Sirena Beach: a haunted night at Hotel Delfino

LocationSirena BeachKing Boo

A four-star resort… with a hidden casino and King Boo down in the basement. Known as Sirena Beach everywhere, this is the most atmospheric setting in Super Mario Sunshine, bathed in a permanent twilight. This guide covers the Phantamanta fight in Episode 1, the haunted Hotel Delfino, its secret casino and that rare shiver of horror inside a holiday game.

Sirena Beach ( Sirena Beach in the original version too) is one of the most atmospheric corners of Super Mario Sunshine, released in 2002 on GameCube (19 July 2002 in Japan). Tucked away on the southern coast of Isle Delfino, just behind Pinna Park, it is home to the Hotel Delfino, a four-star resort perched right at the water's edge.

Its singularity comes down to one detail: it is the only level in the game played entirely in the evening, under a twilight sky. The postcard scenery quickly turns into a haunted house, between prankster Boos, a ghostly manta ray and King Boo lurking in a secret casino.

Contents

• A four-star resort bathed in twilight
• Phantamanta, the ghost ray of Episode 1
• The haunted hotel and its hidden casino
• King Boo in the casino basement
• A rare shiver of horror in a tropical setting
• Quick recap
• FAQ

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A four-star resort bathed in twilight

Unlike the beaches baking in sunlight throughout the rest of the adventure, Sirena Beach can only be visited at sunset, which makes it the only fully nocturnal level in Super Mario Sunshine. That low, raking light, caught between orange and midnight blue, sets a mood of its own from the very first second: hushed and faintly unsettling.

The heart of the level is the Hotel Delfino, a four-star resort overlooking a small cove of fine sand. Parasols, two beach huts and coconut palms complete a seaside picture typical of Isle Delfino, the holiday island where the whole game takes place.

But the welcome is anything but peaceful: when Mario arrives, the hotel has quite simply vanished. Earlier that same day, a creature smothered it in electric goop before turning it invisible. The plumber's first goal is therefore to bring the building back by settling the score with the culprit.

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Phantamanta, the ghost ray of Episode 1

The boss of the first episode is Phantamanta (“Méga Manta” in the French version), a huge ghostly manta ray in a pale, almost translucent pink. Its English name is a pun on “phantom” and “manta”, which sums up its nature perfectly: a gliding spectre drifting just above the sand.

Its mechanic is as clever as it is nerve-racking. Every time you spray it with FLUDD (Mario's water pack), it does not die: it splits into smaller rays. One manta splits in two, then each piece into three, and so on, so a badly handled fight can leave dozens of little rays swarming the screen.

The danger comes from the trail of electric goop it leaves behind: touching it electrocutes Mario. The right tactic is to methodically clean up the smallest rays with FLUDD, using the huts and coconut palms for cover, until the very last fragment is gone. Once Phantamanta is beaten, the goop evaporates, the Hotel Delfino reappears and a Shine Sprite rewards the player.

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The haunted hotel and its hidden casino

With the resort back in place, exploration tips squarely into light horror. The inside of Hotel Delfino, spread over several floors, is infested with Boos, those giggling ghosts emblematic of the series. Corridors, bedrooms and staircases turn into a genuine haunted-mansion course.

The Boos pile on the devious disguises: some pass themselves off as coins waiting to be picked up, others go so far as to impersonate Shadow Mario (the hero's dark double). You can never drop your guard: any item that looks a little too good may be hiding a ghost.

Above all, the hotel conceals a secret casino, the Casino Delfino, hidden away in its basement. You reach it as the episodes go by, notably around Episodes 4 and 5, by digging out the right passages. Giant slot machines and a huge roulette wheel set a gaudy, kitsch scene, most unusual for a Mario game.

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King Boo in the casino basement

The high point of the level comes in Episode 5, called “King Boo Down Below” in English, while the French title plays on roulette betting terms. This is where Mario takes on King Boo (sovereign of the Boo family), lord of every ghost in the game, beneath the huge roulette wheel of the basement casino.

The fight hijacks the gambling theme with real humour. King Boo works a slot machine with his long tongue and makes fruit appear in the arena according to the symbols he lands. To hurt him, you have to throw peppers onto his tongue, then hurl an exotic fruit at him, and repeat the whole operation three times to finish him off.

Beating King Boo at the bottom of his casino is one of the highlights of Super Mario Sunshine, a sort of mini Luigi's Mansion slipped into the middle of a sun-soaked game, with the most memorable ghostly boss in the whole title.

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A rare shiver of horror in a tropical setting

All told, Sirena Beach has 10 episodes, from simply scrubbing goop-stained sand to exploring the casino's secret room, by way of races for hidden Shine Sprites and blue coin hunts. It is a dense level that packs several moods into a single map.

Its real signature remains that explosive mix: a dream tropical setting by day, transformed once night falls into a haunted hotel. Few levels in the series lean so openly into the chills (hauntings, ghosts, a sinister casino) in such a colourful, summery universe.

Playable again today through the Super Mario 3D All-Stars compilation (2020) on Nintendo Switch, Sirena Beach remains a cult stop for fans. Between the ghost ray Phantamanta and the casino's King Boo, it proves that even under the Isle Delfino sun, fear is never very far away.

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Sirena Beach at a glance

Original game	Super Mario Sunshine (2002, GameCube)
English name	Sirena Beach
Location	Isle Delfino, behind Pinna Park
Venue	Hotel Delfino, four-star resort
Special feature	The game's only fully nocturnal level
Episode 1 boss	Phantamanta (ghost manta ray)
Episode 5 boss	King Boo (in Casino Delfino)
Number of episodes	10

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FAQ

• Why is Sirena Beach unique in Super Mario Sunshine?
  It is the only level in the game that takes place solely in the evening, at sunset. That night-time mood, combined with a haunted hotel and a secret casino, makes it a stop apart in an otherwise very sunny adventure.
• Who is Phantamanta?
  Phantamanta is the boss of the first episode: a ghostly manta ray that covers Hotel Delfino in electric goop. When you spray it with FLUDD, it splits into smaller rays that all have to be cleaned up to defeat it.
• Where do you fight King Boo?
  You face King Boo in Episode 5, in the hidden casino set up in the basement of Hotel Delfino, under a huge roulette wheel. You have to throw peppers onto his tongue and then an exotic fruit, three times over.
• How many episodes does the level have?
  Sirena Beach has 10 episodes, ranging from cleaning the soiled sand to exploring the casino's secret room, by way of collecting hidden Shine Sprites and blue coins.
• Can you still play Sirena Beach today?
  Yes. Super Mario Sunshine was re-released in the Super Mario 3D All-Stars compilation, out in 2020 on Nintendo Switch, which lets you rediscover Sirena Beach and Hotel Delfino on a recent console.

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