Herald Island is in

Halifax Bay Halifax Bay is a region located around a bay in the Coral Sea, situated on the Australian coast in Far North Queensland. It is bordered by the town of Ingham to the north, city of Townsville to the south and Great Palm Island off the coast to ...

, south of the

Great Palm Island Great Palm Island, usually known as Palm Island, is the largest island in the Palm Islands group off Northern Queensland, Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal community, the legacy of an Aboriginal reserve, the Palm Island Aboriginal Sett ...

group, northwest of

Magnetic Island Magnetic Island ( Wulguru: Yunbenun) is an island offshore from the city of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. This mountainous island in Cleveland Bay has effectively become a suburb of Townsville, with 2,335 permanent residents. The island ...

and northeast of

Rollingstone, Queensland Rollingstone is a rural town and coastal locality in the City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Rollingstone had a population of 125 people. Geography Rollingstone is a semi-rural/residential area approximately n ...

, in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The nearest island is

Rattlesnake Island Rattlesnake Island refers, variously, to the following places: United States * Rattlesnake Island (Clear Lake), in Lake County, California * A previous name for Terminal Island, in Los Angeles County, California * Rattlesnake Island (New Hampshire ...

(

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

bombing site). Other nearby islands are Cordelia Rocks, Bramble Island, and

Acheron Island Acheron Island is one of the islands south of the Great Palm Island group. The island is halfway between Magnetic Island and Great Palm Island. The island lies near the border of Halifax Bay and Coral Sea, east of Rollingstone and north of To ...

. Both Herald Island and Rattlesnake Island are designated live firing ranges and have been used by both the Air Force and Army for live firing practices since 1942. This means that there is a possibility of unexploded ordnance on both of these islands. There are warning signs placed at all beaches. There is no fresh water storage on this island, however, at the southern end of the beach is a dry creek bed that may contain water if you dig for it. The vegetation is sparse and consists of mainly

Mitchell grass ''Astrebla'' is a small genus of xerophytic (adapted to survive in an environment with little liquid water) grasses found only in Australia. They are the dominant grass across much of the continent. They are commonly known as Mitchell grass afte ...

and

She-Oak The Casuarinaceae are a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants placed in the order Fagales, consisting of four genera and 91 species of trees and shrubs native to eastern Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, and the Pacific Is ...

s. The island is used for survival training both by the air force and army. Details of closures of the islands is announced in the

Townsville Bulletin The ''Townsville Bulletin'' is a daily newspaper published in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, formerly known as the ''Townsville Daily Bulletin''. It is the only daily paper that serves the northern Queensland region. The paper has a print ...

newspaper and it details dates and times the island will be closed to the public. There are no facilities of any type currently on Herald Island. The channel between Herald and Rattlesnake Islands is only suitable as an anchorage in mild conditions. There are no sheltered bays on Herald Island. The only useful landing point is on the northwestern end of the island.

References

{{Great Palm Island group Uninhabited islands of Australia Islands of Queensland