Izu Mito Sea Paradise

AQUARIUM

Izu Mito Sea Paradise is an aquarium home to many varieties of sea creatures living in natural coves. With great views of Mt. Fuji (on a clear day), why not come and enjoy both the dolphin and sea lion shows? The aquarium has many events for you to enjoy, as well as much sea-life local to the Izu Peninsula. Definitely don’t miss out on this day full of fun for all the family!

A large car park capable of holding 300 cars is available for 500 yen.

Wheelchairs, strollers and a breastfeeding room are available free for use. Paid coin lockers are also available.

Review

This is definitely a fun day out for all the family, even with access for people requiring wheelchairs. After exiting the car park head for the ticket office to purchase your tickets. Buying the tickets is relatively simple so don’t worry if you don’t speak Japanese. Just make sure you show the discount if you’re planning on using it.

Heading down the slope you’ll be greeted by a number of different creatures. All the hallways lead into each other so don’t worry about taking the wrong route. The aquarium itself isn’t very big so just make sure you walk around and see everything.

The shows themselves are quite entertaining, as long as you don’t mind animal shows. With different performances for the different creatures, it’s very easy to be entertained for the whole performance. Just make sure you don’t sit at the front row as the walrus likes to splash and get everyone wet!

I personally never tried any of the food here, although my friends bought some churros and french fries. The food seems a little expensive (as is usually the case for these sorts of places) and the taste is pretty average.

ADDRESS

Izu Mito Sea Paradise,
3-1 Uchiuranagahama,
Numazu,
Shizuoka Prefecture,
410-0224

+81559432331 (Japanese only)
https://www.mitosea.com/ (Japanese only)
http://www.izuhakone.co.jp/izumito-seaparadice/info/en.html/ (English)

RECOMMENDED ROUTE:

The aquarium provides a large car park so I recommend visiting here by car if you can. Alternatively take the train to Numazu Station and change to the bus headed for the aquarium. You can also take the train to Mishima and change to the Izu Hakone Tetsudo Line, alight at Izu Nagaoka Station and either get a taxi or transfer to the bus headed for the aquarium.

Shimoda Floating Aquarium

AQUARIUM

Created in a natural cove, the Shimoda Floating Aquarium is home to thousands of different creatures waiting for you to explore. The aquarium is home to a sea stage (watch the dolphins swimming in the cove), show arena, underwater museum, restaurant and numerous animal exhibitions, including jellyfish, otters, penguins and many more.

The aquarium has many events for you to enjoy, as well as much sea-life local to the Izu Peninsula. Definitely don’t miss out on this day full of fun for all the family!

A large car park capable of holding 200 cars is available for free.

Wheelchairs and strollers are allowed, however someone is required to push these around the aquarium as the staff cannot help. Depending on the tide, the slopes may become quite steep. Two wheelchairs can be rented from the ticket office.

There is also a restaurant and cafe available inside the facility. Please note that these are only open from between 10:30 and 15:00. The menu can be found here (only available in Japanese).

Review

This is definitely a fun day out for all the family, even with access for people requiring wheelchairs. When you arrive there are sea turtles at the entrance. After admiring these, enter the reception desk building, don’t walk in the gift shop entrance like we accidentally did! Buying the tickets is relatively simple so don’t worry if you don’t speak Japanese. Just make sure you show the discount if you’re planning on using it.

Heading outside you will be greeted with a walkway over the cove with dolphins swimming to your right. Feel free to stop and observe. In the centre of this walkway there is the underwater museum. It’s quite small and there are stairs so I’m not sure that people with wheelchairs can access this part, however it’s fine to miss it out. It’s mostly small, underwater creatures, although there is a big tank where you can watch the fish being fed.

Walking along to the right you might see the seals swimming about. They are held in a fairly small area which is a shame as they look like they want to swim about more. This connects to the seal exhibit so if you’re on time for the attractions head inside and watch them. Make sure to keep an eye on the plastic dome on the left as sometimes the seals will pop their heads up to look around. We watched the “Smile Ship Seal Show” which was quite short but they try to make it interesting even if you don’t understand the explanations about the seals. They should do some tricks and hold up a sign so make sure to clap loudly as a thank you!

The aquarium has many more individual exhibits for the animals but I don’t go into too much detail. Walking around you can experience all the animals they have to offer. I don’t think the jellyfish exhibit is wheelchair friendly so this might be one of the few things you won’t be able to see. We ended up missing a lot of the shows when we visited so I can’t give you much input on the shows themselves, although the main stage looks to be quite large so I definitely want to come back to watch the main dolphin and seal shows.

There is a restaurant and cafe inside the aquarium, however we did not go to this. The food looks to be decent enough, although slightly overpriced.

ADDRESS

Shimoda Floating Aquarium,
22-31 Sanchome,
Shimoda,
Shizuoka Prefecture,
415-0023

+81558223567 (Japanese only)
https://shimoda-aquarium.com/ (Japanese only)

RECOMMENDED ROUTE:

The aquarium provides a large, free car park so I recommend visiting here by car if you can. You can take the train down to Shimoda from Atami, however, it is a 22 minute walk from the station or a taxi ride from there.

Numazu Deep Sea Aquarium

AQUARIUM

The deep sea is an unknown entity, full of wonder and amazement. 1,000m below the surface, where the sun’s rays do not reach, live creatures far beyond our imagination. What kind of creatures live in this jet-black place? Numazu Deep Sea Aquarium has some answers.

The aquarium opened in 2011, with a local marine company pouring 6 billion yen into the construction of the aquarium. The Numazu Deep Sea Aquarium is actually the first deep sea themed aquarium in the world.

Review

This small aquarium is a good way to spend a few hours if you’re already in the Numazu area. If you look around both floors it takes around 1-2 hours in total. They have a lot of live deep sea creatures on the first floor with five coelacanths (stuffed and frozen) on the second. Around the coelacanth area they also hold a lecture/quiz aimed at children, however this is all in Japanese. There are English translations to some, if not all of the signs.

Upon arriving I was very surprised by how busy it was, especially considering it’s a small aquarium in the middle of a city. Most of the aquarium is path-based so you will most likely be stuck behind Japanese people shuffling along. Most Japanese people do not skip the queue! They have a lot of very interesting, small creatures I had never seen before on the first floor, all bathed in this blue-ish light, reminiscent of the ocean.

The lecture/quiz on the coelacanth floor is very interesting but impossible to understand unless you have a good grasp of the Japanese language. The staff are very energetic and informative so even if you don’t understand, you might enjoy watching the 15 minute speech. However, don’t go out of your way for it if you don’t understand.

ADDRESS

Numazu Deep Sea Aquarium,
83 Senbonminatocho,
Numazu City,
Shizuoka Prefecture,
410-0845

+81559540606 (Japanese only)
http://www.numazu-deepsea.com/ (Japanese only)

RECOMMENDED ROUTE:

There is no parking for the aquarium, however you are able to park in any paid parking space in Numazu. You can also take the train to Numazu station and walk around 30 minutes to the aquarium or take a bus.