Churaumi Aquarium

We read about the Churaumi Aquarium before we even arrived in Okinawa so it has been on our "To-Do List" for the past month. The aquarium is on the far north-west of the island, and while the island is small, the roads are windy so it takes about an hour to get there from our house. 

It beats strip malls and billboards for "Motel 6"

 Chris managed to secure a four day weekend this weekend so yesterday we decided to venture up to the aquarium to check it out. The views were quite amazing the whole way up - if we weren't looking at beautiful beaches and water we were looking at mountains and jungle.

Not a McDonalds in sight (even though, sadly, it is present on the island)

The aquarium is spectacular. Not only is the location beautiful but the actual aquarium is amazing. It is the third largest aquarium in the world, and home to three whale sharks and giant manta rays. These creatures are just magnificent and it is amazing to see them in a tank big enough to comfortably house them.

View from the entrance to the aquarium

The front of the aquarium

Natalie sported an 80's afro for the occasion

Taking a break from the heat in a nice shady spot

The dolphin arena

Touch tank. Sea cucumbers feel really weird, like feather boas.

Stinking man...

In front of the whale shark tank.

Herroh rittle feesh.

That beauty is a whale shark.

Whale shark with symbiotic parasites

Manta ray...into the blue...

Amazing tank

I wish my iPhone could capture the beautiful colors of these fish

The black blob on the left is the kids and I

Lunch with a whale shark

Dominic is THE messiest eater, he just shovels food in with his hands.

After looking at all the fish, turtles, dolpins and manatees, we took the kids to the play area where they got to pretend they were fish stuck in a net. 

Dominic is an excellent climber

At the top of "Rapunzel's castle".

Dominic was very amused when he pressed a button and mist sprayed out of this device.

For once Dominic is coming out of somethings mouth instead of shoving something in his...

We got an annual membership to the aquarium, which was only Y3600 ($45) per adult, kids under 4 are free, so we will definitely be back there on a regular basis. There are a lot of fun places to stop at on the way there including Pineapple Land, Fruits Land and a Butterfly Farm. There is also a botanical garden next to the aquarium.