AQWA The Aquarium Of Western Australia

Today, my granddaughter and i spent the morning at AQWA. We got to see the mermaids, who were magnificent. These talented girls were so friendly and interactive with the kids. My granddaughter was so happy, she even dressed up as a mermaid. We also enjoyed walking around and looking at all the other activities. Even the crazy Pirate was a hoot with the kids. Totally recommend this a a school holiday must. Lovely service and helpful staff. Thank you so much.

I love everything about this place, as does my daughter ♥️ their are so many different species of sea life 🧬 it is truly astounding. The gift shop might be a bit of a leap when it comes to it's prices but the cafe is worth every bite of its food. There are plenty of photo opportunities for the kids and family. The touch pool is a different experience entirely, teaching both kids and adults hands on about our astonishing sea life and it's ecosystems. You can also book to dine under the sea, a dream-like experience with top tier five star ⭐ dishes. The aquarium itself was built so beautifully and sophisticatedly, their are different sections for different types of sea life. My personal favourite is the massive viewing window downstairs outside, You can sit in the seats provided and watch hundreds of different fish 🐠🐟 and coral life living in one massive tank, co-existing and living peacefully. The room is so peaceful and dimely lit it's almost possible to fall asleep. Another "must-see" exhibit is "The mantis shrimp" these amazing creatures have the biggest blows of the ocean 🌊💪🏻 small but mighty and Beautiful in color (rainbow). The service at aqua is amazing with no waits or lines usually, unless you're in the gift shop or cafe. Most of the exhibits are educational aswell so you learn as you explore. They have it all here, it's definitely a must see destination.

The underwater tunnel cannot be missed. Best part of it. Also, the elevator is right next to the stairs leading down to it (there's a lot!) So grab that. No very big aquarium. 2 hours and you're good to go. Ticket is immediately upon entry, so if you're meeting someone or picking up, there's nowhere you can sit in the cool or shade while waiting. A deeper reception with seats would be great. We did Hilarys Marina in the morning, had lunch and did AQWA after so we were out of the sun in the afternoon but this meant we missed feeding and talks. Car parking was mental!!!

Great place for kids, please allow 3 hours to explore the aquarium (for 10 years old ones). It is much smaller than Osaka aquarium but offers great knowledge of ocean and creatures.

AQWA is a wonderful experience! The underwater tunnel is truly breathtaking, and the exhibits showcase Western Australia’s marine life beautifully. My daughter especially enjoyed the touch pools, and the whole place was clean, well-organized, and engaging. It’s not the largest aquarium I’ve visited, but it’s definitely a must-see in Perth.

The aquarium was so cool! It had a glow in the dark feel to it. My friend and I really enjoyed it, as we saw many different sea creatures such as clown fish, sea dragon, stingray and shark. It was nice to see all the kids with their parents enjoy it so much too, as it adds to the positive vibe. Also a very close walk from the Hillarys Boat Harbour too~

We love our visit at the AQWA. My son enjoyed it which is important for me. The only downside was the parking. If they can add more parking bays.

Hadn't been in years and it was so cool to explore it with a teenager and not toddler, as in you get to see it in a whole new perspective because I didn't have to keep my eyes on a little kid hehe. Lovely, friendly staff and amazing aquariums. Loved it

Nice little aquarium in WA that boasts a decent variety of specimens. I would give the overall experience around a 3.5. This is because I went on a day where there were an insane amount of screaming children and school tours. I think it's great that kids are able to see the animals, but I think I will bring headphones if I ever go again because it really changed the ambiance. The reason I upped my rating to a 4 is taking into consideration the underground shark tank experience. You stand on a rotating conveyor belt that takes you all the way around the tank in an underwater, acrylic tunnel. Truly unique and very enchanting to see all the rays, fish, sharks swimming overhead.

It's a fascinating place very touristy a great place for the person who can't bring themselves to hold their breath and get wet or have a ocean creature phobia like deadly poison octopus sharks and lion fish worth a wonder through the octopuses garden keeping dry and safe... a bit pricey but worth it to see every few years, I always feel sorry for the bigger creatures like seals etc being prisoners in a tank. But that's how humans seem to do things.

Must visit when in WA. The glass tunnel below the shark tank is the absolutely highlight but there are many well chosen and informative displays. This museum is really good for all ages with a fun touch pool for the small ones, a replica VOC ship (additional cost), and a nice cafeteria. It's pretty small overall but worth your time and money.

My kids love it here. I on the other hand just like it. I think it's a fairly expensive at around $50 for one adult and one child, plus it's a fairly quick experience as well. Of course it's a good place, informative, well presented and well maintained. There's heaps of parking close by at Hillary's Boat Harbour and also very easy to get to. Cafe has basic food and is reasonably priced as is the gift shop. Worth a visit but I'd honestly rather hit up Perth Zoo.

Very cool aquarium! Loved the underwater viewing in the "shipwreck Coast" exhibit-- giants rays, turtles and sharks! Lots of Western Australian species as well as those native to the Indian Ocean. Great reef exhibits, turtle nursery and touch pools too. Just a bit overwhelming with screaming kids and the amount of prams haha

My 1st visit to overseas aquarium ......This aquarium is located near the Sorrento Quay. I love the scenery .... You must be wondering why am i mentioning i love the scenery. Hmm ..... simply put it this way i'm in love with Perth and i fall in love when i set my foot on this beautiful country ...... My dad plan a day trip travelling from Perth city to Sorrento Quay via Train and bus and i fall in love with everything i see.... We visited the aquarium and we get to see the lovely fishes ..... It's worth a visit with kids ..... though im a kid to my parents too.

My kid and I love this place so much. It was really a fun experience with a fantastic array of sea life. One of the aquarium's most impressive views are those sea life in the underwater tunnel and a tank of beautiful jellyfish.

While being a fabulous place for the family and overseas visitors to view the sea life of WA, it's a great place to relax with a coffee or bottled apple juice. I visit the place often. The food is cafe style such as quiches, hot chips and sandwiches when available. The service is great, the place is very clean. There are indoor tables and the outdoor tables have a pleasant view of the harbour (despite overlooking a car park). The staff are happy to make modifications to their menu such as changing chips to wedges. My favourite are the wedges which are a huge portion enough for two or more people, are hot, crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The children love the selection of cakes, muffins, ice-cream and drinks. It's nice that the food is available as sit down or takeaway. Service time is quick. There are some vegetarian items. The only minus is the battered fish is often greasy inside and out. Everything is the expected price for a cafe. A bit expensive for families but the proportions are generous. BYO food and drink is allowed. Since I usually visit between breakfast and lunch time, I have never thought about alcohol consumption. Perhaps next time when my overseas visitors come back, I will ask about it.

AQWA is Perths biggest and best aquarium. They have a great underwater tunnel that you walk through and have Stingrays, Sharks, Turtles and other fish, swim right above you. They also have a touch pool where you are allowed to pick up and touch the animals. If you are an adventure junkie, then why don't you try diving with the Sharks. This is not a cheap day for the family, with admission prices $28 for adults and $16 for children. Many people don't know that they have function rooms available for hire here. I have been to a few wedding receptions here, which were fun and memorable. out for the family though

Need somewhere wonderful to take the kids? AQWA is a great choice! With three kids - ages 2, 4 and 6 - to entertain, we needed somewhere that had a range of appeals to keep everyone happy and focused for a period of time. We found it at AQWA and all of the kids loved it. Our only problem was keeping them quiet because they kept shouting with excitement at all of the well-constructed displays and, of course, the multitude of animals - sharks, rays, jellyfish, seahorses, fish, seasnake, blue ringed octopus, cone shell... all representing Western Australia's diverse coast. The touch pool filled with 'friendly' animals was an absolute hit - hint: bring a hand towel and a change of t-shirt for each child! - and even the adults enjoyed touching the sea stars and friendly ray. Only fifty metres from Hillarys cafes and restaurants, it is absolutely possible to enjoy a morning at AQWA and then an afternoon at the playground after lunch at one of the eateries nearby.

AQWA is a place if you want to explore the under water world. From dangerous sharks to sweet little turtles, this place is a must-go even though it might be a bit pricey. You should definetely visit this place once in a life time. Please avoid going there during school holidays. Kids may be a bit annoying :) I am just saying it...

AQWA is a beautiful place. The nearby outdoor areas are lovely and I had a great time enjoying the ocean views before I even walked up to the building. AQWA itself is massive and has a great number of exhibits. My favorite of course is the underwater tunnel of the Shipwreck Coast exhibit. I always get scared in these tunnels but it is so awesome to see the fish swimming over your head! But every exhibit is impressive: the colorful coral, the translucent jellyfish, and the elusive octopus that always takes me ages to spot in the exhibit. I appreciate the local aspect of AQWA: everything in AQWA is from the WA ocean region. I appreciate this movement for local aquariums and zoos to exhibit only relatively local flora and fauna, and I find I enjoy these places more than the traditional format. Whether visiting Perth as a tourist, or a local who hasn't recently been to AQWA, I definitely recommend spending a day here.

Great price for a great day out. I really enjoyed my day here. So many aquariums and any things to see. The AQWA app was fun to use while walking around too, made it more interactive and I learnt some facts along the way.

This is a great aquarium with plenty to see! Highlights include a walk-through tank, sharks, and the blue-ringed octopus! I attached a few pics that will do more justice to it than my words will!

Normally I'm more into fluffy land animals than sea creatures but I enjoyed the aquarium. They've got so many types of common and obscure sea creatures from all along the Western Australian coastline. The big highlight is the walk through aquarium, a glass tunnel running through a huge tank with turtles, sharks, stingrays and fish. It's quite cool watching a shark or a stingray glide over your head.

We arrived at AQWA today to grab a glimpse of the mermaids. We were told before the show that you required a band in order to enter the event but were eventually let through as the people with bands did not show. We loved being able to see the mermaids and the touch pool was great as usual.

Dive with sharks, reef walk, play in the touch pool, explore the most dangerous of creatures and the prettiest sea urchins all at the Aquarium of Western Australia. I came here recently with my little cousins and forgot how gorgeous and fascinating it is to see the creatures and watch young children be mesmerized. Aqua is an incredible underwater experience and you don't even have to get wet!

This is one of rare places that perfectly balances fun and education. Kids won't be able to tell they are being educated while checking out all kinds of sea creatures and those more academically minded won't be able to stop themselves from enjoying some of the shows and "touch stuff". With 12 000km of coast, WA has a lot of diversity and this is reflected by the range of creatures here. From the ultra deadly stone fish to the more placid creatures, there is everything here. The underwater tunnel is extra cool. It's actually quite unnerving when sharks are floating besides you and then one of the divers casually enter the pool to clean it or whatever. I keep thinking: "Don't let this be the day when those sharks inevitably rip one of divers from limb to limb". even thought it never happens. Not a huge fan of Hillary's myself, but check out AQWA, it is awesome.

I went to a function here and it was fun in a kitschy way. We had pre-drinks in the walk-through aquarium, surrounded by sharks and stingrays, and then moved on to the Aquarium Suite which overlooks Hilary's Marina. The views are great and the atmosphere is quite distinct. I'm not sure I was totally won over by the experience - the whole sea theme didn't sit with me that well. But I thought it was interesting and certainly a dynamic way to spend a 50th anniversary.

The place itself was beautiful the fish were amazing and I especially loved the sting rays, if you get there at feeding time I really recommend that bit because it's amazing to watch the way they overpower he diver and cover him up , really enjoyable. , the tanks were amazing , so colourful and I would love to walk around again , there wasn't as much there as I we were expecting , we were expecting to spend a couple of hours there but we only spend about 45 minutes looking around before we'd seen it all. The real let down in my opinion was the cafe and gift shop. In the cafe my Friend ordered a blt which the bacon in it was so greasy she couldn't even finish it! Even my vegetarian burger was quite greasy and I'm not sure how it was so greasy, I couldn't finish that either. The gift shop wasn't what we were expecting , apart from the few things which represented the gift shop, it was exactly the same as all the other gifts shops we'd been in around Perth, just for a higher price which was quite disappointing.

A great morning/ afternoon out for all the family and all ages. Fab variety of wildlife to see and all well displayed. Worth the $30 adult entry. Wildlife all treated very well in clean and spacious exhibits.

This is a great place! Very kid friendly, lots of guides to explain things, colorful tanks and displays and the best parts are the moving walkway under the shark/ turtle/ray tank and the touch pools!

I was deciding to either try this place or the Perth Zoo for a family outing (I have a 9 month old). After doing my research online comparing entrance fees, this place was dearer by about $5 per person. We gave it a go and left a bit disappointed. Compared to other places, there isn't really that much to see in my opinion. For the price we paid, I expected to be woo'd with lots of awesome sea creatures that would keep me exploring and wanting more. But after about 90 minutes, we'd seen everything that AQWA had to offer and we were ready to leave. If you have kids between 5 and 10 they'll love it. If you're an adult with very young or no children, don't bother.

Given the diverse and exceptional range of marine life that Western Australia is known for, this place couldn't be more disappointing. It is tired, uninspiring and worst of all, very expensive. The two stars are because our two kids enjoyed looking at the fish. So much potential but...

It is amazing to see so many sea creatures up close, but there is something a little scary as you watch the fish in the large aquarium, wondering if the glass is going to crack! You soon forget this fear as you marvel at such beautiful creatures. As you go around and around the large aquarium, you will find that you never grow bored of watching these colourful creatures. And after you have viewed them in the large aquarium, you can take a walk around the other sea creatures on display. Outside of AQWA is Sting Ray Bay, where you can get very up close to the rays who are swimming in a small lagoon. There is also a touch pool for the braver visitors who would like to experience what some sea creatures feel like to touch. AQWA's website is fantastic with activity sheets and colouring in pages to print out prior or after your visit. Plus there is a game or two for the kids to play. You will also find a gift shop with lots of sea-themed items for children and adults. The gift shop sells everything from keyrings and erasers to larger items. Should you wish for a drink or a meal, AQWA also offers a cafe which sells hot meals, salads, snacks and drinks.

It is pretty standard to expect that any attraction, such as a zoo or theme park, will have a gift shop. I think we are generally so desensitised to the marketing that we take for granted things will be for sale everywhere. Often I have been to gifts shops "on my way out" and browsed through a selection of cheap rubber snakes or obnoxious touristy booklets and thought- "ugh, why did they bother?" This is certainly not the case with the AQWA shop. The reason the shop gets a separate mention to the aquarium is because it is a completely separate operation. The contrast between the aquarium, the cafe and the shop is tangible. The shop has a variety of items, branching out from the run of the mill plush toys (although squid and turtles make a pleasant change from bears, bears, bears!) they've also got active gear, like sea dragon flasks! There may be some mouse pads (which I was sure went out of fashion when the mouse did?) but the variety of educational books, not just about the marine life, but also activities and outdoor places around WA is amazing! What really sucked me in though was the jewellery cabinet! There are some of the most delicate, intricate pieces I have ever seen in a "gift shop." Two pieces in particular, a necklace and a bracelet, have ammonite (which is a fossilised shell, the cross section looks like a swirl) and are surrounded with clusters of rubies, amber and turquoise stones- wow they are gorgeous. . . but for almost $1000 a pop I had to regretfully walk away. When I am little miss money bags, I shall return to claim the jewels of the AQWA shop.

Great place. Not only does it show our sea creatures up close but provides a fun educational outing for kids. They also offer function hire. Had my wedding reception there. Ok it probably sounds strange place but was amazing. Great price. Showed all my guesrs around the aquariums n shark tunnel with wine and nibbles. Their buffet amazing well catered for. Staff were brilliant understanding and helpful. Cannot say a bad word about this place.

Went with the kids for a good day out. Great aquarium. We all had a blast. Went to the cafe. Food was deplorable. Over greasy and under seasoned. Staff were average. It didn't appear any of the servers were happy to be there. Will go to see the fish again. But will eat elsewhere after.

Great place to spend the day. There are so many sea creatures to see and the shows are a great way to learn more about our envifonment.

The AQWA aquarium is of a modest size compared to aquariums in bigger cities, but this is probably a good thing for a tired parent. The hallways and display fronts are nice and roomy on quiet days, but may be packed if you visit at a popular time. The displays are very good, kept minimalist and clean so that the animals inside are easy to see. The centrepiece, the walk-through shark tank, is as interesting as hoped for, although the curved glass makes it difficult to gauge the real size of the inhabitants. There are a couple of sea turtles, several sharks and lots of fish, so always something exciting to look at. Although some of the fish look distinctly bored. The touch pool was my favourite part, although the lobsters were all refusing to leave the central shelter and be fondled, which was disappointing. The stingray pool was good too; possibly not meant to be a touch pool, but there was a very friendly ray that wanted to be touched, or else wanted food and didn't mind being touched. Either way, he was very soft and plush. Finally the underwater viewing of the artificial reef was very beautiful, although with the dim lighting, hypnotic plant movement and comfy chairs I would be surprised if they don't get people falling asleep there. I will definitely visit AQWA again.