deuceの旅行: Shimoda Aquarium (下田海中水族館)

Last stop of our Shimoda trip in Izu was a visit to the Shimoda Aquarium (下田海中水族館), which, according to wikitravel.org, is the world's first aquarium that floats on water. This was included in our itinerary for just one purpose - to swim with the dolphins. I don't think this is a good idea for other seasons because the water might be too cold, so good thing it was summer.

The Shimoda Aquarium is about 5-10 minutes from Izukyu Shimoda Station (伊豆急下田駅) by bus or taxi. We we're in a hurry that time and could not wait for the next bus, so we took a taxi that cost us 680円. For the bus route, the aquarium is the final destination, which could probably decrease the chance of getting lost.

Admission fee to the aquarium is 1,900円 per person. There's actually discount coupons available from fliers in hotels around Shimoda, unfortunately, we never got to use ours as we forgot in haste. Before you enter, they'll take your picture which you can buy on your way out.

There were basically just 5 shows, and we were able to do all of them in less than 2 hours, so there's no need to use 1 whole day here. The shows are

1. Seal feeding guide (アザラシのガイド給餌) at Seal House (アザラシ館)
2. Sea lion show (アシカショー) at Marine Stadium (マリンスタジアム)
3. Dolphin show (イルカショー) also at Marine Stadium (マリンスタジアム)
4. Penguin feeding guide (ペンギンのガイド給餌) at the Penguin Pool (ペンギンプール)
5. Fish feeding show (魚の餌付けショー) at the Perry Aqua Dome (アクアドームペリー号)

Seal House entrance - seal feeding guide

Marine Stadium entrance - sea lion show and dolphin show

A child volunteer from the audience

Penguin feeding guide

Perry Aqua Dome entrance - fish feeding show

It is an aquarium after all, so sea creatures are all around. There are halls that house some of them, especially the small fishes, but there are also outdoor enclosures for bigger ones like seals, sea lions and sharks. The restaurant is also in front of the Seal House. For souvenirs, some can be bought inside the halls, but there's also a souvenir shop at the exit.

The restaurant

Souvenirs in Perry Aqua Dome

Souvenir shop at the exit

We ended the visit with our dolphin activity. There were actually various programs available. The list and their prices are as follows.

1. Dolphin Feeding (ドルフィンフィーディング) - 1,200円
2. Dolphin Beach (ドルフィンビーチ) - 1,500円
3. Swimming with the Dolphins (うきうきドルフィン) - 4,300円
4. Snorkeling with the Dolphins (ドルフィンスノーケル) - 6,300円

Take note that except for the Dolphin Feeding, reservations by phone are required 2 months before, although there are instances where a few slots are available even if your visit is just days away. When we reserved, the snorkeling activity was already fully-booked, so we took the swimming program. Personally, I think it's the best choice because the cheaper activities don't allow you to be very close to the dolphins, while snorkeling is pretty much the same with the swimming activity. Also, if you don't have wet suits and swimming shoes for the swimming program, they have rental services - 1,500円 for the wet suits and 500円 for the shoes. You need to specify this in the reservations and provide your height and shoe size. The whole activity lasted for about an hour, including the orientation. Before and after our activity, we also watched the snorkeling and Dolphin Beach programs.