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Australia and the Pacific Islands



Australia's Ecotourism Destination

Heron Island, a tiny cay off Australia's northeast coast is at once an elegant and secluded resort and an important center for biological research on the health of the spectacular 1,250-mile-long Great Barrier Reef.

Compiled By Rod Lopez-Fabrega
Technical Reef Study Details By Brad Cox


Heron Island is a speck of a coral cay, a little over half-mile long and no more than ten feet above sea level. It is located in the tropical Coral Sea off the northeast coast of Queensland, Australia and not easily accessible. Getting there requires a one-hour and 20-minute Qantas flight or a six-hour drive from Brisbane to Gladstone (a small city on the mainland), followed by a three-hour ferry crossing to Heron Island from Gladstone's marina. The ferry departs promptly at 11:00am every morning, but if you miss it, there is a pricey helicopter service available from the mainland to the island.



Heron Island is well worth the effort to get there. Sitting at the southern end of Australia's 1,250-mile long Great Barrier Reef, it is rated as one of the best diving locations on earth. It is a sanctuary for thirty species of birds, including heron for which it is named, rainbows of spectacular reef fish, majestic humpback whales, green and loggerhead turtles and a veritable universe of coral reefs. Part national park and part resort, the island also offers limited but world-class accommodations and pristine white sand beaches (and some rocky ones) framed by a shady forest of oak, pandanus and pisonia trees. For the visitor, Heron Island is tops for snorkeling, SCUBA diving (there is a diving school within the resort and lessons for beginners), reef walks, turtle nesting viewing, coral viewing cruises, surf ski tours, fishing and other related activities. This combination of national park and resort is a great resource and a magnet for visitors interested in participating in responsible and sustainable ecotourism.



Can Tourism Save the Great Barrier Reef?

Heron Island is also the location of the University of Queensland's Heron Island Research Station. Marine biologists have been warning for some time that the health of the world's colorful coral reefs is under serious threat from a variety of causes. One sign of how the Great Barrier Reef is being affected is that coral bleaching has once again returned. Associate professor Justin Marshall from the University of Queensland is convinced that, "Coral bleaching is linked to global warming." As sea temperatures rise around the world, these severe coral bleaching events occur in many reef systems. This is a sign of degradation of the systemic health of the coral. Some recover, only to be assailed again. Monitoring bleach and recovery of coral on even a small reef is a huge time-consuming task, and associate professor Marshall and his very small team of assistants, including Kylie Jennings and Dr. Uli Siebeck in close association with world coral expert and director of Heron Island Research Station, professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg have devised a means of enlisting visitors to the island to measure and catalog the degree of degradation of the coral reef--a way to enable tourism to help save the Great Barrier Reef. Every day, swarms of tourists have asked, "What can I do to help protect the reef?"

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This is the research team's answer:

They have devised a color scale analogous to a hardware store paint color chart. The charts are printed on waterproof plastic and are used to "match" the coral color with a standard that indicates the degree of degradation of the coral's health. In order to be effective, thousands of readings are required from the ocean of coral that surrounds the island, an almost impossible task for the small research team. Now, with the new color scale program eager and interested tourists are enlisted and instructed on how to take and record the measurements, and they are doing so by the thousands. All the codes they record are entered into the database on the website of the coral watch organization. It is a way for visitors to Heron Island to have fun beachcombing while making a genuine and significant contribution to the ecological health of one of the planet's great life forms, the coral reef.

Turtle Season on Heron Island

During turtle season visiting children and their parents are encouraged to participate by joining the Queensland Turtle Research program's research and monitoring activities and to participate in such activities as turtle tagging. The program provides yet another avenue to encourage appreciation of conservation among guests by nurturing a sense of exploration as well as allowing them to make an active contribution to efforts to protect the environment and an endangered species.



There are seven species of sea turtles throughout the world and two of these nest on Heron Island, one of the world's major breeding grounds for Green and Loggerhead turtles. Turtles nesting on Heron Island can migrate from feeding grounds as far away as Indonesia or New Caledonia. Over 50 female Green Turtles can come ashore each night at Heron during the nesting season from late November to March (mating season is in October). For guests, it might be a 2:00am call to go out, crouch in the dark being careful not to frighten the turtles away and wait...and wait. There are a number of guidelines to keep in mind when watching turtles, as they can be easily disturbed. These precautions involve not walking in front of a turtle, maintaining a distance of six feet as requested by National Park guides at each stage of the nesting process and not standing in front of the turtles as they move to return to the sea. Each turtle looks for that perfect patch of sand as she emerges from the sea. Guests (usually accompanied by National Parks guides) wait until the turtle settles, keeping well back but within easy sight of one of the most incredible examples of nature up close and personal. Green Turtles lay about 110 eggs in each clutch, the babies emerging between mid January and March, From December to April the main activity for visitors is to witness the explosion of baby hatchlings and their frantic dash for the sea in search of safe waters. More than 100 tiny turtles make the sprint for the sea from each nest. Hatchlings use light horizons to orient themselves to the sea (under natural conditions the lowest light horizon is always over the sea) so guests on Heron Island are asked to turn off outside lights and to keep the curtains in their rooms drawn so as not to disorient the babies.



Tourist Accommodations on Heron Island

It is important to note that Heron Island does not allow day-trippers, and anyone arriving on the island must have confirmed reservations for over-night stays. In an effort to keep the human impact on the island well controlled, accommodations on Heron Island are limited, and among those that are there no structure has been constructed to be higher than tree line. The only hotel is operated by P&O Australian Resorts, better known for its cruise offerings throughout the South Pacific. However, a range of accommodations is provided by the hotel to suit all budgets, and these include in descending order of luxury, space, position and price: the P&O center providing public and dining facilities, a single "Beach House", a cluster of four single-story "Point" bungalow rooms, 22 "Heron" rooms, 50 two-story "Reef" rooms and 32 detached "Turtle Cabins".



The Beach House
The Beach House offers a superior style of accommodation with a high degree of privacy. Set within a grove of trees, a private boardwalk provides access to the beach. Air-conditioned, the Beach House offers a separate bedroom with spacious ensuite bathroom and an expansive living area including oversized sofa and a work desk with direct dial telephone. The Beach House also offers its own private outdoor shower.

Point Suites
Set on the beach with views of the reef views and the island?s splendid sunsets, Point Suites are Heron's superior grade of accommodation. Point Suites are air-conditioned and spacious in design with a generous living area extending through glass doors to an extensive outdoor terrace.

Wistari Suites
Wistari Suites are an alternative for guests seeking maximum privacy as they are located on the point and situated within a sheltered garden setting with ocean views. Interiors are spacious with a three-seater couch and armchair and King Size bed in an area separate to living. A private outdoor terrace features includes a two-person hammock.

Heron Beach Suites
Heron Beach Suites also are on the beach with direct access to the water and views of the reef, Heron Beachside Suites are generous in size with villa-style inclusions. Double glass sliding doors connect both the spacious bedroom and separate living space to a large outdoor balcony. A large bathroom and an in-room CD are among some of the other features of a Heron Suite.

With these types of accommodations scattered throughout the resort, all meals, entertainment, evening activities and public gatherings take place centrally in the resort's public areas. All meals are included in accommodation tariffs, and standards throughout are world-class.



A Word from Associate Professor Justin Marshall

"...letting people know that individual contributions to saving the environment can make a global difference. Having seen the mind-boggling beauty of the reef and be faces with the loss of such splendor, tourists helping out and then going home to think over their holiday may even begin to change the way they do many other things in their lives."

The research teams are now looking at expanding their coral health program to many other islands throughout the Great Barrier Reef and have recently been funded by Australia's Cooperative Research Center for Sustainable Tourism to take their valuable coral health program to international destinations.

To contact the research team about more detailed information on the coral health monitoring project, visit the Coral Health Organization or Mr. Brad Cox, communications manager, Co-operative Research Council for Sustainable Tourism, Queensland, Australia at cox@mailbox.gu.edu.au

Photo Credits: Courtesy of P&O Australian Resorts, Justin Marshall, Brad Cox, Tom Cronin


© 2004 ROMAR TRAVEL GUIDES