Istanbul With Kids: Visiting Istanbul SEA Life Akvayrum


Having visited and had super fun seeing the Dugong at Sydney SEA Life Aquarium, we wanted to visit another aquarium during our family holiday in Istanbul. When we did our research on kids friendly places in Istanbul, we found out that there's SEA Life Akvaryum in Istanbul. Of course we put it in our itinerary right away! 

It is located inside a huge shopping mall called Forum Istanbul. From the first time we arrived at Forum Istanbul, we saw a huge advertisement of the Istanbul SEA Life Akvaryum.

Welcome to Forum Istanbul Shopping Mall:)


There are 2 huge aquariums in Istanbul, please don't get confused. We visited the one with "SEA Life" brand which belongs to the same group company with SEA Life Sydney, SEA Life Bangkok, etc, which is called Merlin Entertainment.

It was not difficult to find Istanbul SEA Life Akvaryum, the sign inside the shopping mall was really clear. Other than SEA Life Akvaryum, there's also Legoland Discovery Center inside the Forum Istanbul. However, we didn't have the chance to visit the Legoland Discovery Center. We spent hours inside the SEA Life Istanbul.


The Family Ticket

The good news for family traveler like myself: SEA Life Akvaryum provide Family Ticket for 2 adults and 2 child for TL140. It is of course much cheaper than buying separate ticket for adult (TL48 at the counter and TL38.40 online) and child (TL37 at the counter and TL29.60 online).


The friendly staff of SEA Life Akvaryum were welcoming the guests
Our tickets


Our Kiddos got those cute spectacles made of paper, and once they put it on, we were so ready to meet all the lovely underwater creatures. Did you know that there are over 15,000 amazing creatures inside Istanbul SEA Life Akvaryum? Wow!!


Our Kiddos with the lovable sharky, we also bought t-shirt with this shark face 
Our underwater world adventure began...


The Aquariums' Design

We were then amazed by the design of the aquarium. They are specially designed for kids. We stopped here and then to take pictures. Our Kiddos of course enjoyed all the surprises we found inside the aquarium.

They crawled to take pictures, and laughed when they saw the pictures. It was indeed a kids friendly akvaryum :)


The kids are crawling under the aquarium
Our Kiddos, inside the aquarium


The Lovable Underwater Creatures


The underwater creatures were so many, so colorful and of course really beautiful. How SEA Live Akvaryum presents all those creatures are excellent. It made guest spent hours inside the Akvaryum, including our family.

There are many signs so that our Kiddos could read and learn on his own. Don't worry, all the signage came in Turkish and English :)


So many cute Nemos!
Self learned by all the signs provided
Finding Dory?:D


Of course the aquarium tunnel is our all time favourite. And we managed to see some great sharks inside.


Look at the shark!
I wish there is a travelator inside the tunnel



The Turtle Hospital

We also saw what so called "Turtle Hospital" as Turkey is home to 2 species of Sea Turtle which alive today, which are Caretta Caretta and Chelonia. Both of them use Turkey's coastline for nesting.


Let's save our turtles
Hi there mr.turtles...
What a big one


The Art Aquarium

This is the same with the one we experienced in SEA Life Sydney, one area whereas our Kiddos could color the fish, scan it, and it will be on their artificial aquarium.


This is what so called the art aquarium


Although our Kiddos had done this before, still they were so excited to color all kind of fish.


Which one is your Kiddos' favourite picture?
Coloring their chosen sea creature


Ok then, it was time for me to relax at the massage chair provided at the next room. Hahaha...


Enjoying myself at the massage chair:D


The huge aquarium just next to the Art Aquarium is so big and very impressive indeed! So you don't need to ask me why I enjoyed the massage chair so much. It was not only the chair, but also the view.






The Touch Pool

Other than the Art Aquarium, Kiddos loved the touch pool. And Kiddos#1 who love animals so much, really enjoyed his time at the touch pool.







The Playground Inside The Museum

Before completing our visit to Istanbul SEA Life Akvaryum, we stopped at a cafe to find some snacks and drink. And our Kiddos could play at indoor playground. This aquarium has everything for your children.




And I finally found Dory, at Istanbul SEA Life Akvaryum.


The Dory, at last:D



The Last Section of The Aquarium

We thought that after the playground, we would be directed to the souvenir shop, but I was wrong. We still have some more aquariums to enjoy.





***

It was an amazing hours we spent inside the Istabul SEA Life Akvaryum. Before going back to our Airbnb apartment, we stopped at the souvenir shop. I must say that the souvenirs being sold here are really affordable.

If you are wondering whether Istanbul SEA Life Akvaryum is worth a visit, I would answer a big YES. 


Bye for now, Istanbul SEA Life Akvaryum



Disclaimer:
We thank Istanbul SEA Life Akvaryum who had given us complimentary tickets, but in no way impact our review of this place. 
This review is written based on our amazing experience inside the aquarium.




Istanbul SEA Life Akvaryum

Website: https://www.visitsealife.com/istanbul/en/

Opening times:
Weekday: 10am-7pm
Weekend: 10am-8pm

Getting there: please click here







written on October 11, 2016 

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6 comments:

  1. kebayang senengnya kiddos ya mba...

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    Replies
    1. Hehe..iya Mba mereka seneng banget. Pssst aku juga betah disini:p

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  2. Nemo sama hiu nya banyak banget lucu2
    anak2 pasti demen nonton yang beginian, aku perna masuk yang di siam paragon bangkok dan seru banget banyak atraksi

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    Replies
    1. Nah itu Om Cumi, aku malah belum ke yang Siam Paragon. Mudah2an next visit to Bangkok bisa kesana ah :)

      Delete
  3. Wah, aku ga kesini pas ke istanbul dulu :).. lumayanlah, bisa jd referensi kalo nanti kesana lagi

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    Replies
    1. Art Aquarium nya sih SEA Life itu yang special Fan, kalau enggak disini, coba yang di Sydney deh.

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