Why travel for good when you can travel for Great? Here on the Southern Great Barrier Reef, we pride ourselves on being where Great Care begins, from caring for the intricate ecosystems that thrive below the oceans surface, to the rich red soil that grows 25% of Australia’s fresh produce.

So here’s some inspo on how you can travel for great whilst you’re exploring our little slice of paradise.

• CHOOSE ECO-ACCREDITED EXPERIENCES AND ACCOMMODATION

As an eco-accredited destination, we have a whole bevvy of beautiful operators with the green tick of approval from sustainability bodies such as EcoTourism Australia and EarthCheck, so you can soak up the magic of the Southern Great Barrier Reef, knowing these guys have got the eco-initiatives down pat. Whether you’re island hopping from Lady Musgrave Experience to Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort, sipping top-shelf tipples at Bundaberg Rum, seeing culture and conservation combine at Mon Repos Turtle Centre or getting a good nights sleep at Kellys Beach Resort – we gotchu!

For future travel inspo and to find your next eco experience, check out the Green Travel Guide - https://greentravelguide.org/

• OFFSET YOUR FLIGHTS

Did you know?! Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort and Greenfleet have partnered to offset 100% of carbon emissions from flights to and from the Island. Then, in true circle of life spirit 100% of these funds go straight into planting trees in Bundaberg’s Barolin Nature Reserve, just beside the most significant loggerhead turtle nesting population in the South Pacific – Mon Repos. So far, thanks to the LEI Guests, over 11,500 trees have been planted at this location, creating a ‘green curtain’ to shield hatchlings from any light pollution, and giving these little cuties a better starting chance. If you’d like to do the maths and calculate your travel carbon footprint, you can do so here. So whether you’re taking to the air or hitting the open road, you can take inspo from the legends at Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort and offset your emissions too!

• REDUCE WITH YOUR RENTAL

Where possible, try and choose a low or zero emission vehicle such as an electric or hybrid model for when you are road tripping around the region. There are a number of recharge stations dotted across Bundaberg, so you can hit the open road, playlist or podcast of your choice pumping, all in the knowledge that you’re producing reduced or even zero tailpipe emissions. The team at Budget Car Rentals are ready and waiting to sort you out with a hot little hybrid, and you can click here to plan your route with the charging stations map.

• SLIP SLAP SLOP

With the gorgeous Southern Great Barrier Reef sunshine sparkling down on us year-round, it’s so important to be sun safe and with such a vibrant reef ecosystem, it’s vital we protect our corals too. You see, when we’re all living our best life snorkeling alongside turtles with sunscreen on, we’re leaving behind tricky chemicals like oxybenzone in the water, where the nanoparticles can cause harm to our magnificent marine life. Interrupt with the growth of the algae, induce bleaching in hard corals and even decrease fertility and reproduction in fish – just madness!

So flip your bottle of sunblock over, have a geez into the ingredients and steer clear of chemicals such as oxybenzone, parabens, nanoparticles and cinnamates. Instead opt for water-resistant mineral sunscreens that use zinc oxide or titanium dioxide ‘non-nano’ size particles for when you slather up for a swim.

• STAY ON THE BEATEN TRACK

With so many stunning national parks, thriving with flora and fauna here in the region, we’re major fans of soaking up the beauty and going off-grid to reconnect with one another or ones self amongst mother nature! That being said, locals and visitors alike are encouraged to tread lightly, leave no trace and stay on the beaten track. Why? well it assists in preventing erosion, gives regenerating bushland the space to do so and keeps the wildlife that have chosen to make these secluded spots their sanctuary safe and sound.

As turtle season amps up between November – March, please steer clear of the sand dunes and avoid stepping or driving through the soft sand, as you may just so happen to disrupt a turtle nest, where just cm’s under the beaches surface, a chamber of eggs are brewing to erupt with hundreds of teeny tiny hatchlings. These little loggerheads only have 1 in 1000 chance of making it to maturity, so it’s important we all do what we can to give them the best odds possible. Also, we all know wet sand is better for sandcastles anyway 😉

• DIVE IN

Get involved! There’s no better way to travel for great, than to pop on your flippers, don your snorkel and dive into the transformational experiences on offer across the region. Become a marine biologist for the day with Lady Musgrave, download the Eye On The Reef app and share your underwater snaps from the Lady Elliot Island Lagoon – there’s no better way to travel for great, further your understanding of the reality of reef health here on the Southern Great Barrier Reef, and share this knowledge loud and proud!