Pandas, Roller Coasters and Spectacular Views at Hong Kong’s Ocean Park

This is a continuation of my Hong Kong trip report. My daughter and I traveled to Hong Kong over Thanksgiving. See my previous blog posts about this trip: Hong Kong Highlights, Review: China Airlines Business Class Ontario to Taipei to Hong Kong, Review: United Airlines Business Class Hong Kong to San Francisco, Hyatt Regency Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsui, Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car to the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery

On our first full day in Hong Kong, my daughter and I visited Ocean Park theme park. We chose to spend a day there mainly to see pandas and arctic foxes. However, our time at Ocean Park exceeded my expectations, mainly because of the spectacular views.

Getting There, Tickets and Park Layout

We could have taken the MTR from our hotel to Ocean Park. However, due to issues I was having with Apple Pay and a stress fracture in my foot, we decided to splurge on Uber.

I pre-purchased our park tickets from Klook.com for around $52 each.

When we entered the park, we discovered that the baby pandas were turning 100 days old and there were special events happening for that milestone. There was a super long line for a giveaway, which we skipped, as well as live feedings in a theatre.

Ocean Park is divided into two separate (and disconnected) areas: The Waterfront and the Summit. The entrance is in the Waterfront section, and it was pretty packed and lively when the park opened. We watched some characters and dancers:

We admired the animal topiaries:

Based on the crowds, we decided to board the cable car and explore the Summit first.

Spectacular Views at Ocean Park

I thought it would be a quick cable car ride to the Summit. But, we were surprised that the cable car was just the tip of the iceberg of the amazing views that we would see on the way.

The cable car ride was 1 mile long and went over a few hills. It was amazing!

Then at the Summit, we had great views from multiple spots:

Even before seeing any animals or going on rides, the views made the price of admission worth it for us.

Animals at Ocean Park

We wanted to see pandas while in Hong Kong since they are not in many U.S. zoos. The panda exhibit was a walk-through pavilion with multiple view points of pandas and red pandas.

Of course, we had to try the panda ice cream bars:

My daughter was thrilled with the arctic fox exhibit. We visited twice during our day:

In addition, we saw a lot of marine life, including seals, sharks, penguins, rays, jellyfish, etc.

Thankfully, we didn’t run into any wild pigs:

Rides at Ocean Park

Most of the rides at Ocean Park are at the Summit.

The rides are mixed in with the animal exhibits and are spread out on the hill (see website here for a complete list). Roller coasters, Ferris Wheel, bumper cars, river raft ride…

My daughter and I are not into roller coasters, so we just went on a few of the tamer rides. Ocean Park does have a “fast track” pass for an additional charge to skip the lines on select rides. However, on a Saturday in November, the lines for rides were not that long and it wasn’t necessary.

For the journey back to the Waterfront, we opted to take the Ocean Express train that goes through a tunnel. It was interesting, but I much preferred the cable car.

Overall Thoughts

My daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed our day at Ocean Park. I could take or leave the rides personally, but the animals and views made for a memorable day in Hong Kong.