Beauty of the bay makes a splash

Four creative women have set out to shake off Rockingham's "bogan" tag with a social media campaign highlighting the region's beauty and best- kept secrets.

Secrets in the Bay was started by Amanda Viviers, Em Hazeldean, Meg Scerri and Tammi Nepia, who wanted to use their creative skills to break down what they believe is an outdated stigma.

Using hashtags like #secretsinthebay, #farfrombogan and #reinventingrockingham, the women are promoting their home city with positive stories and beautiful images.

Ms Viviers, of Shoalwater, said the campaign prompted her to look at the area with fresh eyes.

"When I'm walking around now, I'm looking and not feeling like I need to escape to be inspired," she said. "I grew up here and then shifted away, lived in places like Leederville and North Perth and decided to bring my kids up here, but my creative side was saying: What am I doing?

"It's been really inspiring to reframe that thinking."

Fellow Shoalwater resident Ms Hazeldean said the ladies came up with the idea after becoming tired of the media noise about the city being "saturated in bogans".

The women said Secrets in the Bay was an exercise in creativity and not a business but they were willing to help promote any upcoming events, businesses or opportunities.

"I'm from New Zealand and there was so much stigma in Perth about Rockingham but we came down here and instantly fell in love with it, so it's really nice to change people's perspective," Ms Nepia added.

People can get involved by searching for Secrets in the Bay on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.