Otaru Aquarium

This is an old aquarium with a marine mammal area that features shows. While the aquarium itself isn't very big, I was amazed by the size of the animals; they're huge! The marine mammal area has shows with walruses, seals, penguins, and sea lions. Some of the animals seemed too lazy to perform, but the trainers didn't force them, which I thought was a nice touch. They also have a separate area for caring for old or disabled animals, and I hope they're all receiving excellent care.

We regret we just found out this amazing aquarium this summer! I agree with the previous reviews about not too much but everything is excellent! 1. Check their website for activities timetable. 2. The shows are amazing! 3. We get to feed the seals outside of the aquarium. 1000yen vs 500yen 4. Touching areas have a wide variety selections in marine life. 5. If you didn’t get to see all the things show on the timetable, you definitely need to come back again! 6. We love the sea turtles and the seals. A little concerned about the seals. A couple of them have their one of their eyes closed and we were worried if they are sick. Just want someone to follow up.

the exhibition is not very big but educational with a good collection of rare species. The shows are entertaining especially the penguins going to picnic. It is a perfect sized aquarium ; you get enough but not exhausted. There are not computer simulations nor games to attract children, only real natural things. So don’t need to worry about screens. 👏

This aquarium is 60 years old, and it shows. The state of the painting of the walls, design, and general cleanliness condition of the rooms is very low. In almost all the animal tanks there is rust. Honestly, it was sad to see the condition those animals are been kept. We observe the dolphins, penguins and lion seals shows.

Although it was a little crowded, it was still such a fun experience! You even get to buy fish to feed the sea lion – definitely a highlight. Not to forget the penguin walk, which was super cute to watch! Just a heads-up: people start gathering really early, so it’s hard to get a good spot unless you’re there ahead of time haha. Overall, a fun and memorable visit – great for families and animal lovers!

An interesting aquarium with lots of sea creatures to look at. Penguins and seals were a delight. I kind of feel that the dolphins' pool was too small for these magnificent mammals. Like whales, sharks and sea turtles, they belong in the ocean. There's a good restaurant, but it was loud and crowded. I think it was a holiday or there were simply too many tourists about.

Loved this aquarium. This aquarium is very different from the Osaka aquarium as there were different shows of the dolphins, seals , penguins and sea lion. It was a unique and fun experience with an amazing view of the sea and the especially loved the lighthouse and performances!

Very interesting to see new types of ocean animals as I am not from Japan. There were some English words but I needed to use my translation app. I was in time to see the dolphin show which was quite cute.

Otaru Aquarium a great place to spend a half day or even full day! There is so much to see and do here. There are many shows throughout the day. They fill up quickly so get in line early for them, especially the dolphin show. The seal show was less crowded but still it was good to be there early. There are many food options at the aquarium, a restaurant, a cafeteria, and a food truck. The cafeteria and food truck are down by the seal show stadium. The food truck had really great food options and the guys working there are really nice. I liked the takoyaki and açaí bowl. The seal show was really fun to watch and there is a slide where the seals slide down! So cute! It's also possible to buy buckets of fish and feed the seals oneself! A lot of fun! Get there early as everything gets crowded and there are lots of lines. The shop has so many adorable souvenirs that it's impossible to leave without something! Highly recommended!

Although this is an older aquarium, and you have to hike up 3 flights of stairs to the entrance, we really enjoyed our visit here. We saw some unique animals, got up close to a sea lion, enjoyed the penguin show, and ate some good food. There is a lot of walking because the aquarium is spread out on a large hill by the sea. The main building houses the fish and invertebrate exhibits, while the dolphin show arena is in a separate building and the marine mammal and penguin areas are located below the main building, near the ocean. The exhibits in the main building are okay, and there were some animals we'd never seen before, including the globe fish, which are so cute and motionless I thought they were plastic until I saw one swimming, and a huge salamander-type animal that was over a yard long. They also had large horseshoe crabs and many types of fishes. In one of the darkened hallways there is a cool camera that projects silhouettes of swimming fish, turtles, and jellyfish onto the floor. There is also a hands-on area where you can touch various animals. The dolphin show was good, though the tank was on the small side for 3 dolphins to leap around in. The seal show was okay, mostly the standard types of tricks. The penguin show was more of a comedy, because the penguins didn't do much besides open their beaks and look expectantly at their trainer, who scolded them and made excuses for them not doing anything. The sea lion show was cool because we got to stand in the front row, less than 10 feet away from a large sea lion while he did he tricks. He seemed so close he could almost have eaten my face if he really wanted to! While not of gourmet standards, the food in their snack bar was about the best I've ever eaten in an aquarium. Food was ordered via a vending machine and picked up at the counter. We had fried dumplings (like small won tons), chicken karaage that was super moist and soft, french fries, and an omu-rice with curry. Maybe we were hungry, but we devoured it all. You have to hike down a very steep hill to get to the marine mammal/ penguin area, where there is another snack bar and bbq area where you can get ice cream, grilled ika or fish, and other goodies. There was a large tank where you could try to catch fish (I'm not sure if you could have it cooked for you, too). There was also a big tank with 3 walruses. One was huge with impressively long tusks. They swam back and forth along the length of the tank, leaping out of the water in either side. There were more seals in open air tanks in this area. You could buy fish to feed them, and tongs were provided so you didn't have to get fishy hands. The seals were smart, each trying their own special tricks like waving, slapping the water, and making noises at you to feed them. When you're done, thankfully there is a huge escalator to take you most of the way back up the hill. I'd probably take away 1/2-1 star for the sizes of some of the enclosures and tanks, but overall I'm glad we made the trip out to this aquarium and would gladly visit again!

So many stairs to get to the entrance, exhibits interesting, didn't get to see the shows.