Guangzhou Ocean Park: Gee, THANKS! 🐠 Your Essential Heads-Up.

[Ellis Sauer DVM]

Alright, ladies and gentlemen, all of you who are planning to visit the Guangzhou Ocean Park, here comes my sincere advice for you. You can read this first before deciding whether or not to go!

Important Things You Must Know Before You Go

• Where is it?

  • Please keep in mind that it's inside the Guangzhou Zoo! The exact location is: No. 120, First Middle Road Xiaolie, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City.
  • Some visitors may be a little confused the first time, thinking it has its own entrance. But no, you have to enter the zoo first.

• How to get there the easiest way?

  • Taking the subway is super convenient! Take Line 6 to Huanghuagang Station.
    • Exit at Exit B without having to cross the street.
    • Exit A is closer but you have to cross the street.

• When opens?

  • Normal (Monday to Friday): From 9:30 AM until 6:00 PM (but no entry after 5:30 PM).
  • Weekends and National Holidays: From 9:30 AM until 6:30 PM.
  • Night Show (not open every day!): From 5:00 PM until 9:00 PM (usually during winter holidays and summer holidays or Friday, Saturday). It'd be best to confirm ahead!

• How much for admission? (Pricing from the official mini program)

  • Adults: 160 yuan.
  • Special Discounts:
    • Children from 1.2 meters to 1.5 meters tall, students (bring your student ID!), elders aged from 60 to 64 years old: 110 yuan.
  • Free Admission:
    • Children under 1.2 meters tall, elders over 65 years old, as well as military personnel.
  • Special Offers for Ladies: 98 yuan (time-limited offer).
  • There are also some value-added tour packages available, you can compare prices and see what suits you best.
  • ️ Hint! Buying tickets via Meituan app (a daily life service platform in China) usually costs less!

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️ Be Warned! Here Are Some Pitfalls You Must Be Careful Of! ️

• 1. Is it worth this price tag? I don't think so!

  • This is especially true on holidays. Compared to that super famous Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai (the biggest ocean park featuring lots of aquatic species, larger than this one), the exhibits and ocean creatures here just fall short of their expectations.
  • When you enter, you'll feel like, oh my gosh, how tiny is this place! It only took me an hour to tour it completely!
  • That tunnel beneath the sea? Short as if it's a "undersea corridor!" You'll sadly feel that you've paid a silly tax because of a lack of aquatic species! (In short, paying for items that worth less than what you've paid.)
  • There are many extra costs you need to pay: Want to feed some fishies? Another fee! What about joining the sharks for a swim? Pay again!

• 2. Crowded beyond belief! Experience suffers directly from this!

  • On weekends or holidays, everyone is here! Trying to snap a beautiful picture in that tunnel beneath the sea? Join the queue! For those popular shows such as dolphin show, you'd better arrive thirty minutes early to make sure you have a spot.
  • There were so few dolphin show time slots, if you arrived late, you wouldn't see the dolphin, only head after heads in front.

• 3. Shows are too packed! You'd be exhausted chasing from one to another.

  • The timing gaps between all the shows are super tight. If you want to enjoy all the performance, you'll need to run from one to another, literally break your leg! We suggest you check out the official program schedule ahead of your visit, planning accordingly. Otherwise, you might miss your favorite shows, wasting both money and time.
  • And each show lasts too short, giving you the feeling that they are just trying to please visitors rather than providing any real thrill.

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My tips for a hassle-free visit:

• To avoid too much people and take pictures beautifully? Rush through the door before 10 o'clock AM!
• Bring your own water bottle (you can refill with free drinking water inside the park), some snacks would come in handy (the price of food inside is higher).
• Don't forget to follow their official WeChat Public Account (an official account created by the company for public sharing within China's most popular social media platform "WeChat") so as to get updated information in time. This way you won't miss any performances and the trip will just be the best!

Summarizing my honest opinion:
Frankly speaking, Guangzhou Ocean Park isn't worth the trip and money!

• If your only aim is to take and share photos on friends' circles, I advise you going to another ocean park.
• If you do believe it's the right place to let kids play around, you may get a bit disappointed after all.

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Let's chat!
Do you guys who visited it, think how it is? Please leave your comments in the comment section down below!

Still need more info? Feel free to ask in the comment section!

[Felix Glover]

Going on a non-holiday offers a pretty good experience. And when you consider Chimelong is four times the price, what more could you really ask for?

[Cathy Gulgowski]

Plus, Guangzhou Ocean Park is right in the city center. Chimelong is great, sure, but you can't ignore how far out it is.

[Candace McDermott]

So, can you basically just stay inside to watch all the performances?