East & West Flower Gardens Banks

The Flower Garden Banks lie roughly 100 miles off the Texas and Louisiana coastline in the Gulf of Mexico, sitting atop salt dome formations that rise from the seafloor to form coral caps near the surface. East and West Flower Garden Banks are part of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and hold some of the healthiest coral cover in the Gulf, with divers commonly encountering large brain and star coral formations, manta rays, and during late summer, the mass coral spawn. Depths on the reef caps run roughly 60 to 100 feet, with the surrounding terrain dropping off much deeper. Because the site is far offshore, it is reached almost exclusively by liveaboard trips out of Texas or Louisiana ports, and open ocean conditions plus boat-only access make it better suited to divers with some experience.

Confirmed by our research team, reported by independent divers, or observed nearby via iNaturalist — each entry is labelled with its source.

• Boulder star coralOrbicella franksiReported here · unconfirmed
• Symmetrical Brain CoralPseudodiploria strigosaReported here · unconfirmed
• Mustard Hill CoralPorites astreoidesReported here · unconfirmed
• Greater Star CoralMontastraea cavernosaReported here · unconfirmed