HERON ISLAND
Diving the Great Barrier Reef, 2001 and 2006

by Eddie Clamp


What they say!

Heron Island is a true coral cay located right on the Great Barrier Reef. The island is framed by white sands with crystal clear waters and acres of coral with colourful marine life. At this World Heritage-Listed Marine National Park, all flora and fauna is protected, so the island is a nature lover's paradise with the emphasis on enjoying natural beauty. A vacation here replaces stress with a sense of adventure and your days are filled with discovery.

Lying on the Tropic of Capricorn, the island is one of the Capricorn Group of Islands, located 72kms NE off the coast of Gladstone, Central Queensland. Being only 42 acres in size and with a circumference of 1.8km, it can take less the 30 minutes to walk right round the island,

For the holiday maker, Heron Island offers many activities such as guided island and reef walks, semi-submersible cruises and private beach picnics. An amazing array of animal and bird life can be discovered throughout the year, such as the delightful Green and Loggerhead Turtles. Heron Island is also world famous for its scuba diving and snorkelling.




What we say!

I have to agree with everything written above. Heron Island is a special but expensive place to stay but well worth the time, travel and money to visit. An overview of the island can be found at: Their Website.

Why we went there in the first place.

I wanted to go somewhere with my very patient, long-suffering, non -diving, botanist wife. We searched for places to go where I could dive and she could chill out and enjoy herself during what was going to be the round the world trip of a life time to celebrate my 60th birthday. Well we both enjoyed Heron Island so much we went back again last year for my 65th We are going somewhere else this year as a treat for her birthday and this time no diving. :)

How we got there!

On both round the world trips we flew from Heathrow via a two-night stopover in Singapore to Brisbane. Flying on from there after a further stop of one-night to the small town of Gladstone where we took a two and a half hour trip on a catamaran to Heron Island. Our first trip there included further visits to Tahiti, Bora Bora and Fiji and on our second trip we fitted in visits to Rarotonga and San Francisco.

For both visits to Heron Island after taking the choppy Catamaran journey out to Heron Island we opted for the shorter, more expensive return trip of flying to Gladstone Airport over the GBR by helicopter: Website. A wonderful, never to be forgotten experience!!



Why did we both love it there so much?

For me it was mainly the diving, but for us both it was the idyllic desert island atmosphere with a relaxed laid back life style that together with an abundance of bird and fish life, easily viewed both from above and below the surface that makes it such a special place.

Where else could you find good swimming, diving and snorkelling? Apart from all of this there is the possibility of wandering from your bungalow along the beach to Shark Bay all the while watching sharks and stingrays swimming behind each other in the shallow, crystal clear water. During our time there we attempted to capture the Shark Bay experience but my wife Sue would not move over to place her feet in the vicinity of the sharks and stingrays while I took the photos :). Bless!!

Once after my dive on arrival back at our bungalow Sue was buzzing with energy! She had seen stingrays passing her feet that were followed shortly by a juvenile shark. Later she came back from a semi-submersible trip around the famous Heron "bommie" (rocky outcrop) and had seen more than me on my dive without getting her hair wet. Apart from all of this the island wild life is something else to see: Sea Eagles floating in the air currents, Turtles laying their eggs on the beach (in the right season). The bird life on the island is extensive: Eastern Reef Egrets, Buff Banded Rails, Black Noddy Terns, Muttonbirds, White Breasted Sea Eagles amongst many.

Diving

All divers should report to the Island Marine Centre at 4.30pm on the day of their arrival to complete paperwork, checking of their dive qualifications and gear requirements and to be briefed on the dive sites, animals you will see and the local dive rules etc.

The diving around the island is very enjoyable but mostly unchallenging. There are twenty different dive sites available - most are located 15 minutes from the jetty. Dive boats depart at 9.00 and 11.30am and 3.00pm. Divers were always given a comprehensive safety brief before departure of the boat from the jetty and a further dive brief before the dive.



I dived twice daily while I was there. Diving mostly consisted of drift dives and we rarely went deeper than 18metres. Although the diving was unchallenging I enjoyed all the dives immensely. Apart from the usual small fish life and corals there was plenty of large fish life to be seen. During my time there I came across many turtles, white-tipped reef sharks (sometimes resting), epaulette shark and a cowtail stingray accompanied by a large cobia. While snorkelling we also saw many juvenile white-tips, lemon sharks and pink whiprays. Very relaxing!

On our first visit to the island in 2001 on the day of my 60th birthday and never having seen a Manta Ray in my life, I was informed during the dive brief that the "bommie" was sometimes frequented by the occasional Manta Ray at a cleaning station. Guess what? There on the rocky outcrop was the biggest and only Manta I had ever seen in my life. Later when we visited and dived in Bora Bora lagoon I saw six together, but that is another story. :)

I leave the photos to tell the rest of the diving story.





























Daily Routine

Usually I was up around 0730 and going for a buffet style breakfast while Sue took a leisurely cup of tea in bed. Breakfast time was also the opportunity to book your table and time for evening dinner. After breakfast I took a stroll to the diving centre to gather up my gear and get dressed into my wetsuit to be onboard Heron Volute by 0845.

Once there, prepare the waiting cylinder with BCD, DV etc and await the safety brief. The boat would then leave for the dive site. On return, usually around 1100 there would be a short wait then off we went again for another dive. There would sometimes be some snorkellers accompanying us on this boat depending on the numbers. If there were enough of them they went on their own boat to a different location. Return from this dive would be around 1300 whereupon I would go back to the dive centre wash and hang my kit up, meet my wife and go for lunch. Lunch in the restaurant was always buffet style, always well prepared.

While I was diving Sue would spend her morning: either exploring the beach, going on an accompanied reef walk, the semi-submersible trip or a visit to the research station located nearby. One morning she sat and watched a large female turtle making its ponderous way back to the sea over the beach after laying her eggs. Always something magical to do on this island.

Afternoon was spent resting, looking at the bird life and maybe walking to shark bay to sunbathe and snorkel. Towards evening we would shower then go to the bar for a sundowner drink. During our first trip we got in the habit of wandering down to the jetty at this time to watch the spectacle of a large bait ball of small fish being attacked in shallow water, first by fast swimming tuna and then by juvenile sharks. This spectacle wasn't so good during our second visit but there was always the continuous stream of rays with the occasional shark to watch.

Evening dinner was invariably a served meal with wine (expensive) if wanted. One evening a week is set for a buffet style barbeque in the bar area - a very popular event. And so went our days. After our evening meal we were usually tired and made our way back to our bungalow to read and chat on the balcony before going to bed.

Expenses

Accommodation and meals are all inclusive on Heron Island. Payments we had to make on our departure included: My diving, gear hire (BCD for me), semi-submersible trip and all alcohol drink.

Finally
Did we enjoy it? A resounding yes!! I have thoughts of returning to this area again but maybe Lizard Island next time.

Our holiday was organised by Hayes & Jarvis: Website who gave me a 5% discount as a BSAC member.

Eddie Clamp
June 2007