If I were to name one thing about San Diego, it would be that Seaworld is located there. Seaworld was the only thing that was a must-visit for me in San Diego. We bought a combo ticket, for $99USD which gave us general admission to Universal Studios and Seaworld within a 14 day period, which made the admission slightly more palatable than the normal $64.

The reason that it’s so expensive is because it’s not just an aquarium like the Vancouver Aquarium, but an adventure park! There were the shows that are present at aquariums, we watched a otter/seal/sea lion show, a dolphin show, and a killer whale show featuring Shamu. Although Shamu isn’t the name of any particular whale (their original Orca was called Shamu).

The Shamu show is the only reason worth going to Seaworld, the Orcas swim around, jump, do some choreography with the divers and splash the crowd; but they are bigger and splashier than the dolphins, and more agile than beluga whales. We spent some time visiting the exhibits, seeing manatees, sharks, penguins, polar bears and the normal aquarium fare. The penguins and polar bears were in a special wild arctic exhibit (with lots of AC, must be a popular building in the summer). We opted to take the “ride” version where we go in a motion-simulated helicopter to reach the arctic base; it wasn’t worth the 15 minute wait though.

I don’t think Seaworld is worth the visit, even at the reduced cost of the flex pass. Your admission price offsets the cost of the rides, but if you wanted rides, you might as well go to Universal Studios or some other roller coaster park.

Posted by Kevin in Blogs Tags: animals, california, diary, travelling