Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo

Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo

Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo
4
10:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 11:59 PM
About
Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo is one of the most captivating attractions in Dubai. Located at The Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world, offering a memorable journey into ocean life. With capacity to hold 10 million litres of water, Dubai Aquarium is one of the largest indoor aquariums in the world and it illuminates the marvels of the ocean floor, showcasing one of the most diverse collections of aquatic life. Located just above the aquarium, Underwater Zoo brings visitors up close with penguins, piranhas, crabs, water rats, sea horses, jellyfish and plenty more. A fascinating new addition at Underwater Zoo is King Croc, regarded as nature's rare phenomenon and one of the world's largest reptiles - at over 5 meters long and weighing an imposing 750 kg plus. Underwater Zoo regularly hosts innovative exhibits. One such exhibit, 'UAE's Night Creatures' presents the experience of nightfall in the desert as creatures of the dark.
Duration: More than 3 hours
Meets animal welfare guidelines
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Admission tickets
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£36.28
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Top ways to experience Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo
The area
Neighbourhood: Downtown Dubai
You can’t fail to miss Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. It towers over the city and resides in the prestigious Downtown development. Once an old army base, Downtown is now the jewel in Dubai’s crown, a beautiful residential and leisure area housing not only the world’s tallest building, but the world’s largest fountains and mall. Wide marble sidewalks are perfect for strolling, with restaurants, art galleries and children’s play areas. Specially commissioned sculptures line the roads and Downtown is often used as a canvas for modern art displays and community events such as Classic Car Shows and National Day parades. In the cooler months, cross one of the many bridges to the Burj Khalifa park and enjoy a picnic alongside residents and visitors, or enjoy a lunch or dinner watch the dancing fountains. Because of its mixed use, Downtown is a fantastic place to mix with Dubai residents and locals and watch real life unfold in a cosmopolitan environment.
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See what travellers are saying
  • Hana
    Cambridge, United Kingdom24 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Aquarium and zoo inside the mall!
    Easy booking online. Easy to find as it is literally inside the mall. No need to print tickets as you can show the one on your phone. Amazing views of the aquarium, loads of exotic animals and fishes. The best part for me was the penguins! Pictures taken by them comes in portfolio-types and aquarium design frames. Costs 250 aed for the whole set which is quite expensive for me but I bought it anyway since you can’t get it from anywhere else.
    Visited September 2023
    Travelled with friends
    Written 28 September 2023
  • roseDerbyshire
    New Mills, United Kingdom265 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Varied experience
    Purchase the outdoor penguins and inside penguin experience as well as the admission to the aquarium and under water zoo. The inside penguin experience was great they don't let you take your phone in and you have to purchase photos if you want them but loved it. The outdoor penguin experience was very poor in my opinion X2 glass small enclosures with perhaps 6 penguins in them, felt sorry for the penguins but they all look well cared for. Then the guide does a talk and shows you some other things. The underwater zoo and night zoo had lots of different fishes and species and was great. The downstairs aquarium tunnel was ok not that great,it got quite crowded but ok if you've never seen one of these tunnels before.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 9 October 2023
  • Leah F
    31 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great visit
    Expensive, nice experience but I did think it was priced too high even for Dubai. The aquarium attractions are fantastic, you pay extra to feed the fish or visit the penguins. It’s a great one off experience but due to the price would not visit again
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 13 October 2023
  • zuv
    Bucharest, Romania36,721 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Overpriced
    I paid 410 AED (over 100 euros!) for an "ALL ACCESS PASS" bought online, a few days before the date of the visit. It's not worth it! The aquarium is quite big, beautiful, but I have seen other aquariums at least as beautiful for less than half of this price. The tunnel is short and trivial, Submersible Simulator is just a cartoon, Penguin Cove is a small section, with a few penguins that didn't look too happy. It took me two hours to visit it. All in all, it's worth visiting, it's beautiful, but it doesn't excel in any way and it's not worth the money!
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled solo
    Written 23 October 2023
  • Utkarsh M
    17 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great marine experience
    Ground floor has this giant fish tank where you could see all marine lives. I found the shark moving left to right and vice versa. Not sure if it was real or fake as didn't see his eyes blinking not even once. May be on some marijuana or something which kept them calm and move from here to there. Other fishes were live and playful. Underwater zoo tunnel was great experience. Then on first floor you have rainforest which is part of this ticket only. You get to see so many stuff there. Like all kinds of marines lives living in the water. Main highlight was big giant crocodile live infront of us in the tank. Rain forest was great experience. Even if you miss The green planet is fine as this was better than that. We had not booked for Shark experience & Penguine cave. Overall great place for kids to enjoy.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 30 October 2023
  • Ade
    Ipswich, United Kingdom571 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Okay
    Some very interesting fish to watch and also some excellent animals and insects on the upper floor. What really let the place down for me and my wife was how you had to keep exiting the place to then go to another part of it then have to re-show your entry ticket. It was also extremely difficult to go around the place in a co-ordinated fashion - more signs would have been helpful. Personally been to better Sealife centres, but interesting nevertheless.
    Visited November 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 6 November 2023
  • Lulu1000
    Reading, United Kingdom39 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Just amazing!
    Amazing staff. Very good value for money. The animals are very well cared for. I purchased the add-on for the otter, experience. I also purchased a diving experience in a cage to watch the sharks being fed. Everything was superlative. The briefing for the otters and the shark cage was very detailed and I could tell that the safety of the animals and myself was important to the staff. I was provided with a dive suit and diving helmet for the diving. I was allowed to buy a photo experience where the safety diver took tons of photos and videos and the staff then imported them directly on to my phone. The cafe was lovely and there were lots of nice options to eat. I was asked by several members of staff if I needed advice or if I had questions. I am absolutely in love with the otters. Shaking hands with an otter was the most amazing experience. I am going back later in the week to meet the otters again and to meet the penguins and the king croc.
    Visited November 2023
    Travelled solo
    Written 7 November 2023
  • らわ
    Manchester, United Kingdom1,701 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Decent aquarium although expensive
    This was a really nice and massive aquarium, they had so many types of fish including massive sharks, crocodiles, penguins and even reptiles and Manta Rays. It takes about 2-2.5 hours to do everything other than the diving. We did the whole package except diving, which costed 299 AED so it’s quite expensive. There is not really food inside, just a coffee counter with ready made sandwiches so best eat before or after. It is very crowded. Overall a good aquarium, not the best Ive seen in terms of aquariums in general, but worth a visit if you like fish.
    Visited November 2023
    Travelled with friends
    Written 23 November 2023
  • Tom Rowlands
    Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates1,258 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Penguin cove is the best part
    Walked past it loads of times and thought you could see it all from outside so why pay money to go it. Buy inside is much better going under the tunnel is great. Best part is the penguin cove. In the rest of the world you would pay 4-5 x the price of it to get a penguin experience, loved getting in the cold and seeing them up close. Very glad they provided the jackets to keep us warm.
    Visited December 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 4 December 2023
  • Pioneer789703
    1 contribution
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Family Fun day
    We recently visited the aquarium, the visit was organized by Fabio, and it was an extraordinary experience!.The staff was knowledgeable, and the ambiance was delightful. The diverse range of aquatic life showcased, along with informative displays, made it both entertaining and educational. Both kids & adults enjoyed the experience and clicked memorable photos. Can’t wait to visit again 😍
    Visited November 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 12 December 2023
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4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles16,268 reviews
Excellent
7,998
Very good
4,850
Average
2,419
Poor
648
Terrible
351

DLB93x
Wolverhampton, UK479 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020 • Friends
Me and my two friends visited here last night whilst shopping in the mall. We had heard good things about the aquarium and seen it advertised as one of the top 10 things to do in dubai. We paid £40 gbp each, which is around 230aed. So our first thought was lets hope its worth the price as thats quite alot. Some of the aquarium you can see for free whilst walking past. So we thought surely theres more inside. That’s not the case, we firstly walk through a small tunnel for around 20 yards, where we can see exactly what we could outside for free. We then go into whats called the underwater zoo, it’s literally not worth the money, was more like a pet store (fish section). We then go to some talk which was ok, but then we got to feed the fish which felt like we was on a school trip, so we decided to skip that part and leave after spending about 10minutes max here, it was definitely not worth the money & I would not recommend!
Written 9 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

smiley100
England43 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
Have visited Dubai Aquarium a couple of times in the last few months. It was very interesting, with a good mix of species and I would definitely recommend visiting it. The tunnel is quite short, but the underwater zoo has quite a lot to see. The otters are super cute. The only issue was the queue. Both times we had pre-purchased our tickets online, however, we still had to stand in the normal queue to exchange our tickets. This maybe would not be a big issue, but the queue seems to be long morning and afternoon and it takes about 5 minutes just to serve one customer, so the queue moves very slowly. They need to speed up the system by having another queue for those who have pre-purchased tickets (or an automated machine like at other venues), or speed up the conversion and purchase of tickets, so it is quicker to actually exchange or buy the tickets.
Written 9 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mike Clapham
Ekala, Sri Lanka316 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
The spectacular and perhaps the most surprising attraction within Dubai Mall is the Aquarium and Underwater Zoo. For free you can view the 33,000 + marine animals, including rays and sharks amongst the 300 + species, swimming languidly in the huge 2 storey high aquarium, but you have to pay an entrance fee to walk through the acrylic tunnel through the Underwater Zoo and watch the animals swim beside and above you. This attraction has received several prizes. There is the seemingly obligatory photograph taken of you and your group as you enter and as you emerge at the other end, the photograph, in its presentation folder, is waiting for you. Although it’s a very slick operation, and the photo quality excellent, I found this rather intrusive and certainly overpriced.
Written 23 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Linda S
Colchester, UK188 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
An amazing achievement this aquarium and a must see. If you get passes on the city bus you cn get entry for free with certain tickets. Well worth it. You can do other things that are chargeable, for example going into a cage for a close up with the sharks should that take your fancy
Written 12 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ирина В
Kyiv, Ukraine46 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Friends
We visited this place with our friends and we all were very disappointed. It is quite expensive to pay 120 aed for almost nothing and it’s not worth even half of the price. We took the smallest package with aqua zoo and tunnel. But aqua zoo can be interesting only for kids, and there is not so much interesting species of fish. And the tunnel... oh, it is nice only on the pictures, but in reality it is small, crowded with people and glass is dirty. My advice will be not to waste money on that. You can just observe the big glass with sharks in mall for free.
Written 10 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

tyshdjkfnbhzjs
Astana, Kazakhstan11 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2021 • Family
Waste of money! Price is equal to "Altantis Aquaventure Waterpark + Aquarim inside" (and even only aquarium in Atlantis is better).
The best part of aquarium is free of charge and you can see it from the boutique area.

For nearly 90USD per person you will pass through 30 meter glass tunnel and some windows on the 2-3rd floor.
You will be offered to visit sea creatures from the boat with glass bottom, but what is really new that we see - that boat moving by guide (girl). She is moving a rope with a boat sitting inside through the pool explaining how often they are changing water in aquarium and put on quarantine new species.
Written 2 April 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

FHI
Colombo, Sri Lanka178 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Family
The place is located inside the Dubai mall. You have to wait a while to buy the ticket. You can also see the aquarium from outside without buying the ticket but purchasing a ticket and getting the full experience is better for someone who loves aquariums. The aquarium itself is quite nice with a variety of animals, fish and some birds. You get to touch a baby shark and can even dive inside to see the sharks. The diving experience is quite costly and you will have to purchase another ticket. Some parts of the zoo were a little boring such as where the otters, crocodile and parrots are. The corridors are a little small so it can get a bit crowded. The place is great for kids.
Written 14 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

NottheonlyMatt
Arundel, UK46 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2021 • Family
Bought the ultimate ticket, had a great few hours with the kids, got to feed the fish and ride the glass bottom boat. We got to the Dubai mall about half an hour after it had opened and headed straight to the Aquarium, there was no queue and we went straight in and had loads of room to move about and see everything easily. Only leaving through the shop were we made aware that we were entitled to 20 dirhams per ticket to use in the cafe and discount on gifts in the shop. Needless to say we headed back inside for drinks and a bite to eat. Later on after doing some shopping I noticed the queues were extensive so for the best experience go early.
Written 10 January 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

_waqasmajid
Birmingham, UK3 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2021 • Couples
we were at Dubai mall and we decided to check the Aquarium as the view from outside looked absolutely amazing. However at the counter we were given two options you buy ticket with boat ride 120 Aed or 100 without boat. We were told you will enter tunnel then zoo and boat ride, the whole experience will last for an hour.

The tunnel journey is for 5-10mins nothing spectacular. You then come out to area where you started queueing up for ticket wondering around for 10mins & so thinking where to go next. You then enter Zoo which has very small quantity of fishes again overall 10min experience nothing special. If you've purchased the boat ticket you will go into stimulator for 5 mins, not for adults at all, you then asked to wait for 15-20mins before you could take the boat ride. We were absolutely disappointed and decided to leave the aquarium and asked for refund.

We spoke to manager Hafeez who was extremely rude,we were called a liar in so many words that staff at cashier desk explains the whole experienced therefore we knew before purchasing the tickets. When I challenged this he refused to listen and refund our money in full, refunded 100 dirham only.

I'm disgusted the way we were treated was very embarrassing. We've never complained about anything but yesterday was a complete shocking, we were insulted , we've spent a lot of money to come to Dubai to explore sight seeing etc not to be treated like criminal. our expectation was bigger and the price you've to pay is shocking, place is not impressive at all. The giant tank from outside is the most there is to see.
Written 1 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

skiNebraska
Kearney, NE1,551 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020 • Couples
Well done aquarium that you walk under in a glass tube, float over in a boat, and even swim in (with the proper equipment. You can have an opportunity to feed the fish (and get splashed). Some of the activities require a extra fee.
The zoo is interesting, but not anything special.
Good for 1-2 hours, more time if with kids.
Written 4 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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DUBAI AQUARIUM & UNDERWATER ZOO (2024) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

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