Tales from our move to Singapore: S.E.A. Aquarium

One of the things that my Mum and Grama really liked the look of when looking up things to do in Singapore was the S.E.A. Aquarium on Sentosa. We always thought that going on a weekday would be much preferable to pushing and barging our way through weekend crowds and with my Grama with us I really didn't want to have people rushing her to see things.

I didn't bother to check where we could park on the island as seeing as practically the whole place was a tourist trap i thought it would be very well signposted...first big mistake. We'd went onto Sentosa before by accident and the toll booth guy kindly waved us through and told us where to turn around to get back onto West Coast Road. So this time, fully intending a trip to Sentosa, we headed to the toll booths, asked for directions to the aquariums parking and headed off in the general direction he told us to go.

Unfortunately i thought parking would be a similar set up to Disney World or Universal in Florida, so when we didn't see giant car parks or signs we got a bit panicky. After going back for help twice we eventually parked at The Hard Rock Hotel and found our way out of that resort.

Once we did get to the aquarium we found it was a very short queue for tickets and a very easy stroll into the venue. There was a small show about how Chinese traders would travel the globe and the treasures at the bottom of the ocean. There was a small cafe and the turn styles to get into the actual aquarium. Once through we walked past displays of items that would have been traded from and with Asia and then went into another theatre with had a show about a storm and a ship sinking. It was quite good as when we left the theatre we found we had sunk to the bottom of the ocean and were underground to start viewing the fish.

There was a giant display cabinet showing a capsized ship in the window and lots of different types of fish swimming about around it. This window had no information about the fish on it, but was just beautiful to watch.

The more we walked around the more we saw and learnt about the fish. They were split into geographic areas so that we saw lots of tropical fish, colder climate species, and then jelly fish. This led us onto a giant glass wall which we stared at for ages. The only problem with the place was that there was a distinct lack of seats. Even the cafe areas were standing or bar stools which didn't work out to well for all of our party.

Mark could have stayed there all day he loved it so much, but because i got confused about where to walk to at one point i made everyone miss the observation area that was in a circular room. It was only a different way to view the giant glass wall, but i feel bad i made everyone miss it all the same. Its behind this wall that the restaurant was, however i didn't fancy chowing down on fish seeing as where we were ("fish are friends, not food" as one shark once said in Finding Nemo)

We had a snack at one of the standing cafes, and we completed the second part of the tour a lot quicker. We were starting to get tired feet and wanted something real to eat.

We definitely have to come back here. It was $38 pp and could easily keep you entertained during the hottest hours of the day when you are looking for something to do. If you don't mind sitting on the floor or being on your feet all day you will certainly have a great time.

Its very superficial, but i loved the more colourful fish best, and whizzed past the boring old grey ones, but i guess everyone has their favourites.

Of course a couple of my favourites were Dori and Nemo...the busiest of all windows!

The very last exhibition was the shark tank which you had to walk through. We took a few snaps but had already seen the ice cream stand (quite literally) at the end of the tunnel and so sped off in that direction.

At $9 per small average tasting tub it was a bit much, but we were ready for something to eat. We mooched around (seeing as there was nowhere to sit) to eat it before venturing into the obligatory gift shop at the exit. My Mum and Grama picked up a few things for my Brother and then we went off in the search for real food.