Las Vegas Insider

In my favorite book  The Thornbirds, the main characters spend an amazing time on a secluded Australian island. I've always wanted to experience something similar, or maybe just can't wait for some beach inspiration. So when places the Orpheus Island in the Great Barrier Reef show up on my radar, I think about that perfect island paradise, and how your clients can have their own "Turnabouts" moment there. 

 

After $7.5-million upgrade, Orpheus is reopening its resort with 34 beachfront guestrooms. The island is surrounded by the World Heritage Marine Park and spans 11 km long and 1 km wide. The only way you can get there is by a 25-minute scenic flight from Towns ville, Australia.

 

It’s not uncommon for guests to swim alongside green turtles, manta rays and humpback whales.

 

Unlike other islands, Orpheus offers guests a plethora of once in a lifetime experiences; be it a fishing trip where the day’s catch is grilled on an open fire of a nearby cove; an indigenous-led tour of the culturally-rich neighboring islands; or taking a dinghy and chef-prepared gourmet picnic hamper and discovering the many pristine bays and reefs that fringe Orpheus. Alternatively, it provides the perfect backdrop for a more private and quieter interlude if guests wish to shut off from the outside world.

 

The newly refurbished beachfront accommodation combines ‘tropical sanctuary’ with a ‘contemporary minimalist’ aesthetic. All accommodation types offer natural color schemes, Bose pod docks, Daintier Essentials products, crisp white linen and private terraces that boast panoramic Hazard Bay views and languid sea breezes.

 

Best suited to the island’s tropical climate, the two dining areas, one alfresco-style and the other a restaurant, offer a light, contemporary and daily-changing menu that showcases the riches of the region. The island’s signature experience, ‘Dining with the Tides’, allows guests to enjoy an intimate dinner for two on the pier under a starlit canopy.