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offshore snorkeling whitsundays - which island best?
I'm looking for recommendations of which islands have the best
snorkelling in the whitsundays? We will be staying for about a week in late Aug/early Sept and while we'd love to take at least one day trip on a boat to the outer reef, the rest of the time we'd like to be as self sufficient as possible with regards to our access to good snorkelling each day. Bush walking/other outdoor activities also highly desired, but snorkelling is the main reason for our trip. Researching this online is turning into a real nightmare because all the info seems to be from resorts, all of which of course claim their island is the best! I'm wondering if Heron Island is ok? The fact that it's described as a "true coral cay"... or is that just more advertising. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Kate |
#2
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offshore snorkeling whitsundays - which island best?
I'm wondering if Heron Island is ok? The fact that it's described as a
"true coral cay"... or is that just more advertising. Yes, Heron Island is a true coral cay (it isn't just advertising). The other true coral cay that has accommodation is Green Island (off Cairns). While there are of course many coral cays, the problem with coral cays is that they are low and flat and generally fairly small, making them unsuitable for building a resort. So it's really only a couple of the larger ones that have silted up a lot with sand etc that can support a resort. So, don't go to either of these coral cay islands with an expectation of a huge island where you can do miles of bushwalking or loads of other things. You go to these islands for their position on the reefs and associated diving etc. According to Wikipedia, Heron Island is 800 metres x 300 metres with the highest point of 3.6 metres with an area of 0.12 square kilometres. Also according to Wikipedia, Green Island is 12 hectares. Since 100 hectares = 1 square kilometre, that suggests that they are both about the same size. The other resorts are located on larger islands which are not coral cays, usually the tops of undersea mountain ranges. This means they tend to have high centre peaks and lots of coves and bays around them with bushwalking tracks and sometimes golf courses etc. However, the coral immediately offshore from them will be fringing reefs at best. So while you will get plenty of the more traditional resort activities at these, the diving/snorkelling won't be as good. For comparison, Dunk Island is 10 square kilometres (a mix of national park and freehold). Brampton Island is 4.6 square kilometeres (all national park apart from the resort). So, you do have to decide what activities are most important to you. If it's snorkelling, go for the coral cay islands, but understand the limitations of a small resort on a small island in terms of land-based activities. Kerry |
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offshore snorkeling whitsundays - which island best?
"gofish" wrote in message ... I'm looking for recommendations of which islands have the best snorkelling in the whitsundays? We will be staying for about a week in late Aug/early Sept and while we'd love to take at least one day trip on a boat to the outer reef, the rest of the time we'd like to be as self sufficient as possible with regards to our access to good snorkelling each day. Bush walking/other outdoor activities also highly desired, but snorkelling is the main reason for our trip. Researching this online is turning into a real nightmare because all the info seems to be from resorts, all of which of course claim their island is the best! I'm wondering if Heron Island is ok? The fact that it's described as a "true coral cay"... or is that just more advertising. Hi Kate. I was last at Heron five years ago and while it is a coral cay, we still needed to take paid boat trips to snorkel - there was very little to see in close to the island. Also, you can walk around the entire island in less than an hour so that rules out bushwalking. Thirdly, it isn't in the Whitsundays (in case you're restricted to that area). I'm not bagging the place as we had a wondeful holiday there. It's just that it probably doesn't meet your criteria. The only other island I've visited is Lady Elliott. It had better off-beach snorkelling than Heron but again is very small and not in the Whitsundays. Regards Melanie |
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