You know what it’s like when you have family visiting you from abroad…you want to impress them. You want to show them that Dubai is amazing, you want to make them desperate to come back. You want them to beg you help them to move to the Emirate immediately. Because DUBAI IS AMAZING! 

When that person is your four-year-old nephew, who just so happens to be celebrating his fourth birthday, then the stakes are even higher…it’s time to call the big guns in.

And the big gun when it comes to four-year-old boys, who love sharks, is The Dubai Aquarium and all things fishy that belong in it…or so I thought. 

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We were lucky enough to have the add-on of The Otter Encounter as part of our Dubai Aquarium experience (AED 200 for access to both, as well as the Underwater Tunnel). Now, if i’m honest…I wasn’t sure if this boisterous little child, who talks of nothing but dinosaurs and great whites. was going to be into these cute little creatures…I couldn’t have been more wrong.

As we took our seats in the little pen and the otters appeared from their enclosure, he was on the edge of his seat, as were the other children of varying ages…and a few adults too (yeah, including me).

The trainers take you through 20-minutes of conservation information and tricks (including fetch, playing doctors, waving and dancing), finishing by giving us a chance to pet the otters…much to the delight of everyone there. And although my nephew loved the sharks as much as we thought he would, it’s the otters that he’s still imitating and talking about.

These animals are so cute and intelligent, it’s a hard one to even try and explain, without going along yourself and experiencing it. In the meantime, here’s some pictures to try and do the experience justice.

To book visit the website

Now read: King Croc of Dubai Aquarium is about to become a dad!