Manila Ocean Park with Kids (Manila, Philippines)

Manila Ocean Park has been open since 2008 but it was our first time to visit! If you have never been as well or if you haven’t visited for a while, here’s an overview of what you can expect when you go.

Don’t forget to read the tips below to get the most out of your experience, especially if you’re traveling there with kids!

Our Ticket: 13 Attractions

I booked our tickets at Travelbook.PH and chose the one that covers 13 Attractions. It costs us P850/pax. Even my 4 year old was charged full price. The ticket included entrance to the following:

• Oceanarium
• Symphony Evening Show – X
• Barnyard
• Birdhouse
• Sharks and Rays Dry Encounter
• Sea Lion Show
• All Star Bird Show
• Penguin Talk Show – X
• Back of the House – X
• Fish Spa – X
• World of Creepy Crawlies – X
• Trails to Antarctica
• Penguin Exhibit
• Christmas Village

The ones with an “X” are attractions we didn’t visit. Some because it didn’t interest my son and some because the timing was off (like the Penguin Talk Show.) We were also planning to visit the Big Bad Wolf Sale after so we didn’t bother finishing everything anymore.

Maybe next time! 😉

Oceanarium

We got to Ocean Park at 10am. The attraction my son really wanted to see was the Sea Lion Show, which starts at 11am. So I asked the staff what attraction we could visit before we saw the show and she suggested Oceanarium. I asked if she was sure we would make it in time and she said positive. So that’s what we did.

WRONG MOVE.

The Oceanarium is one of the highlights of Manila Ocean Park. Its main attraction is the giant dome aquarium.

Naturally, my son wanted to spend a long time looking at the sea creatures. And I wanted to take my time making sure I get to take photos of him without anyone else in the background (hehehe) but we found ourselves hurrying because we were on a tight schedule. The thing is, you couldn’t go back once you have exited. Huuuu.

The Oceanarium’s dome aquarium looked so much bigger in the photos. But my son was so amazed seeing sting rays, sharks and other fishes swimming all around (and over him!) so it was all good!

Sea Lion Show

I didn’t realize it until we were already there but this was my son’s first animal show experience. So that’s why he was super, super excited! Haha.

Watching this show through his eyes made me appreciate the simple things. He said it was funny seeing the sea lions obey commands and “communicate” with the trainers and audience.

Shark & Rays Dry Encounter

This was just a short walk from where the Sea Lion Show was held so we did this right after. Basically, you can touch the sharks and rays. It was pretty cool; now I can say I touched a shark! Hehe.

I didn’t expect Luke to be afraid but he was! He’s usually brave but I guess, not when it comes to sea animals haha!

All Star Bird Show

After lunch, we decided to take time to watch the All-Star Bird show. If you like seeing birds do math and perform tricks, then you’ll find this amusing.

Props to the super energetic host too!

They will ask for a volunteer. Ready to reach out your arm?

Birdhouse

Finally, we get to have some real animal encounter! Luke finally agreed to let birds feed from his hands (although very reluctantly… hehe)

We paid P50 for a small pack of bird feed. Initially I thought they gave us too little but it actually ended up being too much. We shared half of our feeds with other families there. I think we were able to give around 3 other families! So yes, one pack is more than enough to share!

Trails to Antarctica

I was really looking forward to this becacuse I thought everybody had the chance to feed the penguins! But I should’ve known after paying P50 for bird feed earlier! Nothing is free! :p

It was actually P500 (!) to feed the penguins good for 4 persons. I figured we’ll just do this next time when we’re with Dylan and Mor so we could maximize our P500! Hehe.

 

The glass casing was very foggy but Luke was just happy to see the penguins swimming!

Christmas Village

In my opinion, absolutely useless. Including this in the article only so I can tell you  to skip this part! 😀

Overall Impression:

As mentioned, it was my first time at Manila Ocean Park. I wasn’t expecting much so I wasn’t really disappointed but nothing absolutely impressive either. BUT that is of course, coming from 30-year-old me, not my 4 year old.

Luke on the other hand, had a great time! He enjoyed seeing the sting rays (current favorite) and sharks, watching the birds and sea lions perform and generally just seeing all the different animals. By 3pm though, he was exhausted and was the one who said he wanted to leave already to go to the Big Bad Wolf Sale. (Or maybe he just wanted to see books already? I don’t know… hehe!)

MY ONLY COMPLAINT: The attractions are a little far from one another! Technically, they shouldn’t be but we had to go through a series of escalators and stairs to exit one attraction and go AROUND the area again just to go back to where we started. I don’t know if they were undergoing some renovations or if that was really how it is but we had to pass by the rooftop lounge bar and other establishments just to get back to the entrance. It was a little weird! Hard if you have little kids or the elderly with you.

Oh and also (ok so I have 2 complaints,) I wish you could go back to an attraction you already visited! Instead, it was only a one-time entry for all.

Tips When Visiting:

• Visit during off-peak days: We visited on a Tuesday after a long weekend and there were hardly any people at the park! THE BEST TIME TO GO TO MANILA OCEAN PARK, if you ask me!
• Leave the stroller at home: We brought our stroller thinking there would be long walks but it was just a pain to lug it around since you had climb stairs and take escalators to go from one place to another. We left it in the car after we had lunch.
• Always buy discounted tickets: You can get discounted tickets year-round on various websites online such as TravelBook.ph or MetroDeal.
• Don’t worry about food: There are lots of dining options that are very reasonable. They are not theme-park prices too, which is great!

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(NOTE: THIS POST IS ABOUT OUR EXPERIENCE LAST MARCH 2019.)