Sea Life Sydney Aquarium

My family and I took our two year old and his cousin (3yrs) down and at first I thought he would be too young. In regards that he would find it more fun running around with his cousin than actually looking at the animals. Although he did absolutely love running around he did actually seem to show interest in most of the animals on display. It is a tight fit on a busy day like school holidays when we went, especially chasing toddlers around but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. My boy loved it and that made it all worthwhile. Looking forward to taking him back when he is older. The only improvement is that the place does look a bit dated but it has been there a long time.

Worst quality water I’ve ever seen in an aquarium. Pest anemones in almost every tank, seeing this place and the condition of the animals truly bothered me for days.

This aquarium makes me sad. After seeing fish swim freely in the wide, beautiful ocean, to see them in small, cramped waters swimming round and round — it’s sad.
The beginning and middle exhibits were so skimpy, not much fish, not much variety, and the fishes quarters were small and rather dirty. If fish can be depressed, I thought these fish were depressed.

Overcrowded, overpriced and overrated. Nice to see a few things but
too many strollers making it difficult to move around. Not quite sure why so many people walk up to every glass panel/​display, take a photo or video and move to the next.

the aquarium is huge, well worth the money! plenty of fishes and other sea animals like the dugong, sharks, platypus and many more!

Under construction so expect some exhibits to be closed, tons of crowds and terrible traffic flow. In one area that was under construction there was only one way in and out and people were pushing and you couldn’t look at any on the exhibits really!!!
We loved the tunnels and all of the information that was given on each exhibit.

Best aquarium I’ve visited. I had a brilliant, up close view of dugongs and sharks and a variety of other beautiful sea creatures. I was not at all disappointed. There were screaming hordes of schoolchildren everywhere, so if you have a low schoolchild tolerance, I recommend you stick to touring wineries.

We visited this aquarium on a Saturday in December, and it was sooo crowded! It was almost suffocating… The species are nice to see, but we were glad we took the 63 $ pass for 5 attractions because otherwise it would have been really too expensive for what it is.

This aquarium is located somewhat near to Wild Life Sydney Zoo at Darling Harbour. Parking card at Darling Quarter’s Wilson can be validated here.
I came here as I bought the 4 in 1 attraction from the Wild Life Sydney Zoo’s website and it would be much cheaper to do so than buying separate attraction ticket.
There are quite a number of sea creatures (sharks, stingrays, clownfishes, etc) here and my favorites are the dugongs. There are quite a number of exhibitions and most of them has the walk through tunnel exhibitions. There are quite a number of ramps on site which is good for those who are in wheelchairs or strollers.
Didn’t see the penguins or the seals like someone mentioned. Did I missed it? Not sure. At the dugong site, you can see how the staffs feed the dugongs. Most of the time the dugongs are underwater which made it harder to get a good shot of them. There are quite a number of sections for children too (peek through to see starfishes, art area and «feel» it area).
There is two shops where they sell quite a number of items. I got attracted to the snow globes as usual and purchased it. I overheard some people comparing the aquariums elsewhere and for me, this is definitely one of the best ones I’ve been thus far. Definitely a good place to stop by if you are a tourist :)

It had been at least ten years since I last visited the Sydney Aquarium located at Darling Harbour. Until tonight, that is.
Yep, I rocked up for an evening cruise around the swimmers, crawlers, wriggles and walkers of the ocean. Even the wigglers. So many fish, the sharks, the stingrays, starfish, lobsters and more. Man, now I’m hungry and thinking of lemons for the fish and some hot spud chips.
Seriously folks, this place is a gem. The kids would love it there as they get to look at marine life in tanks beside them and on top of their heads. It’s a great place and you walk through at your own leisurely pace.
And the tacky tourist shop full of Aussie merchising that’s probably 100% imported from Asia. I was suprised at the lack of over priced stuff for the prices were reasonable I guess.
You can buy food before or after your stroll through the watery spot and apparently, they do birthday parties for the kiddies. Got me wondering if their party food is fish and chips. Yum.

I bought the Merlin 5 attraction pass on line before arriving. This is way cheaper than doing it in person. Buy before you leave because you have to print off the voucher and present it. This was the best of the 5 attractions. I never knew the sea creatures existed but they do. I learned so much here. However, I am giving it a lesser rating because of the ridiculous long wait and crowd. I waited 22 minutes in a line that said for those you already had tickets. That was only for those you had vouchers. I literally showed my tickets and the uninformed worked made me wait 22 minutes until I got to the front and found out with tickets, you can just go to the front of all lines. Pissed off. To make matters worse, I could not see the platypus or rarely anything because of the crowds. How is that the aquarium’s fault? Maybe better crowd control. It was ridiculous. But one thing I am thankful I did get to see was the dugong. Wow, I never knew about this creature. You walk through a tunnel and you see them eating and playing. It was really neat. This aquarium can take several hours because it is big and lots of elevation changes. No stairs, thankfully, but long ramps to take you up and down. If you don’t buy the pass, I would still recommend visiting the aquarium. I would not recommend buying all the fancy snorkel, glass bottom boats trips, etc. I did not do them, but saw them and I would have been upset as a waste of money because the glass bottom is just a platform and the snorkeling is behind a glass. You can enjoy and save money by walking through all their tunnels and they even have a glass bottom tunnel where the fishies swim under you. The crowds are ridiculous and they have poor crowd control, but overall this is a nice aquarium and I would recommend a visit.

The line for the tickets is not a great start to the aquarium experience but it is the beginning of things to come– lots of standing, fidgety children and mothers steering prams in offensive/​defensive manoeuvres.
I would definitely book ahead as the online ticket line was significantly shorter.
The aquarium itself is AMAZING. Beautiful set pieces of sunken ships and nautical arrangements set off an enormous variety of aquatic creatures, from the tiniest fragile fish to the show stopping lobsters, sharks and dugongs.
The dugongs are wonderful, they’re full of character and roll about chewing their lettuce and looking magnificent.
The dugongs are worth the entry fee alone.
My only criticism of the aquarium would be aimed at the mass of people shuffling around glassy eyed, trying to get through the aquarium as quickly as possible so they can make use of the multi ticket they bought and hit Wildlife World and Tussauds but having said that I did choose to visit during school holidays so should have known better!
My eleven year old loved the day out and gives it a highly recommended.

It’s all about the sharks and dugongs people. So awesome to see these within a few feet of your face. The whole exhibit overall was awesome though I am spoiled with the Monterey bay Aquamarine back home. I’d recommend this place to any tourist who loves marine life as much as we do. Buy online as well. Much cheaper than at the door and quicker!

Der Preis ist gar nicht mal so billig: rund 40 Australische Dolar bzw. 28 Euro wird für den Eintritt verlangt. Das gleiche Preisniveau haben auch der Tierpark und das neu eröffnete Madame Tussaud’s gleich um die Ecke. Doch ich kann schon versichern: Das Eintrittsgeld ist diese wuderschöné Unterwasserwelt allemal wert, wenn man sich die verschiedenen Fischformen, Haie und andere Meerestiere aus der Nähe betrachten wil. Optisch wird viel fürs Auge geboten.

I had purchased an iventure card and one of the attractions listed was the SEA LIFE aquarium. Most recommended I visit the aquarium because it was popular and the cost for an adult was $ 40, making my iventure card extremely worth it. HOWEVER, I was fairly disappointed with the quality of the exhibits and how run down the aquarium was. I had gone at 6pm and the aquarium had pretty much shut down with only about 4 – 5 workers left and no eateries open, even though the aquarium was supposed to close at 8 pm.
One advantage of going late was there were only a handful of tourists and very few kids, so you could take pictures and explore in peace. But, it must have been bad timing, because there were no penguins, seals, platypus, nor dugongs to be seen. Apparently the dugongs are currently resting for a few months without disturbance as they are extremely sensitive to noise.
To be fair, I enjoyed the shark and manta ray exhibit wholeheartedly. I stood under the shark tunnel for a good fifteen minutes mesmerized by how calm the sharks were. Add on the ethereal music they play and you’ll be standing there for a while. This was my favorite part of the aquarium.
Maybe because I’ve been to the L’Oceanographic in Valencia and have been spoiled to how beautiful the displays and architect of the buildings were, but the Sydney Aquarium is overpriced and could use a renovation.

How long has this been around? I can’t quite believe that for 30+ years I’ve lived here and I have never stepped foot in this place. Add a niece and here I was, standing in line to see what lives under Cockle Bay — woooo I have to say, I was pretty impressed.
The ticketing system could do with an overhaul, and if something could be done about the pram situation in there, that’ll be sweet (I had a few rogue prams nip at my ankles).
It has all the elements of a great tourist ‘must do’ — green screen photography as you walk in HA this was brilliant. You stand there looking deep in the camera, they then yell at you to point at the penguins in a corner, then immediately scream at you to look up and show «fear» on your face– the booklet they prepare with these photos is well worth the $ 30. The walk around the aquarium reminds me of Ikea (minus the shortcuts of course) — its one way traffic all the way through. You see some stunning tropical fish, these incredible jellyfish and couple of monster \crabs. But the highlight of course was none other than the shark and manta ray section! Incredible creatures, and to be so close to them is breathtaking. Oh and the Dugong — I figure it must be the laziest of the bunch — that or it was way too social for its own good. The whole time we were walking through the glass tunnel, it was resting on top — to this day, I have no idea how it swims.
Great day out !!

Located in the heart of Darling Harbour, Sydney Aquarium makes its home here. Only naturally did I want to visit the aquarium here as I’ve heard rave reviews about this place, and I have to say it was a good aquarium — I’m not amazed, but it was definitely fun.
The aquarium took me 2.5 hours to go through, but that was only because my friends and I really spent time at each exhibit, took pictures, etc. There was also heaps of children groups on the day we were there, so maneuvering through the crowds was quite difficult. They have a large assortment of sealife from sea horses to dugongs, and I enjoyed the walkways where you can see sharks and other species.
The only con I did find with this place was that the ticket for entry was definitely overpriced. There are no student discounts either, and I hardly find the $ 33 price tag to be worth what I saw.

Really lovely aquarium, full of unique Australian creatures. We really enjoyed the platypus, dugong, little penguins, sharks, etc. The Reef Tank is certainly a nice place to sit and be mesmerized.
We were surprised at the size and quality, and recommend it to anyone with kids, or anyone looking for something to do on a rainy day in Sydney.

Went on a Sunday afternoon since the weather’s been nice. Apparently thats what everyone else was thinking because it was full of families! I think we came at a bad time because they were renovating and there were all these signs to see the new and improved Aquarium in like two weeks. Oh well.
Admission was $ 35 per person, which is okay I guess. When you enter they make you take a picture in front of a blue screen and at the end, try to get you to buy the picture for $ 30.
There’s a few different sections where you can see cool little fish, some big weird fish, some turtles, penguins and a shark tank. There’s also a «Great Barrier Reef» section that was cool. Overall you see some pretty cool stuff. Its not huge but I guess you can’t really cram in too much.
I honestly thought the Melbourne acquarium was a little better.

The two best parts of the Sydney Aquarium are the Sharks, and the Great Barrier Reef. The Reef tank was mesmerizing as we sat for about an hour watching new and vibrant fish emerge with symphony music playing in the background.
The other spot not to miss is the sea anemone exhibit. It is tucked away in a corner, but is magical! Try to go when it is not crowded with pushy tourists. I could sense my tourist rage creeping up a bit when I was elbowed by over eager picture snappers, and tropical fish gazers. Take a deep breath, don’t take life too seriously, and enjoy the magical world under the sea.

i’ve been spoiled by the proximity of san diego’s various marine institutes: sea world, scripps and hokkaido japan
HOWEVER, this one has got PLATYPUS! i learned that sydney and melbourne have a rivalry… so they were OVERJOYED to receive 2 platypus for the 2002 olympics… and then learned they got two males… no mating happening here!

Penguins, seals, tropical fish, oh-​my!!!
I got exactly what I came to see when I came here. The up-​keep is high and there is plenty to see. I highly recommend going if you are a tourist!

Dugongs.
Yes, *dugongs*. I didn’t even know these things were real! I always thought they were some kind of urban legend, like drop bears, and Gwyneth Paltrow. But Sydney Aquarium has them, and what’s more, today one smiled at me. They’re like big, squashy, hairless albino cows.
I’ll tell you what else this place has: Japanese spider crabs, giant basketball-​sized beasties with legs 4 metres long. They scared away quite a few people, which is unfortunate because if you look into their beady, spiny little eyes it’s clear that they just want to be loved. Like the Elephant Man, only in crustacean form.
And — bewilderingly, but brilliantly — there are all these insane Lego sculptures dotted throughout the aquarium. Pirates, King Neptune, even a spaceship-​sized Moby Dick.
Sure, you have to knock over a few kiddies to get a good view of the really cool stuff, but that’s okay because they’re generally too small to fight back.

Sehr interessant und eine sehr viel schönere Version des SeaLife in Deutschland. Wenn man mal dort ist, dann sollte man das Sydney Aquarium unbedingt als Ausflugsziel ansteuern!

Génial !!!
Dès l’entrée on est embarqué par la faune aquatique australienne.
Tout y est représenté: des poissons d’eau douce à ceux de la Grande Barrière de Corail (poissons clowns par exemple) en passant par ceux des marécages tropicaux sans oublier les crocodiles.
Deux attractions sensationnelles sont celles qui nous conduit par un tunnel vers le parc à phoques/​otaries et celui des requins.
Vous pourrez voir de plus près une otarie dormir ou nager (parc est ouvert).
Pour les requins, je vous laisse deviner .: j’en ai compté 3 ou 4 espèces différentes et ils sont énormes. Même avec la vitre on a des frissons quand il passé près de nous.
A voir à tout prix.