Sharjah Aquarium - Review

Last weekend we wanted to do something different, with in budget, in doors and with less driving involved. Usually one can only think of movies or bowling when it comes to above mentioned conditions but with not having any interesting films and too much of bowling, my search on trip advisor landed me on Sharjah Aquarium.

Been to Dubai Mall and Aquarium in Atlantis Palm Jumeirah we were reluctant at first, thinking what new can this place offer?

With only 30 minutes drive from Ajman and affordable ticket price of 25 dirham coupled with additional access to maritime museum we agreed to visit. I must say we were surprised.

Considering Sharjah traffic I wasn’t sure when to leave but as facility only opens from 4 to 9 so we left from home at around 6. To our relief we did not find any traffic. Parking area was small but I guess considering the visitors frequency is enough as we easily found parking close to the entrance.

The complex was modern and had maritime museum and aquarium both on the location. Due to hot weather we couldn’t explore the open area of the complex which had some interesting wooden boats/dhows at display and we head straight to the Aquarium entrance.

Considering Friday evening I was surprised to find no line at the ticket counter. Entrance to Aquarium was nicely designed with life size models of ocean life suspended from the roof, including a whale shark model, such attention-grabbing elements are really important for such facilities as they set the mood of the tour and also ensure that visitors have enough to discuss while touring and talk about later.

Flow of the facility was unique in a way that it lets you view the same fish display setup in two different ways, one from the surface of the water and second through tunnels. Over all interior decoration and ambience were designed using local elements like watch towers, wooden boats etc. giving it a very Emirati feel. Lighting was dim and appropriate through out the tunnels and then very well lit with walls adorned with beautiful painting on the surface area of the water. Smaller displays were also named after famous dive sights making one wonder if they actually tried to create the actual sight or it’s just a smart way to educate guests. Another effort to engage guests was “did you know” notes on the walls and touch screen information panels randomly placed through out.

Tour starts with the water surface view of sharks display from there one descent down towards the tunnel, passing by smaller displays of sea stars, sea horses and smaller fish. First stop is again the glass view of the sharks and then from there you get to tunnel that goes through the main aquarium section which house all the main species apart from sharks. Main section has all the usual fish species along with rays, groupers etc. From here you walk through smaller displays having species like eels, lobsters etc. and get to first floor again. Here you get to the surface view area of the main aquarium display section which is also the last attraction of the tour. Whole tour takes up to 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Unfortunately Maritime museum was closed for renovation so we couldn’t visit that but I guess once its open the tour time will go up by another 1 hours.



Ocean Pollution awareness display

I never realized that watching sea life through surface of the water could be this interesting as well; best moment was to see a big sea turtle surfacing to breath and then disappearing back in to the water (I wish I had my Nikon with me). One tends to miss out on these details as surface viewing is not available in aquariums usually.



I also liked the education aspect of the facility, for example at the end of the tour there was a display depicting sea pollutions caused by humans. The display was a regular fish aquarium but instead of fish it had pollutants such as empty soda bottles, ropes etc.



Gift Shop- My son liked couple of things

Apart from above there was a smaller glass walk way over the surface of main display, standard group photo facility at the entrance which can be bought at the exit (priced at 50 Dirham), a decent café and very well priced gift shop, making it a complete experience.

Considering price, species diversity, accessibility and facility flow this Aquarium has taken top rank in our list of Aquariums with in UAE and is highly recommended especially for photographers and families.

:-) Sorry for bad quality of pictures, next time will take my equipment with me.