Jardins do Oceano e Taipa Pequena 海洋及小潭山區

Setting and landscape

Taipa Pequena was once an island. A little over a century ago Taipa was two islets, Taipa Grande (大氹) and Taipa Pequena (小氹), joined by a sandbar on the site now occupied by the City University of Macau (澳門城市大學). Reclamation in the early twentieth century merged them into one island, and the two hills of today, Taipa Grande (大潭山) and Taipa Pequena, are the old islets. In the late 1980s further reclamation joined Taipa to Coloane (路環) to the south.

Ocean Gardens looks out towards the Sai Van Bridge (西灣大橋). The estate was completed in phases between 1994 and 2005 and covers about 19 hectares, with 34 high-rise residential towers and 21 villa-style houses.

What to see

The Taipa Pequena 2000 Trail (小潭山2000環山徑) circles the hill for 2,300 metres at about 50 metres above sea level. It has three entrances: two on Estrada de Sete Tanques (七潭公路) and one behind the Ocean Gardens health centre. The former Islands Municipal Council (海島市政廳) cut the path in 1998; one section opened during Green Week in March 1999 and the rest by the end of that year, and the name marks the millennium. In October 2023 the Municipal Affairs Bureau (市政署) listed it among the walking trails whose information signboards it was upgrading.

Also listed among the hill's sights is a large relief built in 1981 and unveiled by the Governor of Macau on 28 December that year. Designed by a Portuguese sculptor, it is made of six large walls and twelve panels folded in a zigzag, and it depicts life in Macau: the Guia Lighthouse (松山燈塔), a trishaw, a sailing boat and a jetfoil, then the Ruins of St Paul's (大三巴牌坊) and the Hotel Lisboa (葡京酒店), and finally dragon and lion dances.

The Taipa Pequena Lookout (小潭山觀景台) stands on about 600 square metres beside Rotunda Leonel Sousa (蘇利安圓形地). Completed in 2016, it has a sightseeing lift, a footbridge that leads to the 2000 Trail and a 180-degree viewing platform facing Hengqin (橫琴), the Shizimen Channel (十字門水道) and the southern tip of the Macau Peninsula; an existing Earth God shrine (土地廟) was kept on the site.

Highlights

• Taipa Pequena 2000 Trail 小潭山2000環山徑: A 2,300-metre path around the hill, opened in 1999 and named for the millennium.
• Taipa Pequena Lookout 小潭山觀景台: A 180-degree platform facing Hengqin and the Shizimen Channel, completed in 2016; the Macao Government Tourism Office used it as a filming location for its 2026 promotional micro-dramas.
• Ocean Gardens 海洋花園: A 19-hectare waterfront estate built in phases from 1994 to 2005.