UnderWater World in Tumon, Guam is the only aquarium in Guam and it also has one of the longest tunnel-aquariums. It’s a fun place to visit when your looking for something indoors or with littles. They also offer a local/military rate, as well as annual passes you can purchase. The can be good if you have littles and want to visit several times a year.
We took advantage of the day off from school and my 13 year old daughter and I went to check it out. It was $11.50 for ages 12 and up with the military rate so it cost us $23 to visit. Our visit was on a Friday around 11 am and there were only maybe 5-8 other people there, so it wasn’t crowded at all. We were there for about 30 minutes as it’s fairly small but it was a fun way to spend a day hanging out.
You can enter either from the parking area/Dusit Thani (covered elevated walkway from there) and walking across the street into the Outrigger/mall or from the front doors off the street. We went out then to take a picture of the front but we entered from the mall. You go downstairs from the mall entrance to find the cashiers desk.
After you purchase your ticket you’ll enter in thorough a turnstile where they scan your ticket to let you through. It’s a one way walk so see all you want to see going through the first time or you’ll have to go back and ask to be let in again. The turtle was eating when we went through so we asked to enter again and got to go watch it swim for a bit.
Upon entering you’ll find yourself in a rainforest type area with a walkway, there are a few turtles and there was a cage for a snake but no snake to be found…creepy! We didn’t linger there long at all!
Then you’ll enter into the long underwater which is amazing! It really is the highlight of the whole experience. I loved that there were benches and seating along the way so that you could sit and linger to watch the sea life swim if you wanted.
There were lots of sharks, fish, manta rays, and one turtle. We really enjoyed watching them all swim around and over us.
They had some ‘sea walkers’ go down while we were there and we walked back and watched for a few minutes but while we watched none of the sea life went near them. Hopefully they did at some point they got their money’s worth of the experience. Basically it’s a scuba helmet you put on and go underwater and can ‘walk’ around without having to scuba dive. If you are scuba certified you can swim with the sharks! That may be interesting to look into.
After walking through the long and amazing walkway you then take the escalator upstairs where there are a few displays with sea life set up. These are minimal and even with spending time in the tunnel and reading all the signs on the displays we were done in 30 minutes.
They did make me rethink our process of getting scuba certified here when I seen the size of some of the eels, they were HUGE. Not so sure I want to have a close encounter with one of them or even one of the fish that is the size of a large dog, a bit creepy for me.
Watching the jellyfish is always fun!
Signs are in English and Japanese throughout the aquarium.
The next area is set up like a news area but there wasn’t much there, it looked like it’s used for presentations, etc. It’s also the area where the divers and sea walkers go to enter the water as well.
Just past this you’re funneled into the cute and colorful gift shop. There are some neat items that are Guam related & made in Guam over by the huge turtle. Many people like to pose with the turtle statue as well.
Along the walls outside the gift shop on the 2nd floor are some colorful painted turtles and some information posted along the walls.
Plus just outside the entrance is a Godiva store and ice cream shop! We quickly headed down there after our visit to have ice cream cones! They are $6 a cone but worth the delicious splurge. If you want something more savory there is a taco restaurant across from them as well, or many other restaurants in the local area. Keep in mind many do have tourist prices although one of our favorites is close, Fuji Ichiban which has yummy ramen & yakisoba.
Overall we had a fun afternoon visiting UnderWater World and eating a tasty treat. I also like that it’s indoors so it provides something to do during the rainy season when the weather doesn’t want to cooperate.
Know Before You Go
What: UnderWater World – Tumon, Guam
How To Get There: The Plaza, 1245 Pale San Vitores Rd Pale San Vitores Rd, Tamuning, if using Waze (which I recommend) you can just put in UnderWater World and it’ll come up and take you to the parking area.
Parking: There is a parking garage that you can use, parking is free. Note if you have a large vehicle you may have to drive up a few flights before you’ll find openings together but by the 3rd floor it was much easier to find parking for our truck.
Cost: Military/Local rate $11.50 ages 12 years and older, $6 ages 3 to 6 years. Yearly Memberships are $35.99 per adult (ages 12 and up) and $22.49 per child (ages 3-11 years).
Traveling with little kids: This is easily accessible with a stroller, so great for kids of all ages. There is an escalator to up to the upper level on the one way walk. My teen also enjoyed it as well but it was a one a done visit for us, littles may enjoy visiting several times to watch the fish.
How long: Plan on at least 30 mins to an hour for your visit, longer if you want to get a snack or check out the mall area.
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