Alone, but not unloved, tiny Heart Reef is the pin-up star of everything that’s beautiful on the Great Barrier Reef – its perfect heart shape, its glittering lagoon, its intricate corals and its romantically remote location.

If you’ve seen an ad for Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in the past few years, you’ve probably been looking at an aerial shot of Heart Reef, the little heart-shaped bommie (“It’s NOT A REEF!” clarifies the Great Barrier Reef Marine Authority, with some asperity) set within Hardy Reef, north-east of the Whitsunday Islands.

The vastness of the reef, the oceans and the deepest blue of the channels between the coral platforms send shivers down my spine. To read more about how to visit Heart Reef and this luxury Heart Island pontoon, click here to take a look at my story for Traveller section of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.