SeaWorld Is Giving The People What They Want – San Diego Union-Tribune

SeaWorld is giving the people what they want: sharks and beer.

Starting this summer time, SeaWorld is reopening the immersive Shark Encounter exhibit and providing $1 beer, seltzer and IPAs, amongst different new promotions, aiming to develop attendance.

Few San Diegans can bear in mind the day when, below the management of Anheuser-Busch Co., friends — 21 and older — had been provided free beer whereas they watched orcas flip and dip.

Ownership modified, and the park did, too. Now, SeaWorld’s guardian firm, United Parks & Resorts, is taking a observe of nostalgia, updating outdated traditions.

People stroll by the tunnel at the Shark Encounter exhibit at Sea World following the renovation. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Sharks!

“Everyone has been asking where the sharks went,” mentioned Tracy Spahr, director of public relations at SeaWorld.

After 10 months and hundreds of thousands of {dollars} — Spahr would not disclose the precise funding — the attraction will open Friday.

This exhibit emphasizes training, mentioned Danielle Castillo, zoological curator of aquariums at SeaWorld San Diego. “Our mission is to make sure that people understand how important sharks are, that they’re not all scary great whites. There is so much more than that.”

She pointed to the zebra shark slowly sweeping throughout the window. “It’s chubby cheeks,” she laughed. “He’s so cute.”

Its mouth agape, they look seemingly toothless — zebra sharks do not rip and tear prey, quite, their suction-capable mouths vacuum-clean crustaceans and mollusks off the sea ground.

Visitors can watch the sharks just do that from the exhibit’s 180-degree view aquarium.

A zebra shark at the Shark Encounter exhibit at SeaWorld on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune) — A zebra shark at the Shark Encounter exhibit at SeaWorld. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The unique Shark Encounter exhibit was constructed 34 years in the past and has not seen a renovation till now.

The fundamental infrastructure of the exhibit stays principally the similar, though an outdated “coral reef wall” was changed with a mini drawbridge.

Under the bridge, 11 completely different shark species and a big grouper swim beneath your ft.

During the day, SeaWorld educators will throw buckets of — typically frozen — chum into the tank so friends can watch them feed.

For $49.99, one should purchase a VIP ticket to feed the sharks your self on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays.

Sharks can be viewed from above and below at the Shark Encounter exhibit. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune) — Sharks might be seen from above and beneath at the Shark Encounter exhibit. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The Shark Encounter exhibit has new signage, LED lights and immersive footage. Much of the renovation is not apparent to the eye, but it surely represents an enormous improve for the sharks.

SeaWorld added a brand new surge pump to imitate the ebb and circulate of the ocean, “providing enrichment for the sharks,” Castillo mentioned. “It’s important to change their environment, to make it as natural as possible.”

While SeaWorld was renovating the exhibit, it transported the sharks to a holding tank throughout the park.

The new exhibit can have greater than 30 sharks, showcasing 11 completely different species, together with sand tiger sharks, blacktip reef sharks and the endangered Australian leopard shark.

Sandbar sharks are a brand new addition to the tank, Castillo mentioned.

A nurse shark and other species can be viewed from above at the Shark Encounter exhibit at Sea World on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune) — The new exhibit can have greater than 30 sharks, showcasing 11 completely different species, together with sand tiger sharks, blacktip reef sharks and the endangered Australian leopard shark. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Beer!

Outside the new exhibit, a handful of concession stands will promote low cost — not free — beer beginning the day after the Shark Encounter opens, Saturday, and can proceed every day by Aug. 16.

For $1, friends can “buy the cheapest beer in San Diego,” Spahr mentioned.

The park will provide its Emperor Hazy IPA, Shipwreck Rapids Lager, Arctic Rescue Blue Seltzer and Jewels of the Sea Kölsch for only a greenback.

The shark exhibit is SeaWorld’s greatest renovation, however “we’re doing a bunch of new promos,” Spahr mentioned. “Just in time for our busiest season.”