Adventure World — Attraction in Shirahama

Cool zoo with plenty to see and do, so why the 4 stars? A bit too expensive and the prices inside the zoo are a bit of the high side as well. So we borrowed an animal designed kids buggy for the day but it was 1,700 yen [500 yen deposit] and then close to the food court there was a play area but you had to pay to enter and play in it. Not a fan of the high prices and add-ons but I guess they have a lot of animals to feed! Also, some of the animals, especially the dolphins didn't look too well, floppy dorsal fins, ones dolphin was in exactly the same place, head against the wall, 2 hours after we walked back past him, made me think a bit about the price of holding animals captive to enjoy them?

The zoo itself had a great array of animals and was well spaced out. It was easy to get up close and personal with quite a lot of the animals and see them outside of cages rather than the usual cages with bars. Also, the lighting in the penguin exhibit was...trippy.

The safari train was good, went slow enough to see all the animals in the safari world, but I also liked the fact that if you wanted you could also walk in the safari area and see some of the carnivores up close.

Decent...

We came to Shirahama specifically to visit Adventure World, mainly because of the pandas — which were heavily advertised on the park’s website and promotional materials. Once we arrived, we were shocked to find out that the pandas had already been moved to China, and nowhere was this clearly communicated beforehand. That alone felt misleading and disappointing.

So we decided to try the Safari Tour instead, hoping it might make up for the loss. Unfortunately, what we saw there was deeply disturbing. Lions, tigers, and cheetahs were kept in tiny enclosures, fenced off with electric barriers, looking visibly sad and lethargic. The entire setup felt artificial, like a cheap display using living beings as props. From any perspective — ethical, educational, or even entertainment — this was unacceptable.

We had to leave the safari tour quickly because the experience was emotionally upsetting and completely disheartening.

I would not recommend this park to anyone who genuinely cares about animals. Adventure World has nothing to do with real adventure or wildlife respect. It’s a depressing place hiding behind...

Me & boyfriend, spent a spectacular day like every child did. The place has a very lively atmosphere, you can tell that everyone in the park does their best to make you laugh and smile.

You can plan a schedule depending on things you want to see and do, you can choose from sea creatures to safari or even spend your day on exciting but family friendly rides.

We spent a lot of time with the penguins, had a brief lunch, went to the walking safari tour, fed some wild animals(¥1000 for a couple pieces of fruit and cabbage) and watched the dolphin show.

They recently had a new baby emperor penguin, there is always a crowd to watch that fluffy cuteness. The baby panda from last year reached it's first birthday this year and crowds are there to celebrate, souvenir stores are stormed with panda goods, but there are pandas in HK too so we didn't bother.

Overall, it's a great place to visit and spend a day in. I suggest driving there as Shirahama is not a flatland, choices of public transport within Shirahama are very limited, but the park itself...