Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo Review

During our holiday in Dubai we were really looking forward to visiting the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo which is one of the world’s biggest aquariums located in the biggest shopping mall in the world, the Dubai Mall.

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My younger daughter loves crocodiles and when I told her that one of the biggest crocodiles on the planet lives here, King Croc, we just had to see him.

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When we arrived at the very impressive Dubai Mall, we followed the signs to the Dubai Aquarium.  As we turned the corner we could see the enormous aquarium right in the middle of the shopping mall.  It is an awe inspiring sight, and one that my daughters loved especially looking for the sharks and sting rays.  This was even before we entered the attraction.

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The 10 million litre Dubai Aquarium is one of the largest suspended aquariums in the world.  The main Aquarium tank measures 51 metres in length, 20 metres in width and 11 metres in height.

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On the ground floor is the first experience at the Dubai Aquarium, the 48 metre long aquarium tunnel which provides fantastic views from 11 metres below the surface of the tank.

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We walked through this spotting as many sharks as we could find and the walk through lets you get up close to the aquatic life.

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daq8The views inside the tunnel are amazing and although you can see the sharks and fish from the shopping mall, there is nothing better than getting the full panoramic experience from walking through the tunnel.

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daq16We were told that there are over 140 different species of aquatic life and over 300 sharks and rays in this tank alone, with the largest collection of sand tiger sharks.

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After walking through the aquarium tunnel you walk up a level to the underwater zoo. This part of the visit you can’t see from the mall and it’s just fantastic.  The girls really loved reaching up trying to touch the sharks and rays as they swam past.

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During our visit was the Discovery Channel Shark Week which made it even better.  There were informative interactive touch screens that provided more information on different types of sharks and the girls really enjoyed this.

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Look out for the Dubai Aquarium featuring on the Discovery Channel which is soon to be aired.

We all enjoyed the glass bottom boat ride which provided great views of the 33,000 aquatic animals below as your boat circles the top of the world’s largest suspended tank containing 10 million litres of water.

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It was great fun and a delightful adventure to experience the aquarium from above. Our guide was very informative and there was a great opportunity to take photos from above.

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The girls loved being able to stand on the actual tank and look right down into it which my younger daughter thought was scary, but loved the views of the fish.

daq41We also got the chance to go behind the scenes and had a great explanation from the team on the feeding cycles, how they keep the water clean and the best part of all is we had the chance to feed the fish.

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This was an experience that we will remember forever.  The best memory was seeing the girls’ faces as the giant fish we were feeding soaked us all and especially my husband which the girls thought was hilarious!

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The Underwater Zoo, located on Level 2 of Dubai Mall leads you through three ecological Zones; Rainforest, Rocky Shore and Living Ocean.

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Here you will see many creatures from a range of habitats ranging from piranhas to Humboldt penguins, including turtles, otters, water rats, giant squid, amphibians, star fish, seahorses and jelly fish. The children loved spotting the well-known clown fish Nemo from Finding Dory.

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However, the main attraction is King Croc, a rescued Australian Saltwater Crocodile.

daq58We were all excited to see King Croc and he didn’t disappoint!  He is 40 years old and a massive 5 metres long, 750kg in weight and lives at the underwater zoo with his 80 year old wife.  My daughter couldn’t believe a crocodile could be that big and she was fascinated just watching them through the glass. It really is a see it to believe it experience.

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Unfortunately we missed the feeding time for the crocodiles but we were told that they dangle their food above the water and the crocodiles jump to snatch it.

There were more exhibits upstairs, where the glass deck above the crocodile tank was by far the best experience of it all.  You could look down into the crocodile enclosure for a birds eye view.

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There was also a UAE night creatures exhibit that housed snakes, fruit bats and scorpions.

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The children enjoyed walking across the wooden rickety bridges above the aquarium tanks that simply added to the amazing underwater zoo experience.

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The Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo offers a high standard of marine life and was an incredible experience.  It is a great place for a fun educational trip with the family whilst in Dubai.  It was fascinating to learn about their habits and enjoy an up-close interaction with animal feedings.

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We are thankful to Maria from Emaar Entertainment and the staff at the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo for spending time with us to give us a private tour that was invaluable to our family review.

 

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