Heron Island - Environmental Maintanence Reviews

We came to see the Turtles and we did. We got up at 5.30am every morning to see the mothers come in to lay. Got to see the beautiful creature digging the sand to bury her eggs. Got to see the hatchlings. Heron island is just simply stunning once you get use to the stench of the '000 of birds nesting every where. The resort is comfortable, providing good food and drink at the reasonable price considering the remote location. Snorkeling is to die for. Now is the negative 1. The 2 hrs ferry ride is rough .. take motion sickness medication. 2. It is very sad to see all of the hatchlings being eaten by gulls or the reef sharks. I think more should be done to save them.

Heron Island is stunning - and unlike most Barrier Reef resorts, you can snorkel straight off the beach. It's a tiny resort - 200 guests, with comfortable, but not fancy rooms. A day spa is the one flash part of the island. But you're not on Heron for nightlife or luxury - it's about the reef and white sands. A piece of advice: It does get expensive if you eat 3 meals a day in the restaurant, but you can pack an Esky full of supplies for simple cold meals (every room has a bar fridge). The food is regional RSL club. Weekend buffet much better than weekday A La Carte. Nobody is going to raise a fuss if you discretely pack a bottle of wine in your luggage either. Other tips: Ferry lands at 4pm, scoot straight to the marine shop which shuts at 4:30 to hire your snorkel gear. My rating : 5 stars for the island, friendly staff - and 3 for the restaurant buffet, falling to 2 stars for lunch & weekday dinners

Amazing island. The rooms are kind of worn, but it doesn't matter, because you just want to be outside and in the water

Heron Island: Amazing Location Tired Resort Rude Staff.

My family and I have just returned from a 4 night stay on Heron Island and were shocked by the standard of the staff and food on offer.

We have been coming to Heron Island for 18 years and it is one of our favourite places on Earth. It is a truly amazing place and offers an experience unique to Australia, to stay and play on the Great Barrier Reef. Whether you are diving or snorkelling on the reef, walking through or round the island or lying under a Pandanus tree reading, the place is amazing.

The problem, and it s a big one, is when you enter the resort and its facilities (the only available on the island).

Let s start with the infrastructure. It is 18 years since the last major refurbishment, and it shows. The rooms and common areas are old, tired and dirty with many items broken or not functioning (room blinds, pool table, bathroom basins, toilet flushes, giant chess set).

The next pervasive issue is supply and availability. Many items are simply not available, whether this be from one area or from the island as a whole. Invariably there was no date given when they would be, whenever the barge comes was the standard response.

A particularly infuriating issue was the lack of availability in Ballie s Bar of certain drinks, snacks and even sweeteners for hot drinks when these were available a few metres away in the resort shop and Shearwater restaurant. The staff do not offer to get these for you or replenish from these areas. The result was walking into the closed restaurant to find sweeteners for my coffee and for many other guests who wanted bar snacks to go away emptyhanded. This is basic stuff, lost revenue and unacceptable for a resort of this claimed standard.

OK so now onto the real problem and the cause of many of the above issues, the staff.

The lack of customer service displayed was staggering. Whether this be a simple hello or normal polite filling words such (can I have your) room number? , (sorry) we don t have that / can t do that etc. When interacting with or walking past a staff member I don t think I was greeted with a smile once. The result being that as a guest you do not feel welcomed or that the staff are deeply unhappy.

Meal times were a particularly unpleasant experience with long waits, 5-10mins to wait to be seated. Tables left uncleared from the last diners, often no glasses or cutlery present. Staff seemed rushed but unorganised meaning long waits again for water etc

The wait at the bar (combined with the sullen service) is another low point. Why am I queuing up for 5 mins at the bar to get a simple drink and missing the sunset? Why is there not efficient table service as in similar resorts? Why are there only 2 staff members serving at the busiest time when many guests are ordering lengthy to make cocktails?

The general feeling you have as a guest is that overseas backpackers and disgruntled Australian staff are running the resort with no one in charge. You are merely an irritation that is getting in the way of their holiday.

All this can only be the fault of the management (who are conspicuously absent) that let this situation continue. They are not present at these times to co-ordinate, coach and assist and do not seek guest feedback. If they spent time at the resort as a guest, they would quickly identify the process and operational improvements that are urgently required.

The one silver lining to this over expensive and underwhelming experience is the Marine Centre. Despite the usual gruff manager, it is staffed by positive, happy, keen and professional staff that are genuinely engaged in their job and guests. This made our daily dive the highlight of the holiday by far.

I love Heron Island, it's one of my favourite places in the world..cocktails overlooking the water at the resort is a lovely way to wind down.

Location is absolutely amazing, was informed we had to book tours once we got on the island, what a mistake this was. Food looks nice but that was it. Lacks flavour, seasoning, lack of choice at times. Food was sent back due to been undercooked, came back out overcooked this time and instead of a tenderloin steak it looked more like a scraggly piece of medallion. We expected things to cost more with been on the island but wasn't as bad as what we thought really. Luke one of the staff members is really helpful though, went above and beyond to help us sort out our 2 year old. Not the best honeymoon from start to finish. 5 days to book, to arrive on the island to tell you, you haven't paid, to get a room not really suitable for our needs, for the shop to not have basic amenities, to food under par. Upon checking out we found that our room had items charged to it that wasn't from our party, shearwater resteraunt hadn't been cleaned properly in our entire stay. The table we sat at was dirty every day we dined in, waste was on the floor, the a la carte menu sounded really good but was let down with food been cold, poorly seasoned, and generally been very bland. Thai beef salad was one of the entrees but came out partially frozen.

Everything was perfect.
Amazing hotel with comfortable beds, really tasty restaurant that feed me very well (and I'm a big eater).
Real dinner restaurant at night time.

You can hire some swimming equipment and swim with sharks.
You have also some great free tours to discover the island and its animals.

4/8/2020 We have just returned from a wonderful 5 night getaway on this unique island. The staff, food and facilities were fabulous. All staff were so helpful and friendly and most importantly the entire island is extremely Covid conscious. Highly recommend a visit and a big thank you once again. Support Queensland.

We stayed at Heron Island resort as the last week of our honeymoon.
The island is very beautiful, full of marine and aerial nature.
The resort, which is the only one on the island, leaves something to be desired.
The room they gave us was in the middle of the trees full of birds and guano, without air conditioning and not very clean.
We couldn't open the windows because the acrid smell of guano and the squawking of birds came from outside.
The pool was often occupied by divers and was dirty and small. The umbrellas and deck chairs were all gathered together under a single umbrella and were very dirty.
For the sea, nothing to say: beautiful but subjected to continuous high and low tides. So it's not a real resort as we humans think. You grab your towel and wander around the island to see where the best place to swim is. If you want some shade, you can find it under the trees where birds target you with guano.
The staff was very kind, they even changed our room to have air conditioning and it gave us a little relief. The heat is exhausting and in my opinion they shouldn't even offer the room without air conditioning: it's inhumane.
Don't pick up any phones on the island so the resort SELLS you some WiFi. So for the modest sum of $ 4.95 they give you 200 megabytes.
A deal.
The restaurant is dirty, full of flies. For breakfast you had to hurry to open and close your mouth because in addition to yogurt you could have also swallowed flies and stinks.
We ventured the buffet in the evening: 99dollars in two to eat badly cooked vegetables and fish reduced to mush.
Unforgivable the salmon drowned in noodels and the chicken that have not even made the effort to heat.
Tap water tastes like plastic so if you want to drink decent water you have to get 750ml bottled water for the modest sum of $ 5.
Of course we will never go back.
The luxury advertised by the resort does not exist!
It is only a village for snorkelers and ornithologists.
Not for a honeymoon couple.

Almost a 5 star experience. Nice staff and breathtaking location. The only lack of a star is the dated rooms. I hear they are due for an upgrade so looking forward to that. Hopefully they will put in some noise insulation too. For now though, 4 stars

Very nice island and the staff is really helpful and friendly. The smell is not for everyone, as a bird sanctuary. Otherwise you can dive, snorkel or just relax.
Well, a hint. We're in Australia and with European customs and standards, it's still a bit over dinner. So stay relaxed, what is missing by the standard makes the service easily. I highly recommend it, was worth every penny.

A beautiful get away where you can relax and read, snorkel or scuba, swim in the pool, go on boat rides, bird walks or kids can join the junior ranger program. Friendly staff, good food and beautiful scenery.

Amazing place beautiful scenery. Staff are very friendly just lacked a bit of information from them.

The Resort is mediocre and overpriced but the Great Barrier Reef is still magic (but hurry up - the global warming changes its fast).

The only thing we could fault was the time of year WE chose to go. Definitely summer next time, but only for the water temperature

We stayed here for four days with primary purpose of dining. The diving staff and team were absolutely amazing. Diving sites were really good , amazing coral and good diving team.

The rooms were disappointing for the price with no aircon and it can get pretty hot.

The restaurant on site is absolutely terrible. Food is decent however you have to wait up to 90 minutes at times to get your food. The staff is at times very rude and they seem to be overworked and understaffed.

Great location, great diving staff whereas everything else was disappointing. If it wasn t for the diving staff it would be a one star only.
The worst part is they don t really care about the services they provide or how the guests feel.

Everything about this place was amazing. The location, the rooms, the staff and diving were all great. We came specifically to dive but it turned out the snorkelling just off the island was arguably better. Great family friendly resort, we don't have kids but we plan to return and bring our friends who have toddlers. The diving operation is very good. 9am, 11am, 2:30pm dives and the boat ride is between 3 and 8 mins depending on the dive site. There were scuba couples who tag teamed diving and kid sitting because the schedule meant that you were back in just over an hour. Definitely get up for sunrise and snorkel in the boat channel, its worth it. They close the boat channel to swimmers from 8am-5pm to avoid accidents so make sure you check it out outside these hours.

As their tagline suggests, it really is a place on the great barrier reef. I got to snorkel on the reef just steps from the resort. See baby turtles hatch from their nests and make their way to the ocean. I got to see mother turtles make their journey up the shores to lay eggs. Basically, there was not a dull moment. The on-site massage and restaurant is highly worth it. I'd suggest staying at least 3 days, so you can try all the fun activities and walks they offer.

Simply stunning place to holiday. Staff were amazing