Underwater World
Sukumvit Road
South Pattaya
Directions: Follow Sukumvit from South Pattaya towards Jomtien. Look for a large white building on the right-hand side, about 200 yards down from Tesco Lotus.
Cost: 180 baht for children, 360 for tourists.
WHEN you do get tired of sitting next to the sea you can always have a look at just what’s underneath it.
Underwater World offers you a glimpse of the deep, with 4,000 examples of sealife from 200 species.
From the bizarre shovel-nosed shark to the beautiful but deadly lionfish, from the giant grouper to the stingray, there is a little bit of everything here.
Unlike many aquariums, this is more than just a collection of over-sized fish tanks. Here, visitors walk through three tunnels to get a fish’s eye view of the ocean.
The first exhibit is a rock pool where leopard sharks mingle peacefully with sea cucumbers, rays and other fish (leopard sharks are possibly the most lethargic beasts in the sea, so there’s little danger). Youngsters can even dip their fingers into the waist-high pool to touch the cucumbers and starfish.
Further in, there are portholes offering visitors their first
view of the tunnels. As well as housing so many fish, the two-year-old
attraction is keen to educate too. Posters in Thai and English
explain what you’re looking at, where they come from, and
what they eat, and much more.
An excellent display before the entrance to the shark tunnel does its best to convince you that these really aren’t man-eating savages. If you care to put this to the test you can don some scuba gear and jump in with them for 2,500 baht (800 baht without the gear). Inside you’ll be face to face with nurse sharks, rays and turtles.
The tunnels do give the impression that you’re in with the fish as they get up close and personal, and the sight of a shark’s silhouette floating by overhead is impressive.
The attraction isn’t huge and a couple of hours are plenty to see everything, although it’s worth sticking around for feeding time, which seemed to be at around 2pm.
The Nova Lodge is one of Pattaya's great bargains.