Aqua Planet at the Yeosu Expo site is the biggest aquarium in Korea. Built by Hanwha Engineering & Construction Corp., this four-story 16,400 square meter aquarium is bigger than COEX Aquarium and Busan Aquarium.
Aqua Planet is divided into three parts: Coastal Life, Marine Life, and the Eco-Terrarium. In the Coastal Life zone, visitors can see rare ocean animals such as Beluga whales, Baikal seals, and sea dragons.
Watch Belugas playing.
Take pictures with Emperor penguins. This one makes me think of Happy Feet's Mumble.
In the Eco-Terrarium zone, visitors can see rare South American freshwater fishes such as pirarucus and piranhas. Also called Aqua Forest, this section is beautifully constructed to mimic the Amazon jungle.
A tank full of red-bellied piranhas.
Besides observing different fresh water species in their tanks, visitors can also have hands-on experience.
In this case, literally a hand-on experience: a Doctor Fish manicure.
A boy playing with an Archer fish gun.
For me, an aquarium is not complete without jellyfish and Aqua Planet boasts of having the biggest jellyfish tank in Korea. The tank was separated from the others in a dark room with only the color-changing lights illuminating and enhancing the beautiful jellyfish.
The Marine Life zone has a 6,000 ton tank that features the country’s first “dome aquarium”. This main tank can be viewed in many different ways including a 360-degree view of the underwater environment.
Capturing marine life through a round window.
The whole view of the main tank which features the 360-degree view dome room.
The glass tunnel leading out of the dome room.
Aqua Planet is said to have 280 species and about 30,000 marine animals. Though it is the biggest aquarium in terms of area, I find that it doesn’t have as much biodiversity as other aquariums I’ve been to in Korea.
Japanese Spider Crabs looking at each other.
Nevertheless, it is a must-see if you’re in the area. This facility will remain after the Yeosu Expo ends on August 12. During the Expo, entry to Aqua Planet is included in your day pass. For operating hours and other information, call the Expo hotline 1577-2012.
Do you like visiting aquariums? If so, what creatures do you like seeing?
Wow!! I seriously am dying to get down to Yeosu! This aquarium looks amazing. Glad you guys got to see it. Great pics, by the way!
Thanks Mimsie! :) I hope you can get there soon.
Make sure you allot time for waiting in long lines if you’ll be there on a weekend. ;)
Woah! This looks amazing! I’m a sucker for anything animal related, really hope we can make room for a trip to Yeosu…
I hope you go there and share your experience. :)
[...] Yeosu Written by WKB on May 18, 2012 in Worldwide Korea Bloggers * This post is written by Johanne Miller, one of the Korea Blog’s Worldwide Korea [...]
[...] our experience. Above, you see scores of visitors taking pictures through the viewing glass at the Aqua Planet aquarium. While below, you see some fancy K-Pop dancing robots courtesy of the DSME Marine Robot [...]