It is situated near the town of Gournes, at about 15 kilometers of Heraklion, in Crete. The Cretaquarium Thalassocosmos was founded in a former American military base by the institute of Marine Biology of Crete, in 2005. It is the first large aquarium in Greece and also a public research institution operated by the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research.

This is the reason why it is considered to be an important educational and cultural center. There you will have the opportunity to explore the sea world of the Mediterranean Sea, about 250 different species and 2500 Mediterranean and tropical organisms. The entire place is very well organized and it perfectly imitates the stunning underwater environment: 60 different tanks and 100 observation points.

The whole place is decorated with a multitude of blue and green lights and it will give you the feeling that you are in a dream underwater world. It will be a fascinating experience to explore and admire the diversity of the marine life: fish, corals, sharks, sea horses, sea anemones, lobsters, octopuses and a lot of different sea organisms.

I could go on and on with this list of species, but the best way to discover the beauty of the underwater world is actually to go there and see all those species. If I had to choose only three creatures that I liked the most I would definitely say: the spectacular stingrays, the beautiful sea turtles Caretta Caretta and the amazing jellyfish.

It is really relaxing to watch them and you could look at them for hours. You should know that the tour will take about two hours. It depends on how interested you are in reading the information tablets and the touch screens. It will be a great opportunity to learn a lot of things about the marine life.

You should also know that it is very easy to get to the Cretaquarium. There is a large parking place available for visitors in case you want to get there by car. If you choose to get there by bus you should know that the bus station is near the aquarium, at about 5 minutes of walking.

Therefore if you are going to visit Crete, make sure that you will add the Cretaquarium on your trip list, because it is one of those places where you can see and learn a lot of things.

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