COEX Aquarium

The COEX Aquarium fills a basement level of the exhibition and shopping complex in Samseong-dong, and it is the aquarium most Seoul visitors end up in, because it is a subway ride from anywhere and works in any weather. The route winds through themed rooms rather than one large hall: rainforest tanks with piranhas and turtles, a cold-water section, columns of jellyfish, a walk-through tunnel with sharks and rays overhead, and a gallery where fish swim inside old telephone boxes, toilets and washing machines. The aquarium opened in 2000 and now runs as SEA LIFE COEX, with some ninety tanks in fourteen zones; the tunnel tank holds about 2,000 tonnes of water. Feeding times and short keeper talks are posted at the entrance and are worth timing a visit around. It is aimed squarely at families and takes an hour or two.

Highlights

• The shark tunnel - the walk-through acrylic tube with rays and sharks passing overhead.
• The jellyfish columns - the lit cylinders of drifting jellyfish.
• The oddity gallery - the tanks built into telephone boxes, toilets and household objects.
• Feeding and talks - the scheduled keeper sessions at the main tanks.

When to go

Any time, and specifically useful on a wet or bitterly cold day when outdoor Seoul is unappealing. Weekday mornings are the quietest; weekends and school holidays are busy from opening. Check the feeding schedule when you buy the ticket and plan the route around it, since the sessions are the liveliest part of the visit.

Things to know

It is a mall aquarium: low ceilings, dim corridors and a route that funnels everyone the same way, which becomes a slow shuffle when a school group is inside. Tanks are smaller than the marketing suggests and glass gets crowded at the popular ones. Photography is poor in the low light. Adults without children may find an hour is plenty.

Nearby

The Starfield library and the COEX mall are directly above; Bongeunsa temple is across the road.

Key facts