Heron Island
Southern Great Barrier Reef, QLD
About Heron Island
Heron Island sits 90 km north-east of Gladstone on the Tropic of Capricorn and is one of the few coral cays in Australia with year-round resort accommodation and an in-house dive operation. The fringing reef around the island contains more than 20 named dive sites, with Heron Bommie - a coral pinnacle on the western edge - the marquee dive. Turtles are present year-round; nesting and hatching seasons (November through March) concentrate the activity on the beach above water and in the shallows. The southern GBR's best macro photography is on the shallow bommies and rubble slopes off the resort jetty.
Visibility at Heron Island
Visibility at Heron Island typically ranges from 15 to 30 metres, though it shifts with swell, wind and recent rainfall. Year-round; turtle nesting November to March generally offers the best conditions for diving here.