I went on a Thursday afternoon but the ticket sales person mentioned that it's very crowded. However it only took me 15 minutes to line up for the tickets. The staffs are very quick and efficient. Price are affordable as well.
Wonderful exhibitions. You could see how much research and care has been put into making and maintaining each exhibit.
The whale sharks were pretty cool especially during feeding time. Most of the animals are quite active. They're very obedient during feeding times as well.
After 5pm, they'll turn down the lights and you could see most of them will slowly drift off to sleep. Even the background music changed as well!
The first souvenir shop that you'll reach has a different variety of goods from the 2nd shop so if you really want it, buy it first.
Thank you for the wonderful experience!
Went in the late afternoon and it was raining. Short queue for ticket and given we have a pram (baby sleeping inside), we were not asked to park it once entered. Instead they assisted us with elevator use through secured access & staff only areas and in all possible ways allowed us to rejoin our family who took the escalator (on a few occasions). We are grateful for their patience and assistance. A few of the exhibitions (seals, penguins) span a few floors so don’t feel like you need to catch them all at one window: you walk around the big/main tank and will come back to the seals & penguins on the lower floors. There is a small cafe/eateries a 3 quarter in where we got super long sized hot dog and whale shark inspired soft serve. We also spent a bit of time at the gift shops. The kids (4,8,9 yo) all enjoyed themselves even though the youngest missed most of it including the whale sharks.
Best 4 hours spent! Wished we had more time to stay and observe. Went on a weekday, an afternoon, and we got the tickets on the spot. No need for advanced purchasing of tickets and no line at all. Check for specific feeding hours for your desired experience, we managed to see sea lion and penguin feeding. The giant tank right in the middle of the aquarium is the best to observe as they have seats around the area for you to stop and rest while looking at aquatic life.
A large array of sea creatures with big enclosures for them, which is great. Have accessible access with wheel chair spots to make it easier for them to see things. The whole thing is one big loop down, so it's easy to navigate. No amount of words would, of course, really describe this, got to be there to get the experience. A bonus, you ask? It's close to a shopping mall and the biggest Ferris wheel I've seen, so you can do a few things while there. We took one bus all the way there from close to Osaka station for the flat fee of 210 yen for adults and half that for children even though it was a 34-minute trip. It's worth a visit for adults and kids...
Visited on Wednesday at 1:00. Lineup to purchase tickets was about 30 minutes. I would recommend to purchase online in advance to avoid the line.
Good variety of animals including dolphins, penguins, sea lions, and whale sharks. Visually appealing although it was quite one dimensional - most of the exhibits are behind standard glass displays.
Quite crowded, as expected, and this strollers are not permitted so being a carrier for your kids. There are baby changing and nursing rooms. Plenty of seating throughout. Would like to see more food/drink options (there is one cafe that sells drinks and hot dogs).
I didn’t notice any children specific activities although I may have missed them.
