How Long Do You Spend at Aquariums?

birdsandbats

birdsandbats

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
The two-day zoo thread got me thinking about how long aquariums take to visit. Aquariums are interesting, because some member will spend only 2 hours at aquariums that others would take a full day to see.

The only aquariums I've been to that takes an entire day are Shedd Aquarium and National Mississippi River Aquarium (that is counting the museum portion, though). I spent half a day at World Aquarium, 2-3 hours at SEA LIFE Minnesota, and an hour at Reiman Aquarium (an hour and a half if you choose to visit the Great Lakes Future exhibit. Those times do not include the Discovery World museum).
 
Personally I take 2/3 to a full day at Monterey Bay Aquarium, however being interesting in finding species and being a photographer I tend to take a good amount of time.

SeaWorld San Diego I took a full day, which was worth it. I didn't ride any of the rides, rather spending time at the upclose dolphin pool, touch pools, and spotting species in the aquariums.

The couple mini aquariums I've been to only took 30 minutes to an hour.
 
Quite honestly it depends on the facility, but I'd say I average around 2-4 hours at aquariums? Towards the longer end are the Shedd and the National Aquarium in Baltimore, if anything because they're more species-rich collections. I like to move quickly so I don't really dwell in exhibits or galleries unless they aren't crowded
 
It all depends on the collection for me. Without singling out institutions If it’s very rich and bio-diverse, I can spend around three to four hours at an aquarium. If it isn’t, I spend at least one hour. Crowds are a huge no for me, so I tend to move fast when they’re crowded around an exhibit and come back later once I see an opening.
 
About 2 to 3 hours. Not really a fish fan. I enjoy seeing marine mammals and penguins more in aquarium.
 
I've now visited approximately 90 different aquariums and there are at least 20 public aquariums just in the state of California. Many of those have only a dozen or so tanks, and quite honestly it is possible to see some entire facilities in 20 minutes! I usually linger a bit longer in order to get some value for my entrance fee, but it is important to know that the USA is packed with many very tiny aquariums. Even the Sea Life franchises, most between 25,000-35,000 square feet in size, are very easy to comfortably see everything in an hour or less. The whole country has 160 public aquariums but most are fairly small in terms of square footage.

The big trio of Georgia Aquarium, Shedd Aquarium and Monterey Bay Aquarium can all take 4 hours to view or much longer for zoo enthusiasts. Tennessee Aquarium and the National Aquarium in Baltimore are probably the next two largest facilities in the U.S. but in general I would guess that most visitors are done after 3 hours. Due to their small size in comparison to zoos, visitation levels are much shorter at aquariums.
 
snowleopard said:
I've now visited approximately 90 different aquariums and there are at least 20 public aquariums just in the state of California. Many of those have only a dozen or so tanks, and quite honestly it is possible to see some entire facilities in 20 minutes! I usually linger a bit longer in order to get some value for my entrance fee, but it is important to know that the USA is packed with many very tiny aquariums. Even the Sea Life franchises, most between 25,000-35,000 square feet in size, are very easy to comfortably see everything in an hour or less. The whole country has 160 public aquariums but most are fairly small in terms of square footage.

The big trio of Georgia Aquarium, Shedd Aquarium and Monterey Bay Aquarium can all take 4 hours to view or much longer for zoo enthusiasts. Tennessee Aquarium and the National Aquarium in Baltimore are probably the next two largest facilities in the U.S. but in general I would guess that most visitors are done after 3 hours. Due to their small size in comparison to zoos, visitation levels are much shorter at aquariums.
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Only an hour at a Sea Life aquarium! :eek:
 
Of all the aquariums I've been to (SEA LIFE Arizona Aquarium, OdySea Aquarium, Downtown Aquarium in Denver, Aquarium of the Pacific, and Birch Aquarium), the visits averaged out to around 1.5 to 2 hours.
 
birdsandbats said:
Only an hour at a Sea Life aquarium! :eek:
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Exactly what I was about to post, most sealife centres or other seaside aquariums are around an hour for me (Chessington & alton towers less though) . Weymouth possibly slightly longer, especially since the addition of the little blue penguins.
 
Few aquariums are big enough to require a full day visit, much less two days. It's something I've thought about, what would an aquarium like that be like? It would certainly be super expensive to build and maintain, but it would be spectacular!
 
TheMightyOrca said:
It's something I've thought about, what would an aquarium like that be like? It would certainly be super expensive to build and maintain, but it would be spectacular!
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That perfectly describes Shedd Aquarium, which I still maintain is a full day aquarium, despite what other members believe.
 
Forgot to add my own answer to the question! I haven't been to many aquariums (only the Texas State Aquarium, Aquarium Barcelona, and the Moody Gardens aquarium pyramid, which I'm not sure whether it counts or not) but despite being much smaller than zoos, I can easily spend at least four hours just watching animals. At least if it's not crowded and I can watch in peace, ha ha. Though with Barcelona I probably only spent two hours there, only had five days in Barcelona so had to get a lot of stuff in! I really want to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium someday, and I'd love to spend as much as I can there. (especially considering the price!)

I'm still trying to imagine a two day aquarium. SO MANY TANKS
 
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I went to SeaQuest Las Vegas today. Spent 45 mins. Saw everything but
didn't do some of the options- like scuba with sharks or snorkel with rays, nor did I feed anybody. Overall I thought it was ...meh. But not really worth the
entrance fee.
I think its good for its purpose -which is basically a draw and a sideshow to a mall.
Incidentally I took my mom (who said she has never been to an aquarium before- and I believe that is true) and she thought it was wonderful.
So different strokes
 
Zhuhai Ocean Kingdom (part of the Chimelong group) could very comfortably take a full day to appreciate properly, although I wouldn't go so far to say it is a two day job.

Some of the problems with aquariums that are confined to one building have are:

Usually small footprint (even including multiple floors)

Can be stuffy and even moderate numbers of visitors can feel oppressively crowdy

Typically have a one way system (with the worse case scenario being reentry at the beginning not allowed)

All of these factors do not help a visit to stretch out. What Zhuhai shares with other large aquarium parks is that it is an open site that combines outdoor exhibits with many buildings of indoor tanks.
 
I did do a whole day trip in Zhuhai, back in 2014. I do play one or two rides though and so it take longer.
 
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