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National Aquarium of New Zealand: Ocean Wonders
3.9
49 Ratings
Napier
Explore New Zealand’s aquatic wonders at the National Aquarium in Napier. Discover native species, witness stingray feedings, and immerse yourself in ocean beauty.
Explore New Zealand’s aquatic wonders at the National Aquarium in Napier. Discover native species, witness stingray feedings, and immerse yourself in ocean beauty.
Duration:
1 hour, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- National Aquarium of New Zealand - Open daily from 9 am to 5 pm, explore a variety of exhibits from mountains to the sea at your own pace. Encounter introduced species, native eels (tuna), the brown kiwi, and the tuatara of Aotearoa, culminating in our largest exhibit under the sea. Marvel at the ocean’s wonders as stingrays glide by and sea life displays its grace and beauty. Feeding times are at 10 am and 2 pm every day.
- National Aquarium of New Zealand - Open daily from 9 am to 5 pm, explore a variety of exhibits from mountains to the sea at your own pace. Encounter introduced species, native eels (tuna), the brown kiwi, and the tuatara of Aotearoa, culminating in our largest exhibit under the sea. Marvel at the ocean’s wonders as stingrays glide by and sea life displays its grace and beauty. Feeding times are at 10 am and 2 pm every day.
What's Included
- National Aquarium of New Zealand in Napier - General Admission
- National Aquarium of New Zealand in Napier - General Admission
Additional Information
Open 7 days a week from 9am - 5pm, self guide your way through a range of exhibits from Mountains to sea. You will see introduced species, native tuna (eels), our brown kiwi and tuatara of Aotearoa before finishing under the sea, our largest exhibit. Experience the wonders of the ocean as you witness the stingrays gliding through the water and the grace and beauty of the sea life. Feeding times 10am and 2pm daily.
Open 7 days a week from 9am - 5pm, self guide your way through a range of exhibits from Mountains to sea. You will see introduced species, native tuna (eels), our brown kiwi and tuatara of Aotearoa before finishing under the sea, our largest exhibit. Experience the wonders of the ocean as you witness the stingrays gliding through the water and the grace and beauty of the sea life. Feeding times 10am and 2pm daily.
Location
National Aquarium of New Zealand
Marine Parade,
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
3.9
(49 Ratings)
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Gemjinn77
Apr 5, 2026
great place to go! - Brilliant that the Aquarium offer the carer and disability discounted entry, makes the place more accessible for families like ours. Friendly helpful and informative staff, very interesting place to explore. We loved spending ages watching 2 divers in the tank with the sealife feeding crays, cleaning internal glass and giving us a fun wee show whilst they were at it. The kids loved watching them blow air bubbles to each other and figuring out how they were communicating with each other. The feeding times/keeper talks are a bit weirdly spaced throughout the day so we sadly didn't get to experience these, as either had to be there really early or hang around long after we had finished to see later ones, but that's ok. Plenty of photo opportunities and things to investigate. My son kept saying mum I love it here!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
John_c
Mar 20, 2026
Worth it! - The aquarium was easy to navigate and had a wide variety of aquatic life. The best part was seeing 2 kiwi!s (or I think there were 2- very fast moving birds). The penguin exhibition was very good and watching the scuba divers feed the fish in the glass/ plexi-glass space was wonderful!
Review provided by Viator
Kathryn_h
Feb 13, 2026
First real kiwi and blue penguin exhibits - Kiwi and blue penguins exhibits worth a trip! Great natural exhibits of local fish and more exotic as well! Reptiles galore!
Review provided by Viator
807darrenp
Feb 10, 2026
Lovely few hours - Was so nice to see all in one place loved the blue Penguins and the feeding managed to see kiwi birds then looked around the big aquarium
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Fearless33789519467
Jan 25, 2026
Well worth a visit - Terrific outing with family. Good signage and activities for kids. Clean tanks, healthy frogs, penguins and fish. Loved the walk-through area where rays swim over you, big and small fish swim past. Absolutely loved our visit. Plenty of bathrooms and well appointed seating.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
William
Jan 16, 2026
Historically full of fun and fish - This was a childhood favourite of mine, and an activity that the kids were looking forward to. We arrived just after 2pm for the penguin feeding, they are adorable and very active, maybe because there was food? We then caught the 3pm fish feeding in the main tank, that was a fish frenzy as the scuba divers hand fed the variety of fish and rays they have. After that the kids speed through the rest of the exhibits in a rush to find food for themselves. After so many years this place seems to have not changed much, it was a bit bland on revisiting putting a damper on the original excitement. But I think if this is going to be your first time you would enjoy it as much as we did years ago?
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tastjames
Mar 18, 2026
Great visit - A really warm welcome at the desk. The aquarium is well laid out and everything appeared pristine. We had bumped into another couple from the UK who recommended timing our visit for penguin feeding and we were not disappointed. The gentleman explaining was extremely clear and interesting. There were some people feeding as part of a close encounter which looked fun. The overhead archway was fascinating - we lived watching the divers feed the rays and fish.
Like other people, we felt that Terry the turtle did looked confined.
The cafe was clean and served great coffee!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jennifer_d
Mar 9, 2026
Aquarium sightseeing - We arrived at 12:30 to Napier, had some lunch, booked into our hotel. We looked around to find something to do and organised to go to the Aquarium. We booked in at 3pm and the only thing that was available was the feeding of the penguins at 3:30pm. This was okay but did not last long, and the rest of the time was just looking through glass panels at fish and other reptiles, etc. Felt a bit sorry for them as the areas seemed a little too small and the animals all seemed to be a little lethargic. Anyway, it was still amazing to see all the underwater animals swimming around.
Review provided by Viator
Annette_l
Feb 15, 2026
Small but interesting aquarium - We enjoyed visiting the aquarium. We were able to see a kiwi bird and adorable penguins as well as observe stingrays swimming gracefully over our heads.
Review provided by Viator
Linda
Feb 21, 2026
Larger home for Terry please. 🐢 - The aquarium was a short walk from our accommodation so it was easy to get there with a 4 yr old and a 2yr old. I read the reviews before going but as usual happy to explore and make my own experience.
Staff were friendly and helpful.
Price is reasonable for the unlimited time you can be inside.
My overall view is that it needs an upgrade for the penguins and the Turtle.
We arrived for penguin feeding and information. We could not hear the guy speaking and blinked and missed the feeding!!
Both the people speaking and feeding appeared extremely bored !!
I believe that the enclosure needs to be expanded with better viewing angles.
The turtle 😢PLEASE expand his/her space.
A few more interactive activities for little ones would be great .
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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