What's your favorite public aquarium?

DiscusnAfricans

DiscusnAfricans

Past President
As fish enthusiasts, I'm assuming other people in the hobby enjoy going to public aquariums as well. What public aquariums have you visited and what was your favorite? Anyone who hasn't been to the Baltimore Aquarium is doing themselves a disservice. Its a huge aquarium with great displays, tons of exhibits, and beautiful animals. They have the rainforest and Austalia section for those who plan to bring non-fish enthusiasts with them, or kids with ADD. I volunteer there part time and love the place. There is a smaller aquarium in DC I haven't been to yet, but my plan is to visit before the end of the summer. I've also been to the following aquariums:

1. Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CA. Great skate/ray and starfish glass tunnel, and "touching pool" for kids/educational purposes.
2. Mandalay Bay Hotel, Las Vegas, NV. Nice sharks, great shipwreck exhibit.

I've heard the cichlid tank in the Atlanta Georgia aquarium is absolutely amazing. I'll plan to stop there if possible during my next trip through the Dirty South. Where have you been and what did you like?
 
Jumbie

Jumbie

Members
I have been to the Baltimore and the D.C. Aquariums and they are both a lot of fun. I tend to visit the Bmore aquarium a lot more because it’s bigger and I like to eat at the harbor. There is nothing like going on a nice summer day spending a few hours at the aquarium, and then enjoying a bite to eat and a few beers at one of the nice restaurants on the harbor:happy0180:. (Phillips or HOOTERS lol)

 
UNCLERUCKUS

UNCLERUCKUS

"THE ALL POWERFUL Q !!
it would be cool to go as a group during the summer or take the kids and make a day of it. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh phillips and the aquarium .......yumm yumm.
 
F8LBITE

F8LBITE

Members
the only one Ive been to is the Baltimore Aquarium I gotta check out the DC one. I took my dad to the Baltimore aquarium in March for his birthday and of course he chose Hooters for dinner!!
 
L

ltrepeter2000

Members
I second the Georgia Aquarium. I was fortunate enough to live down there for four months while I was working for Home Depot and would make it there at least once a week. Its pretty incredible. I have been to a few and in September I will be going to one in Connecticut and one in Boston.
 
Pat Kelly

Pat Kelly

CCA Member
The Shedd in Chicago is very nice.
Montery Cal is also very nice.
The one in Dallas was terrible.
Baltimore had always been my favorite until Georgia.
It is now looking run down to me. The tank in Barnes and Nobels that they maintain is far better than anything in the Aquarium.
 
mscichlid

mscichlid

Founder
I like B-more's the best. Atlanta comes in second. I haven't been to the one Frank volunteer's at. The one in DC was so lame when I visited about 10 years ago.
 
DiscusnAfricans

DiscusnAfricans

Past President
Jumbie said:
It would be cool to take a "field trip" to the aquarium during the summer brake.
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If we arrange a group trip, I'll do my best to pull any strings I have and try to get some "behind the scenes" action. I volunteer in the Australia exhibit, so most of my connections lie there. We could make a day of it, plan to do lunch and even an O's game if people are adventurous.
 
Lively

Lively

Members
B-more is expensive! I want to take the kids this summer, it'll be $120 for the family and that's with the little one getting in free. But, it is the coolest aquarium I've been to.

I really want to see the one in Atlanta, even before I was a fish freak I wanted to see it.
 
DiscusnAfricans

DiscusnAfricans

Past President
Lively said:
B-more is expensive! I want to take the kids this summer, it'll be $120 for the family and that's with the little one getting in free. But, it is the coolest aquarium I've been to.

I really want to see the one in Atlanta, even before I was a fish freak I wanted to see it.
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I know its tough. Volunteering gave me an outlet to be able to go for free. I used to think the aquarium was greedy in terms of cost, but its a non-profit institution, all the money is used for the maintenance, upkeep and acquisition of new specimens. They even have captive breeding programs in back up areas to grow their own animals for exhibit. Usually during the summer they have a "fridays after 5" program where its only $5 from 5pm to close. Its usually packed, but definitley helps save money. I'll try to find out if they have any other special programs going on over the summer.
 
L

ltrepeter2000

Members
PVAS just announced that they will be holding their 50th Anniversary Dinner at the National Aquarium in DC in June 2010. That sounds like a fantastic evening.
 
Lively

Lively

Members
I don't really have a problem with how much they charge, it has to be extremely costly to keep that place up.

Being a good 2 hours away kinda makes that $5 after 5 program difficult for us... lol
 
M

mrkillie

Members
Let's see, I've been to these (my rating in parentheses, out of 10 - based on size, variety of aquatic creatures, health of those critters, layout, and general enjoyability):

Shedd Aquarium - Chicago, IL 9.5 in 1997; 10 in 2006
National Aquarium - Baltimore, MD 8.0 in 2004, 9.2 in 2009
Florida Aquarium - Tampa, FL 9.0
New England Aquarium - Boston, MA 9.0

New Jersey State Aquarium - Camden, NJ (prior to becoming Adventure Aquarium) 6.0 We will probably go to Adventure Aquarium sometime this summer.

Maine Aquarium - Saco, ME (currently closed since 1997, but plans are to re-open in Biddford, ME sometime soon) 3.5 - not bad or unhealthy, just very small. Took about 1/2 hr to do. New one is supposed to be much bigger. I've seen fishrooms bigger than this.

New York Aquarium - Brooklyn, NY 7.5

Sea World - Geauga Lake, OH (now closed) 7.5

Sea World - San Diego, CA 8.5

Sea World - Orlando, FL 9.0

Pittsburgh Aqua Zoo - Pittsburgh, PA 7.5 (a building inside the Pittsburgh Zoo) Still a lot bigger than the Maine Aquarium

Mystic Aquarium - Mystic, CT - 7.0

Niagara Falls Aquarium - Naigara Falls, NY - 7.0

That's my fishhead's dozen. Yes, it's the same as a baker's dozen. I am hoping to get to the Georgia Aquarium in December when we drive to Orlando for the holidays, either on the way down or back, weather, traffic and time permitting! I can't see it being better than the Shedd, but if it is, it's gotta be AWESOME!!!

If you want to count the fish house at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, I'd give it a 7.0 as well. But the rainforest exhibit there is spectacular.

Joel
 
M

mrkillie

Members
Lively said:
B-more is expensive! I want to take the kids this summer, it'll be $120 for the family and that's with the little one getting in free. But, it is the coolest aquarium I've been to.

I really want to see the one in Atlanta, even before I was a fish freak I wanted to see it.
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If you have AAA you can get discount tix there. Can save a few bucks-I think it's 10%. And if you are dribving, there is a coupon on the website for a couple bucks off parking.

Joel
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
The Georgia Aquarium is simply amazing. Also excellent are the Monteray Bay Aquarium, the Shedd, and the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

I hear great things about the new Steinhardt in SF. Maybe we'll check it out while were in Cali later this month...

I've been to the NJ Aquarium in Camden (about 15 years ago). I seem to remember that it was nice...my wife's been talking about checking it out again. The New Orleans Aquarium was quite nice and rebuilding when I checked it out a little over a year ago. Seattle Aquarium is right on the water. Nice scenery but kinda boring in terms of the fish themselves. Although there's a club/music venue in Seattle called the Tripledoor (http://www.thetripledoor.net/Our-Lounge.aspx ) that has a 1,900g amazon tank.

Also went to the one in Tampa shortly after it opened...pretty nice.

One of the best cichlid places was the Columbus (OH) Zoo. Haven't been there in about 20 years but they had amazing fish.

We got (and recently renewed) our annual pass to the Nat. Aquarium in B'more. I think the first year was $129 for a family of three...and the renewal was $99. My daughter and I go a lot so it's worth it. Here's a secret: on street parking is free on Sun so you don't have to pay parking if you go on a Sun AM. We usually get some lunch at Chipotle afterward.
 
DiscusnAfricans

DiscusnAfricans

Past President
Lively said:
I don't really have a problem with how much they charge, it has to be extremely costly to keep that place up.

Being a good 2 hours away kinda makes that $5 after 5 program difficult for us... lol
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If we schedule a tour ahead of time and have at least 15 people, we can get $7 off each adult ticket. Thats just from info I found on the website without using any connections. My regular job is about 10 minutes from the aquarium and we have a huge parking lot. I could get everybody in the parking lot for free and then we could catch a bus over to the aquarium. The local garages can be expensive when you have to pay by the hour. Just trying to find ways to keep costs down.
 
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