An elderly woman has been found de@d after she 'failed to board' a cruise ship while visiting a popular tourist island in the Great Barrier Reef.

Police have now launched an investigation into the death of the solo traveller, 80, while she was hiking Lizard Island's highest summit off the Far North Queensland coast on Saturday

'The group continued on and boarded the vessel before realising she was not there,' a source told The Australian.

Another source claimed that the woman had fallen from a cliff

The tourist was reported missing after she failed to return to the cruise ship anchored offshore, sparking a widespread land and sea search that continued well into the night.

The woman's body was located and retrieved from the mountain the following day. 

Coral Expeditions confirmed that a passenger on a Coral Adventurer voyage died during an excursion to the island on Saturday. 

'The crew notified authorities that a woman was missing, and a search and rescue operation was launched on land and sea,' chief executive Mark Fifield said.

'Following the operation, Coral Expeditions was notified by Queensland Police that the woman had been found deceased on Lizard Island.

'While investigations into the incident are continuing, we are deeply sorry that this has occurred and are offering our full support to the woman's family.

'The Coral team has been in contact with the woman's family, and we will continue to offer support to them through this difficult process.

'We are working closely with Queensland Police and other authorities to support their investigation. We are unable to comment further while this process is underway.'

Police are treating the woman's death as non-suspicious and will prepare a report for the coroner.