See sharks and more at Aquaria KLCC! The oceanarium is accessible through the Petronas Twin Towers. Logistically though, it is below the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
The aquarium is very sought after during public holidays and school holidays so if you do plan to go, try to pick the middle of the week.
And if you’d like to know what the pricing is like, and whether it’s worth visiting Aquaria KLCC at all, keep on reading.
Table Of Contents:
About Aquaria KLCC
Aquaria KLCC first opened (officially) back in August 2005. Which makes it more than 15 years old.
There are more than 5,000 different species (underwater as well as some land creatures) from varied habitats that live in the 60,000 sq ft venue.
And the aquarium is open every day from 10am to 7pm.
Highlights At Aquaria KLCC
No doubt, the 90m-long tunnel walkway is the main attraction at Aquaria KLCC but what else is there to see at Aquaria KLCC?
These are the different sections at Aquaria KLCC and most of them have a star attraction of their own.
1. Evolution Zone
This is the first zone that you will see at Aquaria KLCC, and the star attraction here is the tank full of red-bellied piranha!
The tank gives visitors a good chance to check out the size, speed and teeth of the omnivorous fish. If you’re here at 4pm, you can catch feeding time too.
PS: This particular species of piranha can eat plants too.
2. Touch Pool
Beside the Evolution Zone is series of small pools that are open. The low height of the pools allows visitors to peer in at the residents of the pools – lobsters, horseshoe crabs, bamboo sharks, blue-spotted stingrays, and starfish.
Even though the pools are easy for little hands to reach into, we don’t think you should because the rays have poisonous spines on their tails.
Another reason not to touch the inhabitants of the pools is to avoid contaminating their water with whatever is on your hands from your last meal or location.
3. The Steam
On the other side of the Evolution Zone is a pair of otters that live in their own little world above the heads of onlookers.
Their tank is very humid so getting a clear look at them through the foggy glass is a little frustrating.
But the design of the tank allows you to see them swimming from one side of the tank to the other. It’s interesting to observe how their fur repels water.
4. Jewels Of Jungle
Go around the otter tank and you’ll come to this interesting section of Aquaria KLCC. This section houses many rainforest creepy crawlies – including a questionable number of different cockroach species.
As well as one stunning chameleon that may have well been fake for its lack of movement!
5. Shipwreck
This section of Aquaria KLCC is nicely decorated and made to look like the inside of a galley ship. There are small tanks built into the wall with blue ambient lighting.
These tanks house lionfish, different species of eels, stonefish (see if you can spot one by its moving gills), porcupine fish, etc.
6. Flooded Forest
After the Shipwreck section, you’ll come to some stairs that lead down to the Flooded Forest.
There’s a large cylindrical tank that is level with the stairs so that you can see the occupants from different angles as you go down the stairs.
Below the stairs is an even deeper tank with larger fish. Although they seem small and less impressive compared to their intimidating neighbors across (arapaima and alligator garfish).
7. Coastal
Past the Flooded Forest section are some smaller tanks that separately house archerfish (these spit at bugs above water to hunt them) and mudskippers.
Mudskippers are able to move each of their two eyes independently so try to observe this unique ability while you’re there!
8. Living Ocean
Hop onto the moving walkway to start your tour in the tunnel-style aquarium exchibit called Living Ocean.
Admittedly, walking on your own is faster than the speed of the walkway but that gives you plenty of time to focus on spotting different fish.
Note: You can always hop off the moving walkway when in the tunnel if you want to take a photo or have a closer look at something. This is because the moving walkway only takes up one half of the tunnel (length-wise).
The shape of the glass does cause some distortion so bear in mind that the fish you see here, are actually a lot bigger in real life (a sign stated 30% bigger).
It’s really cool to have large rays and sharks (e.g., sand tiger sharks) swim above you. There is one large green sea turtle too. And if you can spot them, there giant moray eels slithering in and about the coral!
9. Aquatheatre
Right outside the Living Ocean (tunnel walkway) is another large tank – we think this is actually the same tank or at least connected to the Living Ocean Exhibit.
The glass of this tank is straight instead of curved. It’s similar to a small cinema screen size, hence the name Aquatheatre.
You can see divers feed the fish at selected times of the day here.
10. Station Aquarius
Station Aquarius looks like the inside of a futuristic lab. And it presents sea horses and jellyfish in aesthetic tank set ups.
Ambient lighting bring out the unique profiles of the jellyfish. The upside-down jellyfish (cassiopea) is an unusual species we’ve not seen before.
11. Feeding Time
Different sections of Aquaria KLCC have different feeding times so plan your visit to Aquaria KLCC around the feeding times (or days) if there is a particular feeding frenzy you’d like to see:
| Sections | Time Slots |
| Touch Pool | 10:45am |
| The Stream (otters) | 11:15am and 4:30pm |
| Aquatheatre | 12pm, 3pm and 6:30pm |
| Aquatheatre (Sand tiger shark) | 3pm (Mon, Wed and Sat) |
| Station Aquarius | 12:15pm and 3:15pm |
| Living Ocean | 12:30pm and 3:30pm |
| Evolution Zone (piranha) | 4pm |
| Flooded Forest (main tank) | 5:30pm |
| Flooded Forest (arapaima tank) | 2:30pm (Mon, Wed and Sat) |
| Coastal | 5:45pm |
Tickets (Entrance Fees) For Aquaria KLCC
These are the prices listed on the official Aquaria KLCC site as of 15 Oct, 2022.
Weekdays:
| Citizenship | Adults | Kids/ Seniors |
| Malaysians (MyKad holders) | RM52 | RM42 |
| Non-Malaysians | RM75 | RM65 |
Weekends And Public Holidays:
| Citizenship | Adults | Kids/ Seniors |
| Malaysians (MyKad holders) | RM55 | RM45 |
| Non-Malaysians | RM79 | RM69 |
You can usually save more if you buy your tickets online from other platforms rather than the official website. Enter by showing the staff at Aquaria KLCC the QR code you received after you make payment.
Parking At Aquaria KLCC
If you’re driving here, take note that you should key in Suria KLCC into your chosen navigation app rather than Aquaria KLCC as Aquaria KLCC does not have any parking of its own.
Park at Suria KLCC and make your way to the centre court. The walkway (Link bridge) to Aquaria KLCC is on the lowest level of Suria KLCC.
You might want to remember the codes on the columns (as well as the floor level) close to where you park your car so you can find it later. Different floor levels also use different colors and these are indicated by the color bands around the columns too.
Tips For Visiting Aquaria KLCC
- Avoid weekend and public holiday crowds if possible
- Remember to bring your IC for the MyKad rates
- Plan your trip around feeding times
- Don’t tap the glass tanks and turn off the flash in your camera to avoid distressing the fish
Overall Review For Aquaria KLCC
No time to read the whole post? Here’s the gist of it:
Pros Of Visiting Aquaria KLCC
- Well-managed
- Many different fish to see, as well as turtles and otters
- Some interesting exhibits (Living Ocean is very worth seeing)
- Educational (they do have signage and information boards on different fish as well as the importance of ocean conservation if you care to read them)
- Family-friendly
Cons Of Visiting Aquaria KLCC
- Can be completed in 1 hour (pretty small)
- Very long queues on weekends and public holidays (they won’t tell you until you’ve walked the entire length of the Link bridge and almost reach the counter)
- Very stuffy and uncomfortable when crowded (no crowd limit)
- Quite pricey for a large family or group
- The staff force you to take photos at the entrance and exit of the aquarium
Conclusion
Aquaria KLCC is not a must-see if you’re only in Kuala Lumpur for a couple of days but it’s a really nice place to take the kids if you have time to spare. Or if you really like animals.
We’ve been here a few times with our own family. The exhibits are a bit small for some of the animals but they are well managed and attractive.
We do hope that they’ll focus a lot more on ocean conservation awareness in the future and not so much on aesthetics though (e.g., having interactive exhibits on the impact of human pollution on the ocean instead of infographic posters that people just walk by).
