The Shark, Ray & All Creatures Rescue — Attraction in Bobs Farm

We are a family of four, paid for the whole package (guided tour through the butterfly house, underwater cafe, turtle feed, one food and drink item, in-pool encounters & a small tub of feed each) which cost $256.00

The cons; We were asked to pick out a drink from the fridge then wait in a tiny room that lead to another tiny room which was the butterfly house. The large group of people booked for the tour were bundled into the small hot room filled with some plants, ornaments and sporadic butterflies, then asked to fill in a menu sheet (choice between 1x hotdog or 1x ‘sweet’ being either a muffin, scone or almond croissant) which proved difficult being clammed in with minimal bench space. We made our way into the underwater cafe quickly as we started to feel claustrophobic.

The small turtle feeding area was of poor quality. The turtles were covered in thick moss, they were hard to see due to the very dark water. The walkways are narrow with no gripping on the wet floor, a little one could easily slip in when trying to pass another person. We were each given one feeding stick with one small piece of octopus to feed the turtles. It felt like we were in someones under done courtyard.

The guide Jason, going by previous reviews, we must have caught him on a bad day because he had a sour attitude, seemed he couldn’t wait to get it over with. He was uninterested in answering questions though gave snarky remarks to our children when he did (kids asked four simple questions in total) which was really disappointing.

The feeding tools aka pegs zip-tied to sticks, were awkward to use. It was easier letting individual octopus pieces drift to the bottom for the rays to eat.

Pros; The butterflies are beautiful with unique colourful patterns. The underwater cafe was spacious and the food arrived quickly. The different dry land animals (blue tongue lizard, leaf insect, baby snake, bush cockroach & turtle) The birds are beautiful and colourful also. The in-pool encounters with the rays, sharks and eels are by far the star attraction and rightly so, all unbelievably cute and sociable. There are plenty of rays and port Jacksons swimming in pools for everyone to feed and they are especially friendly with your toes (they’re nibbling is harmless) We had never seen eels interact the way these ones did, placidly approach and rest near/on you which was really fascinating to watch, very adorable.

The two gentlemen with the Macaws were personable and informative (I can’t recall their names but both lovely to talk with). Mikaylah was another warm, approachable person who had a lot of knowledge, didn’t mind taking the time to chat or assist. We really enjoyed Rachael’s jovial demeanour (I think that is her name, short hair with glasses). She was quite humorous in telling us a bit about each of the sea creatures backgrounds. It’s a shame she didn’t guide our tour because she would have made it more enjoyable.

Overall, I would recommend the feeding and in-pool encounters only, the tour included is highly over priced compared to other well maintained animal interactive establishments such as zoo’s or theme parks that also offer...

First of all I would like to note that the staff at the Shark and Ray Rescue Centre were extremely friendly- there was one lady at the counter who was lovely and the macaw experience lady was also very accomodating. The other thing I will say is that it was lovely to go somewhere that offered hands on experiences. You do actually get to feed and pet baby sharks and rays here. The kids really enjoyed this.

But overall we were very much underwhelmed. The website makes it seem like there is a lot more happening here than there actually is. The centre is basically one large shed room where all the tanks are housed with eels, sharks, rays etc distributed among the tanks The “farmyard friends” is a small pen in the corner with three small sheep. It’s unclear whether you can go in this enclosure at all with staff supervision. The “butterfly house” was a butterfly room with only a few butterflies in it and a lot of fake flowers. The ”turtle feeding in the rescue Avery” was a very hot small outside area off to the side of the main building that had some chairs and tables and turtles in a pond surrounding the tables. The Avery consisted of a few bird cages on the eating tables with birds and a small enclosure off to the side. Such an odd space to be honest. The underwater cafe was also an odd space and it was hard to see the rays swimming above as the bottom of the tank above was very dirty.

I see what they are trying to do as a centre but the price compared to what you expect to get is outrageous. It’s the same price as a full blown zoo or Australian Reptile park. I understand that they are not as accessible as those places being in Bobs Farm but you still need to charge an acceptable amount for what you are offering.

Entry fee DOES NOT INCLUDE an overpriced extremely small container of shark and ray feed. You maybe get 8 pieces of prawn? And online it says that if you book online you get free food for the sharks and rays but we were told at the counter that it was an extra charge. Lucky with got out of that one. The ticket in should absolutely include the food at that price. Or lower the ticket in substantially and charge $2 a cup for the food.

Don't count on Woodfired pizza for lunch - the website is vague and says “sometimes offered”- there are definitely wood fire pizza ovens there but when they are used is anyone’s guess. This could be a lot clearer.

All up we paid around $200 for our family of 4. And we are not a family with a lot of extra funds but because it offered such a variety through the website we thought it sounded worth it. Really upsetting actually. I think The centre should rethink its model and...

Absolutely DISGUSTING and extremely DISAPPOINTED. Only reason I gave 5 stars is so people can have a real review not just one made up by people or staff. This aquarium couldn’t be more of a waste of money and I can’t understand how they aren’t shut down. All animals claim to be rescued but are in fact bought from fisherman as bycatch so instead of throwing them back they bring them back to places like this to make extra cash. The animals enclosures are as sad and depressing as imaginable with majority of animals being in a ridiculously small tank, overpopulated and with plain cement walls. The “butterfly house” is just a room painted green with 5 butterflies in it. Also the genius who built it put a split system in the room which had more dead butterflies in it than live ones in the room. The amazing underwater cafe was a tank on the roof with three panels of glass and was absolutely filthy which had a couple of sharks and rays. In the cafe was some fish tanks on the table with exotic fish found at the pet shop who were once again in horrible tanks and most were sitting at the bottom in the sand. The saddest part for the whole “rescue centre” was the 4 baby turtles in a cage/tank no bigger than an A4 piece of paper. Additionally the customers are allowed to swim freely in any enclosure, with no sign of a lifeguard, any flotation devices or any first aid legal requirements when operating a licences swimming venue. Another fun safety hazard is the abundance of extension cords and open power sources connecting all the pumps together running the whole place. With rain dripping through the roof it’s only a matter of time. I cannot fathom how this place hasn’t been shut down or investigated because it is honestly people trying to make money with exotic pet shop animals and calling it a rescue. Zero safety or...