Long Island Aquarium and Exhibition Center Review

Great things to do with the grandkids! They loved it

Not sure why they tell you to pre order your tickets for a reservation time when everyone has to wait on the same line to get in. That seems like they just want you to buy in hopes that you may not show up so they can keep the money. If I make reservations for 1pm, I shouldn t have to wait in the rain for 30 minutes with my toddler to get inside, I should be able to walk in and ready to go. Oh and there is ZERO social distancing that is going on here, honestly felt like sardines throughout the entire place.

Small aquarium out in Riverhead. You can make a day of it or see everything in a couple of hours. Up to you how you want to use your time. The boat tour is 2 hours. Great on land/sea experience. I love the sea lions and the penguins. I usually make a few trips a year so I recommend a membership.

A great place to visit if u are in the area. The exhibits are really nice, decent layout. Didnt seem to crowded when we were there. Was a good day.

Nice place to take the kids. Saw a seal show which was entertaining

While this is a fun place to bring the family, be prepared to spend a fortune. I don't mind spending for a great family day, but this place is really overpriced for the size of it. There's additional cost once you get in as well. They don't do a service for senior citizens either, a $4.00 savings much less than most places. Parking is really far, didn't see any handicap parking or shuttle service! We did enjoy ourselves, but I won't be heading back anytime soon. Although many other aquariums & zoo's are similar in price, you get a full day for your money rather than a couple of hours.

Great place to bring the entire family. The ability to interact with everything is what makes this experience well worth it. Educational and informative, you'll learn alot about Long Island's aquatic life. You'll love it! 5 star memories.

It was awsm. Very beautiful place to visit. Specifically for kids

I've seen better aquariums in a tidal pool. It was cold so they decided to do nothing outside. For $30 per person I had bigger expectations. Butterfly area has like 25 butterflies in it. Weak. Multiple inside exhibits had nothing in them. One had a note saying the animal was "in the hospital" and we could go buy an additional ticket for a "backstage tour" to see him. Really?!?!?
Overall it lacks quantity, quality, and knowledge. Your not leaning a lot when you go there. Displays are weak and staff walking around to inform and explain is also lacking. We went to "creepy crawler" demonstration/talk, but no one ever showed up.
They have a lot of pinned butterflies - I believe they were a donation. As much as you pay to get in, there are "sponsorship" signs on almost every display. Commercialville.
Don't bring old people there - bench seating for them to rest is lacking. We found seats in their food area - a Spartan grease smelling area that looks straight out of the 70's-80's.
Tickets are $19 "normally" but $29 on weekends, holidays, "school vacations, breaks or any time schools have off" (oookayyy...message received). Few staff we saw were young kids (17-20?) And could not have been less interested or engaged. Walking dead.
We will not be returning.

Adorable aquarium for kids. My 3 year old had so much fun.

Nice Aquarium, a little too pricey. Takes about 3 to 4 hours to see everything.

Hidden gem in eastern Long Island! Must visit with kids.

The is NO ONE addressing or enforcing Social Distancing. Yes they put chalk marks down put no one is following & respecting the 6 foot rule. Even the food service workers are shouting out orders & deliveries so that doesn't help contain the spread of air borne particles. Doors are NOT automatic so you are forced to touch all the doors. Not all hand dispensers were filled or worked. I was more concerned about my families safety then enjoying the animals, insects, and aquatic displays.

This old guy that works in the butterfly exhibit is very racist. I was in there for about 20mins just sitting talking to my friend. There was a Mom and kid in there also, the little girl was picking up butterflies so when I was getting ready to leave I thought it d be cool if I tried picking one up also.... this white old man started yelling at me, making a big scene. And honestly this must be because I m black, because the little white girl was doing it, why didn t you address her Sir? .. but you thought it d be cool to address me. OKAY. I will not be back here, I know it s okay to be racist now a days because of your President. And for your information( the girl at the front desk didn t tell me and my friend that we couldn t touch them) it s when I walked around again THEN she said it, then I asked her was it because of that old man because he made a scene when I didn t know. Maybe y all should train that old stinky long nose man to be respectful to people and stop picking on people not his color.

Great local long island aquarium! Seal show is awesome. Definitely small compared to coney island but I think it adds to the charm. Perfect for children and families. Hit the aquarium, then hit the local breweries :)

The sea lions are great, the birds and butterflies are great it is fun place to visit but I think expensive.

Great family fun and not to far away from home. Get in for free if it's your birthday. Can't beat that.

It doesn't seem like all of this could fit behind those doors. Definitely worth a trip. Of you want pictures with some animals you can get them, but expect to pay extra for everything. The butterfly room is magical, so don't miss it! There are shows all day, check out times if you want to catch them. There is parking on a neighboring street behind store fronts, so expect a short walk. Schedule an entire day if you want to experience everything.

Definitely not worth the drive or the high entry fee. The admission price simply does not justify the experience. Our expectations were high and we were sadly disappointed. The exhibits / tanks were all quite small and there simply wasn't a lot of sea-life to see. There was zero crowd control so exhibits such as the butterfly room etc were almost unbearable. The kids manning the entries were letting soo many people in at once that you could barely move.

No much to see, but $16 is way expensive, not worth to visit.

What a great experience at the Long Island Aquarium today! We saw the last Sea Lion show of the day and Java and his trainer Jenna were absolutely incredible to watch. If you get the chance, please go and check it out and support them. It all goes to a great cause. The announcer Courtney was great also and reminded us all that it is our job to stop littering and save the planet. Overall TOTALLY AMAZING!!!!!

Visiting NY this was a highlight of the trip! Feeding baby Mantas was incredible!!

Planned to spend three hours here at Long Island Aquarium. Left after an hour.
Pros: friendly environment, well managed, lots of events and programs (with additional fees)
Cons:
1. Tickets ($35 per guest) are overpriced. The aquarium is relatively small with two indoor exhibits and several outdoor pools. I've been to several aquariums in NJ&NY and they are much more larger than this.
2. Exhibits are limited in terms of quantity and quality. This might be due to the extreme heat weather. Yes, shark tank is cool. However, I didn't expect to see carps in an aquarium. How about crawfish and more bass?
3. The sense of business and bargaining is just too strong here. I can see the management team is trying, desperately, to increase income and influences but tagging everything with an additional charge is just not a good way to keep guests happy.
4. The educational information is either lacking or outdated. Introductions are general and vague, pretty much like copied and pasted from wikipedia. Learning something new is one of the reasons why I go to aquariums and I was pretty disappointed to see that even the fundraising programs write richer and more informative texts.

Nice exhibits and a friendly and knowledgeable staff

Wonderful place many pescesito the butterfly Io and the sea lion show everything is a super experience

Came here with my boyfriend and it was just a wonderful date! The Sea Lion show was so much fun and practiclly cried happy tears. And it was so cool looking through all the exibits. The butterflys were so majestic. And just such a wonderful day in general.

Beautiful environment, not only for touring but functions and parties for our little ones !

In my opinion it was quite overpriced at over $80 for a family of three. We felt we had seen everything within an hour as well. Parking is easy and the staff were friendly, I just didn t see the value in the admission price compared to other aquariums I have visited.

Great family day place, kids love it and want to go back all the time, clean and always on point with great staff.

Went here for a wedding and it was fabulous. I want to go back to just look around again

Lived on Long island all my life ,first time I ever went there it was good, it was raining all day couldn't enjoy all the outdoor activities

Awesome experience for my 2yo and 1yo grandchildren and myself. Staff courteous and helpful with information regarding animals at the aquarium. Sea lion show informative and entertaining.

Fun and educational!! Three adults had fun like kids!!

Overpriced not that great... The best Part was the shark tank

Good luck calling and getting a hold of anyone. Called about 10 times throughout the day. All I got was answering machines. Left a message, still waiting for a call back.
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Great little aquarium in Riverhead. You can spend a few hours checking out all the exhibits. Good marine exhibits, they have a few reptiles, and mammals to check out also. The price of admission gives you access to the butterfly and insect exhibits too. You can easily spend a few hours exploring. There are also extras you can purchase like a selfie with a penguin or sealion, boat tours, and a few other options.

Very nice place to enjoy an afternoon with the family !!

Beautiful Aquarium, feeding the stingrays was awesome. A nice drive from queens but well worth it

Small shop around the Aquarium to feed the animals are a little disappointing. Other than that, it's a great experience for the all family ! Do not forget to go visit the Butterflies !!

This place violated my rights and federal law of the Americans with disabilities act and denied me access with my service dog and this was to my friends wedding at the place. I am an Army Combat Veteran and didn't deserve the treatment they gave me. I use to have a membership here because my boat was docked at the aquarium next door. After the way they treated me and the direct violation of the law, I will not be going back here again. Even once I informed them of the law. It's not all that impressive to me anyways, just another aquarium but nothing that stands out to me. I've been to much nicer aquariums..

The kids love it here. Get the membership. It pays for itself in 2 visits. The sharks are always fun too

The kids love this place. It's always clean. Staff is always friendly.

Awesome place great displays plenty for kids to do just a bit pricey especially for the food always have a great time

Best and one of the only aquariums in the area. I'm actually really surprised there is one on the island that's this good. Possibly my favorite one here.

Love the atmosphere! We became members because it pays for itself. Kid friendly environment. I loved all the fish. My son loved the shark tank. Appropriate for all ages.

Expensive but a great experience. Gift shop is cute and fairly priced. They also offer seat otter shows as well as penguin events (extra charge).

It's ok, but not much to see for the extremely over priced admission. Myself and my kids (9&3) cost me $75 or so on a Weds.... We were there for 2 to 2.5hours tops and that's because we took our time and went slow... Wish I was more prepared for the visit because I would have found some admission coupons or discounts from somewhere.... My kids did have fun with the birds.

A great place to go spend the day they have a lot of cute animals that anyone will love

Great place for kids and it's not that big so you can bring the real little ones and be done before they start getting fuzzy. The only thing is that it's pricey.

Great experience! Beautiful, quality exhibits, friendly staff, large variety of creatures to see. Highly recommended!

Lots to enjoy for all ages in all seasons. My daughter LOVES the stingrays and would spend all day petting and feeding them. The Sea Lion show is always fun.

Such a fun place for kids and adults. My personal favorite exhibit is the shark and stringray touch tank.

Kids (and adults) always have a great time whenever we visit the aquarium. Theres lots to see and the shows are very entertaining.

The seal show was super cute and the bird sanctuary was so much fun

It was a great time. My daughter had an amazing time.

Butterfly exhibit was spectacular. lion seal show was good. Aquarium is dated and needs serious update.

Beautiful aquarium. We enjoy a day activity from it. The butterfly and bird feeding exhibit is great. My 2 daughters love this place.

Love this place me and my friends go every year for my birthday

Not only is it educational but we had our wedding and daughter sweet 16 here phenomenal service very accommodating beautiful atmosphere

Great place for people of all ages. The stingray tank is absolutely amazing. They have some crazy corals on display, all the fish look in great health. Once we finished the indoor exhibits and went outside, we realized that there was even more to explore, meanwhile I've already gotten my moneysworth from the inside. There is plenty of fun extra activities as well, and this would easily entertain anybody.

They didn't tell us everything was shut down due to COVID so it was a waste of money

Attached to Hyatt and awesome spot to bring kids or family!!

Medium-sized aquarium with many additional exhibits such as an insectarium, parrot enclosure, and many other small animals. Unfortunately a number of exhibits are closed for winter. Part of the Bank of America free museums collection, visit during first weekend of the month for free general admission.