The shallows encounter offers you the opportunity to get close to sharks and rays in a natural lagoon-style habitat. Get to know the true nature of these animals in a safe and educational environment.

When you arrive at Irukandji you will be greeted by staff members who will guide you through the whole process, from learning how to interact safely with the animals to providing you with all the equipment needed to enter the water and meet the animals.

Choose from the option of wearing your own clothes in the water and just getting your feet and ankles wet, or renting a wetsuit for an extra $18 to wade deeper or sit down in our natural style lagoons. You can choose to go barefoot or cover up your toes with a pair of wear and keep souvenir socks.

At the lagoons, you will be given a feeding stick and food for the sharks and rays, and then guided around to the different pools by a knowledgable fish keeper. Each of the pools is home to different species of fish with specific food and information provided at each one.

You will get to reach in and interact with the animals as they swim around in their aquatic homes. Irukandji features 2 large, deep, natural-style lagoons housing a variety of different animals. In the Fingill lagoon, you’ll meet a whole bunch of friendly and curious rays who will glide over your feet and eagerly snatch the food from your sticks. Reach down to pet them and feel the different textures of their skin.

Then over at the Tropical lagoon, meet a few more rays plus a variety of shark species including zebra sharks and brown-banded bamboo sharks. You can interact with them while listening to the keepers as they give educational talks about sharks, rays, and marine conservation. During our Big Shark Talk, our friendly fish keepers will invite you into the shallows as they bring up our large Tawny Nurse Sharks and Whitetip Reef Sharks.

Afterwards, you can rinse off under a warm shower and towel down before heading in for a cruise around the gift shop for a large range of sustainable gifts, cute fluffy toys, snacks and cold drinks.