Seattle Aquarium

1483 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA 98101, USA

Address:	1483 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
Phone:	+1 206-386-4300
Site:	seattleaquarium.org
Rating:	4.2
Working:	9:30AM–5PM 9:30AM–5PM 9:30AM–5PM 9:30AM–5PM 9:30AM–5PM 9:30AM–5PM 9:30AM–5PM

Location

Photos 1

Reviews 6

Matt Uhlman

Great aquarium with some wonderful exhibits! Ever since the addition of our two little squirts, our adventures to aquariums have increased exponentially. Its definitely been a good thing! I remember going to the Seattle Aquarium when I was younger and remember it being much larger than it actually was. Imagine its just the fact that my size has increased a large amount while the Seattle Aquarium has remained the same. Cest la vie! Upon entering there is a small gathering area in front of a very large tank. Guides give talks about the fish in the tank and to our enjoyment, a good amount of the talking actually came from a diver in the tank - how exciting! After the intro, youre ushered down the hall to the exhibits that included a petting tank with starfish, anemones and other bottom dwellers! We spend like 30 minutes here and had multiple requests to return. The octopus in this area was lovely as was the suspended shark. Bummer they dont have a shark exhibit! The next building had what we were all excited to see - otters and seals! These dudes are so cool and provided for a hour or so of chillin! The different sea otter and river otter exhibits were interesting and twice the fun of most places weve been! The large viewing aquarium was also great and was a nice resting spot to hang for a but and just watch the fish do their thing. The gift shop was standard with the addition of a number of books on the NW, including a few left coast cook books. All in all, a very nice aquarium that plays to its strengths and showcases a lot of the cool stuff unique to the NW. Its not as spectacular as the Atlanta aquarium, but the charm and relaxed feel that make this uniquely left coast give it the five star bump!

Cliff Van Sickel

Im a big fan of marine life and the Seattle Aquarium does a pretty nice job at what they do. I have been to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Vancouver Aquarium, the Sydney Aquarium, and a handful of smaller "aquariums" that are like collections of aquatic life on display for the public. The Seattle Aquarium is on the smaller side and they dont have a lot of larger animals like whales or sharks, but thats okay because what they do have is a good glimpse of the Puget Sound. Our local water way is on display for all to see and they do such a good job of educating children and adults alike about the ecosystem right in our own "backyard". A few of our favorite things from our recent visit on 12/22... The tide pools are one of the favorites for children and adults. You can get your hands wet and put a finger on starfish, anemones, sea cucumbers, and a few other critters. Compare yourself to the six gill shark. The research team of the Seattle Aquarium has a job to research the six gill shark population in our wonderful Puget Sound. The aquarium usually has a volunteer or staff member available to share what they know about this elusive species in the sound. The Dome! Im just going to call it "The Dome" because thats what it is. The Seattle Aquarium has a salmon fishery type of operation going on with a fish ladder and spawning salmon in the dome. Along with the salmon they have halibut, stergeon, rock fish, and many other local species of fish inside the dome.

Jenelle Bossett

This was my first time ever at an aquarium as an adult and I didn’t know what to expect. Fish generally aren’t very exciting, they don’t really change their smug expression nor do they swim around in an extravagant manner. The fish here were no exception, they just sat there unamused. The octopuses were also smug and uninteresting. They just sat in a tank, sleep because of their nocturnal nature. The sea otters or lions were also smug. They just seemed upset that people were disturbing their evening nap. They just kept looking at people and rolled their eyes and went back to sleep; no sounds and no other exciting gestures. The jelly fish were cute but I don’t even think they have a brain. They just go around and around this circular tank not really swimming just floating. Now that I think about it, they also had a smug nature about them. So yea they were cute to look at but also smug. The aquarium isn’t big and can be navigated successfully in about 45 mins to an hour depending on your level of interest in smug water creatures. It would be a much cooler experience at night when all the fish are awake and lively. I would recommend watching the octopus feeding. They do not guarantee the octopus will actually eat, but when it does its pretty amusing.

Jay Edgar

There was some confusion with our City Pass, and the registration staff were very helpful in working it out with us. Other reviewers have stated it is not a large aquarium, yet I found the size just right to spend a few hours and learning a lot. The exhibits are all very thoughtful and give a good amount of detail about each creature. One of the central exhibits was made to look like pools of water in rocks. It was fun to walk around them, sit on them, and stick my hands (as instructed!) into the pools to feel the different animals and plants. After a while I saw a young woman in a wheelchair who had very little mobitility, and felt sad that she wouldnt be able to get close enough to the exhibit to experience it. Within a few seconds a staff member walked over to her carrying a bowl of water with a few animals inside and engaged her, helping her feel the animals, etc. I was extremely touched at the thoughtfulness and caring of this. Staff also worked at several of the exhibits giving explanations and answering questions. We greatly enjoyed our visit.

Josiah Taylor

Paid $60 dollars for me and my wife to go here... For an aquarium literally sitting on the ocean it has a surprising amount of nothing... Flew here from Denver expecting to see an aquarium far better than what we have in Colorado. I left disappointed. We actually kept looking for hallways that we missed thinking that the 20 minutes we just spent meandering through 30 fish species couldnt have been all of it. We never found that extra hallway. $60 for twenty minutes of fish that you can see at any sort of exhibit that has fish was not worth it. The 3 sea lions and otters were cool but nothing to write home about. Also the exhibits had almost no educational material. If you want to learn do not come here. The gift shop was the most fun part.... Forewarning, if youre looking for a cool hoodie or t-shirt hopefully youre a woman because they dont carry apparel for men apparently.

Joshua Feyen

The aquarium is one of the options part of the Seattle CityPass. In addition to the discounted entry, the CityPass allows you to jump into the "express" line which really zips you up to the ticket counter. I REALLY like museums, but havent really "gotten into" aquariums, until this one. The touch pools are great for kids and adults alike to feel a sea cucumber, anemone and other squishy sea life. The animal feeding demonstrations were pretty cool as well. But what really impressed me with the aquarium was the care that a staff person took to scoop a sea cucumber out of a touch pool with a bowl and bring it to a visitor in a wheel chair. That act of enabling the visitor didnt just help her feel welcome, I was touched to the core. This stop on the Seattle CityPass is good value and the aquarium and its staff are excellent.