Lord Howe Island Australia

A 5-Day Lord Howe Island Itinerary (What We Actually Did)

This is based on our September 2025 trip. Five full days on the island, which felt about right. You could do 7 days if you want a more relaxed pace, or squeeze it into 4 if you're efficient, but 5 gives you time to do the big activities without rushing. You get arrival settling in, the big hike, water activities, exploration, and a last day to relax or do whatever appeals.

Day 1: Arrive and Settle In

Morning/Early Afternoon: Fly in from Sydney, 2 hour flight. Get picked up by your accommodation. Drop bags, get oriented. The airport is tiny, so this whole process takes about 30 minutes. Your accommodation staff are used to this and will orient you on where things are.

Afternoon: Pick up rental bikes from the local hire shop, about $15 per day each. Ride around the island to get your bearings. It takes about 40 minutes to do a casual loop of the main settled area. Stop at the general store for supplies, get some snacks, check out what food options are available for later meals.

Late Afternoon: Head to Ned's Beach. Buy a cup of fish food (about $2) and feed the fish from the shore. The fish swarm your ankles the moment you step in, going absolutely mental for the food. It's a perfect low-key intro to the island's marine life. Kids, adults, everyone finds this amazing.

Evening: Dinner at one of the local restaurants. There aren't many options, so don't overthink it. The food is good quality, just slightly more expensive than mainland prices because everything is shipped or flown in. Expect to pay $30-40 for a main.

Book today: Ride to the Mount Gower guide's shop and book your hike day. Seriously do this today, not later. Also book any snorkel/dive tours. Do this in person or call from your lodge. Get confirmation in writing if possible. The operators are used to visitors turning up on Day 1 asking about availability, so don't feel awkward about rocking up unannounced. That's how it works here. Write down what you've booked and when, because you won't have your phone calendar syncing. Old school pen and paper planning works best on Lord Howe. Your accommodation might have a whiteboard or notice board where they track guest bookings, which helps you keep things organised.

Day 2: Mount Gower

Full Day (7:30am - 4:30pm): This is the big one. The Mount Gower guided hike takes 8-9 hours return. You'll meet your guide early, hike through lowland forest for the first few kilometres, then scramble up rock faces with ropes, traverse the exposed Lower Road section, and summit at 875 metres.

Pack a sandwich and water from one of the cafes. They'll make you a sandwich if you ask the day before. Wear proper hiking boots with ankle support. Bring a rain jacket even if it looks clear. The summit gets cloud, especially in the afternoon. Bring at least 2 litres of water, maybe 2.5 litres on a warm day.

The hike is graded hard. If you have decent fitness (can walk 12km with some elevation) and don't mind heights, you'll be fine. If you're scared of exposure, the Lower Road section will test you. If you're terrified of heights, think carefully before you commit to this one.

Highlights: palm tree climbing demonstration with our guide showing us the technique, cloud forest at the summit with vegetation that exists nowhere else, panoramic views of the entire island and Balls Pyramid. On a clear day, you can see other islands in the distance.

Evening: You'll be tired. Grab dinner, have a beer at the bowls club if you have energy, and crash early. Your legs will be feeling it.

Day 3: Snorkeling and the Lagoon

Morning: Guided snorkel tour of the lagoon reef. Two main operators: Dive Lord Howe and Reef N Beyond. Both run tours to different reef spots, usually around 2-3 hours. Expect to pay around $100 per person. Depart from the jetty or beach depending on the operator.

The lagoon is sheltered and calm, perfect for snorkeling even if you're not a strong swimmer. Water temperature in September is cool (around 20-21°C), so a rashie or thin wetsuit is worth it for comfort on longer snorkels. The visibility is excellent, usually 20-30 metres. Fish are everywhere.

Afternoon: Galapagos shark encounter tour. This is the bucket list experience. The guides take you to spots where the sharks congregate, and you snorkel on the surface watching them below. Seeing hundreds of sharks at once is surreal and not something you'll experience anywhere else in Australia. It sounds scary, but sharks are absolutely not interested in you. You're just floating above them while they go about their day.

Late Afternoon: Free time. Ride to one of the quieter beaches on the north end. Old Settlement Beach and Blinky Beach are both worth a visit. Walk around, take photos, just explore and chill.

Evening: BBQ by the beach if your accommodation has facilities. Some places have communal BBQ areas. The sunset over the lagoon is worth timing your evening around. The sky turns deep orange and pink, and the light on Mount Gower is beautiful.

Day 4: Explore the Island and Golf

Morning: Walk some of the easier trails. The Malabar Hill and Kim's Lookout walk gives you elevated views over the island and only takes about 2 hours return. You're going uphill but it's manageable and the views are worth it. Transit Hill is another good option for reef views from above.

Late Morning: If you're a diver, book a scuba session for today. Lord Howe has over 60 dive sites, and the volcanic walls make for dramatic underwater terrain. Costs around $200 for a guided dive. If diving appeals to you and you don't have certification, you could potentially start an openwater course, though this eats into your exploration time.

Afternoon: We played golf at the Lord Howe Island Golf Course. It's a small 9-hole course, nothing like a mainland club, but playing a round with Mount Gower as the backdrop and birds wandering across the fairway is something else. It's relaxed, cheap (about $20 for a round), and a good way to spend an afternoon when your legs are still recovering from the hike. Even if you don't usually play golf, it's worth trying just for the setting.

Late Afternoon: Ride around to spots you haven't seen yet. Visit the Lord Howe Island Museum for some history on the settlement and the rat eradication program. Or kayak and stand-up paddleboard in the lagoon if your accommodation provides them. Some places have equipment included, others rent it cheaply.

Evening: We had a proper sit-down meal at the bowls club. Cold beers, pub-style food, the footy on TV. Locals and tourists mixing. No pretension. One of the best nights of the trip, honestly. Go there with low expectations about the food and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Day 5: Last Day, Slow Pace

Morning: Sleep in. Ride to a beach you liked and spend the morning there. Ned's Beach for more fish feeding, or the lagoon beach for a final snorkel without commitment to a tour. Just float around, take photos, enjoy the quiet. This is the day where you appreciate what makes Lord Howe different. No agenda, no schedule, just the sound of waves and birds. Most people find this is the day they start planning their return trip.

If you haven't visited the Lord Howe Island Museum yet, the morning of Day 5 is a good time. It's small but well put together. The displays on the rat eradication program and the history of the Kentia palm trade are genuinely interesting, especially after you've spent four days seeing the results of the conservation work firsthand.

Late Morning: Pack up. Remember your 14kg checked luggage limit for the flight home. Wear your heaviest shoes and jacket on the plane to save luggage weight. Do a final walk through town if you want to grab any last-minute items or just say goodbye to the place. Return any hired snorkel gear or equipment you picked up during the week.

Afternoon: Flight out. The departure process is as casual as the arrival. Ride your bikes back to the hire shop, get your transfer to the airport, and say goodbye to the island. The airport is one room with no security queues. Check-in takes five minutes. You'll be back on the mainland by early evening, probably feeling a bit disoriented by how quickly you're back to normal life. The contrast between Lord Howe's quiet and Sydney's noise hits you the moment you step off the plane.

If You Have 7 Days

Seven days is the better call if you can afford the extra accommodation nights. Five days works, but you're moving from activity to activity without much breathing room. Seven days means you can wake up one morning and just decide to do nothing. No bike ride, no tour, no plan. Just the beach and a book and the sound of birds. That's the day you'll remember most.

Here's how I'd structure the extra two days:

Day 6: Balls Pyramid boat tour. About $170 per person. Balls Pyramid is the world's tallest volcanic sea stack, 551 metres of rock jutting out of the ocean about 20km southeast of Lord Howe. You can see it from the island, but getting up close on a boat is something else entirely. The scale is hard to process. The boat circles the stack, and if conditions are right, you can snorkel nearby. The water around Balls Pyramid is deep blue and the marine life is different from the lagoon because you're in open ocean.

Day 7: Your choice. Second dive session if you've got the bug. A repeat of your favourite beach. The Old Settlement Trail is an easy 2-hour walk through the south end of the island. Or just ride around aimlessly, stop wherever looks good, and let the island surprise you. This is also your buffer day. If Day 2 got rained out and you missed Mount Gower, you can rebook it here. If a snorkel tour was cancelled due to conditions, you've got a backup slot. Weather on Lord Howe can shift fast, so having flex days prevents disappointment.

Alternative itineraries: If you're more of a water person, drop a hiking day and add a second dive. If you're travelling with someone who doesn't want to do Mount Gower, they can snorkel or relax while you hike, then you regroup for the afternoon. The island is small enough that splitting up for half a day is easy. You're never more than a 10-minute bike ride from each other.

Day by Day Activity and Meal Costs

Daily food costs: Budget $60-100 per person per day for meals if you're eating at cafes and restaurants. Some accommodation includes breakfast, which saves you a meal each day. Cooking facilities vary by lodge, so check before you book if self-catering matters to you. The general store has basics if you want to prepare some meals, but selection is limited and prices are higher than mainland.