Friday, March 14, 2008

Manila Ocean Park opened to the public start of March 2008. As part of Ethan's year-end activity their school had a special field trip on March 13. It was special because the park opened at 8:00 am to give the kids a private tour. The park opens at 10:00 am.
Entrance fees are 400 Php and 300 Php for adults and kids respectively. The Oceanarium main sections are finished. The tour is by groups of 50. I was with Ethan and 2 of my daughters. We were first taken to the Agos (FLow) Section where enormous fresh water fishes are in their humongous tanks for viewing. The section's theme is that of a rain forest that has plants not fully bloomed. The picture on your left is the wooden stairs located at the Agos.

At the bottom of the stairs are tanks filled with more gigantic fish like the catfish or what we commonly call hito. An open tank is filled with starfishes and some other mollusks that guests can touch and hold.

Of course none of the kids attempted to hold the starfish. They were freaked out. Matter of fact, I think I was the only one who did hold a starfish.


We were then taken, by our not so informative guide to the Bahura (Reef) Section. Guess who we saw that got the kids so excited yayas and mommies included? Yes! Nemo and Dory!

The Laot (Fishing ground) Section had eels, stone fish, grouper and other edible fishes. I even saw a real big school of pampano.




My favorite part of the oceanarium was the 25 meter long underwater tunnel. It was amazing. One is surrounded by water-fish-stingray at both sides and above.





This super duper stingray is so freaking big! I was reminded of the stingray that killed Steve Irwin.




Ethan, Kyle and I at the end of the tunnel. From where we were sitting, you just have to look up to see Pagi (stingray) swimming up on the ceiling. The glass-bottomed tanks are actually located on the second floor. Right in front of us is Ang Kalaliman (the deep) where tanks full of barracudas and sharks are located.

That's it!It can take you anywhere from an hour to two hours to finish the tour. Half of the complex is not yet built. The unfinished half of the complex will house the mall, hotels and eating places adjacent to the oceanarium. I am not sure if there will eventually be a dolphin show.

The 400 Php entrance fee is not affordable for majority of public school children. For a household that earns a measly 350 Php a day, surely a 400 Php fee just to get a glimpse of the "sea" is too much. Ethan's school was given a 5% discount. Maybe the park will give bigger discounts to fieldtrips by public school children.

The highlight of my oceanarium tour was at the fish spa. For an additional 100 Php you can soak your feet at the special pool where doctor fishes will eat away your feet's dead skin. I don't know who was happier. Me or the fish?


Location: at the back of Rizal Park Grandstand

Posted by desperateblogger On 3/14/2008 07:13:00 PM 17 comments

17 comments:

  1. wow....i'd like to soak my feet in that pool as well! ahahaha

    i dunno bout the fish,but i'd sure be happy!

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  2. On one hand, the fish eating the dead skin on someone's feet makes me feel a little grossed out... but on the other hand, it sounds REALLY GOOD! I wish I could try that!

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  3. Steve Irwin? Is he that croc hunter guy from Animal Planet?

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  4. i have visited ocean park in hongkong before great that there another one was opened in Manila. i'm looking forward to visit there also. i don't have kids yet but my niece and my nephew will surely enjoy.

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  5. Hi Lena! Manila aqua is a lot better than KL Aquaria. At least..THe water are clear. KL is quite dark and diff to take pictures.

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  6. that place looks good! i'll try to see it when we're there.

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  7. vannie: it was actually ticklish

    nicki: i didn't want to try but i was forced to!

    slice: crickey! yes!

    biyahilo:

    yes. the oceanarium is okay but it's still not at par with the one in HK.

    beyond: yes. manila oceanpark is ok

    sheng: yes, you should visit when you come over.

    ReplyDelete
  8. We have Aquariams here in the US that are similar....except for the fish eating the dead skin of off feet...that's cool!

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  9. "I don't know who was happier: me or the fish."
    Hahaha, you really don't want us to answer that, don't you?
    Nice one, now I wanna go! I wanna go!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Where is this actually located? thanks

    ReplyDelete
  11. megamomph, yeah that was rhetorical.

    gemma: i'm glad you asked where ocean park is. it's behind the manila grandstand in rizal park or luneta

    ReplyDelete
  12. WOW, thank you for featuring this...Its awesome... We'll surely go there once we visit the Philippines early next year.

    ReplyDelete
  13. i can't wait to try the "foot spa" hehehe

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  14. Hmmm. I never get to visit that place yet...pity me. I'm new here...good site!

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  15. What a wonderful place. I think it actually look very similar to Atlantis in Dubai.

    Eric

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  16. Manila Ocean Park is one of the best places in the Philippines. They have a lot of fishes that can only see in the Philippines. Last week they had their food trip: food warrior competition. Different people from different places were joined in the competition. Other information from the said event is on this link I hope you like it thanks..Food trip

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  17. I have been with Manila Ocean park and I could say that it is a very nice place to visit specially for the kids,though the fee may be a bit higher for the ordinary people yet It will bring a lasting memories,It is like a zoo for the underwater animals and it will make you realize how important it is to keep our seas and oceans clean. Plus the park itself is also cleaning the water from the Manila bay.Over all,It was a very pleasant experience.

    ReplyDelete

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