Istanbul Aquarium or Sea Life Istanbul: Which One to Visit

Go to Istanbul Aquarium in Florya, because the choice has been made for you: Sea Life İstanbul, in the Forum İstanbul shopping centre in Bayrampaşa, closed permanently on 1 January 2025 when Merlin Entertainments pulled out of Turkey. If it was the long tunnel you wanted, look further afield: Antalya Aquarium has a 131-metre tunnel and Aqua Vega in Ankara a 98-metre one.

Which one to choose

Sea Life İstanbul: closed since January 2025

The aquarium in the Forum İstanbul shopping centre opened in October 2009 as Turkuazoo İstanbul Akvaryum. Its big draw was an 80-metre glass underwater viewing tunnel, and by the end it also had a 270-degree panoramic ocean room, 47 exhibit tanks, 21 themed zones and more than 15,000 marine creatures.

Merlin Entertainments withdrew from Türkiye, citing a profitability issue in the Turkish market, and closed Sea Life, Legoland Istanbul and Madame Tussauds Istanbul as of 1 January 2025. It said it would move the aquarium's animals to appropriate new homes. If you still see Sea Life offered in an older guide, don't make the trip to Bayrampaşa.

Istanbul Aquarium: the one that is open

Istanbul Aquarium opened on 25 June 2011 in Florya, on Istanbul's southwest coast, and by its 15th anniversary in June 2026 it had welcomed more than 15 million visitors from over 150 countries. It keeps about 17,000 animals of 1,500 species in 66 tanks, laid out along a 1.2-kilometre route through 17 thematic zones and an Amazon Rainforest. By the numbers it is also the bigger collection: Sea Life had over 15,000 creatures in 47 tanks when it closed.

Featured location Istanbul Aquarium Bakırköy, Turkey WAZAWAZA-WP The aquarium was announced in 2003 as a city council project, with the building tender held that same year at the Saraçhane municipal offices. Design changes dragged construction out to June 2011. It opened on 25 June 2011 with three free days followed by a week at half price.

If you came for the tunnel

Two aquariums elsewhere in Turkey are built around one. At Antalya Aquarium, 40 thematic aquariums lead you to a tunnel 131 metres long and 3 metres wide, which the aquarium calls the biggest tunnel aquarium in the world. It opens every day from 09:00 to 22:00, with last entry at least 45 minutes before closing, and it is 70 metres from Konyaaltı Beach. Its Snow World Ice Museum is kept at -5°C, and you are handed protective clothing at the entrance.

Aqua Vega sits on floor -2 of the Nata Vega Outlet shopping centre in Ankara. It opened on 23 April 2012 and calls itself Turkey's longest tunnel aquarium inside a shopping centre: the tunnel is 98 metres long and the aquarium holds 12,000 marine animals. As of September 2026, adults aged 18-64 pay ₺570 online against a listed ₺590, and under-18s, students and over-65s pay ₺440 against ₺470. Children under 36 months go free.

What not to miss

Start with the gentoo penguins, the first and only ones in Turkey. The aquarium adopted 12 from the Valencia Oceanographic Aquarium in 2016 and 11 more in 2019, and in July 2024 it announced four more chicks. Elsewhere the range runs from stonefish to lemon sharks and stingrays. Ask about feeding times when you arrive: that is when you can watch dwarf caimans, sharks, stingrays and groupers being fed.

This is not only a fish collection: across its 17 zones and the rainforest, the aquarium shows land species as well as marine ones. The Amazon Rainforest covers 1,000 square metres, and inside it the Sound Garden uses technology to turn the electrical signals of Amazon plants into melodies.

The newest exhibition is Giants of the Ocean, announced on 29 September 2025 and created with the Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TÜDAV). It shows the skeletons of a sperm whale, a fin whale and a Mediterranean monk seal that were found stranded. Behind the scenes, the aquarium treats, cares for and rehabilitates sea turtles, looks after 38 species on the IUCN Red List and runs scientific breeding programmes for 15.

Tickets and saving money

As of September 2026, the English booking page lists ₺1,500 for adults and ₺1,350 for children aged 2-12, and babies up to 24 months go free. The Turkish page shows lower campaign prices, ₺1,000 for adults and ₺900 for ages 2-18, students, teachers, disabled visitors, over-65s and veterans, but it states that they apply to citizens of the Republic of Türkiye.

Two packages are worth knowing about. The Silver package bundles entry with the Giants of the Ocean exhibition and 20% off in the gift shop. The Platinum package swaps the exhibition for the Undersea Explorer VR Experience, with the same gift-shop discount.

You can buy at the box office or online, and you don't need a reservation.

Best time to visit

Istanbul Aquarium opens at 10:00 every day and closes at 20:00 at weekends. On weekdays its own pages disagree: the FAQ says 20:00, the visiting-hours page 19:00. Plan to be finished by 19:00 on a weekday and you are covered either way.

Most of Istanbul's rain falls in the colder half of the year, which makes the aquarium a sensible wet-day plan from autumn onwards. Turkish schools start their first term on 14 September 2026. They break from 16 to 20 November 2026 and for the semester holiday from 25 January to 5 February 2027, so expect more families on those weekdays.

Getting there

The aquarium's address is Şenlikköy Mahallesi, Yeşilköy Halkalı Caddesi No:93, Bakırköy.

• Rail: Florya has two Marmaray stations, Florya and Florya Akvaryum; get off at Florya Akvaryum.
• Bus: lines BN1 (Halkalı-Eminönü), 73Y (Kuyumcukent-Istanbul Akvaryum), 73B (Bakırköy-Florya) and 73F (Taksim-Florya) serve the aquarium, so 73F is your line from Taksim.
• Metrobus: ride to Beşyol, then take the Florya minibus to its last stop at the aquarium.
• Metro: take the Atatürk Airport line to Şirinevler and change to bus 73B or 73F.
• Ferry: from the IDO Bakırköy pier, take bus BN1.

If you drive, the aquarium is part of a complex with the Aqua Florya shopping centre, which has 1,500 parking spaces, 145 shops and 11 cinema halls. The same complex holds the five-star Crowne Plaza İstanbul Florya hotel, if you would rather stay next door. The aquarium says it suits visitors of all ages.