We had a bit of spare time this morning, and made a spur-of-the-moment decision to check out the Jakarta Aquarium. We got our tickets at the counter directly as the child tickets weren’t available on Klook for some reason, but in hindsight, we could have saved some money by getting the adult tickets on Klook, then buying the child tickets at the counter. There was no queue at all when we got there around 11am, and it wasn’t very crowded inside the aquarium itself, which made our visit pretty enjoyable. The aquarium was pretty small, and we covered it in about 1.5 to 2 hours. We walked around at a leisurely pace, and all three kids got pretty good views of the various exhibits. The only crowded exhibit while we were there was the shark tank, because there was a shark-feeding at 1145am.
(As with the other aquariums that we’ve visited, the lighting inside wasn’t great for photo-taking, so please excuse my crappy photos.)
The kids tried going into a small tunnel to get a closer look at the otters, but unfortunately, they were all asleep at the top of their enclosure.
Where are the otters?
Apart from sea animals, the aquarium has some other exhibits, such as frogs, snakes, spiders, and chameleons. These are on the same level as the entrance, and all of us had a good time spotting the camouflaged reptiles and amphibians.
Hello, chameleons!
N’s favourite exhibit was the one with the stingrays, because he found the small ones really cute. They were bobbing vertically at the glass panels, and looked like they were smiling.
Don’t they look adorable?
Personally, I think the more interesting exhibits were on the lower level, accessible via the flight of stairs, or the small lift next to it. We were welcomed by the spiral tank, and the twins made a beeline for it, and loved being able to get so close to the fishes.
Spiral tank
N also liked looking at the piranhas, while I preferred the nautilus and jellyfish. The latter exhibit was definitely much smaller than the one in Singapore, but was still a pretty sight. I also liked that there were information boards which showed the negative effects of litter on sea creatures.
Piranhas
Nautilus
Jellyfish
Different species of jellyfish
Life cycle of jellyfish
The touch pool was also quite interesting, and way less crowded than the ones at the Bangkok and Singapore aquariums. (Read about our experience at Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World HERE.) All three kids got to touch a sea star (aka starfish) and a sea cucumber. Meimei was the most cautious among the three, and was basically just touching the water, until I held her hand and guided her to put her hand deeper in, so that she could touch them. Didi didn’t seem afraid at all, though I’m not sure he even knew what he was touching. N, the touch pool “veteran”, made me proud by how gentle he was with both the sea star and the sea cucumber.
Touch pool
The touch pool was also next to the penguin exhibit, but again, we didn’t get to see a single penguin, as they were all apparently on the other side of their enclosure. The penguin exhibit is the highlight of the Pingoo Restaurant there, but unfortunately, it was booked for a birthday party today, so we couldn’t check it out. We did bump into the Penguin mascot before it made its appearance at the party though!
Saying hi to the penguin mascot
The highlight of our visit was the shark-feeding, which took place at the largest tank on the lower ground (LG) level. Just look for the super long dragon, and you’ll see the tank behind it.
Can you spot N on the dragon?
There was a small craft station on the other side of the dragon, but N wasn’t keen at all. I don’t really blame him, because check out the huge fishes in the tank! I would rather spend time watching them swim around than erm, colouring a recyclable bag, to be honest.
Craft corner
Feeding time!
HUGE Grouper
Before we left, I wanted a photo of the kids “inside” the tank. I asked C to take a photo for us, and this was the shot I got. *rolls eyes*
Look! I’m eating a fish!
Luckily, he managed to get ONE decent shot of us, but none with N, because N got bored and ducked out of the tank.
It was an enjoyable experience at the Jakarta Aquarium, and I think we won’t mind coming back again. I was pleasantly surprised that all the staff we encountered were pretty effectively bilingual, and every single one provided service with a smile. Next time, I think we’ll call to check if we can reserve a table at the Pingoo restaurant first, so that we can feed the penguins too.
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