Manila Ocean Park

Last month I got to be a tourist in my home town, Manila. My cousin Angie and her son Daniel came from Taiwan for a short visit and I brought them to Manila Ocean Park.

I should say it was Angie who brought me to Manila Ocean Park instead since she was the one wh bought our tickets online. Daniel wasn’t very happy at first since they arrived at around 2:00 am and he was tired.

One can pay for the area they only want to see which is a good thing for repeat visitors.

Since it was our first time Angie got the complete package which included almost everything. We didn’t get to use all the tickets since some attractions were closed that day and we didn’t wait for the night musical fountain show.

sea lion show

koi feeding (extra charge)

The oceanarium was really nice with lots of sea creatures to behold. My only gripe was the warm, warm, super warm air-conditioning. It was really uncomfortable and annoying.

acorn barnacle

Philippine green mussels “tahong”

reef stonefish

bluefin trevally

leopard shark/zebra shark

blacktip reef shark

If you’re the adventurous sort you may want to swim with the sharks. You’d have to get in the cage though. To Daniel’s disappointment he didn’t meet the age and height requirement for this.

shark encounter

Daniel had to settle for a picture.

I thought it would finally cool up when we went to the Antarctica. Wishful thinking on my part.

The real penguins were the small ones.

The only place where it was cold was inside the Snow Village.

We paid extra to go in a walk-in freezer that was made to look like a winter wonderland complete with snow and kiddie trains for a good photo op which we had to pay for too. There were heavy coats for us to wear before going in. The temperature inside was a freezing -17C.

The blast of cold air definitely put Daniel in a good mood. He also got his wish to ride in a jeepney.

Next up was the fish spa which I was looking forward to. It cost a very reasonable P150 per person for 20 minutes for fish to nibble on your feet’s dead skin.

fish spa

The fish were much bigger than I thought. They seem to have grown 10 fold from the other pictures I’ve seen around the web. I cannot describe how creepy the feeling was. I kept shrieking and pulling my feet out. It took me more than 5 minutes to keep still and ‘enjoy’ the sensation of fish chewing on my skin. I kept thinking of the movie Piranha. This experience is definitely not for the ticklish.

The only way to go down was to pass by the park’s restaurant.

My favorite part was Jellies, the exhibit featuring all kinds of jellyfish. I would go back for this. It felt very calming looking at the lighted jellyfish displays.

Since the jellyfish were translucent they absorbed the lights which constantly changed color.

I took so much pictures of jellyfish and this is my favorite shot.

Mirrors played an important role in this room.

I’m glad I was able to visit the Manila Ocean Park. It was a good adventure for any age.

Manila Ocean Park
Brgy. 666 Manila, Philippines
02 567 7777
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