Ocean Park: Something fishy in Manila

With gladness, I received news of Ocean Park’s opening behind the Quirino Grandstand by Manila Bay. I immediately made it a point to include visiting this in my to-do list this summer.

Based on news releases and word-of-mouth, Ocean Park promised to be similar to Singapore’s Ocean Adventure, which we visited a couple of years ago. Therein lieth the problem.

Admission was P350 for adults and P300 for children, less 10% if you were a Manila resident. That was already quite expensive for this cheapskate, but I would learn that this was already a discounted rate as the regular entrance fee was P400. Right away I smelled con. I considered not joining my family for this and to merely spend my P350 on beer and fine food in the restaurants near the area. However, my sense of family prevailed so I decided to go along with the kids.

What struck me as I entered the venue were the hundreds of monobloc chairs in what was apparently the massive welcoming lobby. I was informed that these chairs were for the hundreds of visitors who lined up for this suspected racket during daytime, something I could not confirm since we arrived in the evening.

For such a high admission price they did not accept credit cards because the rate of P350 was a promo thing. By being a senior citizen, my mum-in-law received a discount of 20%. Having been the math professor that she was, she immediately prepared P280, i.e. P350 less 20%. Surprisingly, she was charged P320, because the senior citizen’s discount of 20% was deducted from the regular price of P400! This got me to thinking that for Manila residents, they get 10% off the regular price of P400 so that they will have to pay P360, which is P10 more than what I, fortunately a Paranaque native, paid for! Go figure.

For me, Ocean Park is just a glamorized version of what we baby boomers would recall as the former Manila Aquarium. It is just a series of fish tanks containing mostly such local fish as dalagang bukid, pampano, and butete, with a few exotic species here and there. In these sections, you would have much more fun visiting the pet shops at Cartimar because there you even get to see iguanas, monkeys and alligators.

The major difference was going through the underwater tunnel encased on all sides with glass so that you get to feel “at one” with all those fish. Unfortunately, the species to be seen were mostly those that I actually get from the market, including the sharks and the rays. Disappointingly, the overall color of the fish groupings was gray, which was very uncharacteristic of aquatic communities in our more popular coral reefs. And after around 30 meters of this underground tunnel, that was it. I found myself in a large black hall of giant fish tanks with the same gray fishes swirling around. On its far side I vaguely discerned a glass door labeled “Exit: No re-entry.”

Instinctively, I turned back to the underground glass tunnel which was obviously the best feature of Ocean Park. Again, an employee flashes before my eyes a “No Re-entry” sign! What? Despite the pleadings of my wife, the employee would not allow us to go back to the tunnel. This “No Re-entry” policy would have been appropriate if indeed, as they said, there were hundreds of visitors cueing up to get in. But that night, we were just a handful of guests for it was almost closing time. They could have relaxed this rule a bit as a sign of goodwill. But no, you were out, so tough luck.

Since that large black hall was the last section before exiting Ocean Park, we just decided to linger there for some time, making the most of the P700 I painfully coughed up for me and the missus, and the P600 for the kids.

I’ve been had. Or maybe it was because I was able to visit Singapore’s Ocean Adventure that I felt shortchanged. If I remember rightly, admission there was cheaper. There, one may actually caress a lot of aquatic species, while at Manila’s Ocean Park, you are only allowed to touch the rough and dormant starfish. Ocean Adventure’s underground tunnel was at least 4 times that of Ocean Park. And there was none of that “No Re-entry” bullshit. Ocean Adventure’s tunnel actually had a walkalator that went around and around on which you could just lie down and enjoy the much more colorful aquatic life happening all around you.

For those who visited Manila’s Ocean Park and not Singapore’s Ocean Adventure, I could only hope that they did enjoy the racket. It’s better to have an Ocean Park than none at all. As for my family, well the kids actually enjoyed themselves, since the gigantic halls afforded them a fully air-conditioned play area that they exploited to the hilt. Actually, when I was reviewing my video footages, the kids appeared to have actually enjoyed the fish, their experience in Singapore notwithstanding. Maybe their smiles and excitement were just worth the P300. You be the judge and visit my YouTube.com upload on this experience.

Since we did not have dinner yet, we tried the restaurant just outside Ocean Park (not the one inside, Oceana). Full meals were offered at P100 per plate, to be paid as you ordered. The food was not spectacular and it did not justify its P100 price tag. But there was beer at P35 per can and good pork siomai at P32 per order, which sort of mollified the exploitation that I had felt in having been suckered into visiting Ocean Park.