During our 3 days trip to Berlin, we bought a hop on hop off bus ticket for two days and with that came a book of discount to other attractions, including things like visiting the Berlin Cathedral and the Aquadom & Sea life Berlin.
For those who don’t know, Aquadom Berlin is the biggest cylindric aquarium in the world. It is located inside the Sea Life Berlin, which is one of the aquariums of the Sea Life company, that operates in other major cities like Paris, London, and Orlando
The aquarium really caught our attention, we have never been to an aquarium before, can you believe that? And, as we got a good discount, we were tempted to visit, and although the aquarium is kind of small, it was fun for us, since it was the first time we were seeing such a thing.
Aquadom & Sea life Berlin
Visiting Sea Life Berlin Aquarium
Sea Life Berlin isn’t a big aquarium, but if you are new to aquariums, and have never visited one before, just like me when I first visited the Sea Life, this will be a fun experience.
Although, if you are used to big aquariums, you might be a bit little disappointed, since here you will find more common species of fishes. Despite the size, set aside at least one or two hours to visit the whole aquarium.
There are some interesting rooms where you can see shoals of fish swimming all around you, a tunnel with rays that will make you feel like you are completely submerged and other rooms imitating the natural habitats that are normally found in the European region, like the Wannsee lake or the Spree river.
It has around 35 pools with more than 5,000 animals of different species, from jellyfishes, starfishes, lobsters, seahorses, etc. But bear in mind that this is not a Sea World, nor a Dubai Aquarium. Don’t expect to see big fishes and mammals. There are no sharks, nor whales.
The AquaDom Berlin
Although the Aquadom is located inside the Sea Life Berlin, the aquarium and the AquaDom are different attractions. You can visit the Aquadom also from the bottom if you are, by any chance, staying in the Radisson Blu Hotel Berlin, or if you are having a meal in the hotel’s restaurant, as the Aquadrom is located in the middle of this restaurant.
However, to visit it from “inside” (taking the elevator up inside the tank), you must buy the combined ticket for the Sealife & Aquadom in the entrance of Sea Life Berlin, and make all your way through the aquarium in order to be able to get to the Aquadom. It is not possible to buy the ticket for the Aquadom alone though.
The size of the AquaDom itself is impressive. You can get an elevator to the top and enjoy the view from a tube inside the cylindric tank in your way up and down. There are 1.500 fishes from almost 100 different species inside the tank, but they are all from small species.
Now, I know you might be imagining something like the scenes of Finding Nemo, with those fishes in the colour of the rainbow but, you can forget them now, the species in the AquaDom are in general, normal greyish fishes, with exception of some yellow ones, that you will definitely recognize from Finding Nemo, if you were a happy kid like me.
The sensation inside the cylindric tank is so nice, it gives such a peaceful feeling seeing all those fishes swimming around you totally carefree about the world. You feel like spending the whole day there but unfortunately, the way up and down is quite fast, because of course, just like you, there are many people down there waiting to enjoy the relaxing AquaDom trip.
But don’t worry about waiting too much time in line, although the line for the Aquadrom can get crowded sometimes, the elevator has two floors and good capacity, so you won’t need to spend too much time waiting for your turn.
Pros
- It is a fun way through the aquarium, especially if it is your first time visiting an aquarium.
- A good option if you have your kids with you.
- AquaDom is the biggest cylindric aquarium in the world, it’s a nice item to put on your list of things you did in life.
- Despite being a fast visit to AquaDom, it is not everywhere that you will have the chance to visited an aquarium from inside (or almost).
Cons
- It is relatively expensive if you don’t have a discount ticket.
- The aquarium itself is not big nor have any big species like sharks or whales.
- AquaDom doesn’t have a variety of fishes and it only includes, in general, small noncolorful species.
- The elevator trip up and down very fast as well.
In my opinion, the AquaDom is an interesting attraction, but it is not the 8th wonder of the world. If you have a short stay in Berlin or are an economic person, I would suggest you save money and time for other attractions instead.
But if you want to try something different, or is your first time visiting an aquarium, or even if you are traveling with kids, this would definitely be a good option.
How to get there:
The Aquadom & Sea life Berlin is located in the Spandauer Straße 3, 10178 Berlin. To get there, you can take bus number 100, or number 200. If you prefer the metro, you can take it to the Alexanderplatz station and walk to the Sea Life buildings, which is not far from the Alexanderplatz at all.
Where to stay in Berlin
Disclaimer: I had no association with the tour features in this article whatsoever when writing this review. My opinions are my own.
10 Comments
Patrick
24 de July de 2017 at 20:26No Great White Sharks?????
Boooo!
oh wait,they have catfish???
I’m so there!!!
Emily
25 de July de 2017 at 00:01Wow! This looks magnificent. I live in Monterey and our Aquarium is really fun to go to.
Esther
29 de July de 2017 at 03:06Since I visited the aquarium in Sydney (where they have sharks, manta rays and even a dungon) I am Always so dissapointed by aquaria anywhere else! Still, I can’t seem to stay away from them. The underwater world holds something mysteriously appealing! (The one in Lisbon is pretty good though!)
#WeekendWanderlust
Isadora
29 de July de 2017 at 14:31Aaaw I wish to visit a big aquarium with sharks etc! Sea Life Berlin was the first aquarium I visited, but besides it I haven’t been to nay big aquarium! T_T
Ashleigh Chanel
29 de July de 2017 at 14:46I love a great aquarium. So far the best one I have been to was the one in Barcelona. Berlin is definitely on my list of places to go so I will have to check out the aquarium there if I have the extra cash. I appreciate your honesty. Sometimes people rave about something and then you are disappointed when you get there lol.
Brittany
29 de July de 2017 at 14:54I enjoy visiting just about any aquarium, as long as I avoid seeing any eels. I really don’t like eels. The Aquadom sounds interesting. I’ve never been in something like that.
Kentaro Tanaka
29 de July de 2017 at 20:26The Aquadom seems really cool, hope to visit Berlin soon
Harmony, Momma To Go
29 de July de 2017 at 22:37Ive never been to Berlin and had no idea they had an aquarium! My kids love places like this! Okay, I do too!
Isadora
29 de July de 2017 at 23:10hahahahaha don’t worry, I’m a 22 years old and I also love these kind of stuff!!
Julie Ventura Plagens
10 de November de 2017 at 11:34Great blog. My niece lives in Lima.