A visit to the House of the Sea is an experience for everyone: For animal lovers, as a sightseeing highlight with a breathtaking view of Vienna, as an exciting program for families or as a perfect plan for rainy days.

Cute woylies

There is always something new going on in the House of the Sea: in August 2024, for example, a new 13,000-liter aquarium was opened for breeding sturgeons. The young fish are then relocated to the river to strengthen the sturgeon population in the Danube.

One highlight from 2022 is the Australian Adventure World on the ninth floor: A 70 meter-long, flashy and colorful tour, full of parakeets and free-roaming marsupials, including a pair of woylies – one of the smallest kangaroo species there is, with a body length of just 30 centimeters.

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Eye to eye with sharks

More than 1,000 fish have been swimming around since 2021 – reef sharks, rays, tangs, damselfish, cleaner wrasses and more – have been cavorting inside the new 360° shark tank on the 7th floor. With a size of 120 m², the largest tank in the House of the Sea (and in Austria!) is accessible from all sides and a “glass-only” aquarium. It enables views that make you feel like you’re diving. The old shark tank on the 4th and 5th floors is now used as a rearing tank.

A huge addition that was completed in 2020 is the new home of four fluffy kattas and two lemurs. Visitors (with reservations) can even get into close contact with the cute monkeys. This so-called Madagascar area, with its indoor and outdoor spaces, is also home to a fine-striped mongoose, a giant tortoise and three Komodo dragons.

Strolling through the Atlantic

On the ground floor, visitors can walk through the ten meter-long Atlantic Tunnel: the tunnel leads through a 500,000-liter tank, which is home to the fish of the Atlantic Ocean – ranging from damselfish to eagles rays and a nurse shark.

Crocodile Park to Surf Reef

In the Tropical House and in the Crocodile Park – both a spectacular 20 meter-high glass annex – there are free-flying birds and free-roaming monkeys. In the terrarium section, poisonous and giant snakes, lizards, leafcutter ants, and tarantulas can be marveled at.

And the Adventure Aquarium "Brandungsriff" lets children experience the tropical fish right up close through the "diver‟s helmets" built into the floor of the aquarium. In an artificial stalactite cave grotto, you can observe over 100 animals and cave-dwellers which are active by night: poisonous giant millipedes, amplypigids and armored ground crickets, cave fish without eyes and scorpions that glow like ghosts under UV light.

The 150,000-liter tank for the hammerhead sharks on the 10th floor of the former anti-aircraft tower is another highlight in the House of the Sea.

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Feeding programs and guided tours

Various changing programs make a visit here especially exciting, such as:

• "Grasping" nature – "grasping" in the true sense of the word: Who wants to touch a shark's tooth or find out how its skin feels without any danger? Or look deep inside the mouth of one of the piranhas?
• Shark diving: Sometimes the green sea turtle called “Puppi” steals the show from the sharks.
• Feeding of sharks, piranhas, reptiles, gharials, lemurs
• "Mini-ocean" microscope show (jellyfish babies, starfish eyes, worm spines filled with poison, one-eyed cyclops crustaceans and more)
• Monkey training in the tropical house
• Safari in the House of the Sea (guided tour)

© Dominik Moser

Remembering inside

The exhibition "Remembering inside" is concerned with the dark history of the anti-aircraft tower. It includes original exhibits and boards on the building’s history, and is displayed in the stairwell between the 9th and 10th Floors, which has largely been kept in its original state. (Regular guided tours)

View of Vienna

Something special also awaits you on the roof: there's a breathtaking all-round view of Vienna from the 360° Ocean Sky Restaurant & Bar on the 11th floor. It is the highest of all the rooftop locations in the center of Vienna! (Access during peak hours only with reservation).

© Haus des Meeres/Derenko

Another attraction is the panoramic view of Vienna's sea of houses from the roof terrace. Athletic visitors can climb the 192 steps of the tower stairs on the outside to enjoy the view from a height of 35 meters, independent of a trip to the zoo.

In the following video: the sea turtle “Puppi” is getting pampered. Off to the pool with the zoo director!