Bela @ Ocean Adventure

Hubby has long been planning to take us to Subic so Bela can visit Ocean Adventure and Zoobic Safari. But since I am pregnant, I am always lazy to get up early and I would rather stay at home and sleep.

But last week, hubby was able to convince me to have a day tour in Subic. We left a little late though since we woke up at 8:30 and we still have to prepare our things and I have to ask Bela to finish her homework first before we leave. It was already 10 AM when we left Manila. Good thing SCTEX is very reliable that we arrived in Subic in less than two hours.

We looked for a restaurant where we can have our lunch as we are all very hungry already. We are all not used to Subic so we ate at the first restaurant that we spotted and that is Aristocrat. While waiting for our food to be served, I asked Bela again to finish her assignment on the median sound and she was able to finish it in less than 5 minutes. They also have a wifi signal and I was able to browse the website of Ocean Adventure and discovered that they have animal encounter programs. I got interested with the dolphin beach encounter where Bela can get to interact with the whales and dolphins for 30 minutes in the shallow water. I booked for their 2:30 schedule.

After lunch, we went straight to Ocean Adventure as it is almost 1:30 PM and we we’re instructed that we have to be there around 2:15 for Bela’s beach encounter schedule and she still has to change to her swimming attire. She was really excited and was even asking me to change to her swim suit on our way to Ocean Adventure. But then when I was already paying for our tickets and for Bela’s beach encounter, we we’re informed that they can’t let Bela do the beach encounter as it is strictly for kids aged 6 years old and up and the water might be too deep for her and she might get scared. Bela was a bit disappointed but I told her that she will have a photo encounter instead with the dolphins and whales.

The first show that we saw was the Sea Lion show. I asked Bela to approach the trainer of the sea lion so she will be picked as volunteer to be kissed by the sea lion during the show. Unfortunately again, the trainer (Kuya Dan) told us that they have to pick an adult female but she invited our family at the training center after the show so Bela can meet the sea lions. Bela enjoyed the sea lion show as it was very entertaining (with audience participation) and the sea lion and Kuya Dan was really funny. After the show, we went to their training center and Bela had a VIP encounter with the sea lion and we had our photo op there.

Then we watched the Walk on the Wild Side show but since we’re late, we didn't find any vacant seats left and so we we’re standing up under the sun while watching the show and it was really hot. We did not watch the Rap, Jump and Roll show as it was held at an open theater and again, we don’t want to watch the show under the sun.

The last show that we saw was the Dolphins show and it is my favorite. I even prefer it than the Dolphin Show at Ocean Park in Hong Kong. After the show, I signed up for a photo encounter with the dolphins for Bela. The one in charge for the sign up was hesitant at first that Bela can have a picture with the dolphin on her own but they we’re amazed at how brave she is. The only time she asked her dad to carry her was when she noticed that her boots are getting wet already. LOL. But she had a blast playing with the dolphins.

And by the way, we got our tickets at 50% off because they offer 50% discount until March for all embassy and airline staff. So even though there are some instances that we felt we are unlucky, the day ended really well as Bela really had a time of her life. I will definitely go back here.

You can view more pictures here.