Coral Cascades is one of Heron Island's top ten sites, and the dive team calls it a macro dream world. Large bommies are scattered across a sandy bottom at 12-19 m, and each is densely covered in hard and soft corals of many types, providing shelter for a remarkable array of small life. Nudibranchs, flatworms and shrimp are the site's specialities, and scorpionfish and crustaceans hide among the coral.

On the sand, cowtail, whiptail and blue-spotted rays rest, and many come to the bommies to be cleaned by cleaner wrasse, giving divers the chance to watch this behaviour at close range. Large schools of yellowtail and blacktip fusiliers swirl around the bommies for protection. The dive can be done as a stationary dive, exploring several bommies near the mooring, or as a drift towards Tenements 1 when the current runs, which adds variety and a chance of the grey reef sharks and schooling fish that the Tenements are known for.

Coral Cascades suits divers of all levels and is particularly recommended for photographers with macro setups, who can easily spend a whole dive on a single bommie. Moving slowly and looking closely is the way to get the most from it. It was grouped with Coral Canyons in the earlier database pass; the two are separate sites with different layouts and are now listed individually.

Bring a magnifier or a macro-focusing torch if you have one; many of the nudibranchs and flatworms here are only a centimetre or two long and are easy to swim past.

Heron Island is 72 km north-east of Gladstone. Fly or drive to Gladstone, then take the Heron Islander ferry from the Gladstone Marina terminal (72 Bryan Jordan Drive; check-in from 7:45 am, departs 9:30 am on scheduled days, about 2 hours), or transfer by seaplane or helicopter. Dive gear is carried on the ferry in addition to baggage.

On the island, the dive centre sits beside the harbour; boats leave the jetty for three dives daily and most Heron Reef sites are 5-15 minutes away. Coral Cascades is about 10-15 minutes from the jetty; it lies close enough to Tenements 1 that the dive can drift from one to the other.

Heron Reef sites are chosen on the day by wind and tide. The prevailing south-east trade winds (strongest April-September, often 15-25 knots) make the southern and south-eastern reef edge rough, so the sheltered northern and western sites are dived most. Northerly winds in spring and summer reverse this.

The tidal range is up to 3-4 m and currents run strongly around the reef edge and through Wistari Channel on springs; visibility is usually best on the incoming tide. Cyclone season is November-April; summer storms and plankton blooms can drop visibility to 10 m. Stingers are uncommon this far south but present in summer.

Coral Cascades can be dived as a stationary dive near slack or as a drift towards Tenements 1 on a running tide.

Descend to the sandy bottom at 15-18 m and move slowly from bommie to bommie, searching for nudibranchs, flatworms and shrimp and watching the sand for rays at cleaning stations. Either return to the mooring or drift on towards Tenements 1, ascending along the reef for the safety stop.

Heron Island Resort Dive Centre is the only operator: three guided boat dives a day (about 9 am, 11 am and 3 pm) plus scheduled night dives, from the resort jetty; sites are rotated by tide and wind. Access requires a stay at Heron Island Resort (or the University of Queensland research station).