Ocean Park is without a doubt one of the most popular attractions in Hong Kong and is flooded with tourists.
It’s sort of like an outdoor theme park except that it also comes with other cool attractions.
Not sure what to do in Ocean Park? Read on to find out what some of the better attractions are in Ocean Park Hong Kong.
I recently visited Ocean Park, like two weeks ago. As it was nearing Christmas, they do have some Christmas decorations inside, but not too much.
This is the outside of Ocean Park. There are also many tourists taking photos here as it’s pretty scenic. You can see the mountains in the background. A new Marriott Hotel is also opening here.
If you already have tickets, just get to the entrance and show your tickets or your e-tickets.
I personally bought mine from Klook, so I just had to show the tickets on the phone itself. You don’t need to print them out.
This is the view we were welcomed with in Ocean Park. There’s a pretty neat fountain with the Grand Aquarium as the backdrop.
As the park is pretty huge, you may need to get a pamphlet at the directory area just nearby the entrance.
Some attractions are located at the Summit, which means you need to take an Ocean Express train or the cable car to get there.
You can alternate between rides to and fro as well.
As mentioned earlier, it was nearing Christmas, so they do have a huge Christmas tree that’s pretty well decorated near the entrance.
Without further ado, here are some of the things you can do in Ocean Park HK.
1. Sit the cable car
Cable cars are sort of a typical must-have in most outdoor theme parks.
The cable car station is on the left side if you’re coming from the entrance. Keep walking and you should see this signage.
You would have to walk past a recreation of an old town. Unfortunately, most of the shops were still closed when the park just opened in the morning.
They probably open at noon or in the afternoon.
They have estimated wait times for the cable car. The ride opens at 11 am but the queue starts earlier.
Apparently it’s better to take the cable car in the morning when there are less people, as it gets busy later.
The queue is pretty long but it moves pretty fast when the ride opens at 11 am. We went at 10.40 am so the queue wasn’t moving yet.
This is the cable car station. Each car won’t stop, but will slow down for you to enter, just like other cable cars elsewhere.
You don’t have to share the cable car with strangers. You can choose to board alone despite having like five seats.
They won’t force you as well, and they will take your photo before you leave as you can buy it later.
It’s quite small and crammed.
For those who are afraid of heights, it’s quite a long journey. If you hate cable cars, you can use the Ocean Express which is a train and it’s not scary at all.
The reason we’re taking the cable car is because we didn’t know about the Ocean Express, and many of the attractions can be found on the Summit, especially the thrilling rides.
2. Take some scary rides and roller coasters
The roller coasters and scary rides are probably all situated at the other side of the island, which is why you either need to use a cable car or the Ocean Express.
Personally, I didn’t sit any of these rides. Not a fan of roller coasters at all.
There’s also the Ocean Tower which is probably a revolving tower, similar to those you can find in other countries.
If you’re a fan of thrilling rides, do come to the Summit earlier.
3. Visit the Ocean Theatre
The Ocean Theatre is quite a fun attraction in Ocean Park and it’s also located at the Summit.
The seating is similar to a stadium, where there aren’t rails between rows. Do check out their showtimes to be safe.
I took all of these photos using a 300mm lens.
As you get there, you will notice two seals. The seals come and greet the audience near the front seats.
The seals are really cute, especially the way they walk.
When the show starts, it’s mainly about dolphins.
They have quite a number of dolphins and they can all perform stunts.
The dolphins are capable of showing how they save human beings and so on.
They can also perform stunts together with the trainers.
All in all, the dolphin and seal show in the Ocean Theatre is a great attraction to visit in Ocean Park.
4. Experience the rainforest
Also at the Summit, the rainforest is more like a small area where they showcase some of the more unique animals.
As we went during a non-peak time (weekday), not every ride is open.
They have some cool Arapaima fishes on display.
Poisonous and colorful frogs are also on display.
There isn’t much to see here but it’s still worth a short visit.
5. Use the Ocean Express
As mentioned above, you can use the Ocean Express to the Summit and back. If you had taken the cable car up, you can use this train back down.
They decorated the train to look like some underwater train you see in the movies.
When the journey starts, they will dim the lights and the ceilings will light up with the LED screens.
There isn’t anything special except the screens above which shows some sort of a short underwater story.
You will know when you’re arriving as the lights come back up and the screen shows that the vault is locked.
The ride only takes about 5 minutes and it wasn’t that crowded when we took it.
6. Dine in Ocean Park
If you’re going to be here the whole day, you should check out some dining areas. They do have a couple of restaurants or small stalls where you can buy food.
We went to the food court instead because it’s faster.
It’s all self-service here. They had some of the regular Hong Kong food like chicken / duck / pork rice sets and so on.
As we bought the set, it came with a small cup of Haagen Dazs ice cream.
There’s also a restaurant where you can dine inside the aquarium where you are surrounded by all of the sea creatures.
7. Watch acrobatic performances
Near the food court, you will see the Giant Panda attraction and also some performances.
At fixed showtimes, you can watch a group of Chinese acrobats performing.
They will be dressed like animals and performing all kinds of stunts.
If you love these kinds of shows, do stick around for the performance.
You can check the showtimes at the board nearby.
8. Visit the pandas
My favorite attraction in Ocean Park is probably the pandas. You will see this “Giant Panda Adventures” at the entrance.
If you’re coming from the main Ocean Park entrance, you have to turn right.
As you enter the Giant Panda attraction, you will reach this place. There are workers all around reminding everyone to stay quiet, so as not to disturb the pandas.
They have two types, i.e. the Giant Panda and the Red Panda.
This one below is the Red Panda.
Below is the Giant Panda. There’s only one panda inside the enclosure. Apparently there are two pandas, but each has their own enclosure.
These photos were taken with a 300mm lens.
When we first arrived, the panda was just lying down, sleeping.
He later woke up, just walked around, and even took a dump.
9. Visit the Grand Aquarium
Ocean Park also features a Grand Aquarium which is located near the entrance. The line can be long at certain times but we’re lucky to only queue for awhile.
They will take a photo first, in case you want to buy it later.
To get into the aquarium, you have to queue towards an escalator. As you get up, the entrance is just there.
The first attraction is the simulated water spurting out from the pool. I can’t remember what that was called, but it’s probably a geyser-like simulation.
The theme of the aquarium is more towards ocean pollution and other problems, and to raise awareness to stop them.
They have the usual display of fishes, plus some uncommon ones like this starfish and some seahorses.
There aren’t that many attractions inside the Grand Aquarium inside, which was a slight disappointment.
The SEA Aquarium at Singapore is probably much better (I’m not Singaporean).
There’s also a window area where you can see all of the fishes, similar to the one in Aquaman, but much smaller.
And that’s about it in the aquarium.
Other things to do in Ocean Park?
I’ve listed some of the attractions we visited in Ocean Park Hong Kong about two weeks ago.
There are many other attractions that we did not see, like the North Pole Encounter, Raging River, Bumper Blaster or the Arctic Fox Den. Some of the rides may be closed during the off-peak for whatever reason.
If you’ve been to Ocean Park, what are your favorite things to do?
Do leave your comments below.
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