Resorts World Sentosa has been our family’s favorite retreat whenever we are looking for a holiday right here at home. With attractions like the Universal Studio, Adventure Cove Waterpark, S.E.A Aquarium as well as the recently added Trick Eye Museum, there is just so much to see and do.
Just last weekend, we had an amazing ocean journey where we went on an exclusive 3-hour S.E.A. Aquarium VIP Tour where we were treated to three back-of-house areas and even had a chance to feed the sea animals.
In the month of October, the S.E.A Aquarium is specially decked out in Halloween themed decor where you can spot skeleton bones and pumpkins under the sea.
Huge spider crabs
But not to worry, they don’t appear that haunting and scary just in case you’re worried that it would give the kids nightmares. In fact, Sophie took the opportunity to dress up as Ariel the Little Mermaid which we rented from My Mini-Me, an online costume rental shop for children. If you’re looking for costumes for parties, you should definitely check them out.
Sophie the mermaid, singing Part of your world
According to our guide, the Aquarium is also decorated during other festivals like Easter, Chinese New Year with the next change coming up for Christmas! * Yes, we’re only 9 weeks way from Christmas!*
Another program that they have for the month of October that is open to public is Spooky Seas, where kids get to embark on a fun and educational adventure to uncover the mysteries of scary looking and fearsome animals features in their adventure trail map. As they go about on their trail, they’ll also receive treats from the staff as they discover interesting facts of the marine life. Do note, this is only available on weekends.
Trick or Treat
Right as we entered the tunnel, we spotted a diver in a special skeletal diving suit. He even blew bubbles much to Sophie’s amusement.
The best part about being on a guided tour is having the opportunity to ask any questions at all and being filled in with all the answers and information which you’ll never have known if you went on your own. Not only that, the guide also pointed out certain exhibits that we would have otherwise missed since the Aquarium is usually so crowded with locals and tourists.
Another noteworthy point about the guided tour was how I was re-educated by our guide. For example, you know how we always use the terms star fish and jelly fish? Well, turns out I was so wrong because fishes have gills and the correct term for them should be sea stars and sea jellys. #nowyouknow
Moon Sea Jellies which has a distinctive four pink horseshoes shaped organ that resembles buttons
Over at the Discovery Touch Pool, we were also given privileged and exclusive access without jostling with the rest of the visitors as guests of the VIP guided tour where the Mariners shared lessons about the knobbly sea star, sea cucumber and sea urchins.
Did you know that this is actually where the mouth of the sea star is? Yipe, means you’ve always been touching it’s bottom 😛
Sophie at one of the 12 activity stations around the aquarium
The Leafy Sea Dragon which are master of disguise. Can you spot them?
I don’t know about you but I’ve never seen the octopus moving about before. And I guess it must be our lucky day, because not only was it active that day, it also displayed an amazing change of colour from white to red right before our eyes. If you’ve never seen it before, go goggle it and you’ll be utterly blown away.
Back-of-House tours
As guest of the guided tour, we had privileged access to three back-of-house tours. To keep to the exclusivity of the program, photography and videography are not allowed but you’ll be glad to know that I can share what you can expect.
Our first back-of-house tour took us to the top of the Ocean Dome, where we saw the aquarists feed the manta rays. And I was so awed to learn the mantra rays are trained to know which spot to go for their feeding by recognizing a colour-coded card that is lowered into the tank. And you thought that Dolphins are the only smart sea creatures. And and we also got to feed the other sea animals too!
Another back-of-house tour gave us the chance to see the only genuine soft and hard coral in the aquarium with the chance to learn from an aquarist on how they care for the sea creatures, breed sea jellys as well as conduct researches with the local universities.
The coral reef where we had the chance to see from above
But the most interactive back-of-house tour was seeing the dolphins in Dolphin Island. There are 23 dolphins housed in Dolphin Island that are cared for by a dedicated team of about 30 staff where they are taken care of 24 hours a day and given utmost care. As we walked into Dolphin Island, we witnessed their playful and sociable personality as they swan close to us and even leapt out of the pool.
At one point, they even communicated with Sophie with high pitch calls when she stooped down to wave good bye to them before we left. She was so fascinated and exclaimed that the dolphins thought she was a real mermaid in her costume. This must be the highlight of the whole tour for Sophie.
While we didn’t get to experience direct interactions with the dolphins, the various programs available for the Dolphin Interaction was very interesting and we’ll probably come back for one of them when Sophie meets the minimum height requirement.
At the end of the three-hour guided tour, we left with a greater appreciation of the dedication of the team who work tirelessly in S.E.A. Aquarium. This was undoubtedly a fascinating and educational tour that the the young and old will enjoy.
RWS S.E.A. Aquarium VIP Guided Tour
Price: S$88/adult and S$68/child {4-12 years old}, discounts available for annual pass holders
Duration: Approximately 3 hours
Tour times: Starts from 9am daily, approximately 2-3 tours/day
For reservation, call +65 65776077 or email rwstours@rwsentosa.com.
Tour Entitlements:
- Priority access to S.E.A. Aquarium
- 1-Day Pass to S.E.A. Aquarium
- 1 VIP lanyard
- 1 session to participate in marine animal feeding
- 1 complimentary group photograph
- A S$10 meal voucher for use at Fish and Crab Shack / Ocean Restaurant / The Bay Restaurantd
- Dolphin Island back-of-house tour
Tour Information:
- Tours are non-exclusive and will accommodate a minimum of 2 guests to a maximum of 10 guests for a duration of approximately 3 hours.
- Tour departs daily from 9am at S.E.A. Aquarium Guest Services Counter; please enquire with VIP Tour Reservations for available timing.
- Reservations are required and must be made at least 48 hours in advance.
- Tours are in English; please check with Tour Reservations on the availability of other languages.
- No photography and videography is allowed during the back-of-house tour.
To read about other attractions at RWS Sentosa Singapore, do check out our review of Trick Eye Museum Singapore.
* A Juggling Mom was invited to S.E.A. Aquarium for the VIP Guided Tour to write this review. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are honest and are my own.
Tagged: family friendly, Resorts World Sentosa, RWS, Sentosa
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