Visiting The Lotte World Aquarium In Seoul

It was almost an accident that we visited the Lotte World Aquarium: it wasn’t on our things to do in Seoul list! We found a great offer on Klook where we could add tickets to the aquarium to our ticket package for around £3 (more on that below) and the budget traveller in me couldn’t resist the offer!

The boys do love a good aquarium though! I think its a universal thing that children look to get up close and personal with the animals and sea creatures that they see in their story books.

Here’s everything you need to know about visiting the Lotte World Aquarium: what to see, how much it costs, and ultimately is it worth visiting? Read on to find out!

What To See At The Lotte World Aquarium

The first thing you need to know is that the Lotte World Aquarium is huge. By far the biggest aquarium I have ever visited. It’s spread over 3 floors, each with an abundance of sea life. In fact one of our favourite experiences here was riding an escalator between floors surrounded by glass walls as seals swam around us.

There are over 650 species housed in the Lotte World Aquarium, and 55,000 individual creatures. You’ll find a huge number of fish such as eels, piranha, schools of sardines, and of course silly clown fish.

Huge green turtles, Asian small-clawed otters, penguins, crocodiles, seals and sealions. The aquarium houses a beluga whale named Bella. She seemed playful (though I wonder if she’d wished she had a friend?) but this is the first and only time I’ve seen a beautiful beluga up close, and she was as magnificent as I’d imagined she’d be.

Notable experiences in the Lotte World Aquarium include:

Ocean Tunnel: An 85 metre long tunnel that offers a 360 degree view of the huge marine life swimming overhead. This is the best place to get a close up view of the awesome sharks that call the aquarium home.

Play Ocean: This is a great spot for kids smaller than my own. You can learn about and touch starfish and sea squirts, and this area of the aquarium also has a small playground with tunnels through the exhibits (see below) and slides that would be perfect for preschoolers to let off some energy.

Jellyfish Gallery: This area of the aquarium is so beautifully well presented. A whole host of different jellyfish are displayed in illuminated tanks so that you can see the intricate details of their frames.

Buy Tickets To The Lotte World Aquarium

You can buy tickets to the Lotte World Aquarium via Klook. These are priced at £14.35 per person. Adults and children both pay the same price. The LINK to buy these tickets at this price is here.

But if you’re on a tight budget, there is another option to help you save some cash!

We didn’t buy tickets to the Lotte World Aquarium. Because the Aquarium is so close to the Lotte World theme park, we saved a fortune by buying a joint ticket that gave us access to Lotte World and the Lotte World Aquarium on the same day.

This ticket gave a standard one-day entry ticket AND entry to the Lotte World Aquarium. This is a special Klook offer. These tickets are priced at £25.05 and you can buy these here.

This is well worth the money, as it effectively meant that the aquarium tickets only cost us £3.26 each.

Not sure if Lotte World is right for you? You can read my full review here.

Getting To The Lotte World Aquarium

The Lotte World Aquarium is located inside the Lotte World Mall. This is a huge mall (and worth visiting in its own right if you love to shop) which is in the Songpa District of Seoul, South Korea.

The full address for the Lotte World Mall is  300 Olympic-ro, Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea. You’ll find the entrance to the aquarium on the basement (B2F) floor of the mall.

The nearest subway station for the Lotte World Aquarium is Jamsil Station (lines 2 and 8). This subway station is directly connected to the Mall via an underground passage.

If you’re coming from the Lotte World theme park then there’s no need to use public transport at all! This is what we did, and getting to the mall was a very pleasant 7 minute walk in the sunshine.

Lotte World Aquarium Opening Hours

The Lotte World Aquarium’s current opening hours are from 10am – 8pm. The aquarium opens 7 days a week, though it closes on some public holidays and opening hours can vary throughout the year.

To check the most up to date opening hours, use this link.

Is The Lotte World Aquarium Ethical?

This is a question I see a lot, and to be honest it’s a question I wish i’d asked before we visited.

I am no expert on animal welfare or animal ethics. But I will say that while some of the larger mammals seem to have plenty of space, some of the smaller fish didn’t seem to have enough to my untrained eye.

The aquarium says and does all the right things in terms of conservation. There are signs and certificates to various breeding, preservation and conservation networks and programmes all over the place.

Some examples of this are that the Lotte World Aquarium is certified by South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fishries as a conservation institute and rescue and treatment centre. The aquarium established a dedicated Marine Biological Research Center in 2022. And it is heavily involved in Sea Lion conservation projects too. You can read more about some of these programmes here.

So I could be miles off the mark.

But if the ethics of aquariums/captive animals is a concern for you then for this reason I would definitely recommend doing some research before you visit! While it all went over my kids heads, there were some moments where I felt uncomfortable and wondered whether this was the right experience for us.

How Long To Spend At The Lotte World Aquarium?

We spent around 90 minutes at the Lotte World Aquarium during our visit. We didn’t do the small animal touching (we have a look but don’t touch policy with wild animals who probably don’t want children’s fingers all over them), and didn’t read all the exhibit signs. Realistically, we whizzed around so that we could see all of the animals and spent plenty of time with the Beluga and in the ocean tunnel but we didn’t linger over each exhibit and spend a lot of time at each tank.

I think if you were short on time you could go faster than we did and do everything in around 60 minutes. But if you’re travelling with smaller children or really want to go slow and soak up the experience you could spend a full half a day here: longer if you want to stop in the cafe or explore the gift shop.

Have you ever visited Seoul Aquarium? I’d love to know what you thought! In fact, i’d love to hear your thoughts on zoos and aquariums in general! These are places our kids LOVE to visit, and I understand the desire to see these animals with your own eyes. But I often worry about whether this is the right thing to see and do. What do you think?

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