Georgia Aquarium

We visited the Aquarium and was completely amazed at how nice it was. Everything was laid out in different spots and it wasn't crowded the day we visited. We however took advantage of the Early Bird pass, and including the Sea Lions Experience, lunch at the café, and reduced parking. This is by far the best Aquarium we have visited so far of many that we had previously visited. We had paid for the sea lion encounter and it was well worth the money. We got to interact with Fin and Diego and were amazed at how smart they are. The instructor who had our group was very informative. We had to wait for quite awhile for our pictures to be ready so that held us up at the door to exit. We didn't buy any extra ones but we both received a free folder with 2 pictures in it with our visit. The instructor took some pictures for us with our camera which was very nice of her. We saw two shows, in which we got wet on the first one and then realized that we had to sit up about 12 rows for the 2nd one to avoid getting any drenched. The staff kept telling people that if they didn't want to get wet to sit at least 10 rows back which was definitely true. I don't think the kids minded the water though and seemed to have a lot of fun with it. The shows were of the dolphins and the sea lions. Both are very smart creatures. Would definitely visit again when passing through.

Two kids (aged 5 and 2) adored the sea otter show and penguin march - and we appreciated that these were at no extra charge on top of the already pricey tickets. We had hoped the timed ticket system would prevent overcrowding, but within the first hour the place was completely swamped. We enjoyed the layout (designed to prevent bottlenecks), and saw almost everything within 2 hours which - when considering the price - might not've been worth it.

There were four of us (myself, husband, daughter and son (turning 4) who had reservations a week in advance to attend at 4pm on June 19th. We had even included parking and the dolphin show at 7pm that evening in our ticket purchase. We are from FL and this was planned for my son's 4th birthday. After arriving in the area easily 15 minutes prior to 4pm, literally within a quarter mile from the aquarium, we were at deadlocked in traffic on Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd. for over 40 mins. My husband tried all he could to get us into the parking area but due to another event across the street, we kept being directed in complete circles. While waiting, stuck in traffic, I called the aquarium and explained the situation (it was around 4:25pm). The representative told me we had a 30 min grace period after our reservation time to attend. I told him that was impossible as we are stuck. He offered complimentary tickets, but I explained to him that we are not local and were heading back to FL in the morning. He then gave me an email address and advised me to email them for a refund, which I did. I received an automatic response stating that the aquarium had a general policy of "no refunds" for ticket cancellations but that it would be reviewed within 15 days. I double checked online as well in my ticket confirmation emails and nowhere did I find a no refund policy. The thing is they only allow you to purchase tickets online at this time. The email wanted you to reply with the amount you wanted refunded and they went as far to suggest that you donate the funds used to purchase the tickets the aquarium!?! The thing is, we didn't cancel our reservation, but we're unable to attend due to circumstances beyond our control. My kids, son especially, were very disappointed. I emailed all of the required information and contacted my bank to dispute the charge. Now I wait and hope to receive a refund of $197.00 for something that we didn't even get a chance to experience.

Due to covid restrictions we ordered our tickets a few days beforehand online, unfortunately a lot of the tours and additional up close animal encounters were already booked for the day. We thoroughly enjoyed all the exhibits, especially the new shark exhibit and the penguins! We spent all morning and early afternoon wandering through the exhibits and admiring the marine life. The staff was very knowledgable and answered all our questions, animals looked very well cared for. I think this is a must do if you are in Atlanta, one of the highlights of the whole trip! They do have a timed dolphin show (free) that requires ticketed reservations, which you can get onsite.

We visited the aquarium and purchased the seal lion up close experience. WOW!! It was beyond worth it. It was really educational and the trainers were fantastic. We also spent the extra $5 to purchase the special seating for the dolphin show - also worth it! Get to the dolphin show EARLY. Also when they say you are in the splash zone they are NOT kidding. The dolphins are masters with their tails and the folks in the first 10 rows looked like they had just gotten off the log ride at Cedar Point. Terrific show - and educational. The aquarium is doing everything it can to keep everyone safe and is continually reminding people to keep their masks on properly. All the exhibits are fascinating and we spent half the day there.

PRO TIP - buy the city pass and you can hit the aquarium, Coca Cola museum, zoo and a few others over the course of 7 days for a fraction of what it will cost to visit two of these.

This is an incredible Aquarium in the middle of Atlanta. Hands down. It's also crowded af, so plan wisely and be patient. It is laid out well, so people move through efficiently and you still get to see the exhibits. But, I would choose to go on a non-peak day if possible. We went on a rainy Sunday in February, so We did the behind-the-scenes tour, which I recommend especially for older kids. It is an incredible operation to keep those tanks running. The chow is typical cafeteria food and is expensive. Look out for that. I will definitely visit again next time I'm in Atlanta.

It don’t matter how many people are around, I could sit and watch the whale sharks, sting ray and other fish swim around the big tank for hours. There is so much enjoyable marine life to be seen in this place we took our time and saw it all. This place is totally worth it if your not afraid of people. Even though they are limited to how many people can be there with timed entry tickets (make sure to purchase online in advance) people will be people. Some areas of the aquarium get more attention and crowds than others. Get your maps at the beginning and work your way around Aqua World and have fun.

First and foremost my review is going to be Covid-centric because that's when I visited. I was in town for work and staying right across the street and even though I've been avoiding indoor public places like this still I really wanted to see this aquarium I had heard so much about. The site claims they are checking temps before entering and you have to buy your tix online and are given a specific time of when you can enter to try and keep the crowds to a minimum. And obviously you are required to wear face masks and practice social distancing. Reading all that info online made me feel a little more comfortable about visiting so I decided to go. I bought my tix for 1pm entry. $40 per ticket. I didn't pick up any of the additional shows/attractions you can add. I just wanted to see the basic aquarium. Once I got there I already felt like maybe this was a mistake. It seemed pretty crowded. They did take our temps before entering. There were hand-sani stations set up. But once inside all bets were off with people following mask guidelines or social distancing. I saw plenty of people with masks down around the chin. No one was telling them anything. Heck, I saw some of the employees doing the same. There were announcements asking guests to wear masks properly, but no one's paying any attention to those. People were crowded around tanks. Again, this is my experience. I don't think I was ready for this indoor public experience and it hampered my visit especially due to what I was surrounded by. If you have no issues like I do by all means go and enjoy it. It's a pretty good aquarium and set up fairly well with every section basically feeding off the large main area. It's definitely smaller than I expected. If Covid wasn't happening at all I probably would've stuck around for a good 2-3 hours reading all the info scattered about. But under these circumstances I couldn't wait to get out and just checked out every exhibit and moved on. Maybe someday I'll return when things are better.

My kids gave me the best birthday present, a ticket to scuba at Atlanta aquarium with the whale sharks. From the beginning of this experience to the end, it was was organized and totally professional. Eight divers were given a thorough informative behind the scenes introduction and a list of do’s and don’t in the tank to protect us and all the creatures in the water. This dive gave us a close encounter experience with many pelagic species and a high species count you’d be hard pressed to find in recreational diving. The whale sharks overwhelm you by their size, grace and beauty as they glide along overhead. An assortment of rays and sharks swim by as if you were just part of the community. Pork fish interact very closely. One of my favorite parts was scuba diving over the walk through tunnel where people below waved. We were definitely part of the show at the huge viewing acrylic window (23 feet tall by 61 feet wide and 2 feet thick), children pressing their hands up against ours through the window giggling and waving.
This 20-30’ dive took place at 11 am on a Saturday which played an important part of the beauty of the whole experience as the tank is open to the sky above. Light coming down through the water danced and ricocheted throughput the tank also intensifying the colors of many of the fish.
Another plus is family that accompany you to the aquarium, get a behind the scenes tour and are escorted to the viewing windows so pictures can be taken and waving can occur. They have about an hour to view the aquarium when you are suiting up, so there is not any dead time in this event for anyone.
Not everyone scubas, but there are many animal encounters available with an additional purchased ticket to interact with belugas, otters, seals and dolphins. This is one memory, filed deep, with a big smile on my face!

This aquarium is awesome and puts all others to shame! I will say I was a little overwhelmed when I first walked in as I wasn't quite sure where to start but where ever you choose to start you will not be disappointed. There are extra's you do have to book in advanced but they do not cost extra. Things like the dolphin show and I think some of the movies and sea lion show have be booked in addition to your ticket but again, they don't cost anything extra. If you want to do the dolphin show I would recommend booking that in advance as it filled up quickly. I would also recommend getting to the dolphin show early especially if you do not want to sit in the splash zone. I would also recommend getting to the aquarium early as it gets busier as the day goes on. It is definitely worth the visit if you are ever in Atlanta.