Dive Review of Heron Island Resort in
Australia/Great Barrier Reef

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Heron Island Resort, Aug, 2005, by Richard Nelson, CA, USA . Report 1991.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Heron Island is a lovely resort, and the reef is lovely and accessible. The rides to dive sites are short, and because it is a marine preserve, there are LOTS of fish and lots of bigger (i.e., full-grown) fish than you find elsewhere on the Great Barrier Reef. However, this is not a Dive Resort. It is a resort that does some diving. Lots of beginners or mildly experienced divers. Very few experienced divers. The diving is nice, but not very challenging. Some of the sites are quite pretty. The water was cold, and many divers were wearing full 7mm wetsuits, mostly rented on the island. In fact, staff seemed quite surprised when we showed up with our big bags of dive gear. We didn't see any U/W cameras, though there were fine photo subjects. We were there in winter, which is low season, but for some reason, the resort was sold out and the diving overloaded. The resort was understaffed, both in general and in the diver operation specifically, so they had limited ability to add extra boats (though they did manage it for us one day). The dive shop was pretty overwhelmed. The first day out, I had trouble finding a tank that was full--had to try four different ones before finding one with more than 2000 PSI. We were not too impressed with the dive operation, but once in the water, the diving was quite nice. The dive staff was nice, too, just way over their heads. The resort is lovely. Room service came at sort of random times each day (probably because of the understaffing). Food and service in the restaurant was hit-and-miss. First night, incredibly slow, and backed up out the door. Other nights, it was fine. Just about everyone on the boat crossing out to the island was feeling sick, even those of us who normally don't. Seasickness medication is highly recommended (and sit downstairs). Many people chose to take the helicopter back, rather than face the boat again (although it was a flat, smooth ride going back!).
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	251-500 dives
Where else diving	Truk, Palau, PNG, Fiji, Tonga, California, Cozumel, Bahamas, Florida
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	windy	Seas	choppy, currents
Water Temp	68-70°F / 20-21°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	30-80 Ft/ 9-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Both maximum depth for each dive and 1-hour bottom time were given. None of the sites really invited deeper diving, but short bottom time was frustrating for us.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	Mantas	1 or 2
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Heron Island Resort in Australia/Great Barrier Reef

Heron Island Resort, Aug, 2005,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Heron Island Resort in
Australia/Great Barrier Reef