Since I've had my hopes partially dashed in regards to seeing the GBR this December during my trip to Australia - what about Fraser Island?

How is the weather in mid december and, more importantly, which tour operators are the best regarded for the island?

Thanks in advance!

The weather is probably just as important to your choice for it will be starting to warm up by end of December and still relatively warm at beginning, and that could decode on whether you want to opt for camping or a tour with better accomodation etc.

http://fraserisland.au.com/ lists all the different types of tours from self drive which could be you just hiring a 4wd yourself (an expensive option) or joining a group of possibly yahoos with a yahoo driver of unknown ability - sort of thing done by backpackers and organised through hostels for 2-3 days and possibly best value as long as you get in with a good group but it can be cramped in the back of a 4WD troop carrier as vehicles are known and uncomfortable on side facing basic benches - for the young and older prepared to rough it.

And then the more professional tours that range from 1-5 days with costs to suit and basically, what you get for similar pricing will be much the same.

There was a site called tourraters.com but it does not seem to be functioning right now.

Hi, my only visit was in mid-October when it was already warm enough to swim in the lakes (and I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to water temperature!). It was a 3 day camping safari (forward facing seats). I would recommend the company but it was 9 years ago and I can't remember exactly which one it was; besides their trips may have changed.

So Dec will be fine. Chances of rain 50% higher than Oct according to the stats (I saw not a drop) but still not that significant. The only thing I would say for sure is don't go just for the day - make it two if possible, or 3 if you can. Have a great time.

Cheers.

Btw, just in case you're not aware, you can also get a reasonably priced GBR trip from 500 km. north of brisbane ex 1770 for Lady Musgrave Island - http://www.spiritof1770.com.au/ and as good if not better than most places you can visit on the GBR further north.

My reference to temperature in December is more as far as tent accomodation being comfortable for there are substantial differences to be expected between October and December.

Bushranger and cfenar - the tents we stayed in were of the pre-erected "stand up in" type, and I wasn't cold. I don't even remember it being particularly chilly for that pre-breakfast shower. But, anyway, these days there are equally good budget options with indoor acommo. And, after all (smile), the OP may not want to do it on the cheap.

As for Lady Musgrave, yes, wonderful, wonderful!! Again I was there in October (same trip, in fact, as Fraser). And the deeper water along the face of the reef was COLD!! I've never been back, but if I ever do, I'd be hiring a wetsuit for the afternoon snorkel.

As mentioned, I've never been back. I know the road from Miriam Vale is now sealed all the say, and there has been a lot more development in the area (which I think is a shame, but there you go!!).

But I've checked transport options just in the last month. It's not the easiest place to get to unless you have your own wheels (or a yacht). Just the Greyhound bus with a shuttle connex from the highway.

Cheers.

Maybe afterall you feel the cold at night a bit more but it would usually be optimal weather September/October for tent camping on Fraser....and to clarify... my reference to "it starting to warm up a bit" is more it will be getting to the uncomfortably "hot" time of year in tents by mid December, especially if you had not erected one in a shady spot.

The road from Miriam Vale has been sealed for nearly four years I believe and from Bundaberg (the way to come from Brisbane direction) well before that and if travelling from Brisbane, turning off the Bruce Highway for via Bundaberg is by far the shortest route, about three hours from Hervey Bay.

There are some Greyhound services direct, shuttles possibly being used when heading in a southerly direction.
The bus services are something of a long day trek though and with cost, hiring a car would not be much dearer and a lot quicker.

And also a Bundaberg to 1770 return service offered in conjunction with the cruise provides more options for either staying in Bundaberg and making use of rail or any quicker more direct Brisbane/Bundaberg/Brisbane bus services, www.premierms.com.au perhaps being another option in that sense.

Fly out to lady elliot island from hervey bay (fraser coast) airport.
see..
http://www.ladyelliot.com.au/

An option for one day Johnj but a very expensive one.

cfenar...

try this package...

http://www.ladyelliot.com.au/rates/p...etail.asp?ID=2

Thanks for all the great ideas. But, I guess the biggest question, is even though Lady Musgrave and Elliot are further south than the Cairns area, is the weather going to be so horrific in the middle of December as to make me wish that I had never left the mainland?

GBR was one of my top priorities, and I'd still very much like to go.

Johnj_au - are you or anyone else firmiliar with the trip you listed, or this one:

http://www.ladyelliot.com.au/rates/p...tail.asp?ID=20 ?

I find it to be very interesting

Thanks again

cfenar - I live in Hervey Bay, Qld.
The water temperature in the Bay is presently around 22-23 degrees. The weather in our region is quite good compared to other places, we tend to wear shorts most of the year, we get a little bit of humidity in the summer, but not as bad North Qld, and we tend not to get the severe storms/hail that South East Qld gets.
In December you can expect excellent summer weather. On Fraser Island, there are a few accommodation options, eg. Kingfisher, Eurong, and other holidays houses/cabins, etc. Most swimming is dones in swimming pools(resorts) or in the fresh water lakes. The beaches on the ocean side are dangerous, ie. rips & sharks. Over the years I camped on various Capricorn/Bunker group island, eg. Lady Musgrave, Hoskins, Fairfax, One tree island, etc. Now some of the islands you can't camp on, eg. Fairfax Island. Lady Musgrave Island can be done as a day trip from the town of 1770 on a boat which operates daily, and they can drop you off at Lady Musgrave to camp, but you have to pay a fee, and you must take sufficient water/food.
Lady Elliot Island is the same as the other islands in that group, ie. coral cay island. It is expensive to do L.E Island as a "day trip". There are cabins etc on the island to stay in.
If you have the money, I would opt for a 4 day stay on Fraser Island, then return to Hervey Bay & fly out from there to Lady Elliot Island for 3 or 4 nights.
Not sure cfenar where you live, but we have two direct jet services from Sydney to H/Bay (Jetstar & Virgin Blue), also 4 Qantas flights per day between Brisbane & H/Bay, and there are plans to have direct flights in the near future from Melbourne to H/Bay.
If you are coming from overseas, then Brisbane Airport is the way to go, and from here you can fly to H/Bay or catch a bus which has services daily from Brisbane Airport to H/Bay.

cfenar...
tropo details are accurate...

Fraser and lady elliot are wonderful places and great examples of amazing ecosystems.Hervey bay (fraser coast) is very accessible by direct budget flights ex sydney.

Go for it..you won't regret it.

the turtles alone are worth the visit...and take some earplugs for the birds..there are lots of birds..and watch out for the dingos....

As far as "is the weather going to be so horrific in the middle of December as to make me wish that I had never left the mainland?"

If you mean is it going to be stormy rough seas etc., December does mark the start of the storm season and there is never any guarantee on weather, but usually in the SE Qld. storm season, it could be that you may have a week of stormy weather and several weeks either side of more settled weather in any given period.

I usually recommend to people that for this time of year an option of not booking ahead may be a better way to go and with most Australians not starting holidays till Xmas or after, you'll still find it possible to get into most more expensive places easily enough.

Bushranger, strangely enough, we haven't been having our usual storm season for some time now. SE Qld does have hail & storms, but we miss out on that. We seem to be sufficient distance from Brisbane to miss out on most of those damaging storms.
Also if we get a storm one day, we don't always get a storm the next.
We don't even consider ourselves in SE Qld storm belt. As for cyclones, we haven't had one for years.
(sea temps have to be around 26 degrees before a cyclone will form, hence the reason for cyclones to form further north in real tropics)
cfenar - if you decide to visit our region in the near future, you won't be disappointed. The Capricorn/Bunker group island of the GBR southern section, are untouched, with hardly any tourists in sight, something that is unkown the further north you go.
Fraser Island is World Heritage Listed, with pristine beaches, fresh water lakes, sand dunes burying the rainforest, Central Station with its unique rainforest & crystal clear creek running through it. If you like fishing, then Indian Head area is a good place for beach fishing. In seas east of the northern end of Fraser Island, you will find excellent fishing for reef fish, like red emporer, etc.
Something a lot of people don't know, is that coral grows in the bay just out from Hervey Bay (not pristine like Capricorn Group islands), but it is there. We have some artificial reefs with coral growth, eg. Rufus Reef in the Bay.
Its not unusual to go boating in the bay & see dolphins, turtles, and dugongs. In fact, last time I swam at Burrum Heads beach, just north of H/Bay, my wife & I found ourselves swimming with a small dugong, only 20 metres away. It was feeding on the sea grass.

It's not so much strangely enough I feel tropo but more a symptom of a longish drier period over most of Oz, and though a London based climatic think tank forecast developments last year that didn't really arrive, I do recall some stormy weather having an affect on campers in SE, including Fraser, but that's some weeks into official storm season and Hervey Bay is sheltered from a lot of storm activity that veers up the ocean side of Fraser Island and diminishes at sea.

And yes, the stormy electrical thunderstorm type activity has not been around as much in recent years, we having the first decent one for quite a while as part of the overflow of the Brisbane one last week, but my approach to requests on weather is to let people know what is possible more so than to make a specific prediction for even BOM can only usually get somewhere near correct on a week by week basis and then not always then with rapidly developing systems as they can be in late spring and summer, and then we have whatever developments that may come with longer term global cycles.

I certainly have not nor would predict a cyclone as far south as Hervey Bay, and if anything stormy big seas would arise with a storm centre further away, but the Maheno weather was well out of season - http://www.tourfraserisland.com.au/shipwreck.php

So never any guarantees from me on what we have no control of.

Thanks all, I'm coming from Buffalo, New York, so the warm weather will be a nice treat.

On another thread I had posted an interest in seeing GBR from up by Cairns area (where I was warned about the weather) but after seeing what has been written here, it looks like we may just try to do it from Hervey Bay area.

Fraser Island is a must do - and I'm looking at Cool Dingo tours, as the girlfriend and I are 26 & 28 - a bit old for the kid stuff but don't want to be with groups our parents age yet.

Thanks for all the help!