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A green headland park with lawns, a car park and buildings runs out to a rocky shoreline on a calm blue sea — Secret Garden, Longdong & Northeast Coast

Longdong & Northeast Coast · Taiwan · Reef

Secret Garden

Giant sea fan groups and crinoids below a Keelung city park

Photo: Taiwankengo · CC BY-SA 4.0

Secret Garden is the reef below Chaojing Park in Keelung's Zhongzheng District, inside the Wanghaixiang Chaojing Bay Resource Conservation Area. Coral structures and giant sea fans lie within reach of a shore entry, and the site suits snorkelling as well as deeper scuba dives.

Also known as Chaojing Park, 潮境公園, 秘密花園.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Secret Garden: typical dive to 25 m (to 82 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit25 mtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

25.1446° N, 121.8041° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

Shore divers enter at the foot of the stairs on the right-hand side at the top of Chaojing Park. The reef below is built of coral structures and reaches a maximum of about 25 m, with water that usually clears to 15 to 20 m, so the shallows work for snorkelling and the deeper ground for scuba.

Groups of giant sea fans stand on the reef among anemones, crinoids, urchins and tube worms, and clownfish live in the anemones. Sea slugs, sea apples and boxfish turn up across the site between the coral structures.

Background

Secret Garden first became popular with snorkellers and scuba divers around 2010. In 2016 the wider bay around it was designated a marine protected area, the Wanghaixiang Chaojing Bay Resource Conservation Area, which takes in the reef below Chaojing Park.

Marine life and season

  • Nudibranchs
  • Macro critters
Month-by-month season rating for Secret Garden
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
FairFairFairGoodGoodGoodFairFairFairGoodFairFair

Season follows Longdong & Northeast Coast: No month stands out as best; late April to early October is the main season, with typhoons from July to September.

Dive videos

Scuba Diving record - Northeast coast Badouzi Secret Garden,Taiwan - 20170522 · Evo Hsieh on YouTube

Questions divers ask

What certification does Secret Garden in Keelung need?+

The reef reaches a maximum of about 25 m, so Advanced Open Water covers the deepest part of the site; snorkellers use the shallows near the shore entry.

Sources

  1. 東北角潛點介紹 (Ming Diving) — Ming Diving
  2. Diving Guide Taiwan — Taiwan Outdoors

Photo credits

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