Checking Out The Georgia Aquarium

By alantvuong on May 28, 2019

I always love visiting aquariums and zoos in every city I get to travel to. It is a must to visit The Georgia Aquarium as it was the world’s largest since it opened in 2005 and held that title until 2012 when it was beat by Marine Life Park in Singapore. The Georgia Aquarium is home to over 100,000 animals featuring several thousand species in 10 million gallons of fresh and salt water. The aquarium is actually going under a $100 million expansion right now adding a 1 million gallon shark gallery and revamped main entrance. My visit with my buddy in May 2019 had us entering a temporary entrance.

temporary accessible entrance

Getting In

The Georgia Aquarium is conveniently located in Pemberton Place right across from The World Of Coca-Cola and National Center For Civil And Human Rights. We decided to go on the Thursday around 11am since it was going to be a cloudy and rainy day. We knew that we would end up spending a few hours at this massive aquarium and thought it would be best to be indoors. Tickets normally cost $32.95 for adults, but deals could be had if purchased online or special discounts if purchased for certain times. Again, this attraction is also bundled with citypass to save even more. Thanks to Discover Atlanta for the citypasses. Upon entering, there is strict security check to ensure a safe and comfortable experience for everyone.

giant coral reef tank at Tropical Diver exhibit

Exhibits

We started with Tropical Diver, which features mainly tropical fish. The largest tank in this exhibit features coral reef living among many species of ocean creatures. The largest exhibit at Georgia Aquarium, Ocean Voyager was my favorite. It has the world’s largest indoor aquatic habitat and showcases the life of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef system with sharks, turtles, sting rays and thousands of other fish. I really love the underwater tunnel with the moving walkway. It moved at a slow pace and even my wheelchair was fine to go on it.

accessible moving walkway with underwater tunnel at Ocean Voyager exhibit

The next exhibit we saw was Cold Water Quest which features animals from the polar and temperate regions of the world. This is where we saw beluga whales, penguins and otters. We then went to River Scout, which features a really cool overhead river allowing visitors to see regional fish from the very bottom up. This exhibit features local creatures including piranha, eel and other freshwater creatures.

belugas at Cold Water Quest exhibit

Shows and More

The other 2 exhibits features shows with live animals. Both shows did not allow pictures or videos during the performance since the animals could get distracted from cameras. At Pier 225, there is the Under The Boardwalk sea lion performance. Wheelchair seating is really up close at the front, so we got a really great view of the sea lions. At one point, the handlers even bring a few sea lions right up to walk in front of us. Just no touching though.

accessible seating area at Pier 225 watching the sea lion performance

The Dolphin Coast has a huge theater, being more than triple the size of Pier 225. The wheelchair seating is half way from the front and requires the use of an elevator to get to. The Dolphin Celebration show is a lot more lively and has better production than the sea lion show. Both shows recommend to be there 30 minutes prior and the schedules could be found on the website or app. The dolphin show also sells $5 reserved seating as this show can fill up fast.

dolphin show at Dolphin Coast about to start

The Aquanaut Adventure allows visitors of all ages to learn and interact with aquatic life. There are many games and activities for all ages. This exhibit offers 7 different routes, each with 7 different adventures. We did not get to check out the 4D Funbelievable Theater or the Virtual Voyager as they were closed by the time we got to it. So we have to come back another time.

Aqua Lab at Aquanaut Adventure

Accessibility

I thought the accessibility of Georgia Aquarium was amazing. There were ramps everywhere and I never had an issue getting my wheelchair anywhere. There were elevators to get to the 2nd floor and was really happy to get to use the moving walkway in Ocean Voyager. Throughout the aquarium they even had reserved wheelchair mats that allowed us to get closer to the water tanks without getting crowded by people. I thought that was awesome and wish other places had this. Staff are willing to help those with the touch pools too if needed.

wheelchair reserved mats located throughout the aquarium

Food

No outside food or drink is permitted in the aquarium. Cafe Aquaria and Oceans Food Market are located on the one side of the building with lots of seating including wheelchair spots. We did not end up eating here because we had plans to eat elsewhere after.

Cafe Aquaria

With so much to see and do, we ended up spending 4.5 hours here. We definitely enjoyed this aquarium and thought it was one of the best and want to come back already. Thanks for this great experience Discover Atlanta. Georgia Aquarium is one attraction you don’t want to miss during your next visit to Atlanta.