Ocean Adventure is an open-space

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

zoological park A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zool ...

in the Morong,

Bataan Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entir ...

portion of the

Subic Special Economic and Freeport Zone The Subic Special Economic and Freeport Zone, often shorterned as Subic Bay or Subic, is a special economic zone and freeport area covering portions of the city of Olongapo and the town of Subic in Zambales, and the towns of Morong and Herm ...

in the Philippines.

History

Ocean Adventure opened to the public in October 2001 with its initial facilities built at a cost of $7.5 million. The marine facility was built at Camayan Point which formerly hosted a ammunition pier. In its first year of operations,

false killer whale The false killer whale (''Pseudorca crassidens'') is a species of oceanic dolphin that is the only extant representative of the genus ''Pseudorca''. It is found in oceans worldwide but mainly in tropical regions. It was first described in 1846 ...

viewing and

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

shows were among the marine park's attractions. In June 2002, the Subic Bay Marine Exploratorium (SBME), the parent company of Ocean Adventure, secured a 75-year lease with the

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (abbreviated as "SBMA", fil, Pangasiwaang Panlungsod ng Subic Bay) is a governmental agency of the Philippines. Sometimes abbreviated as SBMA, the agency has played a significant part in the development of t ...

(SBMA) over Ilanin Bay's shoreline and waters, including Miracle Beach which increased the area of the Ocean Adventure marine park from to . A dispute has been ongoing between the SBME and the SBMA since the early 2010s. The latter terminated its lease contract with the former alleging that SBME violated terms of its lease agreement; violations cited are illegal subleasing of property, constructing without permits, improper waste storage, and closure of public roads. It began when the SBME developed "The Hill", a residential area populated with expatriates. In 2017, the marine park was named Best Theme Park in the inaugural edition of the United Stars Events and Exhibitions Corp.-organized Philippine Tourism Industry Awards in 2017. The SBMA seized undeveloped portions of land owned by SBME, including land meant for future development of Ocean Adventure in October 2019. The SBMA sought to repossess Ocean Adventure in 2019, citing multiple contractual violations and failure to complete developmental commitments and asked the SBME to reduce activities within two years. Operations seized for seven months in 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Ocean Adventure resumed operations in October 2020.

Facilities and attractions

Ocean Adventure is managed by Subic Bay Marine Exploratorium, Inc which is a locator in the

and also runs the Camayan Beach Resort and the Adventure Beach Waterpark. The marine park itself is located within the West Ilanin Forest Area which is in the town of Morong,

portion of the Subic economic zone. The marine park has three primary attractions namely the Sea Lion Show, Whale Presentation and the Discovery Aquarium.

Visitors

According to data from the

in 2012, the marine park receives 500,000 visitors annually making Ocean Adventure among the top tourist destinations in the

Central Luzon Central Luzon ( pam, (Reyun ning) Kalibudtarang Luzon, pag, (Rehiyon na) Pegley na Luzon, tgl, (Rehiyon ng) Gitnang Luzon, ilo, (Rehion/Deppaar ti) Tengnga ti Luzon), designated as Region III, is an administrative region in the Philippines, ...

region.

References

{{reflist 2001 establishments in the Philippines Aquaria in the Philippines Marine parks of the Philippines Tourist attractions in Bataan Buildings and structures in Bataan Subic Special Economic and Freeport Zone