Underwater in Vegas – experiencing Shark Reef
Vegas is a gigantic playground with anything and everything to do, and doing something ‘nature-focused’ may not be on top of everyone’s list. But as soon as I read about Shark Reef in a Las Vegas magazine, I knew I wanted to give it a go.
Shark Reef is a massive predator-based aqurium located in the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. It houses over 2000 animals throughout - in a well-designed jungle enviroment with living trees and plants, followed by a sunken temple and ship wreck for underwater viewing of fish and aquatic wildlife.
The entry fee for Shark Reef is $16.95 for adults and $10.95 for kids, and although this may seem a bit pricy for some, it’s pretty afforable for both aquariums and Vegas and the bang-for-your-buck value is very high, as you can spend hours inside the aquarium going from exhibit to exhibit.
The jungle area has reptiles including komodo dragons, golden crockodiles and predatory fish like the Black Spot Piranha. I found it a little amusing that the piranha display is open on top, at arm level… perhaps a little tempting for some? There is an on-site naturalist in each area, and I spoke with the one manning the piranhas and found her to be well-read and knowledgable about everything in the aquarium, chatting away as she kept her eye on anyone under five feet approaching the tank.
Shark Reef has a great touch pool in the centre of the aquarium, also manned by a naturalist. This low pool lets visitors get up close and personal with stingrays and horseshoe crabs. The largest stingray in the pool is very curious and spent considerable time getting to know my husband. The naturalist showed us how to carefully touch the stingray’s back to feel the texture and showed my husband how to encourage the ray over to “sniff” his hand in the water. I was impressed with how good the naturalist was with the children coming through, gentle yet watchful as he taught them about the marine life in the pool.
A big advantage of Shark Reef is how the enclosures are designed to let you get right up close – the zen-like jelly fish enclosure is a floor to ceiling glass tube filled with jelly fish lit from below and above. I could hardly drag myself away from them, and ended up making a video just so I could move on. The stingray exhibit is a beautiful coral reef and the stingrays will come right up to have a look at you on their way soaring by.
The highlight of Shark Reef is, without a doubt, the massive sunken shipwreck shark aquarium. Designed to look as if you are inside a sunken ship on the ocean floor with huge glass windows, glass ceilings and even a glass floor to get the best views of all the sharks swimming by in the 1.3 million gallons of water, oh yes, it’s big. This area was worth the price of admission all by itself, with incredible (and unobtrusive) underwater lighting to showcase the sharks without taking away from the natural feeling of their environment.
The viewable species include Sandtiger Sharks, Galapagos Sharks, Sandbar Sharks, Green Sawfish, White Tip Reef Sharks, Sharks, Great Barracuda and more. The far end of the shipwreck is a glass tunnel that lets you get right underneath the sharks to watch them swim or float above you. My only regret was not going at feeding time, as I expect this would be something to see. However, going at night was a great choice, as it was quieter and less busy (read: less screaming kids for those so inclined).
Shark Reef was way more that I expected it to be, a really cool, unique experience that made me completely forget I was in Vegas for a few hours. In a really good way.
To learn more about Shark Reef, visit them here.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 at 3:41 pm and is filed under Las Vegas, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.