come across while travelling. Their general kindness and the lengths they went to to help me retrieve something I had lost for which I am deeply grateful. I wish I could encounter so many more people like them, and if they are reading this, you guys are awesome and you have a special place in my heart.

Would I Camp At Lady Musgrave Island Again?

Abso-freaking-lutely. No hesitation. Lady Musgrave Island was magnificent in every conceivable way and I would go back in a heartbeat. This place is 10/10 incredible, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.  

It was only the crew on the Lady Musgrave Experience that was a letdown to the combined overall adventure. However, they seem to be the only ones who will take kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and large camping items across. There used to be 1770 Creek2Reef Fishing Charters that also did, but I can’t find their website anymore, and on Trip Advisor, it says they are permanently closed, so that seems to no longer be an option.

But if you don’t need to take any of those things, and you can truly have a great time without them, I will go across with 1770 Reef – Great Barrier Reef Eco Tours next time if their prices are competitive.

Is It Good Value For Money?

Yes! Absolutely no doubt. Camping there was unbelievably affordable! It’s the same price as staying in a national park on the mainland, which makes it even more spectacularly valuable for money given its remote location and what you can see and do there.

But what I think most people would want to know is the price point to get there is worth it because that component of the trip sure ain’t cheap. And the answer is still a resounding yes, even though I didn’t think much of that part of the journey.

Getting there with the Lady Musgrave Experience is unjustifiably more expensive than the day tour, despite the only main difference being loading and unloading my gear and coming back with a different group of passengers than I left with. Plus, I only got to do 2 of the three included activities. (2/6 in total, if you count both days, but I’m not.) and some of the staff were terrible.

It was one of the things I was wracked my brains out over, but here’s the rationale I came up with which helped take the sting out of it for me. I would be staying for 7 days and with the inexpensive cost of camping there, adding up those two components, plus the extra $100 to take my kayak across too, and dividing it by the amount of time I would be spending there, it would equate to less than $100 per night to stay at a hotel for the same timeframe.

But the value I would get out of spending a week the night under the stars and snorkelling with turtles and watching them nesting at night would be so much more magical and memorable than anything I could ever hope to from any accommodation. And it exceeded those expectations monumentally, so in the end, it was absolutely worth every penny spent.

P.S. – You can also go from Agnes Waters/1770 with 1770 Creek2Reef.

• Adventurous people who love going remote to get back in touch with nature.
• Those who enjoy disconnecting from civilisation and spending time off their devices and the internet.
• Snorkellers and divers who want to see the Great Barrier Reef as naturally and authentically as possible and the animals in it rather than with an orchestrated tour with people you don’t know.
• Animal lovers who want to witness the magical experience of watching female turtles hurling themselves up on the beach, digging their nests in the dunes only to lay their ping-pong-esque eggs inside them.
• Folks who love birds.
• Wildlife lovers who want to live in a National Geographic documentary.
• Intrepid people who prefer to go their own way and do their own thing.
• Folks who like to go off the beaten track, and enjoy rustic self-sufficient camping, and don’t mind that there are virtually no amenities of creature comforts, including a shower, because this is living.
• Boaties who are looking for any or all of the above.

Who Would Camping On Lady Musgrave Island Not Appeal To?

• People who don’t like camping, going remote, being self-sufficient or who don’t have the equipment to do so.
• Folks who feel safer going with a commercial group.
• Those who find the cost to be out of their price range.
• People who don’t have enough time or are able to wrangle the gear together during their trip.

Where Is Lady Musgrave Island?

Lady Musgrave Island lies 107km north of the heritage city of Bundaberg and 60km northwest of the picturesque coastal town of 1770.

How To Get To Lady Musgrave Island?

Commercially, there are two ways to get to the Great Barrier Reef’s second-southernmost island that I am aware of. These are private companies that, in addition to offering day tours of this stunning coral cay and its spectacular lagoon, also provide a camping transfer service for those self-sufficient camping on the Capricornia Cays National Park island.

The first is the Lady Musgrave Experience departs from the Bundaberg Port Marina, located at the greater Bundaberg coastal town of Burnett Heads. It’s a 100km one-way journey that takes about 2.5 hours. However, if you want to read about why I strongly don’t recommend them, click here.

Meanwhile, from the picturesque peninsula town of 1770 in the greater Gladstone region, the company 1770 Reef – Great Barrier Reef Eco Tours takes passengers on the 60km trip from the 1770 Marina to the island.e

Lastly, you can also depart for this stunning coral cay from the city of Gladstone itself with Curtis Ferries. However, they don’t go here very often as it’s a 9 hour trip for them and they need a minimum of 40 passengers.

Lady Musgrave is a magical island destination that was tremendously rewarding to self-sufficient solo camp at for a week, thanks to the outstanding and unforgettable experiences I had with the incredible amount of wildlife there was above and below the water, including green and leatherback sea turtles, (grey nurse) sharks, and black noddies to name a few and the people who were also staying on the stunning coral cay.

If you plan to visit Lady Musgrave Island, consider looking at these other posts.

📍Is Bundaberg Worth Visiting In 2025? And 9 Best Reasons Why It Is.

📍19 Best Fun, Unique & Free Things To Do In Bundaberg, QLD. (Attractions & Tours.) (2025.)

📍9 Best Bundaberg Accommodation Options For Every Budget. – Hotels, BnBs, Holiday Parks and More. (2025.)

📍13 Best Beaches Near Bundaberg For Swimming, Snorkelling & Sightseeing. (2025.)

📍19 Best Things To Do In Bargara, Burnett Heads & Elliot Heads. (2025.)

📍Lady Elliot Island Day Tour (From Bundaberg): An Honest Review Of The Spectacular Great Barrier Reef Coral Cay.