... When was the last time you touched a dolphin or stingray? As I continue my trip towards San Diego, I drop by theSeaworld park. It was a toss-up between the world famous San Diego Zoo or the Seaworld and we decided touching dolphins would be more interesting.
The park can be segmented into ... Read review
The Sea World Resort is strategically located only 25 kilometers north of the Coolangatta ... more
Airport. Situated on Queensland's glorious Gold Coast, the secluded and luxurious resort is bordered by a world famous surf beach and the idyllic Broadwater. This property's unique features include a monorail link to Sea World, absolute waterfront conference and meeting facilities, a popular Kid's Club, heated lagoon shaped swimming pool and award winning restaurants, just to name a few. A low rise Resort set amongst beautiful tropical gardens featuring attractive rainforest atriums, the property consists of 405 rooms in three different accommodation wings. All of the rooms feature exceptional amenities such as air conditioning, alarm clock radio, coffee/tea maker, direct dial telephone and cable TV. This hotel invites guests to experience the most enjoyable, relaxing and exciting holiday possible, making it a memorable stay. Sea World Resort is Australia's number one Theme Park Resort, renowned for its excellent accommodation, superb facilities and friendly staff. Comfortable facilities and convenience are just a few of the qualities you will experience during your stay here.
Information: :Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
The Sea World Resort is strategically located only 25 kilometers north of the Coolangatta ... more
Airport. Situated on Queensland's glorious Gold Coast, the secluded and luxurious resort is bordered by a world famous surf beach and the idyllic Broadwater. This property's unique features include a monorail link to Sea World, absolute waterfront conference and meeting facilities, a popular Kid's Club, heated lagoon shaped swimming pool and award winning restaurants, just to name a few. A low rise Resort set amongst beautiful tropical gardens featuring attractive rainforest atriums, the property consists of 405 rooms in three different accommodation wings. All of the rooms feature exceptional amenities such as air conditioning, alarm clock radio, coffee/tea maker, direct dial telephone and cable TV. This hotel invites guests to experience the most enjoyable, relaxing and exciting holiday possible, making it a memorable stay. Sea World Resort is Australia's number one Theme Park Resort, renowned for its excellent accommodation, superb facilities and friendly staff. Comfortable facilities and convenience are just a few of the qualities you will experience during your stay here.
Information: :Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Advantages: Touching and feeding dolphins Disadvantages: Have to pay for some rides and extra for tours
...show we attended was the sea lion and otter show. This was really good. Once again, both the sea lion and otter did tricks. The show was made quite humorous.
On the whole, the shows were all pretty good. I wouldn't miss the Shamu and dolphin shows.
Rides
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There were 4 rides in total, of which two had to be paid. The Southwest airlines Skytower cost $2.75. This allowed you a view of San Diego ... ...were the world of the sea aquarium, freshwater aquarium, polar bear plaza, penguin encounter, shark encounter as well as the manatee rescue aquarium. The last one was interesting because I have never seen these large creatures before. Definitely worth looking at.
They also have a large fleet of pink flamingos near the sea turtles cove. Both were interesting. The flamingos looked really cute standing on one foot.
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Yes that is correct. When was the last time you touched a dolphin or stingray? As I continue my trip towards San Diego, I drop by theSeaworld park. It was a toss-up between the world famous San Diego Zoo or the Seaworld and we decided touching dolphins would be more interesting.
The park can be segmented into three parts: shows, rides and interactions. Upon entering the park, you will be given a park guide or you could pick one up. It contains a map of the park as well as the daily showtimes and special events. Its important to decide which shows to attend given the time schedules because some shows only runs twice a day while others about 4-6 times a day.
Shows ===== When we were there, The Shamu show was running only twice, once at noon and the second at 2.45 pm. The Shamu show is where the whales perform tricks etc. Sitting down the front guarantees a wet reception. So if you didn't bring a raincoat with a hood and towels, try sitting further up. These wet sitting areas are called splash zones, where the whales actually splash water at the audiences!!! Don't say you weren't warned! We had a great time. The whales were quite mischievous and they seems to be treated very well by their trainers and keepers.
The second show we attended was the Dolphin show. These were running about 5 times daily, every 2 hours. The dolphins were really really fun, and very very playful. Again, watch out for the splash zones. Even though they are much smaller than the whales, the waves they make are not as big, but being smaller and more agile, the frequency of being splashed is much higher! We were told that the dolphins enjoy playing tricks ... so I hope that is true.
In the Pets' playhouse show, we were entertained by various domestic animals (dogs, cats, rats etc). It was entertaining but not a highlight show.
The last show we attended was the sea lion and otter show. This was really good. Once again, both the sea lion and otter did tricks. The show was made quite humorous.
On the whole, the shows were all pretty good. I wouldn't miss the Shamu and dolphin shows.
Rides ===== There were 4 rides in total, of which two had to be paid. The Southwest airlines Skytower cost $2.75. This allowed you a view of San Diego up the tower (265 feet above ground). The Bayside skyride (another $2.75) is a round trip cable ride acorss the Mission Bay. A combined ticket of $3.75 is the better deal, but not a must see.
A crazy Wild Arctic ride was my last ride because it made me really really sick. This simulated a helicopter ride in the Arctic, visiting polar bears and whales in their natural environments. I would have happily given this a miss. Apparently they have a non-motion experience queue as well. Wished I took that queue instead.
The last ride was the Shipwreck Rapids. I didn't go for this because it seems like the whole fun was about getting really really wet!
Interactions ============ Finally! My favourite part of the visit was touching and feeding the dolphins. At various times (check on the day of your visit), the dolphin keepers give short educational talks about these dolphins and we were all invited to feed and touch the dolphins. Of course, they had to sell us the dolphin food but I just couldn't resist the temptation. The leathery feel of the dolphin skin and their bright intelligent eyes looking back at me was definitely worth getting my hands wet for. There are several wash basins to wash up after that, so it was well worth it.
We arrived too late to feed the string rays but we were still able to touch them. They felt like swimming carpets! We got out arms wet, all the way up to the elbows ... another wash up required!
Aquariums ========= The Seaworld would not be complete without at least one aquarium right? There were several aquariums ... There were the world of the sea aquarium, freshwater aquarium, polar bear plaza, penguin encounter, shark encounter as well as the manatee rescue aquarium. The last one was interesting because I have never seen these large creatures before. Definitely worth looking at.
They also have a large fleet of pink flamingos near the sea turtles cove. Both were interesting. The flamingos looked really cute standing on one foot.
Tours ===== Seaworld conducts several tours of the park for an extra fee, of course. I think the most popular one is the public behind-the-scenes tour for $10 (adult) and $5 (child). We didn't go for that because the queue at customer service was very long.
Facilities ========== As with most theme parks on the West coast, food, gift shops and washrooms are not lacking. But at the Seaworld, they have a few interesting extra facilities such as pet facility where kennels are available for a fee; two-way radios are available for hire (in case family members are separated); as well as strollers and wheelchairs.
Tickets ======= A 1-Day ticket is $44.95 (adult) and $34.95 (children). Look for discount coupons from the San Diego Tourist Information Centre or even at the hotel.
If you plan to visit Seaworld (San Diego) again within the year, might be a good idea to buy a silver passport. This allows you unlimited visits for the year, free parking and discounts for various tours.
Or a better deal might be the 3-for-1 Pass for $85 (adult) and $59 (child). This allows unlimited visits for consecutive 5 days to SeaWorld (San Diego), San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park. For a week long visit to San Diego, this might be the better deal.
Oh dear, parking again, cost $7.00 but if you get a silver passport, you will get a refund.
Website: http://www.buschgardens.com/seaworld/ca
Do checkout the website before any trips to Southern California. There is always a better deal to be found. For example, you get 10% discount for etickets (print at home)!
Directions ========== Their address is 500 SeaWorld Drive, San Diego. But just ask at your hotel and they should be able to direct you there. Many hotels also provide complimentary shuttle service to SeaWorld, so it might be a good idea to make use of this. Just check for schedules. Can't miss it!
Conclusion ========== Definitely worth a visit. We enjoyed ourselves tremendously. I think the highlight was feeding and touching the dolphins. It was too bad we missed feeding the stingrays, that would have been really interesting because the stingray would have to be upside down or belly up! I guess that is reserved for my next visit there. Be prepared to get wet, and plenty of walking.
Advantages: The exhibits and shows Disadvantages: too much to see in one visit.
...without seeing the famous California Sea World.
It had been a long day already with a morning trip over the border to Tijuana, so it was getting on to 4.30pm when we pulled up at the Sea World carpark. It was Sunday afternoon of Memorial Weekend and crowds of people were pouring out of the park with their tired looking kids in tow. I think we timed it quite well as it turned out as the park seemed less crowded than I had been anticipating.
As this ... ...Most definitely the highlight of Sea World. Shamu is the Killer Whale who performs with the trainer in a stunning show. We arrived about 15 minutes before the show was due to start so headed to the observation tanks and watched two of these magnificent creatrues at close quarters.
They were coming right up to the viewing glass and checking everybody out just as much as we were checking them out.
We headed in to get a seat, once more heading high ...
casnz 25.05.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sea World, San Diego
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Advantages: A great day out for all the family Disadvantages: The shows were timed too close together
and the majority enabled you to see the park in it's entirety. The facilities were good and there were lots of places to eat and drink.
We did not see all of SeaWorld on our one day there but I doubt you could get two full days out of it. I found it an extremely good quality excursion and it beat Disney hands down for me. ...
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?Disneyland? ?
There are two Disneyland Parks right next door to each other, Disneyland and California?s Disney Adventure. Both Parks are quite similar in attractions however the California Park is definitely the one to visit if you are only going to go to one as it all about Hollywood and America and it has a really great atmosphere that is unique to California.
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?Tours? ?
In order to see the city at its best it is vital to take a tour, that way you get shown everything you want to see. The list of tours available is huge, no matter what your interest is there is something for everyone. For example; ?Los Angeles City Tour by Air?, ?SeaWorldSanDiego?, ?Hollywood Open ...
Advantages: A variety of experiences Disadvantages: You get very tired
the time difference but felt we needed to stay awake a bit longer otherwise we would have woken up at 3.00 am in the morning.
During the next six days we visited Disneyland 3 times, went to SeaWorld in SanDiego (approx 100 miles South of L.A.), did a coach tour of Hollywood and its surrounds, spent one day in Universal Studios and spent some time on the beach. As you can imagine we were absolutely knackered but as it was our first time in the USA and we had promised our kids 8 and 11 we would visit all the sights we felt we had to do everything.
The hotel itself had a small outside pool and provided breakfast; it was adequate and provided us with what we needed although a few more facilities would have been useful.
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martinprice 26.06.2001
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