Home / U.S. State Travel Guides / U.S. Vacations / U.S. National Parks / U.S. State Highpoints / U.S. Road Trip Planning

TOP 25 AQUARIUMS IN THE UNITED STATES


Welcome to Bigroads.com's guide to the aquariums of the United States!

The United States is blessed with well over 100 aquariums. To help you make the best of your travel money and time, we have put together an opinionated list of what we believe to be the top 25 aquariums in the United States. It is not an easy task to pick 25 aquariums out of a pool of more than 100, so this web-page will forever be a work-in-progress as we travel & visit more aquariums across the USA. Take note that we have decided to include the three Sea World parks, even though they are more about live animal shows than traditional aquarium exhibits. We have, however, excluded parks and attractions that are mostly dolphin-focused (Florida has a lot of these).

Before you visit an aquarium, explore their website so that you can understand all the special events and programs that they offer. Many of these aquariums offer attractions like touch tanks, live animal demonstrations, whale-watching tours, IMAX theaters, kid sleepovers, scenic boat tours, and the ability to swim with dolphins and other creatures.

This top 25 list is sorted alphabetically by state (and not by quality or rank). Please send us an email at gparsons66@hotmail.com if you believe we have missed any of the very best aquariums in the United States.

Author/Contributor: Greg Parsons

Share this page / follow us on Facebook!

/


STATE AQUARIUM NAME TOWN / CITY OFFICIAL
WEBSITE
California Aquarium of the Pacific Long Beach website
California Birch Aquarium at Scripps San Diego (La Jolla) website
California Monterey Bay Aquarium Monterey website
California SeaWorld San Diego San Diego website
Colorado Downtown Aquarium Denver website
Florida Clearwater Marine Aquarium Clearwater website
Florida Florida Aquarium Tampa website
Florida Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium Sarasota website
Florida SeaWorld Orlando Orlando website
Georgia Georgia Aquarium Atlanta website
Hawaii Maui Ocean Center Ma'alaea (Maui) website
Illinois Shedd Aquarium Chicago website
Kentucky Newport Aquarium Newport website
Louisiana Audubon Aquarium of the Americas New Orleans website
Maryland National Aquarium Baltimore website
North Carolina North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher Kure Beach website
North Carolina North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores Pine Knoll Shores website
Oregon Oregon Coast Aquarium Newport website
South Carolina Ripley's Aquarium Myrtle Beach website
Tennessee Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies Gatlinburg website
Tennessee Tennessee Aquarium Chattanooga website
Texas Dallas World Aquarium Dallas website
Texas SeaWorld San Antonio San Antonio website
Texas Texas State Aquarium Corpus Christi website
Virginia Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center Virginia Beach website

RUNNER-UPS: AQUARIUMS ALMOST GOOD ENOUGH TO MAKE THE TOP 25 LIST

Here are a list of other great aquariums in the United States that we considered for the top 25 list above. Please email us @ gparsons66@hotmail.com if you think there are any other aquariums that we should be considering, either for this "runners-up" list or for the top 25 list itself.

STATE AQUARIUM NAME TOWN / CITY
Alaska Alaska SeaLife Center Seward
California Steinhart Aquarium San Francisco
California Aquarium of the Bay San Francisco
Connecticut Mystic Aquarium Mystic
Florida Gulf World Marine Park Panama City Beach
Florida SEA LIFE Aquarium Orlando
Florida Miami Seaquarium  Miami
Hawaii Waikiki Aquarium Honolulu (Oahu)
Massachusetts New England Aquarium Boston
Massachusetts Woods Hole Aquarium Woods Hole
New Jersey Adventure Aquarium Camden
North Carolina North Carolina Aquarium Manteo
Oklahoma Oklahoma Aquarium Jenks
Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium Pittsburg
South Carolina South Carolina Aquarium Charleston
Texas Moody Gardens Galveston
Texas Downtown Aquarium Houston
Washington Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium Tacoma
Washington Seattle Aquarium Seattle


TOP 10 AQUARIUMS IN THE USA

Here are the ten best aquariums in the United States:

Aquarium of the Pacific (Long Beach, California)
Audubon Aquarium of the Americas (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Dallas World Aquarium (Dallas, Texas)
Georgia Aquarium (Atlanta, Georgia)
Monterey Bay Aquarium (Monterey, California)
National Aquarium (Baltimore, Maryland)
North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher (Kure Beach, North Carolina)
Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga (Tennessee)
Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies (Gatlinburg, Tennessee)
Shedd Aquarium (Chicago)


XXX
Aquarium of the Smokies, Gatlinburg, Tennessee

As an Amazon Associates affiliate, this website contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase any products after clicking any Amazon.com link, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. I only endorse products that I have personally used or those that come highly recommended by trusted peers.
  Home / U.S. State Travel Guides / U.S. Vacations / U.S. National Parks / U.S. State Highpoints / U.S. Road Trip Planning
Travel & outdoor activities can be extremely dangerous. Use of this website and all of its information is at your own risk! We strongly believe in personal responsibility when it comes to staying safe. We will not be held liable for any injuries and/or death that occur.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© www.bigroads.com / email: gparsons66@hotmail.com