Caribbean Gardens, Garden and market in Scoresby, Australia

Caribbean Gardens is a former 100-acre market, garden and amusement park in Scoresby, on the north-west side of the 1.2 km artificial Lake Caribbean. Its 10,500 m2 market pavilion, fibreglass picnic umbrellas and whimsical fibreglass statues remain, but the chairlift and train tracks were sold or demolished after the 2020 closure. A yellow steel chairlift tower with a ladder and a railed platform still stands.

The Spooner family bought the land in 1945 and set up a boat factory there, which is why the lake was originally dug on the property. Over time, the site shifted away from manufacturing and the garden and market activity gradually took over.

The market opened in 1976 and grew from a handful of car-boot traders into an undercover market with over 1000 stall sites in a 10,500 m2 pavilion, one of Victoria's largest. It closed with the park in 2020; supporters filled its Facebook page with over 5000 comments calling for the market to be saved.

The park closed permanently on 1 July 2020, so the gardens and market are no longer open as before. The site now sits within Caribbean Park and is hired for events and music festivals through Event Central. Many original attractions, including the chairlift and train tracks, were sold or demolished between 2021 and 2025, though fibreglass picnic umbrellas remain.

The lake on the grounds was not built for the gardens but was dug to test boats produced in the on-site factory before they went to market. Today, most visitors strolling along its banks have no idea that the water was once used to trial small vessels.