The Coral Gardens is a nice easy dive that any divers will enjoy at Heron Island. Located just south of the Heron Harbour, this coral slope is usually done as a drift dive. While there are pretty coral gardens in the shallows to explore, the main feature of the site is the sloping reef wall and numerous bommies in the channel in depths to 20 metres. Sheltering in and around these bommies are hussars, whitetip reef sharks, moray eels, fusiliers and stingrays.

The reef wall is cut by gutters and ledges, and a good place to find resting turtles. Pelagic fish constantly cruise the wall, so keep an eye out for trevally, mackerel and batfish.