The Florida Aquarium

Written by Ellen Mueller


The Florida Aquarium
701 Channelside Drive
Tampa, Florida 33602

Regular hours
9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Days.

General Information
Call (813) 273-4000

As you enter the facility, unfortunately the first thing that strikes you is the price, which was quite steep.

Adults - $19.95
Seniors (60+) - $16.95
Children (under 12) - $14.95
Children (2 & under) - Free

I attended with my family (5 people total, all of us adults), so suddenly, our little trip to the aquarium turned into a $100 affair. They also offered some cool sounding Ecotours, but after paying this much to enter the aquarium itself, we were hesitant to nearly double the already expensive cost of the afternoon.
We were then ushered directly into a photo area where we were bunched together as tightly as possible for a commemorative photo we could pick up at the end of our visit. After this photo, we were free to wander the various floors of the aquarium.
The variety of sea life was quite impressive. My favorite tanks were:

- Those that were open on top for birds and turtles, but see-through at water level so you could simultaneously see the watery ecosystem
- The tank for touching sting rays
- The very active otter tank (I love otters)
- The tanks of sea horses (they had a surprisingly wide array of sea horses at this aquarium)

While we were there, we saw a little wagon filled with penguins pass by. I followed the wagon to a small-ish room that was packed to the brim with small children and parents, and I was disappointed to see the wagon swallowed up by the crowd. It was impossible to see anything in this space. I love penguins, so I was sad to miss out. In my opinion, the aquarium should dispense a limited number free tickets to this kind of event to help with crowd control.

Overall, it was a nice aquarium with all the exhibits you'd expect to see, and a few that you wouldn't. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.