The Sea Aquarium Resort

I have stayed at many timeshares over the years but this was definitely my favorite. I loved watching the Sea Lions being fed while I sipped my morning coffee on my balcony and walking over to the Sea Aquarium at any point in the day to see a show or exhibit. The resort was very comfortable with lots of activities and friendly staff. The unit was very clean and comfortable. The island was laid back and breath-taking and much cheaper than Aruba. I can't wait to go back!

We have owned at the Sea Aquarium since 2004 and just came back from our 4th visit. We have two other timeshares that we think are great, one in the Turks (Alexandra) and one in Cabo San Lucas (Pueblo Bonito Rose).

The 32 unit resort is fabulous. Small, quiet, but always with nice visitors we've found. The rooms are on par with the several other Royals we've visited. Can't beat the Dolphin Academy next door, with shows viewable from the B Building balconies and A101, A201 and A301 (ours). Across the bridge walk (on the way in/out) is the Ocean Encounters PADI Dive Shop - first class (see previous post). They have numerous sites and you can just shore dive from the resort. Snorkelers can enjoy the reef right at the resort.

Best pricey restaurants for us have been Fort Nassau and the Bistro de Clochard. Excellent less expensive places are numerous. For a hoot and a good meal on the Westpundt, try the local landmark "Janchies", and a new resort there, the Kura Hulanda, has three restaurants which we found excellent.

To explore the island we recommend a rental car which offer pretty good rates for the islands. Recommend you compare - this time Budget had the best deal and we had a nice new car. The caves, Mount Christoffel Park, and views from the Westpundt are popular. For a sail outing try the Insulinde (Captain Phil and Laara) or the Bounty for neat excursions.

Owners and interested parties can also check out a Yahoo Interest Group just starting at http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/seaaquarium

Anyone can view or post-just need a free yahoo account.

Bon Bini!

We just returned from our second year at the Sea Aquarium. We really enjoyed the special Thanksgiving dinner at the resort's restaurant and the great people that we met this year! Our view of the aquarium from our 3rd floor penthouse (A301) is spectacular, in fact we bought two more weeks to have three consecutive November weeks. The resort is wonderful and the quaintness of it makes it very special. The weather was hot and the water was nice and cool. My teenage daughter actually enjoyed herself as well, and you must know how diffucult that is. Had some trouble with the A/C but maintenance took care of it immediately. The villas are large and kept very clean. The oceanview is absolutely the best especially when the cruise ships come by! The mattress was a bit too soft for me for I could sleep on bricks. What a great way to spend the holiday!! I can't wait until next November to visit again!

The Sea Aquarium Resort is a very nice, clean, small and beautiful resort on its own small little island. It is beautifully situated if you are interested in relaxing, diving, or your family is interested in animals.

We are Marriott owners, and this is the second Royal Resort we have traded to. Although much smaller than in Mexico the same quality appointments and staffing are evident.

The only “constructive” comments I would make regarding the resort is that our master bedroom mattress was very very firm. (A bit too firm and uncomfortable for my wife.) Also, there was only one washer and dryer for the whole resort.

I'm also a diver, and on this trip my 10 year old daughter and my 13 year old son obtain their PADI Open water Certification through Ocean Encounters. I can't make enough positive comments regarding Ocean Encounters. It is a family run operation that is top notch from… top to bottom. (No pun intended) It is right across the causeway from the resort. If you or someone in your family are looking to get certified, you might ask for Sherman. He is very experienced, very patient, and in short... very good. Although getting certified is not easy (especially for kids) he made the whole experience fun and enjoyable.

My daughter is an animal lover. The Sea Aquarium next door was just fabulous. After reading the Red Week reviews, I had requested a room overlooking the dolphin pens. It was much better than I could have imagined. My daughter watched the dolphin show every day during lunch from our balcony. The room you want is B304. It overlooks both the dolphin pens and the ocean. She was in heaven.

As a hotel guest you get free admission to the Sea Aquarium. It is certainly not to the level of a US Aquarium, but still very nice. Look for the program guide at the entrance to the Aquarium. It will list every feeding, training, demonstration, and show that takes place all day every day. We also chose to purchase a Sea Lion snorkel for $69 and a dolphin swim for $149. Both were great!!!

The Sea Lion snorkel includes a training encounter where my kids met a new friend… Sarah (the sea lion). The dolphin swim also is more than just a swim, and they learned dolphin anatomy as well as certain training commands… which they used with Bonnie and Teresa. The professional pictures they took... as you can imagine... were simply spectacular. (and as expected lightened my wallet considerably.)

We like to eat out when we travel so we tried several restaurants. Prices were not as bad as I was expecting… even though the exchange rate was not favorable. I was dropping $110 to $150 for 4 including drinks. The Blue Ocean is the resorts restaurant… and it is ok… we ate there twice. Hemmingway’s is very close just across the causeway and was also ok. We very much enjoyed Kontiki Beach which is about a 10 minute walk down the beach. It is private table interspersed in a tropical garden. Very nice atmosphere and the food was very good as well. Our favorite restaurant this trip was The Rib Factory. It is a small local restaurant about 15minnutes from the resort. It is a very small place but they do have some really good ribs with three very good homemade rib sauces… I had to try all three. If you like spice like I do, then you might try the “hot”. In the room their was also a restaurant guide called the Big Red Restaurant Guide which as very good when coupled with the recommendations form the folks at Ocean Encounters.

All in all, my family considers this trip to be one of the best we have gone on. Without reservation, we can recommend the Royal Sea Aquarium resort.

Fantastic place, great for children.