Various plots and situations on the show included a fierce cyclone hitting the island, children being kidnapped, a siege where the hotel workers were held hostage by less than pleasant guests, drug trafficking, the resort being terrorised by a biker gang and a politician dying of a heart attack while staying at the island's resort.

The series became notorious amongst critics for its allegedly poor production values, and the wintry conditions under which the tropical drama was shot became the focus of most jibes.

From January 2006 to March 2007, the WIN Television network repeated Holiday Island on early Saturday mornings from 2.00am before changing to 3.00am during the later half of 2006 as part of its Crawford's Australian Classics series.

Robert Fidgeon of the Herald Sun named Holiday Island as one of "Australia's All-time Top 50 TV Turkeys".

He stated "Shocker Melbourne soap about the antics of guests and staff of a Queensland island resort, starred Nick Tate.