Manly Sea Life Sanctuary (formerly ''Oceanworld Manly'') was a

public aquarium A public aquarium () or public water zoo is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, which houses living aquatic animal and aquatic plant, plant specimens for public viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept by home aquarists, ...

located in Manly,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It featured sharks, giant stingrays, sea turtles, little penguins and other marine life. It also allowed guests to take part in Shark Dive Xtreme, where they could swim with grey nurse sharks over three metres long.

History

The sanctuary originally opened in 1965, as ''Marineland''. It was refurbished and reopened in 1989 as Underwater World. It was purchased and renovated by Coral World International, and re-opened as Oceanworld in 1992. After its renovation, the aquarium boasted the longest aquarium tunnel in the world, at . The aquarium was sold to the Sydney Aquarium Company (later Sydney Attractions Group) in 1999 to be operated, as a branch of the

Sydney Aquarium SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium (formerly Sydney Aquarium) is a public aquarium in Sydney, Australia. Opened in 1988, it features a large variety of Australian aquatic life, displaying more than 700 species comprising more than 13,000 individual fish ...

. In February 2008,

Village Roadshow Theme Parks Village Roadshow Theme Parks is a division of Village Roadshow Limited which operates theme parks and attractions in Australia. The Sydney Attractions Group Pty Ltd was formerly part of Village Roadshow Theme Parks; however, it was sold in 20 ...

acquired the Sydney Attractions Group. In December 2010,

Merlin Entertainments Merlin Entertainments Limited is a global entertainment company based in London, England, which operates a number of theme park resorts and other visitor attractions. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until November 2019, when it was ...

acquired the Sydney Attractions Group division of Village Roadshow Theme Parks. On 28 June 2012, the attraction officially relaunched as Manly Sea Life Sanctuary following a renovation which saw the addition of the Penguin Cove exhibit. It closed on 28 January 2018 due to projected maintenance costs. In December 2023, the council announced that the old aquarium would be demolished to make way for the upgrade of Manly Cove West. The demolition commenced in July 2024.Manly boardwalk closed for repair
''Manly Obesrver''

References

External links

Official website
{{Village Roadshow Theme Parks Aquaria in Australia Buildings and structures demolished in 2024 Defunct aquaria Manly, New South Wales Merlin Entertainments Group Sea Life Centres Village Roadshow Theme Parks Zoos established in 1965 Zoos disestablished in the 2010s 1965 establishments in Australia 2018 disestablishments in Australia