Seagaia Ocean Dome

Seagaia Ocean Dome

Miyazaki Ocean Dome, surrounded by golf courses Miyazaki Ocean Dome, main pool
Location	Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan
Coordinates	31.955112°N 131.469655°E / 31.955112; 131.469655
Construction
Opened	July 30, 1993 (1993-07-30)
Closed	October 1, 2007 (2007-10-01)
Demolished	2017
Construction cost	cost yen200 billion ($1.6 billion)

The Seagaia Ocean Dome (シーガイアオーシャンドーム, Shīgaia Ōshan Dōmu), was one of the world's largest indoor waterparks, located in Miyazaki, Japan. The Polynesia-themed Ocean Dome, which was part of the Sheraton Seagaia Resort, with the world's biggest retractable roof, which was opened and closed according to the weather conditions; 12,000 square metres of sandy beach, crushed from 600 tonnes of stones; an "ocean" six times larger than an Olympic pool, filled with 13,500 tonnes of unsalted, chlorinated water kept hot at 28°C, equipped with a wave-machine with 200 variations, and listed in the Guinness World Records "as the biggest simulated pool". This 850 acres (340 ha) resort in Miyazaki, on the southern island of Kyushu, boasts five hotels, several golf-courses, a botanical park and a zoo; but due to bankruptcy, the dome was later bought by Ripplewood, an American private-equity fund, in 2001 for 16.2 billion yen ($148 million USD), which was less than 10% of its construction costs of 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion USD). Ripplewood had also invested an additional 3.5 billion yen ($32 million USD) on renovations for the dome; but even after the remodeling of the resort, the hotel closed down with liabilities of 276 billion yen ($2.5 million USD).

The Ocean Dome water park, which opened in 1993 along with the rest of the complex, was visited by 1.25 million people in the peak year of fiscal 1995. Other accommodations within the area include the Seaside Hotel Phoenix, the Sun Hotel Phoenix, and the Cottage Himuka, with 14 cottages in a wooded setting. Depending on the season, entrance cost for the simulated dome was ¥2600 ($21.17) for an adult and ¥1600 ($13.03) for a child. The water park was closed in 2007 by Phoenix Resort K.K. The Seagaia Ocean dome was demolished in 2017, a year after the hotel had received major renovations which did not include the dome.

Gallery

Panoramic view of the Seagaia Ocean Dome's interior

See also

• List of water parks

External links

• Phoenix Seagaia Resort homepage in English
• "New Shelton Wet/Dry: Further information on the Ocean Dome". Panther House. 27 November 2007. Archived from the original on 28 November 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
• Ocean Dome Seagaia 1993 Japanese TV Commercial
• "Phoenix Seagaia: Look on my works, ye Mighty". Spike Japan. 10 October 2010.