The 131-metre tunnel
The world's longest tunnel aquarium by the operator's count, floored with a wrecked plane and ship under circling sharks and rays.
МаратД — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Andreas Wolf 01 — CC0 · Tanya Dedyukhina — CC BY 3.0 · Хомелка — CC BY-SA 4.0
A 131-metre glass tunnel with sharks and rays gliding overhead is the number the whole of Antalya Aquarium is built on, and it markets itself as the longest tunnel aquarium in the world. The tunnel earns the billing: the floor is dressed as a life-size crashed aeroplane and a sunken ship, and children will find something to point at for a solid quarter of an hour. Be honest with yourself before you go, though. Beyond the tunnel this is a mid-sized aquarium, around forty themed tanks you can walk in an hour, and not in the league of Dubai's or the great Asian aquariums. It opened in August 2012 on Dumlupınar Boulevard in Konyaaltı, glued to the 5M Migros shopping centre and a few minutes' walk from Konyaaltı beach, and it is really an entertainment complex rather than a single attraction: a real-snow hall chilled to −5 °C (Snow World and the Ice Museum, with a coat lent at the door), a small reptile house called WildPark, a wax museum and an XD cinema, all on the terrace floor upstairs. Each is sold as a combo with the aquarium or as part of the full package, and the snow hall in particular justifies itself in August, when Antalya turns into an oven; five minutes in there explain the price. The price is the real obstacle. A foreign adult pays USD 40 online (about EUR 35) and a child of 3 to 12 USD 32, with the gate charging a little more, which makes this one of the pricier private attractions in Turkey, while Turkish citizens and residents pay a discounted lira rate. For a family of five you are near USD 180 before the add-ons, and the Mega Package with all five sections is USD 109 a head, so do the sum. Booking on the official site spares you the counter queue and is advertised as cheaper than the gate. The aquarium floor is level, pushchairs roll easily through the tunnel and between the tanks, and there is free parking plus fast-food outlets and cafes. The worst hour is midday, when the tour coaches arrive and the 12:00 shark feeding draws everyone to the same spot; the last hour before sunset is far calmer, and with summer closing at 22:00 (last entry half an hour before) there is no need to rush. If you are travelling without children and your Antalya days are few, spend the dollars on a trip to Perge and Aspendos instead.
The world's longest tunnel aquarium by the operator's count, floored with a wrecked plane and ship under circling sharks and rays.
A real-snow hall at −5 °C with a borrowed coat, and the single best add-on to buy in the August heat.
Skip midday with its tour coaches and the 12:00 shark feeding; the last hour before sunset gives you the tunnel almost to yourself.
Dumlupınar Bulvarı No:502, Arapsuyu, Konyaaltı
With children aged roughly 4 to 12, probably yes: the tunnel and the snow hall fill half a day in air conditioning and the kids leave happy. Without children, no; the aquarium itself is an hour, and the same money goes a long way at Perge and Aspendos.
Istanbul is bigger and more varied tank for tank, at a broadly similar foreigner price; Antalya wins only on the long tunnel. If both cities are on your route, do the aquarium in Istanbul and keep the Antalya budget for the beach and the ancient sites.
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