Dubai has a way of taking a familiar idea and building it on a giant scale, and its aquariums are a perfect example. Two of the city's most popular sit at opposite ends of town: the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, built into the heart of The Dubai Mall, and The Lost Chambers Aquarium, themed on the legend of the lost city of Atlantis inside Atlantis, The Palm on Palm Jumeirah. Between them they hold tens of thousands of marine animals, from reef fish and rays to sharks and a giant crocodile, all behind glass and all comfortably indoors. That last point is what makes them so good for families, easy to walk, endlessly interesting for children and a welcome escape from the heat. This guide walks through each aquarium, the animals and experiences, the best time to go, and why seeing them on an unhurried private day is the calmest way to do it with children in tow.
Two aquariums and why they suit families
Dubai has turned the simple idea of an aquarium into something on its own scale. Two of its biggest draws stand at opposite ends of the city: the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, built into the heart of The Dubai Mall, and The Lost Chambers Aquarium, themed on the myth of a sunken city inside Atlantis, The Palm on Palm Jumeirah. Between them they hold tens of thousands of marine animals, from reef fish and rays to sharks and a giant crocodile, all behind glass and all comfortably indoors.
That last point is why they work so well for families. Both are fully air-conditioned, easy to walk and endlessly interesting for children, which makes them a perfect refuge on a hot afternoon or a natural anchor for a day that mixes sightseeing with something the kids will remember. This guide walks through each aquarium, the animals and experiences on offer, the best time to go, and why seeing them on an unhurried private day is the most relaxed way to do it with children in tow. Planning a wider family day, gett.travel's Dubai with kids guide rounds up the aquarium alongside the city's other family attractions.
Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo at The Dubai Mall
The Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo is the one you may already have seen without paying a thing. Its vast main tank, one of the largest suspended aquariums in the world, holds around 10 million litres of water and rises three floors through the middle of The Dubai Mall, so shoppers can watch sharks and rays glide past its huge acrylic viewing panel from the mall walkway for free. To go further, a ticket takes you inside.
With a ticket you walk through the tank itself along a 48-metre glass tunnel, with the water and its inhabitants all around and above you, then continue up to the Underwater Zoo on the level above. It is a compact, well-paced attraction rather than a whole-day outing, which is part of what makes it so easy to fold into a wider visit to Downtown Dubai, the mall, Burj Khalifa and the fountain right outside.
Sharks, rays and King Croc: meeting the animals
The headline residents are the sharks. The aquarium is home to one of the largest collections of sand tiger sharks anywhere, and they share the tank with rays, giant groupers and thousands of other fish, all visible at close range from the tunnel below. For many children it is the first time they have stood, quite literally, underneath a shark.
The Underwater Zoo upstairs adds the animals a tank alone cannot. Laid out across habitats that run from rainforest to rocky shore to the open ocean, it introduces creatures such as piranhas, jellyfish, seahorses, otters and penguins, and its most famous resident of all: King Croc, an enormous saltwater crocodile who holds court in his own enclosure. It is the part of the visit small children tend to talk about most on the way home.
The Lost Chambers Aquarium at Atlantis
Out on Palm Jumeirah, The Lost Chambers Aquarium takes a different approach. Set inside Atlantis, The Palm and themed on the legend of the lost city of Atlantis, it winds through a series of halls and passageways where more than 65,000 marine animals live among mock ruins and submerged chambers. The effect is less museum, more underwater adventure, which children respond to instantly.
At its centre is the Ambassador Lagoon, a huge window onto a tank teeming with rays, sharks and shoals of fish, with quieter displays of seahorses, jellyfish and moray eels tucked along the route. Because it sits within the Atlantis resort, it pairs naturally with the Aquaventure waterpark next door, so a family can combine a morning of slides with a calmer, cooler wander among the fish.
The best time to visit and how to plan it
The great advantage of an indoor aquarium is that the weather never spoils it, which makes both of Dubai's aquariums ideal for the hottest hours of the day and for the summer months when outdoor plans wilt. A late morning or early afternoon visit, when younger children are at their best and before the evening mall crowds build, tends to be the most comfortable.
A little planning still helps. Tickets are usually cheaper and quicker booked online in advance, and combination tickets that bundle the tunnel, the zoo and extra experiences can be worth it if you plan to do more than just look. Because the Dubai Aquarium sits inside The Dubai Mall and The Lost Chambers inside Atlantis on the Palm, it also makes sense to build each one into a wider plan for that part of the city rather than crossing town twice.
A quick checklist for an aquarium day with kids
A few simple choices make an aquarium day with children smoother and more fun:
- Book tickets online in advance, and consider a combination pass if you want the tunnel, zoo and experiences
- Go in the late morning or early afternoon, especially on a hot day, while young children are still fresh
- Pair the Dubai Aquarium with Downtown, the mall and the fountain, and The Lost Chambers with Aquaventure on the Palm
- Bring a light layer, as the indoor halls are strongly air-conditioned
- Let a private driver handle the parking and transfers so the day flows around the children, not the logistics
Why a private family day works best
Aquariums are easy in themselves, but a family day in Dubai lives or dies on its logistics, and that is exactly what a private day removes. Rather than wrestling with mall parking, taxis and the drive out to the Palm with tired children, your driver delivers you to the door at the right hour and is waiting when you are done, so the whole day flows at the family's pace rather than the traffic's.
It also lets the aquariums slot into a bigger, gentler plan. A private day might pair the Dubai Aquarium with Burj Khalifa and the fountain in Downtown, or The Lost Chambers with a morning at Aquaventure and a look at the Palm, with breaks, meals and nap times built in around the children. Arranged this way, unhurried and shaped around your family, Dubai's underwater worlds become the easy, memorable centre of a day everyone enjoys.
Dubai's two great aquariums, the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo in The Dubai Mall and The Lost Chambers at Atlantis on the Palm, offer families tens of thousands of marine animals, from sharks and rays to King Croc, all comfortably indoors. See the Dubai Aquarium alongside Downtown and the fountain and The Lost Chambers alongside Aquaventure on the Palm, go in the late morning or early afternoon to beat the heat and the crowds, and book online in advance. Enjoyed as an unhurried private day, with the parking, transfers and timing handled around the children, they become the easy, memorable centre of a family day in Dubai.
