Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium

First of all, let me apologize for being missing in action. After my computer died, it's been a little hectic. However, I'm back in action and so very thankful that I was able to salvage our photos from the aquarium!

Entrance to the Aquarium

I love aquariums, not even just the Oki one but all of them! So, you can imagine how excited I was when Mark agreed to go. We got up early and started the drive. Mark found out from a friend that if you buy the yearly pass you make up for it in only 2 visits. So, we now have little ID cards and we're set for a year! I'm excited because its (a) a good excuse to make it back (b) nice to have when friends and family come visit.

Something that I really appreciate about Okinawa is that they don't try to suck you for every penny that you have all the time! Ha! A perfect example: the aquarium is at a place called "Ocean Expo Park" and there's a ton of things to do. It probably stretches for a mile AT LEAST. However, you don't have to pay for every last thing. There were a ton of free things to do... I'll name a few: parking, the dolphin show, the turtle & manatee exhibit. Basically, if it was outside it was free. How great is that!?!

Giving kisses

We got there right in time for the dolphin show so naturally I was dragging Mark so we could get a good seat! It seemed like a smaller tank than those in the states, but with the ocean literally feet behind them it was a lot cooler than the indoor tanks that I'm used to seeing.

After that, we were kind of waiting for someone to rush us and be angry that we hadn't paid for anything. When that didn't happen we strolled through the turtle exhibit where they were hamming it up for the camera.

I wasn't kidding when I said the ocean was RIGHT there. There was a ton to do, including a little beach. A lot of families seemed to just walk up and down the "boardwalk" and enjoy the nice weather. They had the misting stations outside, too. The weather was perfect so they weren't even really necessary.

Picture perfect.

We got lunch and walked through a small history building before we went to the actual aquarium. Lunch was great! It was buffet style, cheap, and they had my favorite... Japanese Curry!! Then, it was off to get our ID cards and start seeing some really cool stuff. The pictures will do most of the talking.

I found Nemo! 

gigantic lobsters.

This was called "Amethyst Anthias"

After we saw tons of awesome little(er) fish, we went to the shark tank and the HUGE tank with the whale sharks in them. It was amazing!!! You could walk in front of it, but you could also go under it so that everything was swimming over you. I dream of taking my iPad there and sitting in the little lounge area reading a book as the whale sharks and sting rays swim around. Delightful!

To finish up the day, we stopped by the Ryugujo Butterfly Garden. It was pretty cool! They're attracted to red things so they give you umbrellas and hats to try to get them to land on you.