Manila Ocean Park

I have read several articles on people's visits to the Manila Ocean Park. Even though there are lots of not so good comments about the place, we still want to see the place, so off we went and experience it ourselves.


We planned to go early morning to avoid the crowd, but with a toddler in tow, it’s not an easy feat. Luckily, we arrived early enough to park easily and jump in line to the entrance.

The first part of the tour is called AGOS (FLOW), which is an open area with plants and a waterfall. Jared was so amazed and just kept staring at the waterfalls. The touch pool is also located here wherein we’re able to touch the starfish and sea cucumber. I just don’t know why there are some sharks included in that pool, are they ok to be touched?


The second part is the BAHURA (REEF). The species I remembered here are the Japanese spider crab and Nemo, the clownfish.


The third part is the LAOT (FISHING GROUND) where the giant grouper, Lapulapu is located. My mom kept on saying that it would be so good if she can cook one of the Lapulapu with sweet and sour sauce. Seems like she's already thinking of lunch at that time.

The fourth part is the BUHAY NA KARAGATAN (THE LIVING OCEAN). I must say that the highlight of the tour is the tunnel. It’s a thick glass tunnel underneath the huge aquarium. It's big but it was not as big as what I expected. And because of so many people here, we were not able to take a decent picture.


The remaining sections are the KALALIMAN (DEEP), STINGRAY TANK and the SHARK TANK.


So what do I think about the Manila Ocean Park? It’s a nice place to experience a variety of marine species but I’m still craving for more. There are other sea creatures which they can add like turtles, squids and dolphins. I want to see dolphins! We actually overheard someone said “yun na yun?” ..same as to what we thought when we reached the exit door.