Palm Bay Resort

My wife & I spent Christmas Eve through Boxing Day here for our Honeymoon this last Christmas and what an experience. How many Christmases do you wake up to your own private island, white beach and crystal clear water? With its Wallabies, birds, insects and all other wildlife, the island...

My wife & I spent Christmas Eve through Boxing Day here for our Honeymoon this last Christmas and what an experience. How many Christmases do you wake up to your own private island, white beach and crystal clear water? With its Wallabies, birds, insects and all other wildlife, the island is truly amazing. There is no shortage of things to do with activities like trail walking, snorkeling, swimming, kayaking, beach cricket, boules and an onsite spa. The beach front bar with a gorgeous view of a Whitsunday sunset was something to remember forever. The swimming pool is fantastic, if not surprising at first with it being salt water! The bar is well varied and well priced with fantastic cocktails, lagers and wines. We found the menu and food options very well priced (given what they could charge on a private island) with portions being large and exceptionally tasty. Could the rooms be a little more up to date? Sure. But let's remember it is a private island in the middle of the Whitsundays with the only access to the mainland being a once a day shuttle boat. The beds are comfy, the rooms clean and the bathrooms large. If the lack of Wi-Fi is the only negative about this place, it probably says more about the person reviewing than it does the resort. The last thing I needed at Palm Bay was Wi-Fi. The pool, beach and bar is all you need for a fantastic stay.

Every staff member we dealt with, from the initial phone reservation to the final goodbye was simply fantastic. As one of them said, it's their home too. And it really feels like it. This is where you go when you really just want to do very very little. Just lie...

Every staff member we dealt with, from the initial phone reservation to the final goodbye was simply fantastic. As one of them said, it's their home too. And it really feels like it. This is where you go when you really just want to do very very little. Just lie by the pool and eat delicious food. There are other things to do, kayaking etc, but really the pool is just perfect. There's lots of shade and a waterfall. It's incredibly relaxing. We spent 4 nights here on our second honeymoon staying in the gorgeous beachfront bungalow (#13...it's the best). There were probably only about 4 other couples during our stay which was lovely. And a few locals pop in for lunch and a swim. It's a nice vibe. We have found our dream chill location. Can't wait until our return.

The resort is in a beautiful location, on a bay surrounded by nature. Wallabies visit the resort every evening and there is a wide variety of birds. Nice swimming pool with plenty of sun beds and shade, or you can take a sun-bed on the beach. The reception will help...

The resort is in a beautiful location, on a bay surrounded by nature. Wallabies visit the resort every evening and there is a wide variety of birds. Nice swimming pool with plenty of sun beds and shade, or you can take a sun-bed on the beach. The reception will help making arrangements for snorkeling trips with is a must when you stay there. The restaurant is not gourmet but adequate. Staff extremely friendly and helpful. No internet is available, and your phone might not have reception, depending on provider. Reason for not giving 5 stars is the state of the room we had, which was #1. Broken and loose floor tiles, sliding doors for the closet were missing and some lights in and outside the room were broken. And cleanliness of the bathroom could have been better, eg ventilator in the ceiling was almost blocked due to dust collected in it.

Absolutely fantastic location great swimming pool. excellent dining area and food and the staff were very very helpful. Very easy to get here as well from Airlie Beach.🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🥥🥥🥥🥥

We made reservations on the 18th of August for 4th to 8th of October and they cancelled my booking one week before my flight. How pathetic and the reason is we are overbooked sorry. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

We spent 5 days at Palm Bay. It was really lovely! We had welcome drinks on arrival, and our bags were taken up to our room for us. A real white lotus moment as we arrived by boat to the island! We stayed in the hibiscus suite which was authentically...

We spent 5 days at Palm Bay. It was really lovely! We had welcome drinks on arrival, and our bags were taken up to our room for us. A real white lotus moment as we arrived by boat to the island! We stayed in the hibiscus suite which was authentically decorated and had the most amazing views. The beds were lovely and comfy and it was clean with good air con. The island itself is so secluded so a 5 day escape was just enough. We filled it by relaxing, having drinks by the pool and the sunset bar which was just outstanding of an evening to watch the sun go down. The resort had kayaking for free which was a lovely touch. Were from the U.K. so not sure what Australian holidays are like, but September weather was cloudy with bouts of hot sunshine and hot weather which was just perfect as it seemed quiet time of year. We took a day trip with the paradise explorer which could be booked directly with the hotel. Would definitely recommend! Staff were lovely and friendly. Only thing I think could be improved would be the food and a few more bits and pieces in the shop. The food was clearly all so fresh but I think as the it’s the only available restaurant on the island, improvement in the quality and cooking would make this resort a place of perfection.

The island resort offered tranquillity and comfort. It’s the perfect romantic destination. My wife and I were married on Long Island 20 years ago and returned to renew our vows. This is our first time at this resort and we loved it. The views were spectacular, the accommodation was great....

The island resort offered tranquillity and comfort. It’s the perfect romantic destination. My wife and I were married on Long Island 20 years ago and returned to renew our vows. This is our first time at this resort and we loved it. The views were spectacular, the accommodation was great. Bed comfortable. The staff couldn’t be more accommodating. The food was delicious. However a change of menu from time to time would be nice. Happy hour cocktails on the sunset deck was perfect but a change of cocktails every couple of days would be nice. The resort WILL RELAX you, there’s no TV which at first shocked me but we loved it in the end. Enjoy the island you need it. The transfer from Shute Harbour from Phil Island transfers was great, recommend Heart of the Reef airport transfers as they collect you from Shute Harbour and the others didn’t. Unless you pay highly for it. Thank you to Mercedes, Joanne, Jamie and the rest of the team. We will return for sure.

Stayed here with my husband, my best friend and her husband after her wedding. The stay was perfect and the rooms are beautifully located on the beach. The rooms are comfortable and clean with nice beds and a wonderful shower. The resturant food is was fantastic and well worth the...

Stayed here with my husband, my best friend and her husband after her wedding. The stay was perfect and the rooms are beautifully located on the beach. The rooms are comfortable and clean with nice beds and a wonderful shower. The resturant food is was fantastic and well worth the price. And in the early mornings we saw whales, turtles and wallabys What made the stay a 5/5 was the kind and helpful staff. I had plenty of questions and requests leading up to the stay and they managed to fix it all! I really wanted my friend to have a perfect trip and she surely did. Would absolutely recommend this resort!!

A few words come to mind, Paradise, magical. Staff are fantastic. Food is delicious with huge portions. We stayed in hibiscus room. The views are amazing, but if you have problems walking then it can be a bit of a challenge to get to the room. You soon forget the...

A few words come to mind, Paradise, magical. Staff are fantastic. Food is delicious with huge portions. We stayed in hibiscus room. The views are amazing, but if you have problems walking then it can be a bit of a challenge to get to the room. You soon forget the chalenge when you open the doors to the room. We had cockatoos visiting us every morning. A suggestion i'd like to make to management is binoculars in the hibiscus rooms would be amazing, to help viewing the whales during whale season. We were lucky to get to see some whales when we were there. The room comes with a fridge which is great. We requested a microwave and staff organised a microwave for us. Again staff are helpfull and are lovely to talk to. Also a shout out to island transfers watertaxi from Shute harbour to Palm bay resort. Phil and his team are amazing. Loved our stay and defenitely will come back one day.

We stayed for 3 amazing nights in October 2023. I have just come back to the website to look at booking again. After seeing some of the negative reviews I felt I had to post our review from October. We had the most amazing time. Our Bungalow was so clean...

We stayed for 3 amazing nights in October 2023. I have just come back to the website to look at booking again. After seeing some of the negative reviews I felt I had to post our review from October. We had the most amazing time. Our Bungalow was so clean , fresh, spacious and quiet. The food was amazing and the staff were super friendly. I know people are entitled to their opinion, but please don’t be put off by the very few negative reviews. Prices were very comparable and having the solitude from the outside world was just what we wanted and needed. We have recommended Palm Bay to many friends and will definitely be returning. Taking the boat over and back was very easy and not expensive. Just make sure you don’t waste one of your days waiting for the afternoon boat. We stayed the night before in Airlie Beach so we could catch the morning boat and spend the whole day on the island. This is a fantastic, special island to have a mini or week long holiday. We loved it.

An amazing experience, Time to disconnect. Staff were amazing, very friendly and helpful. Special mention of the Crab & Prawn Linguini which was simply amazing. The sunset bar has a great vibe with cocktails bought to your table. Rooms were clean and comfortable. Take a walk on the Happy Bay...

An amazing experience, Time to disconnect. Staff were amazing, very friendly and helpful. Special mention of the Crab & Prawn Linguini which was simply amazing. The sunset bar has a great vibe with cocktails bought to your table. Rooms were clean and comfortable. Take a walk on the Happy Bay hiking trail to see some amazing locations. Highly recommend this to couples for a romatic gettaway. Pay no attention to any of the negative comments.

Worst accommodation of both our lives - we stayed at bungalow 13 which is a beachfront bungalow, right next to the sunset bar which supposedly is open only between 4:30 and 6:30 pm - this will be relevant in a bit. First of all, a general note about the place....

Worst accommodation of both our lives - we stayed at bungalow 13 which is a beachfront bungalow, right next to the sunset bar which supposedly is open only between 4:30 and 6:30 pm - this will be relevant in a bit. First of all, a general note about the place. If you didn't know, the whole island has no other establishment but this resort. This means the only food on the island is sold at the resort's restaurant, and the only supplies are sold at the resort's store, and BOY DO THEY MILK THAT. Everything is crazy expensive. I'm talking a single bag of microwave popcorn for 4.5 AUD, two cocktail buns with a single shrimp in each for 16 AUD - truly outlandish stuff. We had two meals a day, shared food for the most part, barely drank anything and reached ~550 AUD in 3 days, and the food really isn't great. I'm not saying we were poisoned or anything nasty like that, but it wasn't good. Truly creates the feeling that you're a cash cow being milked. If you do decide to go here, I suggest bringing prep meals. Also dinner is always a full service and the food takes FOREVER to arrive sometimes as long as 40 minutes. The staff is aware and unapologetic. The bungalow itself films much nicer than it actually is and was actually pretty shabby, with dark spots on the walls that looked like mould and a LOUD ac unit that barely did a thing. The first night when we arrived was really eventful (and we drove down for 4 hours from Townsville to catch a ferry, mind you). First of all, there were people at sunset bar and they were drunk and loud up until pretty much midnight. This would've been ok if it were just guests' behavior but the bar itself was manned, there was music playing and we could easily hear everything from our bungalow, so we had to have our AC on just to drown out the noise. This was especially bad because we asked specifically about the bungalow being quiet as we were really tired and pretty sensitive sleepers and Kate at the reception desk assured us that there was nothing to worry about. After the party cleared up, almost immediately 3 cockroaches came out- no door/window was open. The reception closes at 6 so I had to leave the room and find a staff member to address the issue. I was lucky enough to find a couple. Upon informing them, one of them tried to call who I believe to be the general manager - she did not answer (this is a theme for our stay). She then called someone else only to tell me that since we're "in the middle of a jungle" there was nothing they could do. I obviously understand that, except 3 cockroaches popping out at the same time in different parts of the bungalow feels pretty unsanitary, and I'm not talking to the staff at a top resort, and paying over 400 AUD a night to hear excuses. After insisting, she had another staff member deliver reid spray to our room. He told us they'd get our bungalow checked out the next day (spoilers: they never did). Not so much as an apology from anyone from the staff, barely acknowledging that there's an issue to begin with, and no one even followed up. It was very hard to fall asleep that night, especially for my fiancee. Also there are a lot of noises around the bungalow all the time, like rustlings, and even loud thuds which probably come from the wildlife, but it's very hard to ignore when you're on edge like that. The next morning I took note of the reception after hours number so I don't have to scramble around for staff if anything were to happen. I then inquired at the reception about the sunset bar being active well into the night. She told me that these were people who were leaving the island and wanted to have a bottle of wine there the night before and that the bar was manned to keep an eye on them, which just sounded nonsensical to me (why play music for them? Why not make sure they keep quiet? Why not tell them to do it in their own bungalow?). I also inquired on how to arrange traveling/touring whitehaven beach on whitsunday island - apparently the only way was to book a water taxi back to the mainland, book a day tour which leaves at 9 am from the mainland, and then book a water taxi back (about 700 AUD for a couple), OR try get a quote for a custom tour from a different operator (sadly was never available while we were still there, never even got a quote from him). This felt like a scam because the faqs here on booking.com assured us there was no problem to reach whitehaven when booking through the reception. After 3 more cockroaches appeared that night, we decided we were going to shorten our stay, and that the next night was going to be our last there. The next day I did some digging and found out that a. Cockroaches were not native to the island, so they had nothing to do with us being in the middle of a national park, and b. No other guest I asked had seen cockroaches in/around their bungalows, which created the feeling the excuse I was getting from the staff was indeed just that. That night, after making sure we sprayed every corner of our room preemptively, all of a sudden there was a power outage for a whole 10 minutes. Luckily I had the after hour reception numbers saved. I tried calling each of them about a dozen times - on the first number we just never got an answer, and the second (the general manager's number), went straight to voicemail every time. At this point we were really upset - what if one us hurt themselves? What if a snake had found its way into our bungalow and bit one us (realistic as there was one lurking around our bungalow)? This was truly a culmination of the feeling we had from this entite stay - they don't care about our experience, our sanitation, our safety, they only care about us continuing to pay them excessive amounts of money on a regular basis to survive until we get to leave. The next morning we found out they were just changing generators, which they could've informed us about in advance, of course they'd have to actually care in order to do that. When I informed reception that no one is available after hours, there was of course no apology, just told us they'd pass it on to the general manager - joke's on her though, she'd probably ghost her too.

This place is on long island and it very far from hamilton island. Reaching here is very expensive and there are not too many options to choose from. Charter boat to this island is 400$ Appx. Apart from this food menu is limited and expensive. Staff is not helpful too....

This place is on long island and it very far from hamilton island. Reaching here is very expensive and there are not too many options to choose from. Charter boat to this island is 400$ Appx. Apart from this food menu is limited and expensive. Staff is not helpful too. There is no wifi in the property.

We stayed at Palm Bay Resort for our wedding anniversary at the beginning of February. What a find this place was! We had never heard of it before, and we live in Queensland! I don't have one negative thing to say about the Resort. The scenery is stunning, the Resort...

We stayed at Palm Bay Resort for our wedding anniversary at the beginning of February. What a find this place was! We had never heard of it before, and we live in Queensland! I don't have one negative thing to say about the Resort. The scenery is stunning, the Resort is small and quiet, a bonus being adults-only as well. We went there to relax for 5 days and that is exactly what we did. With the exception of a bushwalk on one day, and some kayaking around the bay another day, we didn't do much else but lay by the pool. We met some fantastic people from all over the world, some were staff, some were guests. A big thank you to all the staff who were super friendly and professional. The restaurant meals were also delicious (big portions!). We had a 1 bedroom beachfront bungalow with a very comfy king size bed, literally a few steps from the water's edge. The view of the bay from the little front verandah was stunning. Beware the cockatoos who are very brazen and will not hesitate to come into your bungalow and get into any food sitting around if you leave your front door open! We can't recommend Palm Bay Resort highly enough! We loved our stay and will definitely be coming back in the not too distant future.

Such a beautiful place. Everyone was so helpful. The meals were amazing and big serves. The accommodation was very clean and could not fault anything. Yhe virws from the cabin was sensational. The boat transfer from Shute Harbour was great. We will be back.

Stayed here in January 2024. Met on arrival with a drink and a letter with info for our stay. Bags offloaded and taken to our room while we waited to check in. Good service. Food was tasty but overpriced for the standard offered. Cocktails were disappointing, no flavour and very...

Stayed here in January 2024. Met on arrival with a drink and a letter with info for our stay. Bags offloaded and taken to our room while we waited to check in. Good service. Food was tasty but overpriced for the standard offered. Cocktails were disappointing, no flavour and very watery. Drink prices were ok. We stayed beachfront and the room again was ok. Bathroom needed a spruce up Bed was super comfy. I had to clean the aircon filters as they were blocked with dust. Shower was good considering they are on tank water. Weather was good to us and spent most of the time around the pool which is sea water. A nice change from chlorine. Did some bush walks and had a swim in the ocean. Staff are good but all young and inexperienced. They need to be better trained on table service in the restaurant. Some of them constantly swearing trying to be cool. Staff are allowed to use the resort facilities which is never a good look. All in all a nice place. We had a package through Webjet that was good value. Remember to book all your land and sea transfers as the Resort oddly doesn't organize it. We used Lovatt In the Whitsundays from PPP to Shute and Island Transfers from Shute to Palm Bay, both were excellent

Beautiful place to unwind and disconnect from the outside world. The great stuff: - The room was clean, tidy and comfortable. - The food was delicious, highly recommend the steak sandwich and the mussels - full of flavour! - No TV, made us disconnect but we still had phone access...

Beautiful place to unwind and disconnect from the outside world. The great stuff: - The room was clean, tidy and comfortable. - The food was delicious, highly recommend the steak sandwich and the mussels - full of flavour! - No TV, made us disconnect but we still had phone access which meant we could keep in contact with the real world when we wanted to. - The kayaks and paddle boards were free to use. - Beautiful sunsets and scenery The not-so-great stuff: - The room was not serviced daily and after a day at the beach, the floors became a bit gritty with sand etc. - no pillow menu, which meant pillows were not so comfortable Service: - the staff on an individual basis were friendly (enough). Always polite and courteous but definitely did not go over and above to make the stay special in any way. - there seemed to be an undercurrent of not being a "fun" place to work which showed through in the service provided. Overall a nice place to stay, albeit on the rustic side of accommodation - don't expect 5 stars and you won't be disappointed!

4.5 start - My partner and I stayed at Palm Bay for our baby moon for 2 nights. It really is a beautiful Island and so relaxing. If you want a getaway with not much to do but relax by the pool drinking cocktails, canoeing at your door step and/or...

4.5 start - My partner and I stayed at Palm Bay for our baby moon for 2 nights. It really is a beautiful Island and so relaxing. If you want a getaway with not much to do but relax by the pool drinking cocktails, canoeing at your door step and/or a nice forest walk, this is the place to be. A few minor cons, the bathrooms can use a small upgrade - there was a knocking noise on the roof both mornings about 5 am (assume it was birds) which woke us up - and lastly the food was ok. Could have been better. Overall I would go back again! The staff were also really friendly.

We loved our peaceful, relaxing stay at Palm Bay Resort. We didn't leave the radius of the main resort area much as we were recovering from 10 days of fast, busy traveling. It was exactly what we needed.

What an absolute beautiful location palm bay resort is located on palm island. I didn't want to leave. We booked 4 nights in a beachfront bure. Upon arrival we we're greater by Kate with a nice welcome drink. Accomdation: The room was nice and well presented and the hammock on...

What an absolute beautiful location palm bay resort is located on palm island. I didn't want to leave. We booked 4 nights in a beachfront bure. Upon arrival we we're greater by Kate with a nice welcome drink. Accomdation: The room was nice and well presented and the hammock on the deck was great. In relation to cleanliness of the room I did notice the aircon filters were dusty with some mould and also the bathroom exhaust was dusty and some mould to the grout and silicone in the shower. As we were staying 4 nights we could have used a bit more toilet paper and also shampoo and toiletries but we luckily brought our own. The small kitchen only had a kettle and bar fridge a microwave would have been great as sometimes I didn't finish my lunch so a microwave would be great. Another thing we would have been a nice touch was maybe some chocolates or a bottle on wine as we this was our honeymoon as we received similar things like a note and a small gift on birthdays or anniversary trips when we been to other places. Location: The location was breathtaking, I loved the swings in the water the beautiful swings around the property the maintained gardens the beautiful birds and butterflies. Facilities and water sports: The pool and restaurant area was clean and well presented. The spa was not really hot Inwas expecting a hot spa so not sure if the temperature can go up as to me it was just a pool with bubbles. In relation to the free watersports we spent majority of our time swimming in the bay and also kayaking. Sometimes there was a wait on kayaks as I only counted two blue singles and one gree double and about 3 stand up boards so you may need to invest in some more during peek season. Snorkeling gear was good that it was free to use but unfortunately we didn't see anything but did see some turtles and a dolphin while kayaking. Staff: Staff were lovely a very special mention to Adam. He was such a character and was so lovely and a positive energy and great to have a chat to. He looked after us. Food: The food was tasty and great but this was only my real negative feedback was the ridiculous prices. Luckily we got free breakfast as $14 for three small slices of toast or $14 for a piece of banana bread was ridiculoubut then you get a big breakfast for like $30-$35 and the serving size was huge. I don't eat much so I wanted something small but the cost for something small was huge. Maybe a buffet breakfast is better rather than a select menu as I didn't see many options maybe pancakes would be good to add. Lunch selection was great plenty to choose from good serving sizes and the cost wasn't to bad but to add Chicken to a salad was like $10-15 extra and to add salad and chips to popcorn chicken was the same and when the meal already like $25-30'its alot to add on chicken. Dinner was a disappointment. Its a whole lot of seafood and for a couple who don't eat seafood we didn't have much to choose from. Chicken parmigiana was huge size so due to saving costs we decided the next night to share a chicken curry but that dish was tiny so there was alot of inconsistency with serving sizes. $45 I think was the steak and that was smaller than the $35 chicken dish. I understand island prices due to having to ship the food over but dinner needs more options rather than seafood and $15 for onion rings and $15 for a garlic bread with 4 small pieces is to much. Maybe $10. So breakfast and dinner needs more options as cause your rooms don't come with a toaster ir microwave you kinda force guests to eat on the island but I just found the prices extremely expensive considering we recently went to an private island at Vanuatu and prices were cheaper. The beers were $12 and luckily we had a deal to get two free per night the cocktails were about $20-22 and were really good especially the sunset frozen one and the mango one soooo good. A must for travelers to do is either hike to happy bay where the old long island abandoned resort is. We went through the national park and visited happy bay and then the next day we kayak there and back. Its such a shame the resort been left that way but was great for us as we stayed there for a swim and happy bay is beautiful with the palm trees. Also a tip bring lots of mosquito spray. Lots of mosquitoes at night. They do have some you canul use at the pool but make sure you bring your own. Thanks Palm Bay resort I didn't want to leave its a special place if only I could move here with my two fur babies.

My wife and I stayed at Palm Bay Resort from 29th September to 3rd October 2023. The whole experience was one we will never forget. Every one of the staff members were extremely accommodating, warming and friendly which made us feel comfortable and somewhat right at home from the moment...

My wife and I stayed at Palm Bay Resort from 29th September to 3rd October 2023. The whole experience was one we will never forget. Every one of the staff members were extremely accommodating, warming and friendly which made us feel comfortable and somewhat right at home from the moment we stepped foot on to the sands of what we will always remember as paradise. I have a couple of special mentions... Firstly to the reception staff, who were very accommodating and happy to look in to and organise for us options from getting to the resort from Hamilton island to activities such as jet ski tours from Airlie Beach. We suggested the Jet Ski tour and that was all we needed to do, from there onwards the team organised it all from getting to and from the island, transfers between Shute Harbour and Airlie Beach to and to booking the tour, which was an amazing experience in itself. Secondly to all of the guys working in the restaurant and bar. They were all very kind, friendly and happy to have a chat but also did not push that at all which says a lot about their self awareness, understanding of others and politeness. I left my most generous tip to date with these guys due to these simple things that just made our whole trip one to remember. On top of all of this, throw in some coral reefs, the nicest colour ocean I have swam in, paddle boarding and kayaking with some wild sea turtles and an abundance of marine life and it is clear to see why I refer to this experience as a holiday in paradise. We were extremely happy with the entire trip and are looking forward to returning to paradise in the future.