WOW. We loved it! It was busy outside, but once inside it was a different story. Several school were also in attendance, however the students were rarely if ever heard. Buy tickets in advance if you can, or be prepared to wait a while once you have bought them (entry is based on 'batches')
The size of the tank is enourmous and deep. My highlight was the jellyfish exhibit. Seeing the dolphins being fed was also fun watching their antics. It is circular and deep, so you get to witness the schools of fish at varying depths. Well worth the trip!!! 🐟🐠🦈
By far one of the best aquariums I have ever been to. Fully immersive and well done with tons of different sea animals and some land animals. The building feels new and modern, and the aquarium alone takes at least 90-120 minutes to complete. Well worth it and this was my second visit here. You should certainly buy tickets online beforehand to beat the crowds waiting at the ticket counter. If you go on a weekend, expect chaos. It's really busy at that time. Nice mall close by as well with some cool souvenirs and restaurants.
When we arrived, it was fairly crowded but not too bad. The lines to buy tickets were pretty long, but it was a last minute decision for us to come here so we know that is on us. We chose to only participate in the base experience for the aquarium and did not choose to do any of the other options such as the boat or feeding viewings. After buying our tickets, we had to wait about 30 minutes for the next time block. Once we were inside, the crowd moved fairly quickly until we got to the penguins and dolphins. It was a bit annoying to have to wait a long time for us to get a turn to see the exhibits. There were no time limits and people spent a long time taking video and trying to get good shots and pictures. This was very unenjoyable.
Excellent aquarium, I love that you twist your way from the top down with massive tanks on both sides of the walkway (excellent building design).
English speakers will need to use phones to link to websites to find out more about the fish, but if you're just looking they have the pictures and names which is good enough for most.
It is wheelchair accessible, they even have designated viewing spaces for wheelchairs next to most of the tanks.
They could do with more seats for those who want to rest and just watch.
Timed entry to help manage numbers, seems to work well.
My favourite was the jelly fish exhibition.
What a wonderful place to learn about the creatures that inhabit the different parts of the Pacific Ocean. Located at the Port of Osaka, this gigantic aquarium houses large tanks that stretch from the top floor all the way to the bottom, allowing you to witness the animals on the surface and in their deep water environment.
The two whale sharks in the main, middle tank were amazing. They are surrounded by all sorts of other sharks, rays, fish, and even a sun fish!
Our taxi driver dropped us off near the underground parking so we had to walk up some stairs to get to the entrance, but closer to the Lego giraffe at the corner, there are escalators for those who are done with stairs after 3 weeks in Japan.
Take your time and enjoy the various animals. We went at 15:30 and there was a mad crush of people, especially around the otters, but by 17:00 they crowds had thinned out and we were able to see all the exhibits easily.
There are seats along the walls and near the big tank. Lots of toilets. It is air conditioned which is welcomed after crazy heat!
