Manly Sea Life Sanctuary

We visited this aquarium with a couple of friends. The species are nice to see, but we were glad we took the 63 $ pass for 5 attractions because otherwise it would have been really too expensive for what it is. And we have to admit, after seeing little penguins on Phillip Island, it was not so nice to see them here… But still cute.

Located in walkable distance away from the Manly wharf (turn left if you just got off the ferries) is this place. This place is a part of the 4 attractions that I’ve purchased.
Here are my tidbits about this place. I enjoy the different exhibits that this place offered. There is the discovery rock pool where you can touch some of the sea creatures. The underwater viewing tunnels have sharks, stingrays etc. I love the penguin cove as you can look outside for a scenic view of what Manly has to offer. And looking at penguins waddling is definitely a bonus.
There is a play zone which younger kids might enjoy and a gift store next to the entrance. If you leave them a feedback you might win a Merlin annual pass. Definitely a good place to chill and invest funds in helping the sea animals’ lives. You can also do diving with sharks here. :)

I bought the Merlin 5 attraction pass on line before arriving. This is way cheaper than doing it in person. Buy before you leave because you have to print off the voucher and present it. The only reason we visited was because of the attraction pass. You have to get a ferry to Manly to visit. I wished I bought a MM2 travel pass to include the pricey ferry rides. If you plan on more than one ferry ride, it is worth to upgrade to a MM2 bus/​train/​rail/​ferry pass rather than a MM1 train/​rail/​bus pass. Anyways, it is NOT handicapped accessible. This was not explained at all anywhere in the Merlin website. Both my parents are limited mobility and they could not make it into the front door on their own. We had quite a hard time getting them in, but only could do the main floor. The top floor is nothing but little penguins. They are cute little things only found in Australia. So cute. The zoo keeper talk is boring and not worth the wait or crowds. After 5minutes, folks started to leave. I learned more from reading than I did from the zoo keeper talk. The bottom floor is cool — it is a big tunnel. We are spoiled from Atlantis in the Bahamas, but if you have never been in a tunnel, this is neat. The Aquarium at the Darling Harbor has tunnels too, but this is less crowded and more family oriented. Only if you are in Manly and have the attraction pass I would recommend this aquarium. It is geared toward young kids with activities and indoor playground too. For lunch, we ate the little place cattycorner to the entrance. It was nice, ok price about $ 15-​$ 20 a person. But they had quite a commotion when they took away people’s food before they were finished. They were very good at clearing tables to get you out of there. And these folks were not finished and wanted their money back or another meal and the owners claimed someone else stole their food, they did not clear the table. I did not see it, but sure could hear it. The patrons left without getting more food.

One of Manlys Icons… Loved by kids, families and tourists alike. The Penguin Feeding is fun and for the tourists that don’t have good English skills… No Penguin Feeding does not mean we get to eat the Penguins!!!
On this day The Aquarium is showing off sea horses, interesting little critters, I wonder what they would taste like, beer batter, lemon … Oops I digress.
Enjoy the Aquarium then head over to the many many different cafés and restaurants for a penguin free feed !

The aquarium is cute but small, you can spend 1 – 2 hours there. Plenty of fish, sharks, stingrays, and especially penguins to behold.

We visited here last year on our third trip to Sydney and were pleasantly surprised with the aquarium. Though it’s not particularly large, what it lacks in size it makes up for in charm; knowledge and friendliness — and it’s inhabitants!
We went for a stroll around looking at the different varieties of fish on display — including the shark tunnel! — and then decided to watch the show led by one of the guides and one of the marine biologists. It was really interesting and we were shown and taught about the sharks; stingrays and turtles swimming around — one of the latter had been rescued at one of the Northern Beaches, Dee Why, and rehabilitated at the aquarium before it was going to be released back into the wild. It was truly fascinating and insightful and then we were given our own private tour by the guide after asking a couple of questions which was great!
There is also the opportunity to swim with sharks here which I can safely say I was not at all tempted by!
I would definitely recommend a trip here to wile away a couple of hours in Manly to enhance your time here.

Ever wanted to be in Jaws of a Shark? You can at Manly, the entrance to Oceanworld has a huge toothed Shark that you have to go through to enter. There is a Shark Tunnel on the lower floor where you can see real live sharks floating on the water above and around you. I didn’t know Stingrays are so huge!
It’s not a huge aquarium, but you can see many different kinds of fishes and Nemo is also there. I love watching Sea horses. Did you know that in sea horses, it is the male that gives birth. Nature is full of little surprises and its well worth taking a guided tour. There is a turtle pond too.
One thing you must stay to watch is the show where they let you touch all sorts of lizards. I have never been so close to a Blue Tongue before. They end the show by letting you wrap a huge snake on yourself, if you have the courage. As much as I clutch my faux snake skin handbag to me, I cannot imagine having a real snake anywhere around me! They are supposedly very soft to touch. Anyone willing to confirm that?

Situated on pretty Manly Cove Beach, the inland facing beach of Manly. Daily guided tours and live shows allow you to get up close and personal with sharks, crocodiles and the world’s most dangerous snakes and spiders. As you’d expect, there are huge sharks, giant stingrays, turtles and shoals of fish to see. The Oceanarium holds some 5 million litres of water. And you can d-​i-​y dive in Oceanworld, with what is billed as a Shark Dive Xtreme or Shark Feed Xtreme experience, suitable for first time divers! If you don’t fancy this, get yourself down to Shelley Beach and do a spot of surface snorkelling in its calm and clear waters.