Ripley's Aquarium of Canada Review

My husband and I took our 7 month old son here for a family day. I've been before but it was the first time for them. My husband was impressed. It has so much to look at great for all ages. They have 4 areas where you can touch different animals. They have a restaurant in the middle so you can stop for a snack and go the bathroom. We were able to bring our stroller with us too. They also have a huge gift shop! We will definitely go back. If we lived closer we would get passes for the year. Great place

With the age of Covid-19, I was concerned about social distancing, but they have done a great job in maintaining this aspect. It was great to see all thw varied species of aquatic life. Nice way to spend the afternoon.

Love the Aquarium! Was a great family trip! Had so much fun!

Its a great experience not that busy and sanitize available at many spots.

I really liked the place ! Lot of different species of fish and other. You can learn, there's different interactive things. Great for kids too!
Sharks are really impressive!! We had a lot of fun!

Perfect place to visit with your family especially if you have kids. They will enjoy the aquatic creatures. Also it is fun for adults and ado to spend the weekend and enjoy the nice colorful creatures. Best place if you are planning to visit Toronto, simply it is a must to visit Ripley's Aquarium.

Ripley's Aquarium is an amazing place to visit. Lots of different fish, fish tanks, I loved the different coloured lobsters!

Amazing experience! Was not ready to spend money on an aquarium tour at first but my friend made me go and thank god he made me ! It was totally worth it!

Though we are in Toronto often - neither my wife or I had ever been to the aquarium. Naturally, we chose which is what I hope was one of their busiest days of the years. Though it was PACKED and I mean PACKED - amazingly they got us in very quickly. They are very well organized. The price is not cheap. And this always disappoints with such great exhibits. Yes, it must cost a bloody fortune to run this place, but charging $90 for two people (taxes etc included) is pretty crazy (for about a 90 min to 2 hr. experience). Especially when I think about all the people who cannot afford to see this kind of place. (You can get cheaper tix online, however).

As for the exhibits...

Obviously, it wasn't ideal because of the busyness. LOTS of kids crying and running around and pushy parents, etc. It was LOUD. But the aquariums are incredible. I didn't expect to see anything but reef fish. But we saw everything. Stingrays, sharks, cod, grouper! You name it! And we saw them up close and personal! It is an amazing experience. And I was gobsmacked.

It isn't a huge place - like ROM or the Toronto Zoo - more like a visit to the CNN Tower.

They do a decent job at providing info panels etc. about the various exhibits but really, it was so packed that you couldn't get near them. And it was so loud that you wouldn't be able to read them in peace anyway. On a quieter day, it would be a lovely, serene experience, I imagine.

All in all - overly pricey, touristy (you exit through the gift shop of course!) - but well run, with some eye-popping opportunities to see fish and underwater creatures of all kinds.

Fifth time coming here! Still great after reopening!

Amazing aquarium!! I have been to several aquariums in North America. Boston. Vancouver. Singapore. This one by far the best. Lots of sharks! And there are many tanks with lots of beautiful fish.

Great place just hard to get around because there is always a crowd.they should let so many in wait half hour then next batch it would make it more injoyable

Great for family visits and great for children.
Really loved there.

It was an amazing experience got to see lots of sea creatures

Never knew there were so many different kinds of fish!!! Interactive, informative, fun and a wonderful experience. Make sure you have ample time to appreciate the beauty of this underwater life (at least 1.5 hours). Great place to take kids along, the staff is courteous, the dive shows are educational and fun, an equal entertainment for both adults and children of all ages.

This is the best aquarium we have ever seen. Really nice place ,We enjoyed alot.

Our family picked up an annual membership. Lots of things to see. Haven't had time to explore everything as our three year old daughter loves the indoor playground best. If you bring young kids with you, bring an extra shirt and pair of pants as they have a water table with floating foam boats that kids absolutely love. As a result, they may get extremely wet. Aside from that, the attraction to see is the glass tunnel. Undoubtedly, it is breathtaking in person if you've never been before.

Nice aquarium, if you visiting Toronto, you can take pictures without moving your feets

I've been to a few aquariums over the years in Asia , really big ones. But I still found Ripley's to be enjoyable. The staff morale is fantastic and they're very nice to talk to especially in the touch pools! Wish it was about bigger considering the price charged.

Also disliked that they charge 2 bucks to leave your coat in the clock room during late autumn. That sucks!

My son loved it here! It was great once you got in. However the line up was too long. Be sure to buy your tickets online the day before, not the day of. We tried to do purchase online while we were waiting however it did not work, likely too full.

It was a very hot day, they could have done more to make our exterior wait better, perhaps with a bottle of water or fans with a light mist?

Once in side, it was great. A little pricey, however my son's face was worth it. If you are in Toronto and have a chance to go, well worth it!

Wonderful way to discover under the water life. It's our second visit!!

The aquarium is nice however its expensive compared to what it has offered. Compare this with the one in Chicago. They sell a booklet with a map for $2 which I think is unnecessary purchase. On Average it would take about 1-1.5 hours to see the entire aquarium. Best time to go would be after 8 pm.

I've been a couple of times now but it seems the number and variety of fish is not as many as before. Most noticeable in the Jellyfish area.
There was a diver/feeding show by rainbow reef which was very educational and it was good to hear that they're educating about the importance of protecting our oceans and combating climate change.
Would recommend going later in the day (theyre usually open until 11pm) to avoid the crowds.

Is a nice aquarium great for the little ones and the rest as well. Many different exhibition and 2 different restaurant to have some food. Great variety of freshwater fish and saltwater fish.

So much fun!! We loved seeing all the fish and ocean life. Very kind informative staff my 3 yr old had a blast! Their is a small play area with slides. Take your time lots to do. Food court great selection of food salad etc.

I'm sure it's great but I was helping to make a call to customer service and legit... didn't pick up for 2 hours... for two days straight... That's 4 hours wasted for trying to change booking with no results, you might as well just add a "change booking" function on your site. I'm sure with the pandemic it makes customer service a lot harder, but if your customer service isn't open please don't say it is and then make people wait, and then make emails not a viable method for booking change, it's extremely frustrating and leaves a bad taste in my mouth and makes me feel sorry for my friend who has anxiety issues in regards to these kind of situations. I don't want to leave too bad of a review though because I really love aquariums and I see a lot of people on here clearly enjoying it, but please be better about this, cheers!

Great place to go especially with family, as a couple or to take visiting tourists. Awesome experience to see 360 glass aquarium and all different types of fish, animals , and other sections to visit.

Awesome time for visitors of all ages. Brought my kids and parents one day and everyone was really into it. The sharks were everyone's favourte. We loved the moving walkway. helped to keep crowding down. The octopus was another fave.

Beautiful design and use of space. Fun facts and interactive spaces are great for small families. I personally saw a little boy get lost and find his family from the help of a security guard, and a little girl fall into the water and receive a towel from a worker within 10 seconds near the petting area. Staff are super friendly and understanding. Great tourist site.

This aquarium is one of the best in Canada. It has a great layout so you can stand and just admire the sea-life or learn bits of information everywhere you turn including how they filter and monitor the water in all of their aquariums. If you have the chance it is a must see and you can even pick up a few souvenirs.

My kids loves coming back here after 6 years. I only gave it 4 stars because there used to be a section with all sharks and when we went back now they closed it. I figured after 6 years things would change but in a way where they would add new sections not close them off. Anyways besides that the place is gorgeous just avoid going on the weekend because it is packed, to have an enjoyable low pace go just the week or low peak hours.

Staff friendly
Awesome
Littel bit expensive

Sharks after dark experience was great. Good value. Not very busy.

My first experience in an aquarium ever! Easily one of the top activities I did on my trip to Toronto. Favourite part was going through the transparent tube with the escalator path thing. Made it easy to take pictures without having to move your legs. I would for sure go again next time I visit.

This place is awesome! It really worth what we pay.

Great place, even allowed my son to use the bathroom before it opened -but wouldn't let me... Sometimes big guys need to poo too!
The staff were knowledgable, relaxed and friendly, and this went as long way to creating a good atmosphere for enjoyment and learning.

Been to the Aquarium 2X now and its been an awesome experience both times. Its great for all ages. Its a great price and will take a min of 45 mins to walk through but I would suggest taking your time. I Highly recommend Sharks after Dark for an ultimate date night experience.

Amazing, perfectely made. I loved all the animals and the dive show was full of information and enjoyment.
Thankyou

Great place and love attractions. 4 stars because there was too many people crammed in there to move around especially with strollers. Had to wait over 20 minutes to go on moving walkway since i had stroller and not allowed to go down the walkway as many people were cutting the line-up near the front even though there was many people waiting in line patiently with little kids. Good luck to people with strollers getting around in there.

This was amazing! Here you can come up close to exotic creatures like the Christmas Island Red Crab and Electric Eel (and there s an electrifying experience where you can feel the stun). This place is open till the night, and not too far from SkyZone trampoline park, the CN Tower or this sports stadium. My favourite was this huge transparent tunnel which goes through a massive coral reef where you can see tropical fish, sawfish and sea turtles. Stroke shrimp, crabs and sharks as well and learn about how dams work. A must see when in Toronto.

Great layout, small space made to seem large. Clean, every corner is spotless. The staff are friendly and nice.

With covid going on it makes this family outting perfect. No lines or too many people getting in the way off seeing everything. Perfect time to go.

A must-see in Canda. A world-class attraction in the heart of downtown Toronto, next to the CN Tower. My advice is to buy the tickets online so that you'll be able to save around $20. There are combo tickets which covers both CN tower and Aquarium. Also I recommend visiting this place in afternoon and then visiting the CN tower in the evening. You can stay for the sunset in CN tower and may be go for the dinner in CN tower's 360 degree restaurant.

No words to express how much I liked it!! I don t think it needs reviews. Already so much popular that everyone visits it whoever comes Toronto.

The aquarium is a little bit small compared to the price. However, there are many different species of aquatic animals in this aquarium.

A lot of fish. Nice aquarium. Super clean and nice. Front desk is well organized and decorated with small aquariums. Its a really nice place to visit an spend some time together. Good for kids as they will have lot of fun but its as fun place for all ages. variety of sea creatures are there to see. Crab, shark, jelly fish are there also.

It was good experience. There weren't many fish you don't see at the standard aquarium. Over crowding made it a bit harder to enjoy but that's not the fault of the aquarium so it didn't factor into my rating. I mentioned it to advise you to try to go out side of weekend hours. My biggest complaint with the aquarium was too many displays did not have information on what was in the enclosure. So there were a lot of things I saw and had no idea what it was...

Very neat attraction, but not worth the full admission price. If you can snag a two for one discount then absolutely take advantage!

One of main touristic attractions of Toronto, easy access by public transportation / metro, walking distance from CN tower, you can buy tickets in website in advance to avoid long waiting at entrance during summertime, or you can buy the Toronto City pass to visit main touristic attractions, great place for kids, many interactive attractions to explain sea water behaviour to kids, fishes and aquatic animals are shown in a very interesting way, do not miss the shark tunnel, there are spaces where you are allow to touch rays, there s a restaurant inside where you can buy fast food type, worth to visit.

Small but big enough to spend at least 1.5 hours walking and exploring all the exhibits. Was a little crowded when I went because a lot of school field trips probably happen here, but it was an incredible experience. It's a perfect place for children's and adults to spend time together.

Amazing experience. A must visit in Toronto. You can take 2-3 hours seeing everything

A must do in Toronto. Line moves quickly. Unique displays. Walking under the shark's is just cool.

The Gallery exhibit, also known as Mother Nature's Art Gallery, features some of the most delicate underwater species from all over the world. This exhibit features the red lionfish, electric eel, lined seahorse, and the archerfish. This exhibit features six salt water and three fresh water exhibits. The Planet Jellies exhibit has colour changing displays with five species of jellyfish. These include: pacific sea nettle, moon jelly, spotted jelly, and upside-down jelly.
The Ray Bay exhibit is focused around three distinct species of stingrays. Occasionally visitors can see aquarium divers feeding the stingrays during their daily interactive dive shows. Some of the inhabitants of this exhibit include the bonnethead shark, cownose ray, and the southern stingray. The Life Support System gives visitors a behind the scenes look at the aquarium s life support systems room. The building features the largest life support systems room of Ripley s three aquariums. This gallery features equipment for Dangerous Reef and Ray Bay.

During your adventure you'll be able to see a 25 foot deep tank full of absolute excitement. Its super fun and close to CN Tower. Do it.

A great few hours out in an area with lots to do. Very clean and educational

What an awesome place to have family time. I was warned in advance that it's darkly lit so if you have little ones put them in white (black lights) or bright colours so you can keep an eye. We had a great day!

A wonderful experience! Takes a good two hours to walk through. Maybe even three. A staff member noticed my son's headphones and resistance to go past the flashing camera at the beginning and immediately let me know to take our time going through, and that the first Sunday of each month is a special sensory day so that we could plan our next trip for one of those days.
In regards to sensory, we found that the tanks are a bit too bright compared to the dark halls. My son borrowed sunglasses, and it made a world of difference in his enjoyment

I loved my experience at the Aquarium. A wonderful place for the family. Purchase your tickets ahead of time so you don t wait in line. A very well kept and clean facility. Food and drink available. There s also very clean bathrooms. I volunteered to go with my daughter and her class and we had a great experience. We also had the opportunity to learn and ask questions with our incredible guide. A fantastic place to visit. It s absolutely breathtaking and beautiful. There is also a lot of hands on activities as well.

A great place to spend a couple of hours with your little ones. This is definitely better than any other aquariums in GTA. Also, the best thing about this is that it is located right next to the CN tower.
If you want to save money then but an evening pass which is cheaper than the day pass. Because, you can cover everything in 2 hours.

We had a wonderful experience at the aquarium even during Covid. It was so nice to get out and do something. It felt super safe with sanitizing stations everywhere, people cleaning and sanitizing all the time, and the best part we were always by ourselves with the marine life. I think we saw a total of 26 people the entire time we were there and it was easy to distance from everyone at all times! The exhibits were fantastic. There was a lot of information about what we were looking at and at all times we could see the creatures close up and personal. I highly recommend this aquarium.

I visited the aquarium with my 14 year old son and we both loved it. It is very well laid out: basically, you follow the path through all the exhibits, going at your own pace. We took about two hours, including some time in the hands-on section and the gift store. There is lots of information provided for all age groups if you are curious to learn more about anything you see but it is also fun just to look and see how many different creatures you can spot. Some of the highlights for us included the octopus, the sharks, turtle, and sting rays. My favorite was the jelly fish; they are displayed in a spectular tank with changing lights such that they glow in ever changing colours. For young children, there are some extra tunnels to crawl through, a play area and a hands-on area (which is also fun for adults :-). Great way to spend a couple hours!

Defiinitely the most amazing aquarium I've been to. They have so many aquatic species, it would take you a long time to exhaust them. Definitely worth every penny and I would love to visit again!

Really cool, got to see sharks. Took great pictures in the tunnel. The rest of the place I wouldn't waste your time taking to many pictures as it's really dark. Got to touch some ray fish, crabs and sharks.

This place is awesome... And evening well spent... Would advise anyone to visit....n also got a discount because I am a PRESTO user..... I will be back

Lots of cool marine life. Even got to pet some of them

I had a beautiful experience here, if you want to go try to go on the week and not on the weekend.. the weekends the place is full of kids

Amazingly designed! Great for kids to learn about the different species of the ocean. Loved being able to see Sharks and massive Stingrays. Located just next to the CN tower.

Really magical music accompanies pools of rays that come to the surface to greet people, and huge tropical tanks full of beautiful underwater life. Great for kids and animal lovers. I did find it a bit of a fire hazard tho. Lots of people in fairly cramped halls from start to finish.

It was a wonderful experience. You are able to see all sorts of marine life, and learn a lot about these amazing creatures.

The aquarium's displays are top notch, really good. Go in the morning though, and avoid the weekend if you can. Absolutely great addition to the City Pass! Keep your expectations in check for the lunch counter, not the greatest. But it doesn't matter, the rest was worth it.

Fabulous place! So much to see and it all makes you so relaxed. Love all the little nemo's!

Love having a large aquarium like this in Toronto. The kids enjoyed seeing all the aquatic animals. Educational and fun for everyone.

Came here with my fiancee for a trip she enjoyed it every bit. Would recommend as date ideas or for family's

I had never been here in my 23 years of life being born in Mississauga, living there for the first half of my life and then living in Hamilton up until now. After a Jays game my girlfriend and I decided to go and I was not disappointed ! I am big on fishing in Lake Ontario so seeing the Lake exhibits was pretty cool to me. Overall I had a great time and would recommend it to anyone looking for something to do !

December 29 2019 / way too many people to actually enjoy the place. If you think strollers should be banned, give a like! Not enough staff to adequately move people along. The moving floor was a little nauseating enough to make me lose my balance. Food prices are way out of line with reality. Why in God's name do people bring crying 2 year olds when they have no concept of fish? Once is enough for me.

This is no ordinary aquarium. Unlike the others I have been to you can actually touch the small sea animals with permission. The design is absolutely breathtaking, you can to walk and see ocean life beneath your feet or over your head and it looks so up close and personal. My little girl got a little scared because she saw a large stingray swim over her head. Very cool experience!

The rating is how nice the aquarium is maintained. I would like to mention, it is only different type of fishes you can see here. No sharks or any shows. But the 180 degree view on the moving escalator kind of thing was very cool and it is the first time I saw this at an aquarium. Price is very high as it is only viewing of fishes and no other shows or programs for kids available. Food court is small and outside food is not allowed. Parking was hard to find. We paid $30 just for 3 hour parking. As people mentioned in the reviews, I didn't find it crowd even though we went on a long weekend day. Only at the entrance, you see people jammed but once you move on, it is ok. My kid enjoyed the moving escalator view most.

Great aquarium for the size. Very educational and has great material for people who want to know what they are looking at. They also have a kids section which is somewhat interactive. Staff is friendly and help you out when you have additional questions.

I'd highly recommend hitting up the aquarium with some friends on one of their event evenings. Lots of fun and a few drinks always gives a good time.

Fantastic aquarium, lots of aquatic animals to see. There are a few places within the aquarium where they teach you more about some specific animals by letting you touch them. The highlight for me was how you can touch the sting rays! Watch out for those sharks though, very notorious. They sneak up on you :) Had a great time.

Amazing. Boyfriend and I went while on vacation and Canada. Way better then the aquarium by us back home. The place was the perfect size, not to big not to small and a little bit of everything. I had a wonderful time. Great place for kids and families.

Was a great day. First family outing since March no big crowds ability to still get up close and see the exhibits.

This was one of my favorite things in Canada. What an impressive aquarium, filled with so many sea creatures and with a lot of information to learn about them. The underwater tunnel where you can see all the sharks, stingrays and more sea creatures is a must-see/must-experience if you are in Toronto. I would definitely recommend this place to everyone and I'm going to be revisiting this aquarium on my next trip.

Definitely a go-to in Toronto if you are looking for an experience with the kids. Compared to other Aquariums, i found that Toronto was clean, well lit, interesting, had lots of local flavour to it with beautiful fish that is found in nearby lakes. I also enjoyed the displays that showed how the water is filtered and oxygenated. The most interesting part is the the tunnel aquarium where you stand on a moving carpet and you are surrounded by a tank that contains sharks, turtles, exotic fish, simply amazing!

First time going since it opened. Truly remarkable. Friendly staff and very informative. Great for family's and anyone interested in the sea world.

Very nice aquarium for all ages with a friendly staff. They have a wonderful variety of life to see. It's definitely something I would highly recommend to do.

Love my Time there everytime. But it's quite a short adventure. So if going to Toronto for it I recommend more than one thing planned!!

Beautiful aquarium! Saw many different species of fish. Had a good time but I did not rate 5 stars because I found the price was a little high for something that doesn't take more than a few hours to go through the entire aquarium. It can be pretty crowded and wish it could be a little more spacious but I'm sure on less touristy times of the year, it isn't as bad. (I wouldn't know though because I'm from Montreal)

The shark tank is very cool. It is an immersive experience as a moving sidewalk will take you essentially through an aquarium where sharks and fish swim above you and beside you; one of the cooler things I've experienced an aquarium, as you get very close to them. That said, I though the entrance fee to the aquarium was a little high, especially for a full family.

It is a great place and excellently maintained.
But they could increase the staff and keep some good informative boards particularly to the fishes at that aquarium. However , it is an experience I won't ever forget.

Randomly decided to take in a tour of Ripley's Aquarium of Canada and was so captivated. We weren't there with kids, but believe me there isn't any lack of kids ... lots of families!! But either way, adult or kid, the views are amazing!! Our ocean life is spectacular and ...so alien. The setup of the facilities is very well organized and the tour 'time' isn't overwhelming. Great setup and whole the visit.

Absolutely stunning!! The detail and construction are beyond anything you could imagine, the feel of endless caverns with all of the ocean species and history. Will attend again, excited to go back already.