Oita Marine Palace Aquarium "Umitamago" — Attraction in Oita

Arrived at the parking lot around 8:30 AM, and there were already about 20 cars lined up at the entrance 🚗🚗🚗. The first parking lot was full, as many people had come early to grab spots for the 9:00 AM dolphin show 🐬. By the time we got to the venue, the seats were already taken, so we watched the show standing.

The dolphin show featured three dolphins performing powerful and dynamic tricks — it was absolutely worth seeing! 💦🐬💦 At 10:00 AM, the walrus show began, and we were blown away by its sheer size 🦭. The performance was full of humor, with the walrus clapping its fins and responding to whistles — it had everyone smiling and laughing!

The indoor exhibits were also thoughtfully designed, making it easy to learn about the habits and characteristics of various fish 🐟. Overall, it’s a well-balanced aquarium where you can enjoy both shows and educational displays.

Highly recommend combining your visit with Takasakiyama Monkey Park 🐒, located just...

Note: if you are visiting I recommend getting the pass from the tourist office at Beppu Station that gives you tickets to the aquarium, monkey park ticket (across the street from the aquarium) and bus tickets for a round trip to the area from Beppu Station.

A very fun aquarium with most activities than most others. There’s the usual feeding of the animals, but after the shows (which are short but entertaining) you can feed and/or pet the walrus, get your nails decorated, find pearls, go to the small beach (mostly for children) right next to the dolphins. Some of the activities are free, others where you get something aren’t. The aquarium is bigger then it seems with a lot of...

The best aquarium in Japan!! If you are an aquarium lover who’re willing to travel abroad, this place is your next to go. (My mom and me spent 7 hours there in a weekday.)

I’ve been to some famous aquariums in western Japan (including Kaiyukan, Churaumi, Suma-aquarium etc). They are great, but none would win to Umi-Tamago with the number and size of each species, the quality of shows, and the unique design of buildings. You rarely see any lonely fish and animal who live in a small cage alone in this place. Their shows and big bodies will also tell you their healthy and happy lives. And their building made not only the residents but also us visitors smile. I’m sure...