The Best Public Aquariums

[sschlesi]

I'm guessing that many SCUBA divers also enjoy visiting public aquariums. Share with everybody which public aquariums you think are best.

Here in Vancouver we have a very good public aquarium in Stanley park, not surprisingly the Pacific North West displays are their best, especially the former Beluga tank that has been retrofitted to contain almost everything in our local waters.

By far the best public aquarium I have visted is the Shedd aquarium in Chicago. Before visiting I had never heard of it, and didn't expect that much in a city that isn't even on the ocean, but wow, I didn't want to leave. They have very good displays of just about everything there.

 

[potato cod]

My favorite aquarium is the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA. Newer and bigger displays that are less crowded than the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. Also, more tropical fish. I used to live in walking distance, so that was part of the charm too.

Other great aquariums:
2. Monterrey Bay Aquarium
3. Sydney Aquarium

There's a new Great Barrier Reef exhibit at the Toronto Zoo that I want to check out some weekend and I'd love to get down to the Atlanta Aquarium.

 

[Noboundaries]

Monterey Bay Aquarium is definitely our favorite, but yes it is crowded. We've been many times. Once you have been enough to get beyond the "I've got to see everything" mode, it is fun to stop and study just a few exhibits for a long time. It is amazing the little things you see in both the exhibits and the people that you'd miss just rushing through with the crowds. Monterey Bay Aquarium: Home Page

An aquarium we knew nothing about but thoroughly enjoyed when we stumbled upon it was the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, OR. Very cool displays of Oregon aquatic critters.
Oregon Coast Aquarium - Newport