Piedra Ahogada - Morrocoy & Chichiriviche
Secret Garden, for us, is one of those sites that constantly surprises. It’s not flashy, no screaming currents or megafauna flybys (though mobulas do occasionally cruise past), but it just *delivers*. We love the gentle slope, carpeted with big, healthy coral bommies that just suck you in. You’ll be finning along, thinking you’re just admiring the reef, then boom, you spot a rhinopias tucked into a sponge, or a blue-ring octopus pulsing its colours from a crevice. It’s a site for the patient, for divers who enjoy taking their time and really looking. Visibility averages around 14 metres, which is often perfect for macro work without feeling too enclosed. Our favourite time to dive it is late morning, when the light plays beautifully through the shallower soft corals, illuminating the schools of fusiliers and damselfish that swarm around them. Keep an eye out for the smaller stuff – triplefins, blennies, and those ridiculously colourful flasher wrasses are everywhere. It’s a photographer’s dream, particularly for macro, but even if you’re just enjoying the scenery, the sheer density of life here is something special.
- Location
- Morrocoy & Chichiriviche, Venezuela, South America
- Coordinates
- 10.485900, -67.824200
- Type
- reef
Nearby Dive Sites in Morrocoy & Chichiriviche
- Bajo de Canaveral
- Bajo de Chuao
- Caraballeda - Cayo Sal
- Carabelleda - Caribe Soy
- CAYO MEDIO (reef)
- CAYO NORTE (reef)
- Cayo Pescadores (drift)
- Cayo Sombrero - 3-15m (reef)
- Cayo Sombrero
- Cayo Sur
- Chichiriviche
- CLEVELAND - 30m (wreck)
- Gran Roque
- Isla Larga Puerto Cabello - 5-20m (reef)
- JANS - 10m (wreck)
Nearest Dive Centres to Piedra Ahogada
- Epsilon Dive Center
- Pilardive - ["PADI"]
- REFUGIO DE BUZOS
- Scubatec Dive Center C.A. - ["PADI"]
Marine Life in Morrocoy & Chichiriviche
Home to 272 recorded species including 208 reef fish, 26 hard corals, 6 seagrass & algae, 6 crabs & lobsters, 5 whales & dolphins, 4 sea urchins.
Notable Species
- Common lionfish (Pterois volitans) - Reef Fish
- turtlegrass (Thalassia testudinum) - Seagrass & Algae
- Sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca) - Seagrass & Algae
- Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) - Whales & Dolphins
- French grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum) - Reef Fish
- Mustard hill coral (Porites astreoides) - Hard Corals
- Schoolmaster (Lutjanus apodus) - Reef Fish
- Supreme Limu (Asparagopsis taxiformis) - Seagrass & Algae
- Lesser Starlet Coral (Siderastrea radians) - Hard Corals
- Barber (Acanthurus bahianus) - Reef Fish
- Slippery Dick (Halichoeres bivittatus) - Reef Fish
- Bluestriped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus) - Reef Fish
- Gutong (Scarus iseri) - Reef Fish
- Lettuce Coral (Agaricia agaricites) - Hard Corals
- Green Sea Urchin (Lytechinus variegatus) - Sea Urchins
- Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas)
- Cowfish (Tursiops truncatus) - Whales & Dolphins
- Grey Snapper (Lutjanus griseus) - Reef Fish
- Butterfly (Chaetodon capistratus) - Reef Fish
- Finger Coral (Porites porites) - Hard Corals