On Valentine's Day this year we brought Lil Pumpkin to the famous S.E.A. Aquarium at the Marine Life Park in Resorts World Sentosa {RWS}. I've been there before as part of a welfare outing with my colleagues and I was so memerised by it, I knew I just had to come back with Lil Pumpkin.
Another similar attraction in Singapore is the Underwater World, also on Sentosa island, but in terms of size and experience, the S.E.A. Aquarium is by far superior. If you had time to only go to one, choose the S.E.A. Aquarium. You won't be disappointed I'm sure. We spent about 3 hours there that day.
Near the entrance is the Discovery Touch Pool. Although there's usually a long queue, it moves pretty quickly and you shouldn't miss this. From starfishes to sea urchins, kids will enjoy the tactile experience of the friendly sea creatures.
Lil Pumpkin was really into it and happy to reach deep to touch them! We had to hold her tight least she dive head-first into the pool haha
With more than 800 species of marine animals, the world's largest aquarium is home to majestic manta rays, beautiful coral reefs, around 200 sharks, 24 bottlenose dolphins {one in the above pic!} and other uncommonly-exhibited creatures of the sea living in 10 zones and 49 habitats.
Some of these zones include the Strait of Karimata & Java Sea, Strait of Malacca & Andaman Sea, Bay of Bengal & Laccadive Sea, Persian Gulf & Arabian Sea, South China Sea and more. It's truly very educational walking through the aquarium as there are many signs and friendly, experienced staff telling you more surprising facts about the various fishes and living conditions.
At the Moray Eel exhibit, there's a built-in clear dome where you can crawl in and pop your heads right close to the giant eels in their niches and crevices for a close view. They are HUGE and frankly speaking, kinda freaky :P
Lil Pumpkin likes to carry her notebook around to doodle now. I hope she got more creative inspiration from this trip (^^)V
Seeing these giant spider crabs made me feel rather hungry hehe.
I think this was taken at the Red Sea zone. Often called the “rainforest of the sea”, the Red Sea is home to a diverse range of soft and hard corals because of its warm waters and high salt content. I love the beautiful coral reefs that's home to warm-water fish like fairy basslet, yellow boxfish and fire shrimps.
My favourite part was watching the various translucent sea jelly dance in the water. Truly captivating.
I can probably watch them for hours :) Check out my Vine videos of them swimming around here and here.
This is the Japanese sea nettle.. so ghost-like and graceful. Its sting is so powerful it can cause serious skin irritation and burning though. Eeeks!
Halfway through our underwater experience is the world's largest viewing panel {36m x 8.3m} that was built to give visitors the feeling of being on the ocean floor. I think it succeeded in its mission :)
We took some time to just sit down on the carpeted floor and admire the view #bliss As it was the last day of Chinese New Year, they were playing the usual festive songs. Wish they played something a bit more soothing to make the experience more relaxing....
At the end of the aquarium they had an area set up to for some free Chinese New Year colouring activities. The boy and I did it with Lil Pumpkin since there wasn't any crowd.
The Chinese character meaning fish is 魚 in the traditional form and 鱼 in the simplified form. It is pronounced "yu". This character is also a radical, meaning that it is used as a building block in other, more complex Chinese characters, many of which have something to do with fish names {like these featured here}.
The colouring craft that we did can be used as decorations or bookmarks :)
One of the many snack bars inside the S.E.A. Aquarium. There is also the famous Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora. She's apparently the only celebrity female chef in Singapore and diners can enjoy light, simple and healthy dishes using the freshest produce from around the region while admiring a magnificent view of the Open Ocean habitat through huge glass windows.
It all sounds like a lovely restaurant experience, but I've seen photos of the food they serve and the portions seem rather... well, small. It's common in posh restaurants I guess but I felt like eating something more hearty, and it didn't seem very kids-friendly according to some reviews so we ate out at the Malaysian Food Street {more on that in another post} instead. Perhaps next time the boy and I will come back on our own for date night :P
Tips:
There are no nursing rooms in S.E.A. Aquarium. They are located within the nearby Maritime Experiential Museum.
There are no rental strollers available, but you can bring your own
Photographs are allowed, so bring a good camera!
Water and small snacks are allowed in, and food is sold inside as well.
Admission is valid for an entire day. If you need to leave for a while, get a hand stamp at the exit. A valid hand stamp and ticket are required for same day re-entry.
S.E.A. Aquarium, Marine Life Park RWS
8 Sentosa Gateway, Sentosa Island
Open daily, 9am - 9pm or 10am - 7pm
Admission: Adults S$38, Child {aged 4-12} S$28, Senior {60 & above} S$28
Tel: +65 6577 8888
The Marine Life Park also houses the Adventure Cove Waterpark, which unfortunately, we haven't been to yet!! *gasp* It features six water slides, including the region’s first hydro-magnetic coaster, Riptide Rocket; the Bluwater Bay wave pool and tubing along a 620m Adventure River. Sounds fun, doesn't it??! It's definitely on our to-do list and hope to bring Lil Pumpkin there this year :)
Check out the rest of our Bub & Me activities or list of kid-friendly places in Singapore :)
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored or paid post. All views expressed are my own.
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