Reef RETREAT

DISCOVER ALL THAT HERON ISLAND HAS TO OFFER

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Imagine the clearest, brightest blue water you’ve ever seen in your life. It’s perfectly warm all day and night, an unbelievable mixture of blues and greens swirling together as the waves move in and out from the shore. That is one of the things you will never forget about Heron Island. The colour of the water is simply unbelievable. Like someone has used a filter, or your eyes have increased the saturation. It honestly surprised me, every time I stepped out of our room, every day for our five-day visit. It’s incredible.

Pair that water with the remarkable marine life and turtle experiences to be had on Heron Island, and it quickly becomes a can’tmiss bucket list destination. A snorkelling and diving hotspot year-round, Heron Island is known for its turtles, rays and reef sharks that you can swim with a few metres from the beach. Often spotted from the jetty, or even the sand, the underwater life here is phenomenal. It’s easy to spend hours in the water exploring, only coming out when the tide gets too low to continue.

But one of the biggest drawcards of Heron Island is that it is a significant nesting location for green turtles and loggerhead turtles on the Great Barrier Reef. Nesting season occurs from November to March each year, when hundreds of turtles will make their way up the beach to build nests and lay their eggs.

Then, from January until May, these eggs begin to hatch, with thousands of tiny baby hatchlings scurrying across the sand, making their mad dash to the ocean. It’s an absolutely magical thing to see.