The Rose Garden is a long, thin sponge garden rather than a wall or bommie. The Marine Life Network guide describes it as a reef strip about 100 m long running from the Hedgehog rocks to Easter Rock, and the Combined Clubs Weekend guide calls it a sponge valley more than 100 m long covered in reds, oranges, pinks, purples, yellows and whites. The name comes from those colours.

The reef is made up of broken granite boulders, and almost every surface is encrusted: sponges of many shapes, yellow zoanthids, sea whips with jewel anemones, ascidians and bryozoans. Wrasse, leatherjackets and Shaw's cowfish pick over the growth, and butterfly perch and banded morwong are ever-present. The Spirit of Tasmania guide singles the Rose Garden out as a highlight of Governor Island for its sea whips and jewelled anemones on broken boulders.

Because the whole strip sits at about 30-35 m, the Rose Garden is a dive for experienced divers and for photographers and naturalists who are prepared to spend a short bottom time looking closely at invertebrates. It is not a place for covering distance; most divers only see part of the strip on one dive. Nearby named sites at the Hedgehog end (the Hedgehog and Mr Whippy boulders, both heavily covered in sea whips) are mentioned in older guides but are rarely documented.

As with all Governor Island deep sites, the lack of a permanent dive shop in Bicheno means the Rose Garden is mainly dived by clubs and visiting groups with their own boats.

Bicheno is on the Tasman Highway (A3), about 2 hr 15 min (180 km) from Hobart and 2 hr (160 km) from Launceston. Boats launch from the small ramp at The Gulch (Waubs Gulch), the narrow channel between Governor Island and the town foreshore off Esplanade; there is trailer parking beside the ramp and fishing co-op. The Governor Island sites are only 2-5 minutes' run out of the Gulch.

Tasmanian boat diving is almost always done as a live-boat drop and pick-up rather than at anchor. The Rose Garden lies on the reef north-east of Governor Island, 3-5 minutes from the ramp, between the Hedgehog rocks and Easter Rock. Divers are dropped at one end of the strip.

The Governor Island sites face east into the Tasman Sea, so easterly and north-easterly swell over about 1.5 m, or a fresh easterly/north-easterly sea breeze, makes them rough and surgy and can close the Gulch entrance. Westerly and north-westerly winds blow offshore and give the flattest seas; southerly swell wraps in and stirs the bottom, and a big southerly can drop visibility under 2 m for days. Winter (June-September) usually brings the clearest water (20-30 m) and most settled westerly weather; summer afternoons are often spoiled by the NE sea breeze, so dive mornings.

Descend at one end of the strip and swim along it at 28-33 m, moving slowly over the boulders. Turn when no-decompression time or gas reaches the planned limit and ascend along the reef or up an SMB line; the site has little shallow reef for a slow ascent, so plan a free ascent with a delayed SMB.

Nitrox recommended to extend bottom time.

No confirmed full-time commercial dive operator in Bicheno as of 2026: the long-running Bicheno Dive Centre was reported closed (Michael McFadyen) although some tourism pages still list it - verify before travelling. Sites are dived by club boats (Tas Uni Dive Club, Tasmanian Scuba Diving Club, Leven Scuba Club), the annual Combined Clubs Weekend each June, and occasional trips from Launceston (Tasmanian Divers) and Hobart (Go Dive Tasmania) shops.