We grew to really like Heron Island. It is only about 800 metres long and 300 metres at its widest but is home to thousands of birds, 900 species of fish, 200 guests and 100 staff.
My first scuba dive turned out to be my only one – but at least I saw a manta ray! On my second scuba dive I breathed in a bit of water and then couldn’t regulate my breathing, so I chickened out, got out of the scuba gear and went snorkelling instead.
In some ways the snorkelling was better because the light was brighter near the surface and the fish seemed more colourful. One of the best sights was an epaulette shark – a cute spotty little one – while we were walking in 30cm of water on the reef.
Epaulette shark
We had a great fishing trip aboard a boat that travelled outside the protected areas. I caught a triggerfish (no good to eat) and two red-throat emperor fish (very good to eat). We gave one of them away to another couple on the boat who didn’t catch anything. Ours was prepared for us by the restaurant chef and served whole at dinner that evening. It was delicious, of course. And it meant that the cost of our fishing trip was subsidised by a free dinner.
My scuba dive.
We also had a free dinner in the package so we went the whole hog and had three courses – unusual for us. I had a delicious tuna tartare to start, then a classic filet mignon which was very nicely done. The food was generally very good. The bar had Fat Yak on tap – one of my favourites.
The trip included a sunset cruise aboard a small catamaran with another 20 people on board. We had wine and cheese and watched the sun go down into the sea, which was super. See the pics!
The lack of television, mobile coverage and really slow wifi meant we had to forget about keeping in touch and just relax, which was good.
I took some great pics – including some of a sea eagle looking after a giant chick at the top of the island’s tallest tree.
Red throat Emperor caught near Heron Island.
The underwater sightings included cow-tail rays, one Manta ray, lots of gobies, one epaulette shark, white tipped reef sharks, black tipped reef sharks, lemon sharks, green turtles, angel fish, parrot fish, butterfly fish, damselfish, clams, slugs galore.
We were lucky with the weather. Most days were sunny and clear, about 27 degrees, with light winds. The island might not seem so good on a rainy day!
