In Suma, Kobe, you can spend Christmas night watching orcas. Kobe Suma Sea World Hotel (Suma-ku, Kobe) will open reservations at 0:00 on Monday, October 19, 2026 for a Christmas-only dinner course in December and a stay plan that includes a buffet in the aquarium restaurant.
A special Christmas course, as an upgrade to a regular stay
From Sunday, December 20 to Friday, December 25, the hotel’s Setouchi Harbor Restaurant serves a Christmas course that combines carefully chosen ingredients with local seasonal flavors. It is an upgrade added to a regular stay plan: ¥8,400 extra per adult (tax and service charge included).
The course opens with snow crab, cauliflower mousse, sea urchin and caviar, followed by a wreath-style marinade of golden eye snapper and botan shrimp, and charcoal-grilled Omi duck with foie gras in a consommé sauce sharpened with wasabi horseradish. Next comes a pan-seared cod and scallop poêlé. The main is Awaji beef fillet wrapped in mushroom paste and prosciutto, encased in pastry and baked, served Wellington-style. It ends with pear and an Amaou strawberry mousse with raspberry ice cream. Ingredients from Kansai, such as Omi and Awaji, stand out on the menu.
A Christmas course for children too
For families, there is also a Children’s Christmas Course at ¥4,200 extra per child (tax and service charge included).
It includes a holy-night hors d’oeuvre platter, Kobe beef stew baked in pastry, onion gratin soup, lobster, cod and scallop with cheese fondue sauce, roast bone-in Tajima chicken, and a bûche de Noël. Details such as cherry-tomato Santas and potato Christmas trees make it as festive to look at as to eat.
A four-day-only Christmas buffet in the aquarium restaurant
The other highlight is a stay plan, “Sea World Blue Ocean Christmas Stay”, available only on four days: Saturday, December 19, Sunday, December 20, Thursday, December 24 and Friday, December 25. The dinner is held at the restaurant “Blue Ocean Orca Stadium” on the first floor of the Orca Stadium at Kobe Suma Sea World, and the plan includes two meals and aquarium admission. The buffet starts at 18:00 and runs 90 minutes, with seating in the Ocean Area (neither the start time nor the seat can be changed).
The restaurant describes itself as the only buffet in western Japan where you can eat while watching orcas. Orcas swim beyond acrylic glass 21 m wide and 2.7 m high, and two live kitchens serve more than 100 dishes themed around locally sourced Hyogo ingredients. Guests get free admission to Kobe Suma Sea World from the aquarium’s opening time on the day of arrival to its closing time on the day of departure.
Stay and course details
- Hotel: Kobe Suma Sea World Hotel (1-3-5 Wakamiya-cho, Suma-ku, Kobe)
- Bookings open: Monday, October 19, 2026, 0:00
- Setouchi Harbor Restaurant Christmas Course: Sunday, December 20 – Friday, December 25. Adults +¥8,400, children +¥4,200 (tax and service charge included), as an add-on to a regular stay plan. The menu may change without notice
- Sea World Blue Ocean Christmas Stay: Dec 19 (Sat), 20 (Sun), 24 (Thu) and 25 (Fri). From ¥29,160 per person in a Superior Twin (2 guests per room) or from ¥36,360 per person in a Large Twin (2 guests per room), tax and service charge included. Other room types are listed on the booking page
- Booking (Christmas Course): https://x.gd/RKbX1
- Booking (stay plan): https://x.gd/Vfyvb
- Website (Japanese): kobesuma-seaworld.jp/hotel
- Inquiries: +81-78-754-9451
