The Manila Ocean Park, also known as Ocean Park, is an

oceanarium An oceanarium can be either a marine mammal park, such as Marineland of Canada, or a large-scale aquarium, such as the Lisbon Oceanarium, presenting an ocean habitat with marine animals, especially large ocean dwellers such as sharks. First ma ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

, Philippines. It is owned by China Oceanis Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of China Oceanis Inc., a

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

an-registered firm. It is located behind the

Quirino Grandstand The Quirino Grandstand, formerly known as the Independence Grandstand, is a grandstand located at Rizal Park, Manila, Philippines. History Contrary to popular belief, the first Independence Grandstand was not originally located on the present ...

Rizal Park Rizal Park ( fil, Liwasang Rizal, es, link=no, Parque Rizal), also known as Luneta Park or simply Luneta, is a historic urban park located in Ermita, Manila. It is considered one of the largest urban parks in the Philippines, covering an are ...

Construction

The construction involved erecting structural pillars at the beachfront and constructing the platform that would serve as the foundation of the entire building. The base structure and platform was completed and for a while served a secondary purpose as a promenade walkway until construction of the actual park continued. In April 2007, the Manila Ocean Park started construction. It was initially set to open on December 15, 2007 but the opening date was then moved to February 24, 2008. The facility opened in March 2008. E.R. Hitosis and Associates was involved in the construction management of the Manila Ocean Park.

Features

The main attraction of Manila Ocean Park is the Oceanarium which houses 14,000 sea creatures from about 277 species all of which is indigenous in Southeast Asia. The Oceanarium has seven sections and contains of sea water. Its main feature is the 220° curved walkway tunnel after a walkthrough inside the Oceanarium. The water used in the Oceanarium is derived from

Manila Bay Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the Manila, capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between t ...

, which is filtered to be suitable to marine life. It also has an educational activity area, function rooms for events, and shark and stingray viewing area situated in two levels. The Jellies Exhibit, a separate attraction hosts jellyfishes. The Back of the House features information on the operation of the facility itself. The Manila Ocean Park also hosts the Trails to Antarctica, the first penguin park facility in the country, which features

Humboldt penguins The Humboldt penguin (''Spheniscus humboldti'') is a medium-sized penguin. It resides in South America, its range mainly contains most of coastal Peru. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Magellanic penguin and the Galápagos p ...

. Through the years, their breeding program for the penguins have been very successful. As of May 2017, they already have a total of 13 baby penguins that hatched inside the park. They also have the Birds of Prey Kingdom which features

Brahminy kite The brahminy kite (''Haliastur indus''), formerly known as the red-backed sea-eagle in Australia, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors, such as eagles, buzzards, and harrie ...

s and the World of Creepy Crawlies which exhibits frogs, insects, spiders, and worms. Services were also offered to patrons such as the Mermaid Swim Experience where visitors are taught to swim while wearing a costume mermaid tail,

Underwater diving Underwater diving, as a human activity, is the practice of descending below the water's surface to interact with the environment. It is also often referred to as diving, an ambiguous term with several possible meanings, depending on contex ...

, Fish Spa, and rides on a boat with a glass bottom. Shows such as the Sea Lion Show and All Star Bird Show is performed inside the Manila Ocean Park and seats up to 1,900 pax per show. As part of their banner CSR program called "I Love My Ocean Planet", the show brings valuable information on environmental conservation and close interaction with the birds and sea lions. The Symphony is a performance involving fountains that shoots water high supplemented with multimedia effects is also among the attractions of the Manila Ocean Park. Malate, Manila, Aquarium, Lionfish, Philippines.jpg, Red lionfish Jellyfish Manila Ocean Park (39004714845).jpg, Jellyfish Malate, Manila, Aquarium, Batoidea Ray, Philippines.jpg, Rays Malate, Manila, Aquarium, Fish 2, Philippines.jpg, Fish

Hotel

The Manila Ocean Park hosts a hotel on top of the Oceanarium dubbed as Hotel H2O. The hotel itself has a dedicated fitness center and spa and meeting rooms. The Makansutra Asian Food Village hosts dining outlets for its patrons. Hotel H2O also hosts areas for events which covers a total area of and has a total capacity of 1,000 people.

References

External links

* {{Manila landmarks Buildings and structures in Ermita Aquaria in the Philippines Tourist attractions in Manila 2008 establishments in the Philippines

Construction

Features

Hotel

See also

References

External links