Salmon World
Salmon World
3.2
About
Salmon World is in Rakaia, the Salmon Capital of New Zealand, next to the beautiful Rakaia River. The unique Salmon Tales building, shaped like a Salmon, is situated right next to the world famous Giant Salmon on the side of State Highway One, only 40 minutes drive south of Christchurch. Take a look at the live Salmon, Trout, and other Freshwater species in Salmon World's Aquairum. Experience our 4D Movie Ride that will show you all the great adventure activities our region has to offer. There is also the great Salmon Tales Cafe, Rakaia Country Arts and the Southern Gateway Visitors Centre all in the same building.
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3.2
41 reviews
Excellent
8
Very good
10
Average
12
Poor
5
Terrible
6
CCWLee
Singapore, Singapore93 contributions
Sept 2019 • Family
Is a good area to stopby. The food is not bad and reasonable price. But have to agree with the rest of the reviewers about the restaurant staff. They really gave you their super black face and why u are in our restaurant????
Written 14 October 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Leanne M
New Zealand12 contributions
Oct 2011
Food was expensive, and place seems really under utilised, could be a lot better.
Written 27 April 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sambo
18 contributions
Jul 2018 • Couples
Coffee was great, well done.
Cheese Mousetrap was delicious right up to the point that I found a hair in it. The young lady apologised and offered something else as they didn't have another in the cabinet or another coffee, but not a refund.
Cheese Mousetrap was delicious right up to the point that I found a hair in it. The young lady apologised and offered something else as they didn't have another in the cabinet or another coffee, but not a refund.
Written 15 July 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jane H
Christchurch, New Zealand90 contributions
Feb 2012
We popped in to Salmon World on our way to Geraldine expecting it to take at least an hour or so to break up our journey from Christchurch. Had two children with us - one nearly two and one nearly four. It is $20 for each adult to go in to the aquarium and watch the 4D show. It is $10 for 3 year olds and above.
I am glad that Rakaia have done something to encourage tourism but I think they've missed the mark.
The aquarium is basically one room which houses a few tanks with fish and turtles in. It took all of 5 minutes to look around and that was taking our time.
The 4d show is basically an advertisement for Rakaia. We live in Christchurch and have been on the river in a boat several times so when we heard about a 4d ride up the river we expected to be thrown side to side (on the moving chairs), have water splashing up, etc but it wasn't anything like this. The two children were bored. It advertised fishing, jet boating, ballooning and a few other activities. I presume someone has gone to a lot of effort to film it but I'm sorry but it is quite cheeky charging for it. My son didn't wish to wear the 3d glasses so I looked without the glasses and there wasn't much difference. Not very 3d.
I'm glad we went to visit it just to say we've been but would not recommend it. Luckily we used our 'buy one get one free' voucher from the entertainment book otherwise I would have been extremely annoyed. Now I just feel like I've donated a bit of money to Rakaia.
I would recommend you save your money and just look at the big statue of the fish on the park.
Salmon World really need to consider making this place a 'donation' rather than entry charge. Recommend actually hiring a professional company to make film for the 4D area and making it enjoyable experience rather than an advertisement.
There is a cafe and souvenir shop nearby.
Female member of staff in Salmon World was friendly and pleasant.
I am glad that Rakaia have done something to encourage tourism but I think they've missed the mark.
The aquarium is basically one room which houses a few tanks with fish and turtles in. It took all of 5 minutes to look around and that was taking our time.
The 4d show is basically an advertisement for Rakaia. We live in Christchurch and have been on the river in a boat several times so when we heard about a 4d ride up the river we expected to be thrown side to side (on the moving chairs), have water splashing up, etc but it wasn't anything like this. The two children were bored. It advertised fishing, jet boating, ballooning and a few other activities. I presume someone has gone to a lot of effort to film it but I'm sorry but it is quite cheeky charging for it. My son didn't wish to wear the 3d glasses so I looked without the glasses and there wasn't much difference. Not very 3d.
I'm glad we went to visit it just to say we've been but would not recommend it. Luckily we used our 'buy one get one free' voucher from the entertainment book otherwise I would have been extremely annoyed. Now I just feel like I've donated a bit of money to Rakaia.
I would recommend you save your money and just look at the big statue of the fish on the park.
Salmon World really need to consider making this place a 'donation' rather than entry charge. Recommend actually hiring a professional company to make film for the 4D area and making it enjoyable experience rather than an advertisement.
There is a cafe and souvenir shop nearby.
Female member of staff in Salmon World was friendly and pleasant.
Written 7 February 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I believe you are understating the time it takes to go through our aquarium, we have a large amount of signage in the aquarium and two photo videos to watch. The aquarium follows the Rakaia gorge with rock pools and a beautiful mural on the wall and our 30,000L freshwater tank which is one of the largest in New Zealand. The main focus of Salmon Worlds aquarium is of coarse the salmon and its lifecycle. We also have brown and rainbow trout and other freshwater species that you would find in the Rakaia River.
As for the comments regarding the 4D Movie ride, a professional company from Dunedin produced this movie for us and was the first 4d film to be produced in New Zealand so of coarse the 3d images are not going to look as good as a blockbuster film you would see at the movies. It is not intended to be an advertisement; rather you get to experience all these activities and not have to pay the big bucks.
The seats do move from side to side and up and down, anything more and it would be like a rollercoaster and the movie is intended on being suitable for all ages. We already have a number of children that find the movement too scary. Therefore telling people that the platform practically doesn’t move is a false statement
As for the pricing, we believe it is well priced compared with other attractions around the area; a family pass is $50. Therefore you only paid just over $6 per person per attraction.
These attractions have been built by average kiwis who wanted to bring a unique attraction to Rakaia. If we just asked for donations we would go out of business and there would be nothing in Rakaia.
Written 25 June 2012
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Andrew C
2 contributions
Jan 2017 • Family
Salmon World?! What a joke. Take the signs down people!!!! It's a cafe and a gift shop only. Huge disappointment after a long drive. Want a Salmon experience and education - it's not here!!
Written 23 January 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Docjoes
96 contributions
Nice big building on the outside. Posh looking cafe at entrance. Walk on to a small counter in anticipation of what lies beyond that door. Wow! A dimly litted passageway and a nice aquarium with some nice salmon and trouts! so u move in a little more and see a series of smaller aquarium with some salmon frys and junior salmons and a decorative pond in the centre. Then u think there's gotta b more but really, that's all. there is, oh yeah... There's also a pathetic turtle exhibit for those who have never seen one before. Maybe I'm not impresses Cos I just caught 5 salmon n trouts the past few days, fiddled with em and said hi. Overall size is no bigger than a tennis court. So we thought maybe the ride must be special. Sat inside and the show starts off with a big jolt but doesn't correspond much to the screen in front. Thereafter, it got worse! I can't believe I paid to watch an advert of the place, some golf course and some guy fishing by the river. It might as well be 3D cos I can't find the other D at all. Even if it were 2D, it would still be ridiculous to pay to watch this. I regret not reading reviews here earlier and hope no one else suffers this mishap. The staff was nice though. Period.
After the rip off, went to the cafe for a drink. Lady there put on a face equal to the attraction and didn't seem pleased to take an order. The other customers looked just as gloomy. I ordered a fluffy for my son and before I could place an order for myself, she interjected sarcastically, "just one fluffy?" in my mind was," how am I supposed to order more than 1 items when u cant let me
Complete a sentence." gosh! Didn't she know how we'd feel coming out from the rip off show and exhibit?she did try to be nice later though but damage done. Good
Luck if u don't believe what I said.
After the rip off, went to the cafe for a drink. Lady there put on a face equal to the attraction and didn't seem pleased to take an order. The other customers looked just as gloomy. I ordered a fluffy for my son and before I could place an order for myself, she interjected sarcastically, "just one fluffy?" in my mind was," how am I supposed to order more than 1 items when u cant let me
Complete a sentence." gosh! Didn't she know how we'd feel coming out from the rip off show and exhibit?she did try to be nice later though but damage done. Good
Luck if u don't believe what I said.
Written 3 November 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rme48
Oamaru, New Zealand362 contributions
Mar 2016 • Couples
I gave a 5/5 review mid 2015 but our two recent visits have been disappointing. The cafe has the same great space and a good variety of food but several tables had previous customers dishes sitting around. There seemed to be sufficient staff but nobody seemed 'into customer service' and Both times our tables weren't wiped down before the food arrived. The quiches etc with salmon in on one visit had minimal salmon. At our last visit I got a gluten free Brie quiche, looked lovely but I left a good bit of this, very disappointing. The rest rooms had a huge bin for paper towels - nearly full and the room looked like it needed a good clean. Time for a new stop over, but sad!
Written 25 March 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
CorvettePete
Belconnen, Australia1,166 contributions
Jan 2013 • Couples
We just happened to stop here just before feeding time at 3pm(They might have other times). Without the feeding, it would have been a pretty quick visit as it only takes about 10 minutes to look at all the tanks. The feeding itself could have been more interesting. We were the only 2 people in there, but the person doing the feeding largely ignored us and just tossed the food in the tanks. We were also surprised that there did not seem to be any salmon products for sale.
Written 9 January 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
default_user247
Sydney, Australia2 contributions
Nov 2012 • Family
Hey man, Salmon World! its funny as. Stop and get your photo next to the sign. Get a $2 metal keyring from the stamping thing (just read the instructions first). It costs a bit to see the fish, but who cares? salmon are awesome. the staff are friendly and will explain the displays if you ask them nicely. wife and I laughed our azz off at the 4D ride, so it was worth it.
pretty cool place. They even stayed open late for us, thanks guys :)
pretty cool place. They even stayed open late for us, thanks guys :)
Written 4 December 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Yvonne H
Ashburton, Canterbury, New Zealand35 contributions
Nov 2012
The staff are really friendly and the lunch menu is very affordable this was my second visit and I will go again
Written 28 November 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
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