Dive Sites

A huge bommie that doubles as a cleaning station for some of our larger critters. Majestic mantas and White Tipped Reef Sharks frequent here. 10-20 metres.

Beautiful section of numerous Porites pinnacles, located on the far north side of Heron reef. A great shallow dive that tends to have less current and is inhabited by a wide variety of trigger fish, coral trout and some large red emporers. You will find yourself wandering through a maze of smaller bommies, peeking in holes quite often occupied by morays, cleaning stations and may be lucky enough to find the very flamboyant Elizabeth’s Chromodoris.

Heading down the mooring to around 15m, Tenements lies hidden behind a 12m coral plateau. Large flat bommies are a great place to look for nudibranchs and as you come to the corner of the plateau at around 18m, shoals of fish gather and feed on the nutrients of the incoming tide. The wall provides a good chance to see grey reef sharks, barracuda and mackerel. Lay back and relax as the current drifts you towards Shark Ledge.

A dive site perfect for all levels, the mooring lies in 12m of water on beautiful white sand. Gutters near the mooring lead to a small wall teaming with sea life. Shoals of silver drummer, red bass and fusiliers swim together in the shallows. Large anemones along the wall provide some great photo opportunities and the deeper bommies host many species, including porcupine fish and flute mouth’s. 5-16 meters.

A macro dream world, large bommies scatter the sandy bottom providing shelter for numerous nudibranchs, flatworms and shrimp. A variety of rays including cowtail, whiptail and blue spotted enjoy resting on the sand while being cleaned by the cleaner wrasse. Yellowtail and black-tip Fusiliers enjoy the safety of the Bomboras, often gathering in hundreds. A great stationary dive or as a drift to Tenements one. 12-19 meters.

Named after the large bommie that is the main feature of this dive. North bommie is covered in glass and cardinal fish that are harassed all day by dozens of coral trout, coral cod and barramundi cod. This bommie is a major cleaning station for that area of the reef and you will see large manta rays and turtles getting cleaned here on most dives. A special mention for the pair of leafy scorpion fish that live here, George (red) and Wanda (white with black lines) are always around to say hello and pose for a photo.

This horseshoe-shaped shelf drops straight down to 20 metres and is draped with schools of Black-Tipped Fusilier Drummer and Yellowtail. 13-20 metres.

Stand-alone or combined with a drift dive along the spectacular coral wall to Tenements 1, this is a favourite. 5-16 metres.

This is one of Heron’s shallower dive sites. The dive starts in about 12 meters of where there is a large bommie that is riddled with glass fish and their predators, coral trout and coral cod. A great spot for morays, nudibranchs and scorpion fish, this bommie also provides a good resting place for turtles and reef sharks.

This is a shallow dive with depths ranging from 5 to 16 meters. Wind and waves formed channels and gutters where you often find turtles and wobbegong sharks resting under ledges. White tipped sharks play around at high tide and you are likely to see cowtail stingrays feeding in the sand. Good dive for entry level divers.

Swimming out to “Paradise Bommie” you often get strong currents on this site that attract manta and eagle rays. An abundance of marine life lives on and close to the bommie. There are rare species of nudibranchs, as well as moray eels, and you often see reef sharks and stingrays. When you drift along with the current you will have a chance to see turtles and often big Spanish mackerel.

A playground for all divers. You can dive in zig-zag along a beautiful coral wall swimming through gutters. Wobbegong sharks as well as the rare epaulette shark tend to hide under a ledge. White-tipped sharks patrol this area and turtles come to rest and feed here on a daily basis. Keep your eyes open for manta rays passing by in the blue.

Quite a large dive site with many exciting gutters and channels to explore, this area of the reef has a gradual slope that is relatively shallow, bottoming out at 16meters. Several scattered coral formations but generally rocky in character, Plate Ledge is home to some of the most spectacular gorgonian fans in the area.  Frequented by various species of sharks and Manta rays, this is a great spot to test your eyes in search of octopus and the deadly stonefish!

This is a shallow dive good for the afternoons. On a low tide here it is not uncommon to see turtles hiding among the cracks and crevices. Lots of little holes to stick your head in, and lots of interesting little (and big) creatures to find. Expect to see painted crayfish, green loggerhead and hawksbill (if you're lucky) turtles and lion fish.

This is a shallow site with scattered and broken bommies that give fish and sharks plenty of places to hide and you plenty of places to explore. The currents around this site attract manta rays that will feed on the surface only a meter or two above your head. There is also large plate, boulder and branching corals and all the thousands of colourful fish that live amongst them. Our resident Queensland grouper is frequently seen at this site when he’s not hanging around in the harbour.

Dropping down the mooring line you will be surrounded by colorful reef fish. A big field of staghorn coral will lead you to a bommie with healthy corals. On and around the bommie you are likely to see batfish, white-tipped sharks, nudibranchs and the usual reef fish. Going with the current you have a chance to see the majestic manta ray swimming on the way to the several cleaning stations on this dive site.

Heron Island’s signature dive site. The site consists of six large coral heads that start in 5 meters of water and dot down the reef slope to 18 meters. This is a major cleaning station for all the animals in the area, including the majestic mantas and eagle rays to clouds of colorful damsels and everything in between. You will be surrounded by fish and swimming over forests of branching corals for the entire dive. Keep your eyes out for wobbegong and gray reef sharks, manta rays, banded pipefish and “Fatty” (our resident flowery cod).

Not many think the harbour could be a good dive, and they are wrong. Even though shallow, the jetty structure attracts an amazing amount of life. The resident school of bigeye trevally is regularly joined by black-tipped reef sharks, eagle rays, shovel-nosed rays and “Gus,” a fully grown Queensland Grouper and the top of the local food chain. If you are lucky enough to see him you need to approach very slowly. Even though he is more than 2meters long, he is a very shy fish.

Just out of the entrance to the Heron Harbour, this site is known for the amazing amount of hard corals that coat the reef slope. It is a good idea to keep your eyes out into the blue on this dive as there are usually a large number of great barracuda lurking out there. There are lots of smaller fish to see here darting in and out of the coral and the ever-present turtles feeding in the current.

As the name suggests, this entire dive site is covered in hard and soft corals of all different types. This is a nice shallow dive usually done in the afternoons. There are many different types of crustaceans hiding in the corals. And perched in the higher branches for those with a keen eye are scorpion fish waiting patiently for their next meal to swim by.

Located between coral gardens and canyons at 14m there is a densely packed section of various species of Staghorn (acropora) corals.  One of the most sheltered areas of heron reef with a spectacular diversity in colour and types of different coral, a great spot for finding mollusks, gastropods and varied crustaceans.

This site consists of a series of shallow canyons cutting into the edge of the reef that are filled with fish, turtles and sharks. Along the ridges between the canyons, you will often see groups of big fin reef squid vertically stacked in the water column, rippling with changing colours as you swim past them. Out deeper there are scattered bommies, each with their own array of fish and interesting features.

There is one large bommie that marks the start of this dive. There is always something interesting to see around this bommie. Whether it’s a giant starry puffer fish, a tawny nurse shark or a brightly coloured nudibranch, it sets the scene for a beautiful dive. Swimming over forests of hard corals infused with damsels and fusiliers, you will come across bommie after bommie and you never know what may be on or under these bommies.

As the name suggests, this site is the southern-most point of Heron Reef. There is no mooring here, so it is a free descent to about 10-12 meters, than you can swim down to a depth of about 20 meters. The hard coral here is amazing in variation and health. In one area you can see 20 different kinds of healthy, growing hard corals and all the fish that live among them. Keep your eyes peeled for scorpion fish and mantis shrimp living amongst the corals and large tawny nurse sharks sleeping under the deeper bommies.

This is rarely dived and is stunning. The mooring sits in 10m right next to two massive bommies that form the twin peaks. These bommies are the only sizable feature in the area and as a result, there are all sorts of creatures both big and small on show for you. You can dive this site on either an incoming or outgoing tide, drifting with the current when finished at the peaks. Expect to see maori wrasse, white-tip sharks, nudibranchs, anemone fish and the occasional olive sea snake.

One of the drains for Wistari reef, named so because of the 3 large bommies that are spread down a steep sandy slope. Starting in 2 meters of water and dropping down to 25 meters this is a very good drift dive when the current is running around to the old jetty. Lots of pelagics, nudibranchs, hard corals and if you're lucky, an olive sea snake coming up to the shallows for a quick feed before heading back into the deep water of the channel.

Wistari 1: The mooring for this site is in 18 meters of water on the Wistari Wall. A very steep wall that flattens off at 25 meters, you never know what might swim past you in the blue. The top of the wall is capped with very healthy branching corals and teems with all sorts of fish life. Lots of nudibranchs, moray eels and for the keen observer there are stone fish and scorpion fish in abundance.

Wistari 2: This is a good deep dive best done on an incoming tide. The mooring sits in 24 meters of water at the bottom of the Wistari wall. Looking back up the wall towards the surface rewards you a view of schooling fish, turtles, sharks and don’t forget to look out into the blue for pelagics and big bull rays.

An incoming tide will provide the best visibility at this site. A large gully leads out to beautiful coral wall full of biodiversity. Just past the gully there a few scattered bommies at 18 meters. The wall is best observed from 8 to 14 meters. There are schooling unicorn fish, many spotted sweetlips and milkfish feeding on the surface. This site is also referred to as Harry’s House. Harry is a Great Hammerhead shark that will approach divers to welcome them to his house.

This site is only dove at a handful of times during the year. Being on the ocean side of Wistari Reef, it is a rare day when the weather is good enough to get around and dive this special place. Because there is no mooring out here, you will do a free descent down to about 6 or 7 meters and then swim down the gradual slope until you come to the “cliff.” The wall will drop straight down to 25 to 30 meters and then flatten off with and sandy area dotted with large bommies. There are large gorgonian fans covered with feather stars hanging off the walls, large loggerhead turtles, schooling pelagics and overhangs filled with glass fish here. Great site.