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You don’t come to Queensland’s Lady Elliot Island if you’re looking for five-star comforts — what you do come here for are the six-star natural attractions, discovers Jessica Reid*.

Arms spread wide I mirror the arches and motions of the two-metre manta ray swimming gracefully below me.

Oblivious to everything else, a black flicker catches the corner of my eye and I realise I am surrounded by a group of mantas dancing fluidly from the water’s surface to the sandy ocean floor below.

“We counted about 50,” our skipper Clinton Ansell from Lady Elliot Island Resort declared once I climbed back onboard.

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Getting there: Scenic flights are available to Lady Elliot Island from the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Hervey Bay and Bundaberg for overnight guests and day trippers.

Cost: Prices start at $158 per night for the eco cabins. Transfers are an additional cost.

More information: www.ladyelliot.com.au and www.bundabergregion.info

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And really, I’ll happily put up with a wave or two when we’re snorkelling only 30 metres off shore and surrounded by some of the most majestic and mysterious creatures of the underwater world.

So mysterious in fact that at the time of our visit to the island, we were also joined by a group of researchers from the University of Queensland and Earthwatch who had just begun a five-year research project.

Head researcher Cathy Townsend said that so little is known about manta rays so their study aims to discover why they’re such regular visitors to Lady Elliot Island.

At only 40 hectares, flying onto tiny Lady Elliot Island — the southernmost anchor of the Great Barrier Reef — feels a little precarious. Thankfully the island’s surrounding coral lagoon and dozens of manta rays provide quite a stunning distraction.

But it’s not just the manta rays which are the island’s pride and joy. While the rays are such frequent visitors (they are even on the island’s logo) the resort’s new solar hybrid power station is now sharing the spotlight.

So passionate are the staff about saving the Great Barrier Reef environment that they now offer a behind-the-scenes tour where guests can learn all about the island’s water, waste and energy practices.

Laurie Marsden, Lady Elliot’s official ‘Minister for Technical Services’ has been working on the island for three years and said the new solar hybrid power station had cut diesel use by 70 per cent.

“We were hoping for a 40 per cent reduction by mid-year, but already we’ve hit 70 per cent and it’s our goal to make the use of diesel on Lady Elliot obsolete by this October,” Laurie said.

That would make Lady Elliot Island the first Great Barrier Reef Resort Island to have 100 per cent solar-powered operations.

The island’s desalination plant means water use is closely monitored; fridges and other in-room appliances are only turned on if a guest requires them; and the resort’s basic accommodation is what you would expect of an eco-friendly resort, with the added bonus of being only a few steps from the sandy shore and incredible marine life, whichever room you stay in.

Choose from permanent tents with shared-bathroom facilities, shearwater rooms with three bunk beds, reef or garden units with queen beds (some also have bunks), or one of five two-bedroom beachside suites.

From the verandah of my reef suite, I can look out at the glistening coral reef, which I later discover from a closer perspective on a reef walking tour with our guide Jess Howard.

“In my 18 months on the island, I have never seen this on a day reef walk!” exclaims Jess. Referring to the dwarf lion fish which has just poked its head out of some branching coral, Jess is clearly excited by the find.

“That’s what I love about my job … you never quite know what you’re going to see and find out here on the reef,” she said.

And as we walk carefully in the knee deep lagoon, I’m amazed to learn all about the hundreds of sea cucumbers, various different types of coral, sea urchins, clams, sea hares and sea stars that we spot along the way.

Later when I don my flippers and snorkel and step offshore into the ‘Coral Gardens’ site, I find myself noticing all sorts of creatures and coral that I’m sure I would have otherwise missed.

And just as I’m about to swim back to shore one of the island’s other famed residents, the loggerhead turtle, glides gracefully beside me waving its fins to head further offshore, or as I like to think, waving me good-bye from this pristine natural environment.

*Jessica Reid wrote this article on behalf of Tourism Queensland.