Under the Rays and Sharks: DD#2’s birthday trip to Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada (part 1)

DD#2 wanted her birthday trip to be a surprise so I figured we should take her to the newly-opened Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada. She had not seen it on TV or other media so she did not know about it yet. Boy was she excited (and surprised!) when we finally got to downtown. Thankfully, I got tickets online and managed to go straight to the line for ticket-holders. They sell tickets online for specific time entries to attempt to control the crowds. They open usually from 9am to 9pm and you can probably explore the place in about 4 hours or less.

We started off with the Canadian waters which was just ok as the usual fish off the Great Lakes were not as interesting for us as the other sea creatures. The tank for the Pacific Kelp was quite stunning, though! It was huge (about 360,000 litres) and simulated the motion of the waters. I felt like I was swaying in the water from outside the tank!

The next area we checked out was the Rainbow Reef which was, as the name implies, quite colourful! Similar to what I had seen off the waters of Batangas and Palawan, beautiful corals and marine fish were so wonderful to behold. Truly a kaleidoscope!



The Dangerous Lagoon was next. It was probably the best exhibit there, tied with the Jelly Fish exhibit which I truly loved! We rode a moving sidewalk (the longest of its kind in North America supposedly) which transported us through the underwater tunnel. Sharks of all kinds and Stingrays swam right above us. This was also the largest exhibit in the aquarium--at a whopping 2.5million litres.

sharks @ Ripley's Aquarium of Canada

A huge Green Sawfish was also there along with the hard to spot sea turtle (bonus points for us who saw it!). We absolutely loved being up close to these awesome sea-creatures! Grandma believes the girls caught the picture-taking bug from me. Having brought their own cameras, they took about 250+photos each (along with my unspecified quantities :P)—a big chunk of which was in this exhibit.

Sawfish @ Ripley's Aquarium of Canada

By the time we got to the end of the tunnel, it was just about time for lunch. They had a small café serving the usual kiddie fare—hotdogs, chicken strips, pizza, and wraps for the adults. As to be expected, the prices were high, but we had to get something to manage our hunger (there was a Beaver Tails truck outside so you can guess what we had after we left :P). The café was quite small, though, and could not accommodate the huge crowds. Most people were already sitting on the floors nearby while others eagerly awaited tables about to be vacated.

...Part 2 coming next week! Watch out for it :)

Toronto on Dwellable