Singapore Aquarium Marine Life Park and undersea adventure

Singapore Aquarium: One of the Largest Aquariums in the World.

Initially, I intended to write an article for the “flavours” section about the seafood we enjoyed in Asia. However, while browsing photos from our trip to Singapore, I decided to talk about fish and marine creatures in a wholly different context.

So, today’s blog post will be about the largest and most modern aquatic environment designed for admiring marine fauna and flora. It’s the largest such facility ever built by human hands. Magda just informed me that I hastily called it the largest. In 2014, something more impressive was built, the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Hengqin, China. The difference is small, but it exists. So, I correct myself: we visited the second-largest artificial aquarium in the world.

Singapore Aquarium S.E.A. Aquarium Marine Life Park in Singapore

The S.E.A. Aquarium Marine Life Park in Singapore fully deserves the title of a giant in its class. Did it meet our expectations during our visit? Can we recommend it to travellers visiting the Asian Tiger, as Singapore is called? You’ll find out in the summary, but for now, let’s return to our trip.

It’s Sunday, so there are many people like us waiting for their place in line for the train that will take us to Sentosa Island. Among other attractions, it is home to the one that interests us the most. As I said, there are many people, but not enough to be discouraging. As with everything in this extraordinary city-state, the entertainment island is perfectly prepared for tourists.

Sentosa: Singapore’s Entertainment Island

Sentosa is an island in the southern part of Singapore. It is called the island of fun, a name that fully reflects its character. Over an area of five square kilometres, many tourist attractions are gathered. One of them is the aquarium.

Additionally, there’s Universal Studios Singapore, an amusement park directly associated with the famous American film studio. There are also several other themed places, hotels, casinos, numerous restaurants, and relaxation spots. For sunbathing enthusiasts, there is nearly a two-kilometre-long beach with sand like something out of a fairy tale.

Singapore Aquarium

I promise you won’t be bored, and everyone, I repeat, everyone will find something for themselves on the island. Unfortunately, we only had time to visit the Singapore aquarium and take a short walk around the island’s streets.

So, it’s time to get in line for tickets. Despite a slight crowd, we quickly moved towards the window to pay for the entrance. We then smoothly, along with the stream of people, head towards the doors behind which stairs lead us underground, directly to the place where giant tanks full of all sorts of marine life await us.

We move between them through wide corridors and tunnels. Some tunnels extend under glass ceilings, allowing us to see fish swimming right above our heads. And there are thousands of them. From small, colourful “Finding Nemo” types to fearsome-looking sharks.

Singapore Aquarium inside the oceanarium

In some glass display cases, parts of coral reefs from the most famous places on earth are showcased. The creators managed to build entire functioning ecosystems with plants, fish, and everything else. Some created worlds are fully self-sufficient and could function without external help. This speaks volumes about the immense amount of work put into building this wonder.

Somewhere in the depths of the dark corridors of the Singapore oceanarium, we found a glass wall behind which, in colourfully lit water, mysterious and majestic jellyfish moved. I didn’t expect these creatures to be so beautiful and graceful. When they float in the water in a group, performing slow movements with their domed bodies, it feels like there is music playing in the depths that we cannot hear.

The entire tank seems to live in a strange, slow rhythm. If it weren’t for the fact that the rest of this extraordinary and lively museum awaited us, I would have stayed here and watched this fantastic dance for the rest of the day.

During our journey through the underground corridors, we constantly encountered wonders that are impossible to describe, and I won’t even try. I will only say that we encountered colourful and deadly frogs, snakes, snails, and, of course, plant life in such abundance that it takes your breath away.

Singapore Aquarium and Marine Creatures Like Those in Sci-Fi Films

There are also places where we can touch marine creatures. In an open tank, starfish are lounging. Spongy, flower-like creatures cling tightly to rocks. There’s also a large sea snail, whose sight I will long remember.

However, all of these pales in comparison when we enter the central part of the building. A large room resembling a cinema ends not with a screen but with a huge glass panel, behind which entire schools of fish gracefully swim by. If you’ve ever been to an IMAX cinema, imagine that giant screen, only here it functions as a giant window.

The Largest Glass Panel Separating Viewers from the Ocean Floor

From the information on the walls, I learned that the tank holds 18 million litres of seawater and is home to over 50,000 animals. The view represents the open ocean, and the biggest stars of this scene are monstrous rays weighing over a ton.

They are accompanied by fearsome sharks and a multitude of secondary characters. One of the extraordinary attractions is the opportunity to wear a special diving suit and walk along the ocean floor.

Feeding times take place several times a day. It looks like a few people in diving suits suddenly appear in view with baskets full of treats. The deep-sea residents eagerly await this. A joyful dance around the people begins, delighting the spectators.

And so ends the adventure in the underwater world of the Singapore Oceanarium on Sentosa Island. I’m glad I took a few photos to show you today. They won’t capture the vastness and beauty of this artificially created world. This place can be a wonderful adventure for the whole family and for each of you. Our Trails give it five stars without hesitation.

For those of you for whom the distance is insurmountable, we found information about similar facilities in Europe. None of them match the scale of Singapore’s, but you don’t have to spend 14 hours on a plane to see them.

Similar Attractions in Europe

• So let’s start with one of the most beautiful oceanariums in our part of the world — L’Oceanogràfic in Spain, specifically in sunny Valencia. Its main attraction is a restaurant located in a glass dome. While enjoying your meal, fish peer over your shoulder into your plate.
• Sea Life London Aquarium in the UK is also a significant tourist attraction for deep-sea lovers.
• Close to Poland’s western borders is the Ozeaneum in Stralsund, Germany. To visit it, you only need to travel about 200 kilometres from Szczecin. It may not be particularly large, but it has 39 aquariums representing different ecosystems, including one showcasing our Baltic Sea.
• Even closer to our borders is the AquaDom in Berlin. It features the largest cylindrical aquarium filled with seawater. Thousands of fish swim in it, which we can admire from a lift moving inside it.

These are some fascinating oceanariums in Europe that we’ve heard of. There are dozens more, each offering something unique. It would be wonderful if you could write to us about similar places you find. I promise that the most fascinating descriptions will appear on the Get Ready For Adventure portal.

Practical Information about S.E.A. Aquarium in Singapore on Sentosa Island

• You can get to Sentosa Island by train from the station located near the large shopping centre, VivoCity. The ride costs 4 dollars for a round trip ticket. If you prefer a more spectacular journey, you can take the cable car. Of course, the price is much higher, at 13 dollars for adults and 8 dollars for children for a one-way trip.
• A ticket to the Singapore aquarium costs 38 dollars and is worth every penny.
• All additional information can be found on the above website.

Singapore Aquarium S.E.A. interesting facts

• The park was opened in 2012 on Sentosa Island off the coast of Singapore.
• Its area is 8 hectares, and the total amount of water in all the aquariums is 45 million litres — the capacity of 17 Olympic swimming pools! Over 100,000 animals live there.
• The largest tank representing life in the open ocean holds 18 million litres of water and houses over 50,000 creatures.
• The largest acrylic glass panel in the main room, through which we can view the underwater world, is 36 meters long and over 8 meters high. Its thickness is 70 centimetres, and it weighs a whopping 250 tons.
• The 100,000 animals living in the S.E.A. Aquarium consume over 450 kilograms of food daily. An average adult human eats about 1.5 kilograms. The aquarium could therefore feed 300 people daily.
• You can take a course and pass an exam to become a certified diver — PADI Open Water Diver Course — at the S.E.A. Aquarium.
• The facility houses a hotel with rooms where one wall is a window overlooking a habitat with over 40,000 fish. There is also a jacuzzi with a similar view.
• Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora is a restaurant where instead of walls, there are windows looking out onto the largest tank. During dinner, you can admire the performances of rays and sharks outside the window.
• For those planning to get married, S.E.A. Aquarium organizes weddings with fantastic attractions.

Polish version