When I was doing research for our Bangkok trip, I came across both Safari World and Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World. It didn't occur to me that I should just choose one and forsake the other just because we only had four full days to spare. On the contrary, I was happy to include both attractions into our itinerary as knowing how much my kids love animals and marine life, it would be a much more enjoyable experience for them than going to museums or shopping malls.
I was told that we would spend about two hours or at most a little more than that to explore Sea Life Bangkok, therefore we decided to make squeeze our way to Chatuchak weekend market and have lunch there before heading over to the aquarium. Since it opens at 10am and closes at 9pm daily, unlike some other attractions which close early at 5pm, I reckon we would definitely have enough time to take things at a leisurely pace and perhaps even visit the night market after dinner.
You know what? It turned out that we spent over six long hours at Sea Life Bangkok. Yup, SIX! That is because these kids love to admire each and every exhibit and would not leave till they have spotted every species of fish there is to be seen. Considering that Sea Life Bangkok is the largest aquarium in South East Asia and spans an area of over 10,000sqm with hundreds of fishes on display, I guess it's no wonder that my kids had a blast and it was such a good thing that we made it here with lots of time to spare. In this post, I'll share with you more about our experience including the beautiful marine life we saw, the different zones to explore, the unique glass bottom boat ride and even a 4-D show that visitors can look forward to!
Conveniently located in the basement of Siam Paragon, Sea Life Bangkok is easily accessible and you just have to take the BTS to Siam or inform your driver to drop you at Paragon. This is also the mall where Kidzania is located so if you plan to visit both of these places, it will be good to stay somewhere nearby too. Madam Tussauds sits right beside Sea Life Bangkok so if you are keen on that, you can get a combo ticket on Klook to enter both attractions too. I was so thankful I had pre-booked our tickets because it saved me the hassle of waiting - there was a long queue on the day that we came because it was a Saturday.
The girls were thrilled to receive a penguin mask at the entrance - which they called it their spy goggles - and they wore it for the entire time that we were there, pretending to be spies and using their 'goggles' to spot all the fishes, even those that were camouflaged really well. Another kid-friendly feature was the Dive Log Book that you can get at the start of the journey. Inside it is a total of nine emboss stamps that you can collect along the way and every completed book earns you a special prize. My kids were ecstatic every time they spotted this stamp station and you can also learn about some fun facts with every stamp - each of them comes in the shape of a fish.
Every exhibit comes with a comprehensive information boards which is in both Thai and English so the kids are able to read about the fishes they see in the tanks and build up their knowledge of the marine kingdom too. Next, let's take a look at some of the different zones you can visit in the aquarium!
ROCKY HIDEOUT
This is where the journey begins at you set sail on an amazing underwater journey. What welcomes you at the start of it all are the Giant Spider Crab and Giant Pacific Octopus. There are also exhibits featuring the delicate, elegant shrimps and lobsters and if you are lucky, you can even catch the feeding sessions too.
SHARK WALK
This was one that I particular liked because we were able to take a 'Shark Wall' where five different types of shark were literally below our feet. Yup, all that separated us from them was a thin piece of glass! While the kids were happy to play all the interactive games on the wall and learn about shark facts in the process, I was just contented to sit down and watch the sharks in action.
GLASS BOTTOM BOAT RIDE
The glass bottom boat ride was a unique first experience for the kids who were excited to know that they could see through the bottom of our boat - even though it was just a small rectangular shaped viewing panel. Each ride takes about ten minutes and there will be an English-speaking staff on board who will introduce you to the types of fish you can see, including sharks, stingrays and more. Life jackets are compulsory and each ride costs 350 baht per person (it's much cheaper if you book it as a combo with your admission tickets on Klook).
CORAL REEF
Did you know that corals are animals and not plants? I always find them to be so intriguing and strikingly beautiful and it was nice that the kids had a chance to visit the colourful coral reef in Sea Life and come up close with different types of corals. We especially loved the tunnel where the little ones could crawl through and have a photo opportunity with the corals and fishes.
SEAHORSE KINGDOM
It's a well known fact that when it comes to seahorses, the males are the ones that get pregnant and give birth. Yup, while they are still the sperm producers, the females will transfer their eggs to the males' abdominal pouch and incubate them for 24 days before giving birth. How fascinating and amazing, right? It's great to know that Sea Life dedicates a whole section to this magical seahorse kingdom though some of them can really be hard to spot when resting in their tanks.
TROPICAL RAINFOREST
The tropical rainforest leads you to a lower level in the aquarium and as you walk through the lush forest, you can see cascading waterfalls, spot poisonous dart frogs and be surrounded by huge tanks with giant freshwater fishes such as the arapaima.
By the time we reached here, it was already nearly three hours since we started and boy, those legs were aching! The toddler was sleeping in the carrier and since he is not all that light at 13kg, I was glad to find a place to rest my aching back and shoulders. Yup, there is a small cafeteria just after the tropical rainforest and you can sit down to catch your breath, get some drinks, enjoy a chicken pie or have ice cream treats too. The interesting part was that there were some snake exhibits at the cafe so the girls were happy to just stand in front of the tanks and admire these slimy creatures while chomping on their sandwiches.
ROCK POOL
Moving onto the second half of the journey, the rock pool was one of our favourites because the kids got to come up close and touch the sea stars and even a shark's egg shell! The pop up tank was also a huge hit because they wanted to pretend to swim with the fishes and since there was no one there in the queue, these kids just kept 'swimming' and 'swimming' and it was hilarious and fun to watch them enjoying themselves.
TROPICAL OCEAN
Inside the tropical ocean zone is a towering 8-metre tall aquarium that contains many different types of fishes and corals. I love huge aquariums and am contented to just sit down and admire the different types of fishes swimming around - even though I usually cannot recognise more than one or two of them. We were lucky to catch the feeding session too and the diver on duty was so sporting as to give the kids high fives from inside the tank and even attempted to do underwater bubble ring tricks too!
OCEAN TUNNEL
The ocean tunnel is one of the highlights of Sea Life Bangkok so make sure you don't miss it! Even though many aquariums, including our own in Singapore, feature tunnels, it still feels quite surreal to be able to walk through schools of fish and have sharks swimming right above and even towards you.
What makes the exhibits more extraordinary are the Thai relics and statues that are featured both outside and even inside of the tanks, which gives them a historical and cultural value. See the two pictures below? We particularly loved the last one!
JELLES
No aquarium feels complete without the presence of the enchanting and spellbinding jellyfish and I love how they always seem to illuminate the darkness. The girls are always in awe of their beauty and here, they even attempted to swim with the jellies too!
PENGUIN ICE ADVENTURE
At the end of the journey, these stunningly adorable animals will see you on your way out and if you are in luck, they might even flap their wings at you - yup, say Hello to the gentoo penguins! These penguins were so mesmerising and we were in awe just watching them dive into the pool. Once, the kids had this serviette in their hands and this cute fella just dived straight towards us and tried to 'eat' the serviette, thinking that it was fish!
This was the last exhibit before we finally exited the aquarium after spending over half a day here. The kids were proud that they completed their log books and each of them received a badge from the gift shop and I was happy that we took a family photo and made it into a souvenir for keepsake.
4-D CINEMA
Right outside the aquarium is the 4-D cinema and admission is at 350 baht per person (once again, get your combo tickets on Klook for a much cheaper price!). The shows vary from time to time and you don't get to choose what you wish to watch but you do get to select from a wide variety of show timings starting from 11:30am to 8:30pm. Each show lasts for approximately 15 minutes. For us, we watched The Lost World which was about dinosaurs and while I wouldn't say the effects were top-notch, the kids enjoyed the story and were squealing in laughter from all the sudden spurts of air and water.
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To read about our Bangkok trip itinerary, visit my previous post here. You can also click on the below where I share more about each individual attraction we visited. Have fun at your next visit to this family-friendly and fun-filled city!
Bangkok Itinerary
Day 1 - Safari World and Central World Night Market
Day 2 - Chatuchak and Sea Life
Day 3 - Open House and Asiatique
Day 4 - Kidzania
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GET YOUR TICKETS ON KLOOK TODAY!
I was very thankful that we had booked our tickets on Klook for Sea Life Bangkok before the trip because it saved me at least half an hour of queueing up! They had a separate counter for online bookings so I could straightaway get our admission tickets, glass bottom boat ride tickets and 4-D show tickets without having to join the normal queue. Phew! It can be a lifesaver when you have young kids who are really eager to enter!
To book your tickets to Sea Life Bangkok, go here and choose the package and date that you desire. Prices are guaranteed to be the lowest and if you can find a cheaper one, Klook will refund double the difference!
You can also visit Klook today and check out any tours, activities and attraction tickets you wish to check out with the family too, even for our local ones!
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