Three words define every enchanting stay on Pelorus Private Island: exclusivity, luxury and beauty. It’s completely exclusive because you book out the entire residence, whether you use one of the king suites or all five. No other visitors will be staying on the 400ha tropical island, or anywhere within cooee – only the friendly and wonderful staff who are there to make sure every aspect of your stay is perfect.
The luxury starts from the helicopter ride from Cairns or Townsville, or a luxury yacht charter to get to this northern outlier in the Palm Island group. On arrival, there’s a chilled tea-tree-scented towel and a bottomless, bubbling glass of Champagne or a coconut water waiting by the pool. Inside, the high ceilings, polished floors and expansive water views on two sides of the spacious residence immediately create a calming and relaxing feel as the shoes are kicked off and worldly cares melt away. Suites, adorned with handmade designer furniture and textiles, have freestanding king beds with Italian linen and duck-down pillows that beckon when the day is done.
Hosts Grant Logan and Kate Hawkins have delivered more than a decade of high-class hospitality on superyachts in the Mediterranean and provide top-shelf care – whether unobtrusively in the background or more interactively with conversations around the bar if desired. As a personal chef, Grant is keen to provide whatever decadent delights are preferred by clients, happily dishing up fresh, local seafood such as painted lobster, sashimi, prawns and coral trout, with imported caviar on the side.
And this is where the beauty of a stay on Pelorus starts becoming so apparent – Grant’s dishes are works of art, with colour, form and finesse. A dessert of white chocolate brownie with homemade ice cream, raspberries, blueberries and figs is as inviting to dive into as the pool.
From the exquisite food, you can gaze out past the well-stocked bar, across the shining aqua seas to Hinchinbrook, the sun setting gently beside the island’s rounded peaks. On the beach in front of the lodge is a stunning, white Iguana yacht, one of less than a handful in Australia. As well as comfortable motoring on the water, it can crawl up on land on tank-like tracks, so guests don’t even have to get their feet wet on excursions.
There are plenty of other fun ‘toys’ to enjoy as well – from jet skis and Seabobs (underwater propelled sleds) through to kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and water bikes. You can snorkel on coral reefs straight off the beach, or the staff will organise trips to dive, snorkel or fish for colourful nannygai or other species. Anything edible can be brought back and Grant will cook it to your liking.
With experienced dive instructors on call, it’s easy to complete a scuba course and be taken to exceptional dive sites such as Bramble Bombie or Walker Reef Sand Cay, just a quick motor away on calm waters. There, more of the beauty of the Great Barrier Reef can be enjoyed, with purple and green feather stars undulating in the current below an aquarium of fish, and alongside kaleidoscopic gardens of coral. The skippers and guides know the spots where the coral is thriving and the colour is rich, so you’ll be left in no doubt that this truly is one of the most beautiful treasures on Earth.
