Luxurious 10-tonne French yacht anchors off Fraser Island

KINGFISHER Bay Resort has had its first load of cruise passengers after the French luxury cruise liner Le Soleal anchored off the island.

ANCHOR: Kingfisher Bay Resort hosted 200 international passengers from the French luxury vessel Le Soleal. Photo Contributed / Fraser Coast Chronicle. Picture: Contributed

KINGFISHER Bay Resort has had its first load of cruise passengers after the French luxury cruise liner Le Soleal anchored off the island.

Stopping at Fraser Island for on Tuesday, Le Soleal's 200 passengers spent their day exploring the World Heritage-listed island.

Built in 2013, Le Soleal is a luxurious 10-tonne, 142m vessel featuring 132 staterooms.

The ship's visit to Fraser Island comes ahead of the high-profile berth of P&O's Pacific Aria on April 3.

The 55,000 tonne Pacific Aria will arrive in the Great Sandy Strait on a round trip from Brisbane with a maximum of 1400 passengers able to disembark.

Kingfisher Bay Resort Group general manager David Hay said the visit of Le Soleal had allowed the resort to test its P&O plans.

"Preparations for P&O's Pacific Aria visit in April are progressing well, and Tuesday's visit reaffirmed our view that the Fraser Coast is an excellent destination for cruise lines to add to their itinerary," he said.

Mr Hay said blue skies treated the guests, who were keen to see the sights of the island.

"Visitors took tours to Lake McKenzie and Central Station, joined ranger-guided bush tucker walks and sampled some of our Fraser Island flavours during a bush tucker talk and taste experience," he said.

The Le Soleal stopped at the island while en-route to Papua New Guinea from Sydney.

- Weighs 10,992 tonnes

- Built in 2013

- Travelling from Sydney to Papua New Guinea