Heron Island

1 of the best islands I have been to. Accomidations are not 5 star but well worth experience.Great restaurant, excellent meals. All the staff are just so helpful and curious, Thank You all.The snorkling at high tide is spectacular, the water is so clear. Plenty of marine life, Turtles, Birds. And the .arine biology facility tour in very good.

A spectacular place to visit on the reef. A fun 2hr ferry ride from Gladstone, stayed here for four nights and had a special time snorkeling around.

We visited as a Family of 4, 2 kids 7 and 9We found all the staff to be lovely and very helpful, yes the resort can do with some updating but we did not go to heron to spend time in a hotel room.Snorking is amazing, even the kids loved it, cow tail rays, black tip reef sharks, shovel nose rays, turtles, moray eels and so much more , I’d highly recommend doing the reef walk, Catie is a fabulous marine biologist,She was a wealth of information and loved chatting to us about her passion for all things Heron. She made the experiences so fun and, (don’t tell my children), educational.The kids did the junior ranger island walk, and came back ravingSome people commented food was expressive, we found it reasonable considering it all has to be brought in via boat, the staff at the restaurant are very friendly and more than happy to help with request.Overall I’d be back in a heartbeat, we made some amazing memories

Dreamy place I miss it everyday,it feels like another world. Snorkeling with sharks and stingrays,seeing so many colorful corals brought me strong emotions.

Natural beauty of the Island is 5 star. The resort, staff and facilities, 2 star. Everything is old and in need of a revamp. Rooms very bland with minimum cleaning done. Some staff nice enough but others borderline rude. Nothing changed in 20 odd years.

The Island itself is an amazing place, plenty of turtles all different types of rays & sharks ( harmless) which will both come up to you to check you out even a couple of Hammer heads . The island is 5 star.The food in the only restaurant on the island was absolute garbage and at $ 50.00 a head for a buffet you would expect the food to be at least ok . It was so over cooked and dry with no flavour. All the vegetables were frozen and tasteless , the corn was so old it had no juice or sweetness at all . Breakfast was included and even when you were first in it was still all over cooked, they had mushrooms that were so old and bitter you couldn't even get them to your mouth because of the smell that was coming from them .We were on the island back in February this year and the food then was excellent. I don't know what they have done in a few months but maybe they have a new chef . If this is the case they need to get another one

Adding this review because I saw a few negative reviews before we left for our trip which had me worried - posting here to reassure others that you shouldn’t listen to the naysayers - heron island is an amazing once in a lifetime experience.Other reviews mentioned that the resort was run down and food was an issue. This is definitely not the case. The resort is well maintained and the rooms very adequate. The food isn’t amazing but it’s fine and there is a lot of variety considering this is an island far away from the mainland. Don’t expect a luxury resort, it’s a normal hotel, what makes it amazing is the location.The reef is absolutely amazing and being able to snorkel off any part of the island and have coral, turtles, rays, and sharks all there is out of this world. Definitely go to heron island, you won’t regret it!

The purpose of this review is to provide my fellow tourists and travellers with an honest and objective insight into Heron Island resort. We were back at Heron Island after 9 years.I will structure the review in 3 parts, the island itself, the facilities and the service.The IslandHeron Island- a snorkelling paradise.A magnificent reef / island offering paradise at your fingertips. Snorkelling off the beach will gift you a daily kaleidoscope of marine life: turtles, variations of rays, fish, friendly sharks and much more. And, if its not enough, for a $50 per adult they will take you out on the boat to a deeper snorkelling area.The beach is pristine. Walking around the island takes about forty-five minutes and its a superb daily activity. The sunsets are postcard worthy. The island is a bird sanctuary. This truly is an epic location.Resort FacilitiesBuilt 40 years ago and it shows it across the board. No visible investment was made in the Resort facilities. The lack of investment is so evident. The Operator are lining their pockets whilst putting nothing being invested back into the Resort. We had the Reef Room package. The rooms are a standard, motel room, worth on a mainland $140-$160 a night. They sell them here quadruple the price, the buildings, bathrooms and the rooms are old, and require a total rebuild. Yes, since our last visit the rooms had a purely cosmetic makeover but its still 40 years old and the bathroom and balcony tiles are filthy. Our shower was old and filthy. The external cladding, roofing colorbond is dirty, and old on all buildings. Our balcony ceiling render was crumbling and the outside chair had rusted away.The rooms get cleaned every second day and to get bed linen changed is a special request!There is a salt water desalination plant on site, drinking water is free. They also provide free sunscreen. There are forest tracks leading into “shark beach” and “north beach”, that are easy to follow and provide easy access to the beach.The information centre has key data on activities, weather, tides and things to do.The pool tables and live music are your only entertainment. Bailleys Bar has had cosmetic touch ups and its a pleasant space at the resort to hang out, chill and watch the sunset. The drinks list to choose from is very adequate. There is a Happy Hour 5-6 pm. They sell small craft beers for $12, and flog a 1.5L of Coles water ($.99 rrp) for a whopping $7 (700% markup), whilst the 2 pool tables at the bar have seen better days than the sunk ship in the harbour! There is 1 TV screen which is never on, and and adjacent room with a projector to watch docos, etc. Adults have a choice of reef and forrest walking, spa, bird watching tours, visiting the research station, yoga classes and some boat trips nearby.ServiceThe Restaurant building is in good nick and has been maintained. The restaurant is the only place where you can get meals, it’s a 3 Star buffet fare, breakfast and is included, however, you have to pay for your own lunch and dinner which blows the cost even more. The food is good, middle of the road, 3 Star hotel/motel type food.The waiting and bar staff are mostly backpackers, it’s a mixed bag, with some of them going through the motions, but the majority try to make your stay pleasant.ConclusionIts an epic holiday location and a snorkelling paradise on a reef. There is a big disconnect between the money we spent versus the value received in return.My advice to the Operator-refocus on the customer needs, you charge us for 5 Star Resort fees, then make it 5 Star, INVEST. If you only focus on the profits, that’s not the way to grow a repeatable customer base. Regrettably, the overpriced and mediocre Resort facilities take a lot of shine off the experience.

Returned here after our honeymoon 41 years ago.5* location, paradise.Services were great and staff all very helpful.Would have rated higher if they could keep the flies off the buffet food.