This small, aging aquarium is a lovely thirty minute ferry ride from the Sydney CBD. Oceanworld really is quite tiny for a standalone attraction. It consists of three levels and you enter on the middle level. It has no disabled access to the top or bottom level, which would almost certainly not be acceptable in a public aquarium being built today. The middle level consists of a large-ish circular 'fish bowl' style aquarium (capacity - perhaps in the low thousands of litres) which houses a variety of moray eels. There are no more active fishes in this tank, which meant that until I spotted my first eel, for a good twenty seconds or so I thought it was empty.
Surrounding this tank there are about six window-style tanks, perhaps all around the 1-2000 litre mark, no more. These had a variety of mostly NSW area marine fauna, including sea horses, wobbegongs and an octopus. They were reasonably well presented (the sea horse and pipe fish exhibit was a nice representation of how the shark net on the Manly beach directly outside is used as habitat by sea horses) but nothing spectacular. There was also a juvenile saltwater crocodile on display. This level had a touch pool and five small to very-small tanks for species including stonefish and blue-ringed octopus.
Upstairs there is an area that once held seal shows and later a series of reptile pits. Now it is a lagoon-style tropical marine fish exhibit. The stars of this exhibit are leopard sharks (three, including one very large adult), a sea turtle that is missing a flipper but apparently will one day be re-released, a couple of brown-banded bamboo sharks and maybe 100-150 tropical bony fish. For the most part you look down on the fish from above - there are three small portholes on the stairs up to the top level that form the only side-on viewing of the tank. The mermaid show referenced by (I think) Chlidonias on a thread here takes place in this area, but thankfully for my sake it was not on.
Downstairs from the entry level is an oceanarium exhbit. I didn't ask how big it is but my partner (who did a shark dive, hence the trip to Sydney and specifically Oceanworld) thinks one of the staff said it was 1.2m litres. It has seven grey nurse sharks (they are breeding here), three very large wobbegongs, a lot of Port Jackson sharks, some cownose rays, two massive southern smooth stingrays and I think three sea turtles. There are also typical eastern Australian temperate bony fish like bream, kingfish, snapper, leatherjackets, porcupine fish and so on.
And that's it. Someone who is not a dedicated aquarium enthusiast like me could be in and out of the place in thirty minutes. I was there for four hours, but would have struggled to be there for more than ninety had my partner not being doing a shark dive. It is those dives - which I am told I should thoroughly recommend - and a couple of child-oriented attractions such as the mermaid show and snorkeling (available only to children, not adults) in the tropical lagoon, that form the business model of this place. They can do up to 12 shark dives a day and I suspect they are often sold out on weekends and public holidays.
In summary - Oceanworld Manly would be a perfectly acceptable aquarium exhibit within a larger zoo complex. As a standalone aquarium, it'd probably do alright in a regional coastal town. But in Sydney, with the Sydney Aquarium (both owned by Merlin Entertainment) essentially competing in a different weight division, it still survives purely as a vehicle for the shark dives. Visit only if you want to get in the water, or if you buy a combined ticket with Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife Sydney, and want an excuse to enjoy the Manly ferry ride. I didn't see anybody snorkeling (it's weekends and school holidays only) but if you have kids that's probably decent value too.
Surrounding this tank there are about six window-style tanks, perhaps all around the 1-2000 litre mark, no more. These had a variety of mostly NSW area marine fauna, including sea horses, wobbegongs and an octopus. They were reasonably well presented (the sea horse and pipe fish exhibit was a nice representation of how the shark net on the Manly beach directly outside is used as habitat by sea horses) but nothing spectacular. There was also a juvenile saltwater crocodile on display. This level had a touch pool and five small to very-small tanks for species including stonefish and blue-ringed octopus.
Upstairs there is an area that once held seal shows and later a series of reptile pits. Now it is a lagoon-style tropical marine fish exhibit. The stars of this exhibit are leopard sharks (three, including one very large adult), a sea turtle that is missing a flipper but apparently will one day be re-released, a couple of brown-banded bamboo sharks and maybe 100-150 tropical bony fish. For the most part you look down on the fish from above - there are three small portholes on the stairs up to the top level that form the only side-on viewing of the tank. The mermaid show referenced by (I think) Chlidonias on a thread here takes place in this area, but thankfully for my sake it was not on.
Downstairs from the entry level is an oceanarium exhbit. I didn't ask how big it is but my partner (who did a shark dive, hence the trip to Sydney and specifically Oceanworld) thinks one of the staff said it was 1.2m litres. It has seven grey nurse sharks (they are breeding here), three very large wobbegongs, a lot of Port Jackson sharks, some cownose rays, two massive southern smooth stingrays and I think three sea turtles. There are also typical eastern Australian temperate bony fish like bream, kingfish, snapper, leatherjackets, porcupine fish and so on.
And that's it. Someone who is not a dedicated aquarium enthusiast like me could be in and out of the place in thirty minutes. I was there for four hours, but would have struggled to be there for more than ninety had my partner not being doing a shark dive. It is those dives - which I am told I should thoroughly recommend - and a couple of child-oriented attractions such as the mermaid show and snorkeling (available only to children, not adults) in the tropical lagoon, that form the business model of this place. They can do up to 12 shark dives a day and I suspect they are often sold out on weekends and public holidays.
In summary - Oceanworld Manly would be a perfectly acceptable aquarium exhibit within a larger zoo complex. As a standalone aquarium, it'd probably do alright in a regional coastal town. But in Sydney, with the Sydney Aquarium (both owned by Merlin Entertainment) essentially competing in a different weight division, it still survives purely as a vehicle for the shark dives. Visit only if you want to get in the water, or if you buy a combined ticket with Sydney Aquarium and Wildlife Sydney, and want an excuse to enjoy the Manly ferry ride. I didn't see anybody snorkeling (it's weekends and school holidays only) but if you have kids that's probably decent value too.
).
