Monday, January 2, 2012

Churaumi Aquarium & Ocean Expo Park

Walking down the path to the Aquarium.
Our first outing on the island came just after New Years when some friends of ours invited us to go to the Churaumi Aquarium.

The Aquarium is located within Ocean Expo Park.  The park itself is free to the public and houses several flora and fauna exhibits.  Within the park are also several pay attractions including the Aquarium and the The Tropical Dream Center.

We arrived much later than expected, so we only had a couple hours to explore this wonderful area.

We decided to start off by going to see the free Dolphin Show.  The show takes place in its own outdoor theater on the oceanfront.  The scenery sets a relaxing atmosphere and provides a  beautiful backdrop.  Trainers play games, dance, and even do jokes with the dolphins.  The entire audience was really engaged with the performance.

 
After the show, we took a walk and stopped at the turtle exhibit and then took a time out to admire one of the many small beaches hidden along the shoreline.  Then we went inside the Aquarium.  With so much to see and do, we decided that we would definitely be returning to explore some more.  We went ahead a purchased memberships for the year.  (Only 3,600 yen per adult and O gets in free!)

Our party was hungry so we made our way down to the cafe catching glimpses of a multitude of tanks filled with varied fish and corals.  The cafe lies adjacent to the largest tank I have ever seen.  This tank houses 3 whale sharks and many small sharks and rays.


O fell asleep while I was consuming my taco rice and my pregnant friend felt like joining her.  So I stayed to watch over them while the boys went to check out some of the other tanks we had missed on our endeavor to procure food.

We decided to make the attempt to avoid evening traffic (we failed) and decided to head home.  All in all, I think the entire family enjoyed this outing and are looking forward to coming here again.

Other posts from visits to this site:
Ocean Expo Park
Ocean Expo Park Dolphin Show & Churaumi Aquarium Playground


No comments:

Post a Comment