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Sea World

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Sea World is a one of the heavy weights in the Gold Coast theme park scene.
Linked to the cute and human friendly dolphin, the rides and exhibits have a high educational theme, and is very young-kids friendly. Sea world is located close to Surfers Paradise beach, approximately a 10 minute drive from the beach.

Sea World Nara Resort

Sea World has a resort which gives patrons special admission prices. The Sea World Nara resort is connected via a monorail to the theme park.

Sea World Nara Resort is set amongst beautiful tropical gardens on the Broadwater. The resort offers 5 grades of accommodation and features 5 restaurants and bars and provides regular shuttle bus transfer to Surfers Paradise, Warner Bros. Movie World, Wet n Wild Water World, Paradise Country as well as Pacific Fair.

Things to do at Sea World

At Sea World, you should expect to see the following animals live: polar bears at Polar Bear Shores, golden seals at Quest for the Golden Seal, dolphins at Dolphin Cove, dugongs in Dugong Discovery, penguins at Penguins on Parade, frogs and fish in the aquarium, seabirds at the Seabird Rehabilitation Aviary, and sharks and stingrays at Shark Bay.

Shark Bay
When you first enter, you will see a great expansive pool – this is Shark Bay. There are three main sections to Shark Bay, which is the Touch Pools and Inter-tidal Zone, Shark Lagoon, and Reef Lagoon. Reef Lagoon is a reef environment and contains Leopard sharks, Blacktip Reef sharks, Nervous sharks, Epaulette sharks, with Shovelnose rays, Cowtail rays, Moari Wrasse, Red Emperor, and a variety of reef fish. Shark Lagoon is a larger body of water and contains Tiger sharks, Dusky Whaler Sharks and Blue Whaler sharks. Shark Bay is one of the main attractions of Sea World, as you get to get up close to the human eating species of sharks. (For a small fee, you can even dive with the lagoon keepers in Shark Bay.)

Dolphin cove
Dolphin cove is a highlight of the park. With two shows per day, during peak seasons, the amphitheatre can get packed. With an enthusiastic crowd, the stars of the show are the 6 or so dolphins of various ages and sizes. Their interactions with the trainers are amazing, and they do not fail to educate and entertain the audience. I think most people would trade in their day jobs to be a dolphin trainer, because it looks like all fun. Yes, you can pay for this privilege too (see below for more details).

Polar Bear
The Polar Bear enclosure is like most city zoos. They have an enclosure, in which you can view them from above, ground level, and below water. It seems a little odd that polar bears can live in 35 degree heat, but they seem to enjoy their enclosure and you can get relatively close and see how huge they are.

Sea World Rides
The kids can ride most of the rides Most of the rides can be ridden by the kids. There are a few rides which are scarier, but they are generally tame and shorter than the other theme parks. The “corkscrew” rollercoaster is pretty much generic, with a few twists and turns, however it is not meant to be a main attraction.

The Bermuda Triangle and Flume ride are water rides, where you are winched up to the top and come screaming down, out of a dark hole.
The Pirate ship is like any other pirate ship ride; you sit and buckle yourself in to be rocked back and forth.

Value for money – if you are out for an educational and entertaining experience with the kids, this park is for you. All those questions you could never answer about those cute and clever little mammals, tattooed on so many people on the Gold Coast can be explained here.

For the thrill seekers, there is not much that can freak you out. Like at most of the other parks, there are additional activities you can do, if you pay more. At Sea World, you can take a helicopter ride, swim with the dolphins, or even spend a whole day with the trainer and hang with the dolphins. But these activities are not cheap, being trainer for a day costs around AUD260 for 4.5hrs (accurate at 20/02/06).

The food is terrible, and there is little variety except for pre-packaged processed deep fried foods. If you want to keep your fortune and avoid a heart attack, it might be a better option to pack your own lunch. The Dockside Tavern serves a-la-carte food, but it comes at a cost, which may not equal the quality you would expect. However, the view from here is great; you can sit on the balcony and see the dolphins below or watch people scream on the Pirate Ship.

Sea World, family theme park

Sea World is a family theme park, which has numerous aquatic animals which mostly can not be seen at city zoos. The theme park both educates and entertains adults and children. Even if you are not particularly interested in animals, you will still be amazed at some of the natural abilities of the vicious, furry and cute animals.

In less than 5 words: educational, convenient, and digestible.