Bedarra Island Resort Reviews from GlobeNet Travel for Bedarra Island

Thank you for your reviews of Bedarra Island Resort for the benefit of fellow travellers. Included here are some of your responses and we update regularly.

• "Hi Sonia, We had a great four day brake, Bedarra Island and people exceeded our expectations (which is normally hard to do) I would recommend the island to any one who just needs to relax, chill out and have heaps of privacy, thank you for taking care of all the bookings, it was flawless." Phil W., Seven Hills, Australia (26 Oct 05)

• "Elisabete We enjoyed Bedarra immensely. I would say that to be honest, the value was good but not outstanding (you'll do well if you are an alcoholic); the people were as nice as could be; the front office service was impeccable; the wait staff was regrettably inattentive at times (also noted on internet reviews) but to get right down to it, it was a superb place to reconnect with a your spouse. Very romantic. Very cool. Everything went smoothly and thanks again for your outstanding service.." Marty W., Fort Worth, USA (12 Sep 05)

• "Hi Sali, The spa at Silky Oaks Lodge is just the best I agree. Food at Bedarra Island the best of the big three ie Silky Oaks, Lizard Island and Bedarra. Not so much to do on Bedarra though. We think we will go back to Lizard next time." Carolyn B., Sydney, Australia (27 Jun 05)

• "Hi Kylie..., Well...what can we say....the wedding was perfect and the honeymoon FABULOUS! Bedarra Island was amazing. The staff so friendly and helpful...the scenery breathtaking...(even though it did rain a bit)..the food delicious (we ate WAY too much)..and the open bar well utilised! We had such a relaxing time.

We had the privacy we wanted, yet also had the opportunity to socialise with other guests at meal times and around the bar. We had our own private boat ride to & from the island and did not have to lift a finger. They even packed us a lunch on our last day! We can't stop raving about Bedarra. We made the best of the sunshine we had...and got a little sun each day, used the canoes, had a swim and had plenty of walks. The massage was a real treat..(David is now a massage convert) and just topped off a brilliant honeymoon.

Unfortunately the weather did not permit us to go out on a dinghy for a day...but we did get a gourmet picnic made up for us, packed into backpacks for us and went for a walk & picnic on the other side of the island. It was magic. We got some amazing photos...and I will attach one of us for you.....the newly VERY happily married Mr & Mrs. Thanks again for all your help arranging this...it was the perfect start to a wonderful life for David and I. We will be recommending Globenet to anyone who is looking at travelling." Sonya & David T., Brisbane, Australia (5 May 05)

• "Dear Rene Thanks so much for organising our holiday - we had a wonderful time. In fact Tas loved Bedarra Island Resort so much we stayed another night - the reception handled the change in planes, etc. Also thanks for calling re the camera - we collected it at the Mac counter in Cairns. Again thanks, and we will definitely use you again if we are lucky enough to take another holiday. Best regards," Belinda W., Sydney, Australia (25 Jun 04)

• "Thanks Sonia, we had a fantastic time, esp at Kings Canyon, Ayers Rock and, of course, at Bedarra Island - Heaven itself. Thanks for the efficient organization and I apologies for the panic call when I thought we had slipped a day. All in all a great success." Peter and Frances C., Los Angeles, USA (15 Oct 03)

• "Dear Kylie : I just want you to know that we had an absolutely marvelous time on Hayman Island. Not only did they upgrade us to a Pool Room but they even gave us a Suite! I was so impressed with everything and on behalf of my husband and friends, we want to thank you for your excellent service and help. You're absolutely the greatest. We do plan to visit Australia again (this time we want to spend some time on Bedarra Island ) and if you are still working in this capacity, you'll be the only one we will contact. Thanks again for making this all happen. Warm Regards, Joan, Clark, Gary & Marie S., California, USA (16 Sep 03)

• "Dear Gayle, We had a great time! Thank goodness Australian airlines do not run such a tight check-in time as ours do. We arrived in Cairns with 25 min's to spare. Pete said I had him on a death march to get to the gate. We did not realize what a small airport Cairns has.

The flight over on Macair was fine. We arrived at Dunk Island and were asked to wait in the Bedarra waiting room. It was stocked with all kinds of goodies. The boat arrived just a few min's later for our trip over. I must say that unless you have been to Bedarra Island, it would be hard to explain that kind of luxury. Everything was perfect. They seemed to think of anything we needed before we did. I swear they watched for us to leave our room so they good go in and leave fresh towels, a thoughtful note, fresh flowers spread around the room or a fresh fruit tray and cheese in the refrigerator.

We even had a gift in our room on the day we departed. I can honestly say it was the most relaxing vacation we have ever had. We ate, drank, slept and went swimming. That was the extent of our days. We had Villa 5 and it was one of the best two story villas. Your private beach chairs were just out the door right in front of the villa. We had cocktails with some people that were staying in the pavilion villa and it was magnificent. But I don't think it was worth twice the money.

We took a boat out one day for a picnic on a private beach. Our basket was even packed with china, silver and wine glasses. They truly do think of everything.

Even though you didn't plan the first part of our trip, I will tell you that we fell in love with Brisbane. The people are so friendly. It was a great vacation. I will try to get you some pictures. Thanks for all your hard work, and holding my hand when I panicked. We will certainly recommend you to our friends and would call you again on our next trip to Australia. This trip rates right up there with the best we have ever taken." Sherry S., USA (19 Jun 03)

• "Hi Tina. Alma, John and Hoppy (sp?) (Katherine) at Florence Court were so wonderful to us! We loved staying with them, it was a great way to spend our last few days of vacation. Auckland is an absolutey beautiful city; we definitely plan to return to NZ someday and spend more time there and elsewhere in the country. It was great fun to be there during the first few days of the America's Cup, and this from a couple of nonsailors. You should definitely recommend Florence Court to others, it was wonderful. Needless to say it is gorgeously appointed and well restored.

But the thing that really made the experience so wonderful for us was the Sax family and Hoppy and her husband, Bruce, all of whom were great, as noted above. They treat you as part of the family, and seem to genuinely enjoy themselves doing so. We also really enjoyed the other couple that was staying there at the same time. For sure, Florence Court and Auckland were a highlight of our trip!

We had a wonderful trip and thank you so much for all you did for us. As far as how it went after we met up with you in Sydney, here goes. As you predicted, we LOVED Hayman Island. What a great place! A gorgeous resort and gorgeous island. We loved all the birds -- a zillion cockatoos, plus ducks, swans, gallahs, tons of others. There were also a bunch of fruit bats that came out at sunset every night which was actually really cool. The reef trip was fantastic! The reef itself is unbelievable, so well preserved despite what the environmentalists say, an amazing variety of creatures and corals. We were treated beautifully by everyone, we had a fantastic room (I think it was 201 Lagoon Wing), and we just loved every minute we were there. We even had two days of serious rain, and we still loved it. The spa was fabulous, excellent masseuses. I hope you get to go on the next travel agent excursion there -- don't miss it.

Bedarra Island was also absolutely wonderful. We had crystal clear blue skies there, even during rainy season, and the villas are fabulous as is the service, food, pool, natural beauty etc etc. You can use all the facilities at Dunk Island, i.e. hiking (the island is much bigger than Bedarra so many more trails), bigger spa, two pools and go on all the same side trips. The accomodations at Dunk were very basic, especially considering the price. However, the food was very good. We loved our Reef trip there too. It was not as "luxurious" as the Hayman Reef trip, but the actual portion of the Reef we saw was even cooler than what we saw in the Whitsundays in terms of variety of coral, fish, other stuff, and the amount of time that we got to spend in the water. Next time (and there will be a next time though probably not for a few years) we would want to stay only at Bedarra I think and just use the Dunk facilities. Its only a 12 minute boat ride between the two islands.

Truthfully, the Cook Islands was disappointing. The people did not seem particularly thrilled to have tourists despite the fact that tourism would appear to be their only thriving industry. It was a less friendly place than French Polynesia or Hawaii. Lots of things did not work and people were disorganized about many things. I would not recommend either the Pearl Beach or the Roratongan Beach Resort to anyone else.

For Aitutaki, you might want to check into the Pacific Resort. That is the one that you also offered to us that it is not fully finished yet. (Remember we couldn't figure out which one was the Pearl Beach for a while?) We had lunch there a couple of times and it looked like it was quite nice, though of course we didn't see any of the insides of the villas and can't vouch for the service or anything else. But the setting was pretty and the resort is brand new so hopefully it can't be too bad. Not sure about the price. The food was ok, not great, but then again it was better than the Pearl Beach. I would definitely not encourage anyone to spend the money for the overwater bungalows at the Pearl Beach. It was STIFFLINGLY hot, NO BREEZE on that part of the water where they are located. Not worth it.

For Rarotonga, you might look into a place called the Little Polynesian. It looked great and we were told by the local vet there (a woman from US that we met) that it is considered to be the best on the Island. It's small and may not have a restaurant, but there are lots of them close by. There are also several small places to rent, like condos and such. The best part of the island is the Muri Beach area which is where these places are. The best restaurants are Sails, Da Carlos and the Flame Tree. The Roratongan Beach Resort was too touristy for us. Actually, the beachfront room was better than the Junior Garden Suite because it was virtually the same size and appointed the same way but had a much better view and was in a much quieter portion of the resort. The food there was very basic, we ate out. Next time, we will spend more time in NZ -- haha. I should say that it rained virtually the entire time we were there which no doubt colored our view, but then again it rained at Hayman and didn't affect our view of that. I can't believe I wanted to go to the Cook Islands so badly -- oh well, you don't know if you don't go, right?

And I already told you about Auckland, which we loved. We had a card from Peter and Val with pictures of our stay when we got home; what sweeties!

We have not gotten it together yet to get our pics developed, but would be happy to send you one for your website. Thanks again so much for all your help. We recommended you to a couple we met at Bedarra, did they get in touch? ," Lamar & Louann, Alaska (21 Feb 03)

• "Hi Joanne, Thank You! Safe to say, the trip was wonderful. Lizard and Bedarra were truly fantastic. The islands are beautiful and the service (and the bar at Bedarra!) outstanding. Very glad you recommended them.

All the travel arrangements went off without a hitch...well apart from the charter plane that 'broke'...but that was before we were in the air and we had beer on the next one, so it was all good, plus it's a good story to tell!!! Thanks again for arranging everything for us, and for the little 'package' that arrived at Bedarra for us.

By the way, just something I found interesting. At Lizard I think I was the only Aussie guest, mostly Americans and a few English. At Bedarra though it pretty much all Aussies. Do you know if that's normal or it was just coincidence? Regards," C.B., New York, USA (14 Nov 02)

• "Dear Tina, The visit to Australia was fantastic and really that nice which people told us it would be. Down below life seems to have a different meaning and people were just so nice. We met only 2 unfriendly Aussies, both at Cairns airport customs and check in staff.

Both Sydney and Hunter Valley were fantastic, Sydney a little chilly but people so friendly. Sydney - Cairns via the International terminal is no hit,specially if you are onward booked, as we were, out of Cairns domestic.

The luggage handling and the time almost made us to miss the Dunk Island flight. Sydney said that the luggage could be tagged directly to Dunk, but Cairns were of a different opinion, so all luggage had to be taken to customs again and back to Domestic !! That´s where we met the two unfriendly guys who had no understanding why people got frustrated, not only us.

Dunk and Bedarra Island were absolutely top. Different style, because different customer segments but just so organised and lots of nice staff. My wife got some cold,so at Dunk she got medicine from the Royal Flying Doctors which was taken to Bedarra at a fraction of cost. Food was superb and so the wine.

Kewarra was nature at its best. I met the President and owner of the place and he tought me a lot not only about the rainforest but lots of other environmental projects going on in Queensland. They offered an upgrade to a suite, which we of course did not mind.

Finally Singapore where we stayed for the 20th time at Oriental. I am attaching one from the Reef taken with my Sony digital which would give you some idea about the beautiful nature. My wife on a tiny atoll. Best regards," B.A., Sweden (26 Oct 02)

• "Hi Cathy, what can we say other than a holiday of a life time. Bedarra in particular should be compulsory for every successful person as a reward for their hard work. The food... superb. The staff ... helpful, friendly, professional, from the cleaner up to the manager. Caroline and Mara are two wonderful people with special gifts for managing people The grog cabinet and fridge, stacked full with quality drinks at all times. The rain forest walks .... spectacular. The quality of the units ..... unsurpassed. The view from the units.... just great A restful and peaceful place which we will return to.

We were in the Bay View units on Dunk....excellent. The staff on Dunk were fantastic... friendly and very helpful... Thank you for organising our wonderful stays on Bedarra & Dunk, we do appreciate it very much. Kindest regards " D. & J. T., Melbourne, AUS. (10 Apr 02)