Seattle Aquarium
Seattle Aquarium
4
9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Monday
9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday
9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
About
The heartbeat of hands-on marine experience and preservation education in the Pacific Northwest, the Seattle Aquarium offers fun, exciting ways to discover more about the amazing Puget Sound that surrounds you! Join us in our mission: Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment.
Duration: 1-2 hours
Meets animal welfare guidelines
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The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Pike Place Market
How to get there
- University St • 7 min walk
- Westlake Hub • 9 min walk
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See what travellers are saying
- Rob L6 contributionsA bit small but reasonably well done.There are better aquariums around the US but this one is OK. It is comparitively small to most, but the exhibits are well maintained and pretty well organised & maintained. There are tanks full of animals & plants from different regions along puffins, seals & sea otters. The cost of entry is probably a bit steep considering what is there. We went to the Shedd Aquarium (Chicago) a couple of weeks later & is was so much better.Visited September 2023Travelled with familyWritten 18 October 2023
- TravelingOYEsterPalm Beach, Florida406 contributionsLovely, but expensive aquariumWe liked our time at the aquarium. The prices however are absolutely insane. It prices locals out of the park - and as a visitor, I was extremely surprised at the entrance price. We liked the touch tank and seals the best. If you don’t mind spending $$$ for an hour (maybe 1.5 hrs) of your time, then worth it. It was also extremely crowded - so if you don’t love crowds double check to see what time is least crowded.Visited October 2023Travelled with familyWritten 20 October 2023
- Otto LHayward, California182 contributionsPleasant Indoor/Outdoor Aquarium with views of Puget SoundThis was part of a tour with daughter and son-in-law of Seattle fish market and shore. The aquarium is in two parts, with both indoor and outdoor pools, so can warm up occasionally on chilly days. Very nice outdoor pools for larger fish and otters and sea lions.Visited April 2023Travelled with familyWritten 5 November 2023
- BlovesfoodBensalem, Pennsylvania658 contributionsSo much to learn and seeWe are from the East Coast and found this museum to be more informative than the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland. We learned so much about the local species, saw an octopus, and experienced displays that were new and exciting for us. We spent two hours at the Aquarium. Went on a Monday and tickets were approximately $39. Great activity for couples, families, and solo visitors.Visited May 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 6 May 2024
- Dianne H42 contributionsSea life experienceOne of the best aquariums I have ever visited. Lots of school children on the day I visited. Well laid out with wonderful sea life. The outside areas were awesome too. Loved the seal pool.Visited May 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 20 May 2024
- Krisztina W17 contributionsThe local wildlife exhibit made it worthwhileInitial impression was a letdown as the first parts of the exhibit were in need of some upkeep and TLC, not to mention that I was surrounded by a large group of your children. The adults accompanying the children weren’t a whole lot better, they seemed to think the whole place belonged to them only. So I walked through the southern pacific exhibits rather quickly and made my way to the second building where local wildlife could be seen. Even though I have visited the Aquarium many years ago, this part was worth coming back for. I learned a lot about life in the bay and the sound both above and underwater. I got to admire some seals and sea otters which made me smile and made my day. Thank you to the animals and their caretakers for letting me enjoy a bit of wild company in Seattle.Visited June 2024Travelled soloWritten 1 June 2024
- Kari R177 contributionsSea Otters, Octopi and more!This was a very nice way to spend a Seattle afternoon. Great for families and kiddos. Good (and informative) displays and a good variety of marine wildlife and birds. We were lucky enough to get there right before the sea otters were fed. Totally worth waiting a bit for! This attraction is a little on the spender side for what it is and how long you will be there compared to some other Seattle attractions.Visited June 2024Travelled with friendsWritten 17 June 2024
- ULe180 contributionsDisappointing AquariumI had somewhat high hopes for this place. For the price of $44 and yes I booked tickets day of, it definitely was not worth it. The enclosures for the otters(river and sea) were so tiny. Same for the sea lions and harbor seals. Made me sad. I think for kids this is a great experience. For adults, not worth it.Visited July 2024Travelled soloWritten 4 July 2024
- Cristy71198Pikeville, Kentucky131 contributionsSeattle Aquarium ExperienceThis is not like a Ripley’s aquarium, and if you walk in and just walk out, I think you will miss the opportunity to see its value. My daughter absolutely loved it and will be a senior this year! They are so many educational opportunities. You have to slow down read the signs, search for all the different things posted on the signs. If it is crowded just take your time and wait! So much to learn and see about the area. To appreciate this is the kind of aquarium you definitely need to have the right mindset and we loved it!Visited July 2024Travelled with familyWritten 8 July 2024
- eMBark TravelersWashington35 contributionsGreat Aquarium Centered on Local Fish & AnimalsWe really enjoyed the outdoor areas with the local animals and birds. It was fun to see them up close. The indoor Hawaiian and coral reed tanks were great to walk through and the touch tanks were also a fun experience. Depending on when you go, you can watch the salmon ladder or see the current growth stages of the new salmon before they are released back into the Sound.Visited May 2024Travelled with familyWritten 14 July 2024
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4.0
4,376 reviews
Excellent
1,534
Very good
1,578
Average
968
Poor
221
Terrible
75
Roger
2 contributions
Mar 2020
The Seattle Aquarium is a truly miserable experience.
Not only is this "attraction" hilariously overpriced, the aquarium itself is dirty, outdated, poorly maintained, and full of dead, rotting fish.
In fact, it seemed like the only area that was regularly cleaned or maintained was the gift shop.
On our visit, I counted no fewer than four different exhibits that had dead fish just sitting there rotting, in full view of the patrons. Not only is this rather off-putting as a visitor, but it also makes me seriously question how well the surviving animals are being looked after. If that many tanks can have fish in various stages of decay, how often is the aquarium actually checking on their animals?
The exhibit design and layout makes it so only two or three people can be looking at an exhibit at a time, the walkways are cramped and therefore always crowded, and there is almost no thought given to the layout of the different sections. This means that there is no uniform flow of foot traffic, which results in people aimlessly wandering around trying to find things they haven't seen yet, which further clogs up the walkways and exhibit viewing areas.
Oh, and for the love of Poseidon, don't even think about trying to use the Seattle CityPass here unless you already have the physical booklet in your hand. We showed up with our CityPass vouchers on our phones, and were told the aquarium would ONLY accept them if we printed them out. When we asked why they couldn't simply scan the barcodes on our phones, or at the very least just key in the confirmation numbers, we were told "that's not how it works." Ok, fine. But did the aquarium then offer to take two seconds and print off the vouchers for us? Nope. We even offered to pay cash for their time/toner/paper if they would just print them from the desk there, and they refused.
Instead, they told us there was a FedEx store a few miles away where we could get them printed (great advice to a tourist family who had clearly gotten there on foot), or there was a print shop a few blocks away that might do it. We went to the nearer print shop, who told us there was a $5 minimum charge for any printing (this would be a ten cent print job anywhere else), and admitted they got about 5-10 people PER DAY coming over because the aquarium refused to accept anything other than a printed copy. When we returned to the aquarium and gave them our printed copy, they barely looked at them and didn't scan or input anything, they just dumped them in a filing cabinet behind the desk.
The next day, out of curiosity, we asked at the Pacific Science Center (also on the CityPass) how they would have handled the situation. The clerk at the desk there looked rather dumbfounded, and said they would have just scanned the barcode from the phone, taken the confirmation number, or offered to print the voucher for us.
I guess the Seattle Aquarium just prefers a more medieval approach to their customer service...and apparently their stance on basic animal rights.
Not only is this "attraction" hilariously overpriced, the aquarium itself is dirty, outdated, poorly maintained, and full of dead, rotting fish.
In fact, it seemed like the only area that was regularly cleaned or maintained was the gift shop.
On our visit, I counted no fewer than four different exhibits that had dead fish just sitting there rotting, in full view of the patrons. Not only is this rather off-putting as a visitor, but it also makes me seriously question how well the surviving animals are being looked after. If that many tanks can have fish in various stages of decay, how often is the aquarium actually checking on their animals?
The exhibit design and layout makes it so only two or three people can be looking at an exhibit at a time, the walkways are cramped and therefore always crowded, and there is almost no thought given to the layout of the different sections. This means that there is no uniform flow of foot traffic, which results in people aimlessly wandering around trying to find things they haven't seen yet, which further clogs up the walkways and exhibit viewing areas.
Oh, and for the love of Poseidon, don't even think about trying to use the Seattle CityPass here unless you already have the physical booklet in your hand. We showed up with our CityPass vouchers on our phones, and were told the aquarium would ONLY accept them if we printed them out. When we asked why they couldn't simply scan the barcodes on our phones, or at the very least just key in the confirmation numbers, we were told "that's not how it works." Ok, fine. But did the aquarium then offer to take two seconds and print off the vouchers for us? Nope. We even offered to pay cash for their time/toner/paper if they would just print them from the desk there, and they refused.
Instead, they told us there was a FedEx store a few miles away where we could get them printed (great advice to a tourist family who had clearly gotten there on foot), or there was a print shop a few blocks away that might do it. We went to the nearer print shop, who told us there was a $5 minimum charge for any printing (this would be a ten cent print job anywhere else), and admitted they got about 5-10 people PER DAY coming over because the aquarium refused to accept anything other than a printed copy. When we returned to the aquarium and gave them our printed copy, they barely looked at them and didn't scan or input anything, they just dumped them in a filing cabinet behind the desk.
The next day, out of curiosity, we asked at the Pacific Science Center (also on the CityPass) how they would have handled the situation. The clerk at the desk there looked rather dumbfounded, and said they would have just scanned the barcode from the phone, taken the confirmation number, or offered to print the voucher for us.
I guess the Seattle Aquarium just prefers a more medieval approach to their customer service...and apparently their stance on basic animal rights.
Written 5 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Christopher S
Hayden, ID19 contributions
Dec 2021 • Family
Absolutely Not for kids over 6; very small and expensive for very limited sea life. Lots of posters and lots of open empty space. Nothing bigger than a salmon and an otter. Pt Defiance Zoo and Aquarium’s has two aquariums bigger than this place and more variety and bigger tanks… plus you get the entire zoo too and it is cheaper.
Hands down the most disappointing attraction in the Seattle area in my 3 weeks visiting the area.. and the most expensive. My recommendation is to run not walk from this place unless you maybe have a city pass and already are doing everything else on that pass… we looped the entire place twice in less than an hour.. hoping we missed something.. but no..it really was this disappointing.
Hands down the most disappointing attraction in the Seattle area in my 3 weeks visiting the area.. and the most expensive. My recommendation is to run not walk from this place unless you maybe have a city pass and already are doing everything else on that pass… we looped the entire place twice in less than an hour.. hoping we missed something.. but no..it really was this disappointing.
Written 24 December 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
DS_world
Faringdon, UK15 contributions
Feb 2020
This place is particularly great if you have children or just enjoy touching sea creatures or viewing them close. My little 2 year old absolutely loved the experience! The viewing areas are great and practically planned out. There are so many glass windows that even if the animal is at a corner, there is a chance one can see them from some spot. Had a great time!
Written 3 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Michael B
Bellflower, CA24,373 contributions
Apr 2019
Walking down from capitol hill we passed under the old freeway that was being removed, and crossed over the road to walk along the water front. We had hoped to be able to visit the Seattle Aquarium, but unfortunately it did not open till 9.30am, so we were unable to check it out.
Located on Pier 59 and overlooking the Elliott Bay, the Aquarium is a public aquarium, and was opened in 1977. Initially owned and operated by the City of Seattle, Department of Parks and Recreation, until 2010 when the nonprofit Seattle Aquarium Society, took it over. There are numerous exhibits worth seeing, like the 400,000-US-gallon tank with its transparent spherical undersea viewing room. Or the Crashing Waves Exhibit with its 40-foot (12 m) wave tank that replicates Washington shores from the intertidal zone to a depth of about 5 feet. There is also a gift store and café, visited by over 800,000 visitors each year.
TIP: Check out the daily dive shows, the divers wearing special masks, and are able to talk to visitors.
Located on Pier 59 and overlooking the Elliott Bay, the Aquarium is a public aquarium, and was opened in 1977. Initially owned and operated by the City of Seattle, Department of Parks and Recreation, until 2010 when the nonprofit Seattle Aquarium Society, took it over. There are numerous exhibits worth seeing, like the 400,000-US-gallon tank with its transparent spherical undersea viewing room. Or the Crashing Waves Exhibit with its 40-foot (12 m) wave tank that replicates Washington shores from the intertidal zone to a depth of about 5 feet. There is also a gift store and café, visited by over 800,000 visitors each year.
TIP: Check out the daily dive shows, the divers wearing special masks, and are able to talk to visitors.
Written 17 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Canucksontheloose
Victoria, Canada766 contributions
Dec 2019
This is a small aquarium but not disappointing as the one in San Francisco Pier 39 or as small as The Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea in Victoria/Sidney, BC. This one seemed very geared towards kids, with an family activity centre for little ones. There were many docents at stations willing to explain any questions you had. There are daily shows with divers, octopi, or the sea mammals (CUTE otters and seals), and touch tanks for interaction with the sea stars or anemones. You can get your hand stamped if you want to leave and come back later that day. It's a great aquarium if you've never been to one or you have young kids to educate/entertain. Definitely cheaper admission with the Seattle City Pass. Very clean, very organized, very friendly.
Written 15 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Teresa O
Burlington, IA4 contributions
July 2020
Seattle Aquarium was a disappointment after visiting other aquariums such as Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi, Shed Aquarium Chicago, Baltimore Aquarium,etc It's very small and over priced for the what it has to offer. We were very disappointed. ( If you are watching Seattle Aquarium ... we also encountered a very rude employee who had turquoise hair.
Written 21 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Melissa
Round Rock, TX35 contributions
Dec 2019 • Couples
The aquarium was very busy and as expected, overrun with kids. The otters were fun, but difficult to see and they didn’t really want to swim. My favorite part was the octopus exhibit, where an employee was giving a presentation on the animals and the underwater dome in which you could sit surrounded by the ocean life and watch them swim by almost 360 degrees. All in all, I thought it was just adequate.
Written 10 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lynsay R
Fairbanks, AK9 contributions
June 2021 • Couples
We had a city pass and weren’t told we had to reserve separate tickets as well, the first time we tried going the employee at the door was extremely rude to us and dismissed us telling us to get out of line and get tickets since they were booked for the day. But the next day we had tickets and it was a different employee who was wonderful! It wasn’t what we expected and most we could of seen in Alaska. But if you have small kids and don’t live where the ocean is near by it’s worth seeing!
Written 16 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mustang X
Dallas, NC87 contributions
Aug 2023 • Couples
This is not a great aquarium. It’s small with limited animals. It was hot in the building and had a strange odor. It was $40 a person and took about 90 minutes to go through. Seattle is very expensive but this is not worth spending your hard earned money on. They are doing a big expansion. Let’s hope it will improve the experience.
Written 17 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tori Chevalier
2 contributions
May 2022 • Friends
I was so disappointed. It was over 40 dollars and we spent maybe an hour and a half there. There was nothing special other than the octopus and sea otters. The touch pools were basic. I didn’t like how the signs with the different species were all digital. It meant if you were curious about a specific fish you had to wait around until the screen finally got to what you were looking for. It would be better if they had multiple digital signs per tank or just stuck to old fashioned placards. My review might seem harsh but I live relatively close to an aquarium in a smaller city that is about half the price and has about the same amount of animals but it also seems cleaner.
Written 13 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Is admission free for the last hour? I feel like I read that somewhere.
Written 27 July 2019
About 1.5-2 hours I would say :)
Written 6 August 2017
I have also visited the Shedd Aquarium...twice...and think the one in Seattle is very good, and competes with Chicago. I'm sorry you did not like it. Did you get to see the octopus being fed, or the sea lions?
Written 16 June 2016
No we didn't see either of the ones you mentioned but we have been to several aquariums in the states and this one was our least liked . We still enjoyed it but we were expecting so much more especially in a big City like Seattle!
Written 17 June 2016
The aquarium encompasses two huge buildings. Did you not go next door and see the otters, seals, sea lions, and the birds?
Written 16 June 2016
yes we did, I particular like the sea lions, otters and certain birds are my favorite, like eagles, and owls, and a few others. No matter where I go I try to explore new aquariums or zoos or safari parks.
Written 19 June 2016
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