- Where
- Tasman Sea, Australia
c. 2 h flight from Sydney - Coordinates
- 31.55° S
159.08° E - Biome
- Subtropical island;
southernmost true coral reef - The cap
- c. 400 visitors at a time,
c. 400 residents - Status
- UNESCO World Heritage, 1982
- Best visited
- September–May
Green mountains at one end, a lagoon with coral in it, which surprised me this far south, and a great stone tooth on the horizon that I could not stop looking at. The island seemed to hold exactly enough people and not one more, which for once included me. I have never been anywhere that keeps its secrets so politely.
The short answer
Lord Howe Island is a crescent of volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea off eastern Australia, UNESCO World Heritage listed since 1982, with two forested mountains at one end, a coral lagoon along its inner shore — the southernmost true coral reef in the world — and a rule that defines the place: visitor numbers are capped at roughly 400 at any one time, about the same as the resident population. Twenty-odd kilometres away rises Ball's Pyramid, the tallest sea stack on Earth.
Why it's worth knowing
Most destinations manage popularity after the fact. Lord Howe simply declined it in advance: the cap keeps the island permanently at village scale, bicycles outnumber cars, and the lagoon's corals — tropical and temperate species mingling where warm and cool currents meet — are snorkelled by dozens of people rather than thousands.
The island's wildlife carries two of conservation's better stories. The flightless Lord Howe woodhen, once among the rarest birds anywhere, was walked back from the edge. And the island's giant stick insect achieved something stranger: it came back from extinction itself.
The field notes
The insect that hid under one bush
The Lord Howe Island phasmid — a heavy, glossy stick insect the settlers called the land lobster — vanished after black rats came ashore from the grounded SS Makambo in 1918, and was long believed extinct. In 2001, scientists searching Ball's Pyramid at night found a tiny colony alive on a single melaleuca bush growing from the rock — the only shrub of substance on the entire sea stack.
How a flightless insect crossed open ocean to the pyramid remains unexplained. Captive breeding began from a handful of collected animals, and the species — described as possibly the rarest insect in the world — is being kept in existence with an eye to coming home.
The stone tooth
Ball's Pyramid is the eroded blade of an old shield volcano: the tallest sea stack in the world at about 560 metres, first climbed only in 1965, now closed to recreational climbing and left to its seabirds — and its phasmids. From Lord Howe it stands on the horizon like something drawn rather than built.
Divers know its waters for Galápagos sharks and for the Ballina angelfish, a species reliably seen almost nowhere else.
Two mountains, one lagoon
Mounts Gower and Lidgbird close the island's southern end, their summits carrying cloud forest; the guided Gower climb is the island's great day out. The lagoon inside the reef holds the mingled coral and fish of two climate zones, swimmable from the beach.
More than half the island is permanent park reserve, the surrounding sea a marine park, and the whole arrangement — cap, reserve, reef, village — amounts to a working model of how an island keeps itself.
The lagoon and the island's north from the Mount Gower track, March 2013.
Photograph: EmGer7 · Overlooking Lord Howe Island · CC BY-SA 3.0
Ball's Pyramid, the sea stack south-east of the island, in evening light, April 2014.
Photograph: JillBBruce · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped
Mount Lidgbird in cloud, with the lagoon and the island's north beyond, seen from the south, March 2013.
Photograph: EmGer7 · Lord Howe Island from the clouds · CC BY-SA 3.0
A Lord Howe Island stick insect, June 2011.
Photograph: Granitethighs · Lord Howe Island stick insect Dryococelus australis 10June2011 PalmNursery · CC BY-SA 3.0 · cropped
A noddy sunning its wings on the rocks, Lord Howe Island, April 2012.
Photograph: Toby Hudson · Lord Howe Island - Noddy sunning · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Cycle everywhere. There is no other correct method. (The basket carries the list, which has now seen more of the island than I have.)
- Look at the stone tooth on the horizon and salute the bush.
- Snorkel the lagoon where warm and cool water agree to disagree.
- Meet a woodhen going about its unbothered business.
- Be one of the counted, and count myself lucky.
The land lobster. A glossy, flightless stick insect the length of a hand, extinct for eight decades by every reasonable account — except for one colony on one bush on the tallest sea stack on Earth. Zoo-bred descendants of that colony now wait, in their thousands, for the island to be ready for them.
Tally, in the marginHid under one bush while the whole world wrote it off, and never once gave up — the patron saint of unfinished lists.
Getting there
Flights reach Lord Howe in about two hours from Sydney, with seasonal connections from other Australian cities; seats are limited by the visitor cap, so flights and accommodation book as one decision, well ahead. There is no camping and no casual arrival — every visitor has a bed count against the cap.
On the island, bicycles are the transport of record. The season runs roughly September to May for settled weather and lagoon swimming; the Gower climb runs on scheduled guided days. Ball's Pyramid is visited by boat for diving and sightseeing; landings and climbing are not part of any itinerary. Biosecurity is taken seriously on arrival — the island has spent decades getting its pests out and intends to keep them out.
Mark this place
Common questions
Why is Lord Howe Island limited to 400 visitors?
Lord Howe caps tourists at roughly 400 at any one time, about matching its resident population, to protect a small UNESCO World Heritage island whose value lies in intactness. The cap keeps the island at village scale and is enforced through the limited seats and beds available.
What is Ball's Pyramid?
Ball's Pyramid is the tallest sea stack in the world, about 560 metres of eroded volcanic rock rising from the Tasman Sea near Lord Howe Island. First climbed in 1965 and now closed to recreational climbing, it is best known as the place where the Lord Howe Island stick insect was rediscovered in 2001.
What is the Lord Howe Island stick insect?
The Lord Howe Island phasmid, nicknamed the land lobster, is a large flightless stick insect believed extinct after rats reached the island from a 1918 shipwreck. In 2001 a small colony was found alive on a single bush on Ball's Pyramid, and a captive breeding programme has kept the species alive since.
Does Lord Howe Island really have coral reef?
Yes - the lagoon along the island's western shore is fringed by the southernmost true coral reef in the world, where tropical and temperate marine life mingle at the meeting of warm and cool currents. It is snorkelled directly from the beach.
How do you get to Lord Howe Island?
By air, about two hours from Sydney, with seasonal services from other Australian cities. Seats are constrained by the island's visitor cap, so flights and accommodation are booked together and well in advance. On the island, most people get around by bicycle.
When is the best time to visit Lord Howe Island?
Roughly September to May brings the settled weather, warm lagoon swimming and hiking season, with the guided Mount Gower climb operating on scheduled days. Winter is quieter and cooler, with the island at its emptiest.