The Museum of Oceanography is managed and operated by the Institute of Oceanography. The Museum is located on the campus of the Institute of Oceanography, a very special location that French scientists had chosen, where exists all the tropical marine ecosystems such as mangroves, coral reefs, sea grasses, sand banks and rocky ecosystems.

The Museum of Oceanography was established in 1922 (at the time of establishment of the Institute of Oceanography), formerly known as the Museum of Specimens (French name is Muséum de Référence) for the study of the sample of marine organisms of scientists, the Museum of specimens also has the function of exchanging specimens with other museums in the world such as the Parisian Natural History Museum, the British Natural History Museum… By the year 1948 the museum archived 42,000 specimens of sea creatures. In addition to the museum of specimens for scientific research, the Museum of Stone Aquarium has also completed the construction of new 23 aquariums and put into service visitors year 1941 (the museum has been welcoming visitors since 1938; Year 1943 name collectively the Marine Museum in 1943).

Coming to the Museum of Oceanography, the tourists will visit the aquarium system arranged in a space of 5.000m2 including the marine aquariums regularly nurturing more than 300 typical and valuable marine species (sea turtles, sharks, rayfish, eels, groupers, corals live with marine ornament fishes, lobsters,…); The tourists will visit the diverse display area where the marine life specimens – the largest source of marine heritage in Vietnam today are displayed and preserved. A large and precious collection of marine organisms is preserved and conserved with about 23.000 samples belonging to 5.000 species (including the groups: marine flora, sponge, coelenterata, mollusc, crustacean, echinoderm, fish, reptile, marine mammal). A set of marine life samples includes species existing in Vietnamese sea and adjacent waters. Beside the valuable scientific samples, the Museum also preserves many rare specimens such as sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis), king crab (Paralithoides sp.), sharptail mola (Masturus lanceolatus), giant clam (Tridacna gigas) with the weight of 145 kg, giant flying cuttlefish (Thysanoteuthis rhombus), whale (Pseudorca Panthera), seal (Phoca Larga) Etc…

The Museum of Oceanography is a place where tourists come to entertain and learn about scientific knowledge about the ocean, the value of the sea for human life.

The Museum of Oceanography is a destination for sea lovers!

Let’s protect the ocean, the ocean we need for the future we want!