Phuket is a beautiful holiday destination with fantastic beaches; interesting sea life and mesmerizing snorkel locations not to be missed. Unfortunately, the monsoon season does exist, running from around mid-April until December in Phuket, and at times the heavy rainfall can limit the experiences which can be enjoyed on the island. Thankfully - there are many other activities that can be enjoyed indoors, including visiting the two exciting aquariums located in Phuket - Aquarium Phuket and Aquaria Phuket, the perfect excuse for a funny, family trip that you can enjoy regardless of the weather.

Aquaria Phuket, Central Floresta Phuket Town

Aquaria Phuket, located in Central Floresta Shopping Mall, is one of Phuket Town’s newest and most popular attractions. The aquarium itself can be found on the bottom floor of Central Floresta - part of the impressive Central Festival. Advertised as the largest aquarium in Thailand, with around 25,000 animals and 300 different species, there is plenty to be admired at Aquaria Phuket and an abundance of marine life to keep your little ones interested and entertained. The aquarium itself is made up of 9 “zones” which you can explore and you can even witness the professional aquarists hand-feeding some of the marine life - from the sea otters and penguins to the stingrays - this is sure to be an experience that you and your little ones will remember. Check out the website for feeding times so you don’t miss out.

Additional experiences within Aquaria include underwater dining at their restaurant as well as a 4D Trick Eye Museum which you can enjoy separately from the aquarium. If you are a keen shopper and Aquaria’s souvenir shop is not cutting it for you, then you are in luck as you can also enjoy a family shopping trip while visiting Central Festival Shopping Mall. The shopping mall itself is something to be admired with over 500 lifestyle stores to explore and enjoy, making Aquaria Phuket the perfect location to spend a rainy day with your family.

Phuket Aquarium, Cape Panwa

Phuket Aquarium, located at Cape Panwa, was the first aquarium to exist in Phuket. Although Aquaria is technically a bigger aquarium than that located at Cape Panwa, Phuket Aquarium prides itself on its dedication to marine biological research and conservation and is certainly worth visiting for that reason alone, but as well as a number of others.

The Phuket Aquarium has recently undergone a renovation to include an underwater glass tunnel which you can walk through and observe the marine life surrounding you. Although this is not overly long and may not take much time to complete, several other aquariums of various sizes are displayed in other rooms throughout the building. Here you will be able to admire small tanks with seahorses; some colourful nemo-like clownfish; longhorn cowfish and perhaps even some squarish box-fish. Additionally, you will get to see some larger tanks which are host to some more local species, including: giant grouper, sea turtles, leopard sharks, moray eels and more. You are sure to have a fun time with your family admiring each of the different species on show here.

Although the aquarium is relatively small and you are unlikely to spend a prolonged amount of time here, that is reflected in the fee with it being only 100THB entrance for adults and 50THB for children - a real bargain, once again highlighting how the Phuket Aquarium can make for a fantastic fun family trip.

In addition, the Phuket Aquarium hosts Thailand’s major marine biological research station - conducting research on tropical reef ecosystems; commercial fisheries, and other projects. If you walk to the back of the aquarium and follow the path along the beach, you will also find yourself at the Aquarium’s turtle hatchery - where they both hatch and breed species of endangered sea turtles in order to release them back into the sea. Not only is the Phuket Aquarium made for a fun family day trip, but it is also the perfect educational visit that is sure to leave your young ones in awe. It is open daily from 8.30am - 4pm.

For a truly complete and stress-free Phuket getaway, the best thing you can do is to book an all-inclusive stay at our Club Med Phuket resort. In addition, guests who are staying at Club Med Phuket will find that some of these top 10 fun things to do in Phuket are offered either as activities or excursions that you can join as part of your accommodation package. Come join us for a luxury resort escape in Phuket and enjoy the many fun-filled activities we have curated for you here.

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