Lady Musgrave Island sits within a large coral lagoon — one of the few true enclosed lagoons on the Great Barrier Reef — which makes for unusually calm snorkelling in a protected setting. Day trips operate from Gladstone Marina (the boat trip is about 90 minutes each way), and it is possible to camp on the island for several nights with a permit.
The lagoon averages only a few metres deep and is filled with coral bommies (isolated coral heads) that shelter enormous quantities of fish. Sea turtles rest on the bommies. Reef sharks cruise the deeper edges of the lagoon. The island itself is a coral cay covered in dense pisonia forest, home to seabird colonies including wedge-tailed shearwaters.
Lady Musgrave is less well-known than Heron Island and significantly cheaper to visit. Day-trip operators run from the Town of 1770, a small coastal town about 90 kilometres south of Gladstone that makes a better base for casual visitors. From Gladstone itself, access requires chartering a vessel or joining a tour.