Back when the husband and I were dating, Sentosa was one of the places we used to frequent. I think we liked that being on Sentosa felt like we were getting away without really going anywhere! During those days, it was a treat to be able to visit Underwater World Singapore. The husband is a big fan of aquariums and he in particular loved to venture in through the tunnels to view the huge specimens of fish swimming overhead.
Underwater World has faded in prominence with the opening of the SEA Aquarium at Resorts World Sentosa but we still remember it fondly. I think while they are both aquariums, they both have something different to offer. We have not been to Underwater World in a while though, so when I had a wedding to attend on Saturday, the husband gamely decided that he would bring both children out to Underwater World on his own for an afternoon out. I was glad to hear that the kids had a great time. Here is what they enjoyed:
1. Stroking Sea Creatures at the Large Interactive Touch Pool
Underwater World has the largest touch pool around, with a fascinating variety of creatures for curious little hands. Besides the usual starfish, they also have bamboo sharks, porcupine fish and archer fish, and a ray or two! It is located to the right of the entrance and you really can’t miss it. The children were immediately drawn to this and spent quite a while trying to touch the different things. Well, Noey did at least. He was so thrilled to be able to get his hands on a bamboo shark! The little miss was much more wary, but even she could not resist reaching for a starfish or two.
Oo, look, a ray!
Getting his hands on an actual shark!
2. Encountering some really HUGE fish
One thing I’ve always remembered about Underwater World is the huge specimens of fish that we would see there. It was awe-insipiring, even for adults! Naughty DD saw an Arapaima headed towards Mei at the glass and thought it would be funny to tell her that it was coming for her. As she turned, the Arapaima happened to open its mouth and she SCREAMED! Bad Papa. When I later asked her if she was scared she sheepishly told me, “Only a little.”
A huge Pacu fish
Fascinated by the large fish. I guess it does almost look as if they could eat children up!
Here come the Arapaima!
3. Looking Up From Under The Sea in The Underwater Tunnels
Underwater World’s star feature is definitely its pair of underwater tunnels, complete with a people mover to carry you through this immersive experience. I never get tired of watching the fish swim over my head. How often do you get to do that without getting wet? The children marvelled at the different fishes and were excited to see many sharks swimming overhead. You can find leopard sharks and white-tip and black tip reef sharks in the Reef Colony section, with more nurse sharks, sawfish and bull sharks in the Ocean colony.
Are those really small children or really huge fish??
4. Watching the Dolphin and Seal Show
The Dolphin Lagoon right next to Underwater World is home to two pink dolphins and entrance to the daily shows is included in the price of the ticket. It is an opportunity to get close to these gentle and friendly creatures as well as catch some fur seals in action. The shows have an emphasis on education and much of the performance features the natural behaviour of the animals. So it wasn’t fancy, but of course there are some fun moments with audience interaction! It was rather hot at 2pm though so I think you’ll be better off catching the 11am show.
Hello there Mr Dolphin!
Balancing a ball while cutting through the water.
Giving the audience a big wave!
A audience member tosses a hoop to the fur seal. It’s not in this picture but he does catch it neatly around his neck!
The children were also thrilled to see a little otter nearby and catch some feeding in action.
5. Checking out the Weird and Wonderful
One thing we love about aquariums is that it really allows us to get close to marine life that we would otherwise not be able to see. And there’s lots of the weird and wonderful that always fascinates me!
Follow the development of the Bamboo Shark Embryo. I’m think it’s amazing that the eggs are actually semi-transparent so you can actually observe the little wriggling embryos inside. Like, wow.
These are shrimp! Harlequin shrimp, to be exact.
In a bubble! A fun way to get close to the little clownfish (or “Nemos” as Mei calls them).
The glowingly beautiful jellyfish. Always a favourite!
The trio rounded off their day with some food, cold drinks and ice-cream at Island Cuisine, a cafe located at the back of Underwater World. Here you can find a buffet-style selection of Singapore delights like Mee Siam and Curry Chicken, with snacks like Soon Kueh and Siew Mai, to name a few. The food was rather average and quite a few of the dishes are spicy so there wasn’t a lot for my picky kids to eat, but the ice-cream certainly kept them happy.
Welcome to Island Cuisine!
Food is served buffet-style and there is range of drinks available.
Happy ice-cream faces.
It was, all in all, a very successful solo outing for Papa. A big pat on the back for him!
This June, Underwater World is running a June Holiday Sum of Fun Promotion where local Singapore residents get to enjoy entry into Underwater World+Dolphin Lagoon and a buffet meal at Island Cuisine for only $19.90 per person (65% discount)! What’s more, your ticket entitles you to additional discounts at around Sentosa. This is as good a time to visit and get reacquainted with Underwater World as ever!
GIVEAWAY!
Great news for all readers: we have 5 PAIRS of Ticket-Buffet Combos to Underwater World Singapore to give away to 5 lucky readers! Each ticket entitles the holder to complimentary entry in Underwater World Singapore + a one-time buffet at Island Cuisine.
To enter this draw to win the set of tickets, just leave a comment either on this blog post or on this Facebook post to let me know who you would bring to Underwater World Singapore if you win, and why! Use the Rafflecopter widget below to indicate that you’ve commented! You can also get additional chances by completing the rest of the steps. This is a flash giveaway which must end on Sunday, so do hurry!
This draw will close on 21 June 2015, 11.59PM and is open to Singapore residents only. The usual terms and conditions will apply, with the following additional conditions:
1. Underwater World Singapore will issue tickets to the winners who will have 3 months to redeem them.
2. Each winning ticket will give the holder complimentary entry into UWS and a one-time buffet at Island Cuisine.
3. Each winning ticket does not include the additional perks as stated in the June Holiday Sum of Fun promotion.
Underwater World Singapore
80 Siloso Road, Sentosa
Web: www.underwaterworld.com.sg
Opening Hours: 10am to 7pm (last entry at 6.30pm)
Daily Shows at Dolphin Lagoon: 11am, 2pm (except on Wednesday), 4pm, 5.45pm
*We visited Underwater World Singapore and Island Cuisine on a media invite. The giveaway tickets are sponsored by Underwater World Singapore. All opinions and pictures are my own.
I would like to bring my kiddos for this so that they could have an up-close and personal experience with the sea creatures especially the dolphins 🙂
I would love to bring my four year old son as he loves dolphins and his class is named N1 Dolphin too!
would take my boys as they have been learning about marine life and habitat. Nothing beats experential learning, so I am sure they will love the touch pool especially.
I would like to bring my family to UWS. The boys would love to touch the sea creatures at the touch pool and learn more about them.
Bring my mum for a revisit as the last time we went there was during my primary school days.
I would like to bring my family to UWS. In the same time we can teach my girls about marine life and their habits. We can also teach our children about how to prevent them from being extinct.I am sure my kids will enjoy it very much….Hope to win
I will bring my daughter along to enjoy this fun filled Underwater World Singapore. It will be a great bonding and adventure for us.
Sean has a holiday project on sea creatures to complete so I would love I bring him there!
I would like to visit Underwater World together with my nephew because he is ever so curious about the fish and different kinds of sea creatures. This will definitely be an unforgettable trip for him. As for myself, I would love to see the pink dolphins in action. Haven’t visited/ seen them for more than a decade – and they definitely are still the stars of UWS which I wouldn’t want to miss out on. 🙂
I would love to bring my girls to explore Underwater World, as they simply love it so much! This is a trip not to be miss!
Hope to bring my parents to Underwater World Singapore as their last visit to Underwater World Singapore was years ago. Hope to give them a surprise visit as they will sure love to visit Underwater World Singapore again!
I would love to bring my kids as they love Dolphin! <3 <3
Hope to win and bring my kid to UnderWater world Singapore during this school holiday. It will be a wonderful experience for us because we haven’t been there before. We love dolphins too. Thanks for the giveaway and fingers crossed.
want to spend some one on one time with my only daughter as she has been through some emotional changes
Would love to win this for my kids who love to learn more about sea creatures and also do my husband whom would love to relax with us for a fun and educational family outing.
I would love to bring my shy and timid 3 years old gal to the Underwater World for her to gain exposure and learn through play for things that can’t be learnt in school. She will definitely be excited over it!
If I lucky and win I will bring my little boy to UWS because he love fishes,he love taking care of our fish at home,from feeding to helping and remind us to clean the fish tank ( we have only small tank with one gold fish ) but my this Little man really love it from heart…hope to win and bring him see many many fishes 🙂 thank you
I would like to bring my 3 young children ti UWS because they love sea creatures especially dolphin.I am sure they will have a fun day there!
My 4 years old boy loves sharks. At this age, there are lot of why questions asked. He has not been to Underworld World Sentosa before, hope to win to answer all his ‘why’ questions.
I would love to bring my hubby and my 2 girls. It gonna be a family bonding session where we get to explore, see and learn about the sharks, jellyfishes, starfish etc in the Underwater World Singapore and I’m sure we will be bombarded with lots of WHY WHY WHY!!! Its gonna be a fruitful excursion for all of us.
I want to win these tickets and will bring my daughter and my sister’s family. My sister till now haven’t bring her 6 years old kids to Underwater World before and I am sure we will have a great and enjoyable bonding time there.
I would love to bring my mum and grandma to Underwater World. They have not been to such places before. I am sure they will enjoy the experience as much as the kids.
My 3 kids will definitely love underwater world!!! The difference between underwaterworld and
SEA aquarium is they can watch pink dophins and the seals
performing!!! They are just too CUTE!!!! Brought them before when they were still babies, so hope to bring them again!!! They will definitely enjoy more!! <3 <3 🙂
I would like to bring my little girl who is curious about everything she sees.
i want to go with my wife and baby because i am a certified scuba diving instructor but my wife is afraid of the sea, i want her to know the underwater world is actually very beautiful so in the future the whole family can go diving together
I haven’t been there before and always wanted to go. Would be great to have a fun time watching the amazing creatures together with my family.
Would definitely bring my family along as we all haven’t been to the attraction before!!!
I will love so much to bring my hubby and daughter. We love sea animals and I think it would be awesome to be able to see them personally, watching their every move.
We definitely love so much to eat too.
I wanna bring my 3 yr old to UWS as he is learning about marine animals. Seeing them in real life beats looking at the pictures only! Hope he can have a chance to touch some of the marine animals which will make the visit even more memorable!!
Hi Life is in the Small Things ,
I want to bring my lovely niece to Underwater World Singapore. I want her to experience and learn more about the marine life and sea creatures. The “Touch Pool” and “Living Fossils” would be great for her to feel the underwater marine life.
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i hope to win this for my boy. as be have did very well in his test. hope go surprise him .. thanks
I would bring my niece there because she has never been there. She’s not been happy recently so I want to make her happy by bringing her to the awesome place to see the beautiful marine animals and also to treat her to a delicious buffet meal.
I will loves to bring my husband and daughter go. Dolphin are very friendly and shy animals. My daughter definitely loves it. 😉