Ocean Park Hong Kong

Ocean Park Hong Kong (CN: 香港海洋公園) is several parks in one being an oceanarium, marine mammal park, animal theme park and amusement park all in one. It is a major attraction in Hong Kong and people usually spend most of the day here.

The theme park has various attractions and rides, including four roller coasters, and also animal exhibits with different themes, such as a giant panda habitat, rainforest, and polar displays, as well as an aquarium featuring the world’s largest aquarium dome.

How much is a ticket to Ocean Park Hong Kong?

For adults tickets are 498HKD and Children (3-11) 249HKD. You can buy tickets at the Ocean Park Main Entrance, All 7-Eleven stores in Hong Kong, and online at the Ocean Park website.

What are the highlights of Ocean Park?

It really depends on age and interests as the park is huge and really has something for everyone. Key attractions are, for wildlife

Adventures in Australia (wildlife), The Grand Aquarium, Amazing Bird Theatre (Asian bird wildlife), Arctic Fox Den, Chinese Sturgeon Aquarium, Emerald Trail (Asian wildlife), Giant Panda Adventure (Chinese pandas), North Pole Encounter, Sea Jelly Spectacular and more.

and for thrill rides 

Mine Train, Ocean Park Tower, Hair Raiser, Arctic Blast, Raging River, The Flash, The Rapids, The Dragon, The Abyss and more.

and for kids

Jungle of Giants, Castle of Redd, Balloons Up-Up-And-Away, Toto the Loco, Whiskers Theatre, Sea Life Carousel, Merry-Go-Round and many more.

What should I wear to Ocean Park Hong Kong?

Light comfortable clothing and sun protection. You are not likely to get wet at any attraction except a little bit at the Rapids and Raging River ride. For those, you could take a thin rain poncho. Some people may like to take a change of t-shirt in the really hot weather as it is a long day and you could be sweating a lot.

Is food allowed in Ocean Park Hong Kong?

No, bags are checked at the gate. Baby food is permitted.

What food is available at Ocean Park?

There are nine restaurants and endless kiosks throughout the park offering Chinese and Western foods. There is also a McDonalds. As an estimate only, most sit down meals at the restaurants would come to 100HKD plus, while McDonald’s meal sets around 58-67HKD.

The Terrace Café and The Bayview Restaurant have Indian and Vegetarian dishes.

The pinnacle of the restaurants is the Neptune’s Restaurant which features views of the Grand Aquarium’s main tank and serves contemporary Chinese with the Michelin starred Master Chef Chan Kwok-keung.

Payment methods available are Visa, Master, AE, Union, Apple Pay, Android Pay, Alipay, Samsung Pay, WeChat Pay, Octopus, Cash (Hong Kong Dollar).

Opening Hours of Ocean Park?

Generally, 10:00am – 7:00pm but check on their website on the day.

Does Ocean Park have WiFi?

Yes, free WiFi is available.

Can I stay at Ocean Park?

Yes. There is the new and very beautiful five-star Hong Kong Ocean Park Marriott Hotel.

 

Wikipedia Says

History

Opened in January 1977 by the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Murray MacLehose, Ocean Park was constructed as a subsidiary of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, with HK$150 million of funding. The land was provided free by the Hong Kong Government. Between 1982 and 1984, the Jockey Club put a further HK$240 million into developing facilities at Tai Shue Wan and thrill rides at the Summit.

Ocean Park ceased to be a Jockey Club subsidiary on 1 July 1987, becoming its own statutory body, with a Government-appointed Board. The Jockey Club established a HK$200 million trust to ensure the Park’s continued development. At present, Ocean Park is managed by the Ocean Park Corporation, a financially independent, non-profit organisation.

In 2003, Allan Zeman, known for leading the creation of the popular Lan Kwai Fong entertainment district of Hong Kong, was appointed Chairman of Ocean Park Corporation, a position he held for 11 years.

In 2005, the year that rival Hong Kong Disneyland opened, Ocean Park unveiled a Master Redevelopment Plan (MRP), under which older features at the park were rejuvenated and new areas developed. The number of attractions more than doubled, from 35 to over 80. The Lowland was redeveloped as a new area called the Waterfront, while the old ‘Headland’ became ‘The Summit’, with polar and rainforest exhibits. A dedicated thrill ride area, Thrill Mountain, opened, and the children’s area was refurbished as Whisker’s Harbour.

The first of the new developments, the Amazing Asian Animals, showcasing some of the Asia’s endangered creatures, including giant pandas, red pandas, Chinese giant salamanders, Asian small-clawed otters and the Chinese alligators, and Ocean Express, a funicular train system capable of transporting 5,000 visitors per hour between the Summit and the Waterfront, were launched in 2009.

In January 2011, the new flagship attraction area Aqua City was opened. The zone features the Grand Aquarium, designed by St. Louis-based PGAV Destinations, displaying some 5,000 fish from over 400 species, and the world’s first and only 360° water screen show Symbio.

In June, the Rainforest, an integrated theme zone featuring over 70 exotic animal species, was opened.
In March 2012, new attraction zone Old Hong Kong opened, evoking the streetscapes and spirit of Hong Kong between the 1950s and the 1970s from various perspectives. In April, the newly refurbished Hong Kong Jockey Club Sichuan Treasures opened. In July, the final element of the redevelopment, Polar Adventure, opened, featuring animals such as penguins, Pacific walruses, spotted seals, northern sea lions, snowy owls and Arctic foxes, aiming to highlight some of the conservation issues they face.
A 20,000 sq ft shark aquarium opened in July 2014 at the former Atoll Reef site.

Attractions

Ocean Park now comprises two main attraction areas: the Waterfront and the Summit, subdivided into eight attraction zones: Amazing Asian Animals, Aqua City, Whiskers Harbour, Marine World, Polar Adventure, Adventure Land, Thrill Mountain, and the Rainforest.

The Summit

• Marine World
• Pacific Pier – Mimics the rocky habitat of seals and sea lions on the Northern Californian coast.
• Chinese Sturgeon Aquarium – Yangtze River Exploration – The 3,500 square-metre freshwater aquarium houses Chinese sturgeon along with other native species of the Yangtze River
• Ocean Park Tower
• Sea Jelly Spectacular – Southeast Asia’s first standalone sea jelly exhibit.
• The Dragon – A rollercoaster
• The Abyss – A turbo drop ride
• Flying Swing
• Crazy Galleon
• Ferris wheel
• Marine World Games Zone
• Garden of Joy

Thrill Mountain
It is a carnival-themed area of 222,800 square feet. It offers five rides, eight booth games, as well as food, beverages and merchandise.

• Hair Raiser – A rollercoaster
• Whirly Bird – A chair swing ride.
• Bumper Blaster – Bumper cars that can carry two in each car.
• Rev Booster – A spinner
• The Flash – A swing ride
• Bungee Trampoline – A trampoline that allows visitors to jump really high while strapped in bungee harnesses
• Adventure Land
• Mine Train – A steel “mine train” roller coaster
• Raging River – A log flume-type water ride that takes passengers through “tropical waterfalls”

Animals

Ocean Park holds over 12,000 animals and highlights its educational and scientific research programmes, alongside the animal displays and entertainment.

The Park has had success breeding rare shark species, bottlenose dolphins, sea lions, sea horses, penguins, anacondas, red-handed tamarins, Pygmy marmosets and several species of sea jellies. Endangered birds and butterflies are also hatched and reared at Ocean Park.

Conservation

Ocean Park puts effort into education and research about animal conservation, by operating observatories, laboratories, an education department, and the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong (OPCFHK), a fund that advocates, facilitates and participates in the conservation of wildlife and habitats, with an emphasis on Asia, through research and education. In 2013/2014, the foundation funded 44 conservation projects, covering 30 species in 12 countries with a total of HK$13 million (out of the Park’s total turnover of HK$2 billion), a sharp increase over funding a few years earlier. The foundation was formed in 2005 from the merger of two earlier organisations, the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation (OPCF), founded 1993, and the Hong Kong Society for Panda Conservation (HKSPC), founded 1999.

Ocean Park Hong Kong was the first institution in the world to successfully artificially inseminate bottlenose dolphins, and has developed several new breeds of goldfish.

Since 2006 OPCFHK has collaborated with the Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department to handle cetacean stranding cases within Hong Kong waters. After the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, OPCFHK established a Giant Panda Base Rebuilding Fund and donated equipment to the affected nature reserves.

Ocean Park has created education programmes, such as the Ocean Park Academy (OPA), begun in 2004, through which the Park runs educational tours for schoolchildren and workshops for teachers from the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Every year, the Park offers over 35 core courses for around 46,000 students on six big topics: giant pandas and red pandas, dolphins and sea lions, birds, fishes, plants, and mechanical rides.

The Marine Mammal Breeding and Research Centre (MMBRC) set up by Ocean Park serves as a centre to house nine dolphins and conduct research on the breeding of dolphins. MMBRC is divided into 6 separate activity zones, and provides behavioural training and basic husbandry to the dolphins. It also plays a part in research work on the echolocation capabilities of dolphins. For five weeks in 2013, MMBRC was open for public visits.

Source: Wikipedia

Map

Ocean Park, Hong Kong