Decisions, decisions…the Georgia Aquarium or the Atlanta Zoo — both sounded like great family travel outings. Everyone we asked recommended the aquarium and it was a very hot day in Atlanta; however, the deal breaker was the whale sharks. When our 8-year-old son heard that the Georgia Aquarium is the home of the largest fish on earth, the decision was made. The Georgia Aquarium is the only aquarium outside of Asia to exhibit whale sharks. The specially designed Georgia Aquarium whale shark habitat alone has 6.3 million gallons of water. The habitat dimensions are 284’ long x 126’ wide x 30’ deep at its largest points. It is the largest single aquarium habitat in the world. In addition to whale sharks, Georgia Aquarium has the largest collection of aquatic animals.
Georgia Aquarium
In my opinion, Georgia Aquarium tickets are a little pricey, so get the most out of the cost by getting to stay a little longer and Friday is the perfect day of the week to take advantage of this. For a complete list of hours, click here. The aquarium stays open until 10 p.m. on Fridays during the summer. They even feature jazz music Friday evenings, although we did not stay for it. Georgia Aquarium is open 365 days a year. If visiting Atlanta in the summer, it is a great place to cool down.
The Largest Aquarium in the World
Parking
The official Georgia Aquarium parking deck operates 1,600 safe, secure, and well-lit spaces attached to the Georgia Aquarium. Covered and rooftop parking is available. You can pay for parking online, at the Aquarium ticket booths, member’s entrance or information desk. The entrance to the Aquarium is a short walk outdoors underneath a covered walkway. You can save $1 on parking by purchasing a parking pass in advance, click here.
Tickets
There are several Gerogia Aquarium ticket options from which to choose. We opted for the general admission tickets which allowed us access to the five galleries. The tickets price was $26 for adults and $19.50 for our child. If you have seniors in your group age 65+ their tickets are $21.50. They have a 3D Movie called Deepo’s Undersea 3D Wondershow. We choose to skip Deepo as it would have added $10 total to our cost. We purchased our tickets upon arrival, however, you can purchase them online and print the tickets out at home to save time standing in line. As far as Georgia Aquarium discount tickets go, the only thing I could find discounted more than the general admission tickets is 1/2 price tickets available an hour before closing. I wouldn’t recommend this if it’s your first visit as you won’t be able to see everything in an hour. Click here, for a complete listing of price packages.
Georgia Aquarium is home to the only whale sharks in captivity in the Western Hemisphere.
Around the Georgia Aquarium
The Georgia Aquarium is the largest aquarium in the world with eight million gallons of water. The aquatic life is divided into five main areas of exploration:
• COLDWATER QUEST
• RIVER SCOUT
• GEORGIA EXPLORER
• OCEAN VOYAGER
• TROPICAL DIVER
The Georgia Aquarium is home to the only manta rays in the United States.
Ocean Voyager: As we were jazzed to get to see whale sharks, we headed straight to Ocean Voyager. I’ve seen my fair share of aquariums and I must say I was extremely impressed as we walked through the acrylic tunnel viewing the gentle giants of the sea including four whale sharks and two manta rays, Nandi and Tallulah. They are the only manta rays in a U.S. aquarium, ever. We were a bit surprised at that bit of info as we saw manta rays just last summer in Atlantis, Bahamas which I realize isn’t the U.S., so the Georgia Aquarium’s claim holds water….pun intended. After walking through the tunnel, be sure to stand in front of a gigantic acrylic viewing window to see schools of predatory trevally jacks, squadrons of small and large stingrays, enormous goliath grouper and hammerhead sharks all ply the waters of this ocean habitat containing more than six million gallons of saltwater. With 4,574 square feet of viewing windows, a 100-foot-long underwater tunnel, 185 tons of acrylic windows this is the second largest viewing window in the world at 23 feet tall by 61 feet wide and 2 feet thick. Other fish in this exhibit include a black blotched fantail ray, blacktip reef shark, giant guitarfish, green sawfish, zebra sharks and more. There was ample signage explaining the sea life we were viewing, which I really appreciated. I’ve been to other aquariums and it has often been difficult to figure our what we were viewing. Our favorite thing in the Ocean Voyager area were the whale sharks, of course.
The Southern Sea Otters put on quite a show.
Coldwater Quest: Next we headed to Coldwater Quest to see the Beluga Whales. The beluga whale is also called the “white whale” — you know those whales that look like large white dolphins. The word “beluga” is derived from a Russian word meaning “white”. Although we loved the belugas, our favorite animal in Coldwater Quest ended up being the Southern Sea Otter. These little critters were so full of energy as they rapidly swam around their habitat. They were so cute swimming on their backs and wiping off their faces. Sea otters are found along coast of the northern Pacific Ocean and the southern Bering Sea and are considered to be three separate populations centered in Russia, Alaska and California. The population of southern sea otters inhabits the central California coast. Be sure to stop and interact with the penguins. We met a funny little African penguin who loved it when I waved my brochure around. Other creatures in this area include the Giant Pacific Octopus, leafy seadragons (these are very cool), wolf eels and more.
Family pic at the Georgia Aquarium.
River Scout: Next we explored some fresh water creatures in the River Scout gallery which features a wide variety of animals found in the rivers of Africa, South America, Asia and right off the coast of Georgia. Just in the entrance of the River Scout gallery is a nice place in front of a waterfall to snap a family pic. Be sure to check out the red piranhas, American alligators, electric eels, poison dart frogs and many more river dwellers. Once again, our favorite was of the otter family — the Asian small-clawed otter to be exact. This variety is much smaller than it’s cousin in Coldwater Quest. We timed our visit to see a trainer working with this cute little critter. It is the smallest otter in the world and is known for its energetic nature.
Lunch: Next we had lunch in the Cafe Aquaria Food Court. The food court was very nice and had a nice variety of choices. They have a grill area with burgers, hot dogs, chicken tenders, french fries, etc. They have pizza, pasta, soup, baked potatoes, deli style sandwiches, salads and more. I did think it was a bit pricey (we paid over $30 for two orders of chicken tenders, a cheeseburger, three orders of fries and drinks), so if you are on a budget I recommend having lunch before going to the aquarium.
Spotted Garden Eels at the Georgia Aquarium
Tropical Diver: This gallery is one of the largest living reef exhibits of any aquarium in the world. Be sure to listen for the overhead crashing “wave.” This is where you can see the jellies — Atlantic Sea Nettles, moon jellies and more than 150 Pacific sea nettles. You’ll also see colorful palette surgeonfish, Barletts’ anthias, longnose butterflyfish, squarespot anthias and more. Our favorite thing in this gallery was the huge single aquarium filled with these colorful tropical fish. We also liked the spotted garden eels that stuck up from the bottom with only about one-quarter of their 16- to 24-inch bodies extending above the surface of the sand.
Red Lion Fish
Georgia Explorer: Last, but certainly not least, we headed for the Georgia Explorer gallery. This is a highly interactive area featuring touch pools full of horseshoe crabs, sea stars, stingrays and shrimp. We touched stingrays for the first time. Here you’ll see Georgia wildlife including a loggerhead sea turtle and even some that are new to the area — lion fish! We were surprised to see a tankful of these super cool fish that normally reside on the other side of the world. The red lionfish exhibit shows what happens when foreign creatures are introduced into a new environment. Six lionfish escaped into the sea in South Florida in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed a shore-front home. This introduction is causing significant changes to the reef environments because the lionfish is preying on and displacing native fishes. Be sure to look for the little puffer fish in the tank with the lionfish. If you watch closely you might even see one puff up. This is also the area where there are play structures for the children complete with a slide in the shape of a shark.
Beyond the Reef Gift Shop: Of course, no trip to any attraction would be complete without a stop in the gift shop. This gift shop is very nice and has a wide selection and a wide variety of prices making it possible for just about anyone to leave with a little souvenir. Which we did — a whale shark stuffed animal.