Neds Beach — Attraction in Lord Howe Island

This is an absolute MUST SEE for any visitor to Lord Howe Island. Approaching Ned's Beach for the first time, it appears from behind the tropical palms, skirted by bright sand and clear water. This famous location is a highlight for many of the tourists - and has been for many generations. The coral and stone seafloor is home to many species of native fish, moray eels, blue swimmer crabs, decorator crabs, various urchins, large colorful clams, cowrie shells, turbo snails, sea hares, nudibranchs (including the famous Spanish Dancer) and even brightly colored mantis shrimp. This is a protected Reef Park so the critters will always be there when you arrive. I've been coming here since I was less than a year old and I've found Neds Beach to be a fantastic place to explore, photograph and relax. If you have keen eyes and are leaving the beach after dark, you might spot the elusive luminous fungus that grows on the trees or the roosting Mutton Birds returning to their burrows.

This is also the filming site for "The Shallows" - a recent 2016 shark-themed horror movie starring Blake Lively - but I've never seen a shark here in daylight. It's filled with hundreds of large mullet, wrasse, garfish, silver-drummer, spangled-emperor and metre-long Kingfish, just waiting to be hand-fed - along with occasional brightly colored Parrotfish. All are surprisingly tame and their ancestors have been conditioned to be hand-fed for over a hundred years. I once swam to the drop-off point where the sand bottom drops away to deeper water and saw a spectacularly large squid hanging motionless beneath the surface.

PROS: Snorkel at high tide. Explore the rockpools at low tide. Never crowded. A great pace to lay in the sun.

CONS: Some of those coral-munching fish can bite through skin when fed, if you're not careful.

NOTE (for reef explorers): Blue Bottle (Stingers) can blow ashore. Not really considered a surfing beach. A native venomous cone snail exists in the rockpools. Watch out for Bristle Worms (aka Fire Worms). Venomous Stone Fish were sighted recently on LHI. I still have a Long-Spined Sea Urchin Spine embedded in my right hand from Ned's Beach... went right through my leather glove.

BONUS: Whilst the fish were tamed using leftover breakfast scraps, a fish food dispenser is now located at the Ned's Beach shelter allowing visitors to access a handful of healthy fish food pellets for...

Beautiful water with coral reef close to the shore. One of the places you should not miss when visiting Lord Howe Island. Recommend swimming in front of where the shelter is. You can see a trench in the reef from the beach where it is great to snorkel and see a variety of fish and coral so close the the shore. It's also recommended to come on low tide if your can. And for the non snorkelers, the fish come right up close to you if you just stand in the knee deep water in front of the shelter. People feed them there so they are not shy. You can find fish food in the shelter for a gold coin donation. Ned's beach is sheltered so there are no...

Likely the best beach on the island.

You have the ability to pay $4 to generously feed the fish which will immediately come to greet you when you arrive on the edge of the water.

There are amazing rock platforms on the right of the beach housing amazing slugs and cucumbers.

Coral is extremely close and easily accessed and appreciated by swimmers with lower experience and confidence.

The beach is extremely clean protected and safe.

There are multiple gropers, parrot fish, wrasses and turtles.

There is shelter with bins. There are wildfire BBQs...