Around the top of the list for any traveller to Auckland should be Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World. Hidden away along Quay St, you’d never think such a massive aquarium was hiding under Auckland’s stunning coastline! But the shark-infested tanks are there, along with the myriad of other brightly-coloured sea creatures, and is most definitely worth the rather exorbitant entry fee.

I spotted one mobility parking spot, and the rest of the parking spaces were all full, so it might even be worth considering taking a taxi. Once inside, it’s a long, windy ramp to the ticketing booth, and we spent ~45 minutes in the queue – note to self: don’t go on a rainy school holiday!

Once inside, the whole place is pleasantly accessible. The narrow conveyor belt you stand on to view the main tank (read: sharks!) can be a bit tricky if your chair is on the wide side, but I managed okay. There’s an odd lift to get up to level two of the aquarium, one of those carpeted hoist-like things. Again, no major dramas though. I loved level two, so many brightly-coloured fish to stick your camera lens into! Check out the picture on the right, a personal favourite of mine that day

The bathroom was perfectly accessible and ocean themed! Bonus. Only niggle I have is that it also doubled as a baby changing room so while I was inside, I could hear a mother struggling with two crying infants outside the door, and I felt so bad! Other than that I was very impressed. There’s this little ‘Sno-Cat’ ride you can go on, in which you get a great view of their penguin enclosure – very cool! They offered to take one of the seats out of the ‘Sno-Cat’ carriage so I could get my chair on, but I was happy to transfer. They made the whole process very stress-free though, muchly impressed with their attitude.

All in all, a really worthwhile trip, so many amazing sea-things to see! And at the end of the day, it was made even more enjoyable because accessibility was a complete non-issue.

Have you been to Kelly Tarlton’s? How did you find it? Leave a comment below!