Dive to 20,000 leagues under the sea with a visit to the La Rochelle aquarium!

One man, one dream. That's how the genesis of the La Rochelle Aquarium could be summed up. This jewel in the city's crown was born of René Coutant's dream to recreate the marine world. He devoted a large part of his life to this project, even passing on this passion to his children.

The dream began to become a reality in the 1960s, when René Coutant built his first aquariums equipped with closed-circuit filtration systems. Building on this experience, in 1970 he opened a 250 m² aquarium in the wooden town of La Rochelle. The Aquarium de La Rochelle was born!

Eighteen years later, René Coutant handed over the reins to his children, Roselyne and Pascal, who inaugurated the largest aquarium in France (with a surface area of 1600 m² and 550,000 litres of seawater!).

On 21 December 2001, they celebrated the opening of the new La Rochelle aquarium. Six times bigger than the one that opened in Les Minimes in 1988, this immense space is totally dedicated to the sea and offers a unique insight into the marine world across the globe.

Immersion in the depths of the oceans is rapid, with a glass corridor running right through the jellyfish aquarium before you even begin your visit. Seeing them, glittering and luminous, moving all around us makes for a magical, even poetic moment. The tone is set and the tour can begin!

The Caribbean Room is a veritable explosion of colour, with tropical fish such as diodon, angelfish, parrotfish and green moray eels. The journey continues in the lagoons, where the Napoleon fish stretch their fins in the shelter of a recreated secret cove. And let's not forget the famous Indo-Pacific Room, where young visitors can observe the famous clown fish, the species that gave the Disney character Nemo his face.

After a face-to-face encounter with the shark, nicknamed the "tiger of the seas", we head for the Tropical Greenhouse. Here you cross a bridge of lianas, winding your way between walls of water, waterfalls and the scent of jasmine, vanilla and lemon trees. This feat of human engineering makes it possible to walk on water thanks to a 360-degree tunnel.

It's a godsend for hungry visitors after a visit to the aquarium, as the site has its own food court, ideal for a snack or lunch. Eating at the La-Haut brasserie, in the heart of the aquarium, is a great way to continue the experience, as it overlooks the tropical greenhouse.