UnderWater World Guam

Well, we finally made our way out to Tumon to visit the Aquarium. We've been to Tumon dozens of times since we moved here back in October but had yet to visit the one place I was interested in checking out. UnderWater World. The aquarium boasts that it has the longest underwater tunnel in the world. I had looked up the prices once before and honestly the only thing holding us back was that I had misread the prices. I thought it had said $60 a person. In reality, it's $23 for adults and $12 for ages 3 and up. So we were pleasantly surprised when we walked in (underneath a gigantic scary looking plastic great white shark no less!)and saw that the total would be less than what we though ONE person's admission price was. I have to tell you we were even more happy when we learned that since my husband is in the Military, they give a 50% off discount. This means that we only paid about $23 total for all of us together. How awesome is that?

I suggest if you have to use the bathroom, you take the escalator up the stairs and use it before you enter the tunnel, as there are no bathrooms once you enter the tunnel. Also I suggest that you carry your small baby/child as at the end of the tunnel there are escalators to head up the end of the tunnel with and this could pose a bit of a struggle. So after we used the bathroom, (didn't need to add that detail, did I?) we headed over to the tunnel entrance. It's there that an employee will offer to take your picture sitting down. Later when you exit the tunnel, they can superimpose you into a background of your choice that has to do with the aquarium and you can choose to purchase the picture if you so wish.

After the picture, you enter the tunnel. The second we walked in this gigantic Sea Turtle swam over our heads. This guy was HUGE. He was bigger than my four year old. We tried to walk through the long tunnel as slowly as we could, but my son was so antsy and wanted to see it all at once. I recommend taking your time and getting your money's worth. There are bench like seats all along the bottom of the tunnel so you can sit and watch the fish swim by if you wish. There were a number of weird looking creatures in there. One I had never heard of or seen before was called a Guitar fish (shark mixed with a ray) and another had a name similar to shovel head. (it was a mix between a ray and shark that had a head like a spade). One of them was probably three times the size of my son and floated over our head.

I have to tell you, it was kind of creepy in there. You almost have to steady yourself when you first walk in there because you get that feeling you might get sitting in an Omni Theater or IMAX theater. It's a hard feeling to explain. Not seasick, just strange. Unbalanced even. I loved it though. They had a number of reef sharks in there, as well as nurse sharks and sand sharks. There was a gigantic black ray with white spots on it that literally just glided and floated about as if it was flying. It was magical.

When you are finished in the tunnel and you are making your way upstairs via the escalator, you will see a normal aquarium type set up. They have a couple of Moray Eels behind glass. They are so strange looking. They just kind of sit there, unmoving, with their head sticking out of the pottery planters and you wonder if they are alive or dead. BUT, they are alive. There are a number of different tanks to look at up there. There are Sea Horses, Jelly Fish, Coconut Crabs, Nautilus (These things were very, very odd looking. I had never seen one in any aquarium before but now I know what that design is on the Nautilus machines!), Star Fish, Clown Fish (Nemo!), baby eels, etc.

At the end of the tour there is a touch tank area. There isn't much in there, or at least wasn't when I went, and I think it's due to the fact that it's an unsupervised area where there are no employees to watch people as they use the tank. So there was maybe a few Jelly Fish and a small nurse shark in there that was hiding but that was about it. After the touch tank, you walk past the photo display area and have the chance to purchase your picture from the beginning of the tour. Then there is also a gift shop next door.

If your hungry after your trip, Sam Choy's restaurant is right there and you can eat lunch and watch the fish swim by in the tunnel. Apparently sometimes at night they have an adults only cocktail hour where they will shut down the aquarium and set up tables in the tunnel and you can have drinks and chat and watch the sharks and rays swim by.

All in all, I give this place five stars out of five stars. We will be going again this Sunday on my son's birthday. It's definitely worth the price, especially if you or your spouse is in the Military.