Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium (美ら海水族館)
Okinawa(沖縄), known as the “Japan Hawaii”, is the Southernmost Province of Japan and it consists of thousands of island. Its capital, the Naha, is located at the largest island of Okinawa Province, the Okinawa Island. With beautiful coastal lines and natural scenes, nice beaches, good diving sites, the antique architecture and numerous resort hotels along the beaches, the Okinawa is a famous place for local Japanese people as well as overseas tourists to spend their summer holidays. The summer in Okinawa is especially popular and the hotel prices in July to August could rise to all most 3 times higher than the low season.
I visited the Okinawa this July, and I was astonished by the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium.
This Aquarium is nothing to be compared all over the world and among all other aquariums, as it houses the largest fish in the world, the Whale Shark. There are 2 Whale Sharks inside the Aquarium and they are the only 2 raised inside an aquarium. If it is not this Aquarium, we could either see the Whale Shark in the National Geographic Channel, or go diving and try our luck in the uninhabited open sea.
The Whale Sharks, tremendous in size, but mild in nature as they are only fed on small organisms through filtrating the sea water. They have large square head and their large mouth always looks like smiling to us. Their fins are as tall as a person and their grey skin is covered by small white dots. What an amazing creatures! Through the thick glass wall I saw the two giants, I could hardly believe my eyes that I could watch them so closely and clearly. When watching them swimming elegantly inside the water, I felt so peaceful and forgot my own being. I thought that I was “flying” with them merrily inside the water. Haha!
The two lovely giants have lots of big and small friends around them, like the Manta Ray, the big Butterfly Fish, the Tuna, the Shark, etc. There are so much more to see in the Aquarium and one could spend a whole day there.
One more fascinating feature in the Aquarium which I would like mentioning is the “Ocean Blue Cafe“ there. The cafe is just a fast food shop and it sells pasta, hotdogs, softdrinks, etc. Visitors would need to find themselves for tables there. However, this lovely fast food shop is a “must visit” spot inside the Aquarium, as it is located right next to the huge apartment of the Whale Sharks. Not only all the tables there could have a good clear view over the Whale Sharks, some tables are set so close to the glass wall and it seems that we are dining under the water and the Whale Sharks and all the other giants are swimming over our heads. When I visited the Aquarium last month, I was lucky enough to find the best table and I just sat there watching the “giants” for hours and did not want to leave.
The best time to visit this Cafe would be around 3:00pm when it is also the feeding time for the Whale Sharks and all their friends, the whole Aquarium would get excited. Remember to go to this Cafe a bit earlier and find yourselve a nice table, I am sure that you don’t want to leave by watching the beautiful and lovely creatures.
note: a friend of mine is going to visit Okinawa next week. my friend, if you are reading this article, you would probably know that i write this for you.
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related post: Talk of Tokyo
Filed under travelling, japan, fun |14 Responses to “Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium (美ら海水族館)”
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So beautiful.
How nice a traveling.
Picture of the whale and the small fishes are nice
Dear blkjck,
Yes, Okinawa is a lovely place for travelling, and I would share more in future.
You like travelling too? Where do you like to go?
Dear Odysseus,
Thanks! I really love the Whale Shark! Their little friends are cute too! Haha!
Great post and lots of helpful and interesting information. I love aquariums and have visited them all over the United States but not in other countries… YET. Here’s a link to the current world’s largest aquarium, the Georgia Aquarium (http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/). Love them Whale Sharks
You have an awesome site and I like visiting here often.
quite lovely.
This post remind me, I’ve never been inside a huge aquarium before.
Schedule! Schedule!
Btw, thanks 4 watching my sites.
Dear Tony,
You are most welcome! The Georgia Aquarium, I would love to visit it sometime. : )
Dear Jon,
Ha! Yes, the Whale Shark is superb! : )
Hello Firewalker,
Nice to meet you here. Do come by often to find our some interesting stuffs here.
Thank you for your information. I will definitely visit the aquarium.
On the other hand, you had mention that there was a market where we could enjoy a big seafood boat costing about 1000 yen. Where is it?
Welcome, my dearest “hand” detective!
You are departing Hong Kong this morning, right? Your comment was just received and sorry that I could not reply to you earlier.
Hope you would go on line when you are in Okinawa and could read this message.
The seafood market I mentioned is in the Town Centre of Naha, near 沖縄三越, named 牧志公設市場.
http://info.yuntaku.com/details-60.html
You could get there through the 國際通り.
Have a nice trip and see you!
: )
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