- Address: 424 Ishikawa, Motobu-cho, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa 905-0206, Japan
- Phone: +81 980-48-3748
- Website: churaumi.okinawa
- Area: 1,9 hectares
- Opening date: November 1, 2002.
- Working hours: daily, 8: 30-19: 00
Beauty and secrets of the underwater world are worthy of this admiration. And when the opportunity to admire the numerous inhabitants of sea waters is given, it simply captures the spirit from their perfection and diversity. Oceanarium in Okinawa - one of the most popular places in the world, where you can reveal the veil of secrets of the underwater kingdom.
General information
The oceanarium in Okinawa is the full name of Turaumi, and it is also sometimes called Churaumi (translation costs). The Churaumi Aquarium was opened on November 1, 2002 on the island of Okinawa in Japan on Motobu Peninsula, in a special exhibition park. And in 8 years, on March 10, 2010, a 20-million visitor bought a ticket to the aquarium.
The Okinawa Oceanarium is a four-story building with tropical fish, bright corals, sharks and various deep-sea inhabitants of the ocean in its aquariums. In the Okinawa Aquarium of Turaumi, 77 aquariums have been equipped, their total volume is 10,000 cubic meters. water. According to the size and volume of water among the same oceanariums, Tyuraumi is second only to the American aquarium Georgia Aquarium from Atlanta. Aquariums with salt water receive it around the clock from a special source, located 350 meters from the coast.
All the themes of the oceanarium are devoted to the flora and fauna of the Kuroshio current. In aquariums live about 16 thousand inhabitants. In addition to fish and mammals, 80 species of coral live in the Okinawa Oceanarium of Turaumi. And in one of the special pools you can touch its inhabitants with your hands.
What is interesting about the Oceanarium in Okinawa?
The name of the aquarium will be due to the vote of the inhabitants of the island. From the Okinawan language, the word "Tyura" translates as "beautiful" and "graceful", and "umi" means "the sea". The oceanarium in Okinawa is the pride of all Japan, because it preserved and multiplied the legacy of the world exhibition from 1975.
The main aquarium "Kuroshio" has a capacity of 750 cubic meters. m. of water. The overview panel of Kuroshio is made of plexiglass and measures 8.2 * 22.5 m, the thickness of glass is 60 cm. In addition to other small and large fish, whale sharks live and reproduce here (this is the largest species of sharks in the world) and the giant rays of Manta. The first stingray was born in the aquarium in 2007, and by the summer of 2010 there were already four of them.
Around the building of the oceanarium there are other structures with marine inhabitants:
- The theater of the dolphins of the Okhotians (the "dolphin lagoon"), where several species of these mammals live in outdoor pools, showing performances for tourists;
- an aquarium with three manatees from Mexico and their cub, born already in Okinawa;
- an aquarium with five species of sea turtles.
For a detailed study of the inhabitants, you can visit the local educational pavilion, which provides information about the life of all creatures of the seas and oceans. Sharks devoted to a separate room, where you can also see the collection of teeth of these predators.
How to visit the aquarium?
Before Okinawa from Tokyo, you can fly direct flight with the help of local airlines. On the island to the oceanarium, you can take the metro, bus or taxi, and also on foot from the immediate vicinity to the coordinates: 26 ° 41'39 "N and 127 ° 52'40 "E.
All aquariums are available all year round from 9:30 to 16:30. The ticket price is about $ 16. You fall first to the third floor, and then go down to the second and to the first. There is a restaurant and a souvenir shop on the territory of the Tõraumi aquarium.