The New York Aquarium Reviews

Even on a rainy day it was amazing. Especially the new shark exhibit was amazing!

This place is a pile of hot garbage, shuttle it down. Expect to wait in line, pay a moderate to hefty enterance fee, then enter the first exhibit hall. You'll see a few common fish and expect to move on to the heart of the aquarium, only to realize you have literally seen everything they to offer have in less than fifteen minutes. All that's left is a shark tank with another one to two hour line to get in, to see a few sickly looking local sharks in dirty water.

3rd world aquarium. It is strange that NY does not have any aquarium around.

Loved the underwater tunnel. The trainers are so friendly and love what they do and it shows on the seals they work with.

The aquarium is still undergoing major renovation. There are not many exhibits. Once you enter, there's a small indoor exhibit of some fishes. The main attraction now is the Shark exhibit. While it is a very nice exhibit, there is not much else to do here otherwise, except for the seal show. Not worth the $30 they are charging.

The employees are misinformed about their own timings and policies. When going to the 4D shark movie, we were told that we could go to back to the aquarium no problem. We had 4 different employees tell us that. Then when we went to go back they said that we couldn t. Not worth the money if they are going to play games like that. We missed out on an hour of staying longer because of this stupidity.

Very nice and funny place
Everybody has to go there

I'm giving 4 star cause it is a better experience now that they have the sharks.

Super cool experience, there were still many parts of the park closed, but it's worth seeing the show they do and feeding the animals.

It was all right very cheesy though if you have nothing to do then definitely recommend but not something to go out of your way for

The aquarium was cheap because of reduced summer prices. While some of the exhibits were quite. good, such as the shark exhibit, some, like the turtle exhibit were dirty and unimpressive. For the price, I would say it was fine, but I would not pay full price until the renovations are done. The place was very crowded, but the staff were pretty friendly.

My review may be unduly influenced by two things: 1) the fact that it takes me over an hour to drive there and that's the fastest way for me to get there, and 2) I can drive to the Norwalk aquarium in less time.

I would not go to this aquarium if I did not already have a zoo membership for the Bronx Zoo, which covers the NY Aquarium, Central Park zoo, etc. We go to zoo a lot, so sometimes we have to change it up.

The aquarium is pretty small. Which, if it's convenient for you to visit, may be a benefit. You can see everything there is to see in a couple of hours. For me, it's more travel than I'd like for how quickly we get through it.

The big drawback to this Aquarium is that, since Hurricane Sandy, they've always had a lot of exhibits closed when I've gone. Sharks recently opened, which is why we went today, but there's an octopus exhibit that's currently closed along with everything else inside that building (like the "touch tank").

Norwalk is a much larger facility, is all indoors, and is easier for me to get to.

Really, the only reason we go is because for us the parking and entry is free with a membership we buy to access the Bronx Zoo. If money wasn't a factor I'd go up to Connecticut.

The staff was incredibly friendly and would take time to talk to each individual guest and explain animals to kids and adults alike. The shows were incredibly cute. The tanks are amazing. It was overall a great time.

The place was cool, I have mixed feeling its great for the kids, as it is small and not an all day thing. But it is so and tight in most areas so makes it feel overwhelming for adults and kids. I may come back when it is completely done to view other exhibit and try the ocean grill restaurant. Our family knocked another aquarium off our list.

Continuous improvement is great. The new shark facility was worth going to this year.

Went in mid Winter on a rainy day didn't get to see the feedings but overall great variety, lots of activities for children.

Underwhelming but cool. If the ticket were half price I wouldnt have been mad but at that price I would've liked to see more.

I love visiting the aquarium! Love the new shark exhibit.

Great place to bring your family. Shark exhibit and sea lion show was awesome. Seem a little pricey at first, but when you go inside, you'll see that every penny is needed to maintain the place, and totally worth. 4D show near the entrance was dull. I had seen the show 12 years ago, didn't like it then, and didn't like it now. Overall good experience.

For the price it should be more to it. The only real nice thing about it now is the new shark area, other wise nothing exciting.

Beautiful aquarium, being enlarged.
The sharks section is beautiful.

Very nice EVERYTHING, I DON'T HAVE TO COMPLAIN ek I loved nothing

Pretty fish! Pretty sure the coral in the conservation deck is dead though, which can't possibly be healthy for the fish. The shark exhibit was very informational and pretty. Most things weren't open or available though, since it's March, but that's more on us than the aquarium. The gift shop was mostly reasonable with prices. Overall, a nice place to visit and a good time killer.

New york aquarium was good i saw one of the prison islands which was Alcatraz and i saw one of the boats from there and i also liked the movie there it was amazing i liked the 4-D movie with all the effects with the cheap glasses but it was good i give it a 4 star

The Aquarium is a fantastic attraction for a sealife experience! I so enjoyed it that I got a membership, which allows me to visit many other life-filled attractions as well.

Nice but very small half of the aquarium under construction. Show also short and only lions but they good . So we need to wait.

Dissappointed..no nothing..overpriced and still renovating

The sharks are amazing !!!! Take the whope family .

Small aquarium and it hasn't returned to it's former glory pre super storm Sandy.

Friendly people working and explaining the different animals

NY Aquarium is a small aquarium located in Coney Island.

It's okay... Need more attractions and more interactive activities for the children

It shows you all kinds of sea creatures and it also tells you about plastic in the ocean.

The aquarium itself is interesting, small truth, but I visit it for the third time .. and I will come again ... only the guards, who are "NOTHING," spoil it, and I like it so much .... come on Wednesday, for free

This place still has a loooooooong ways to go from where it was. Which surprises me because a lot of schools came here over the years and I really don't understand how come they are not much further along Sandy happened so long ago.

The new shark exhibit is great for kids and adults, very modern and entertaining

Really not much to see when compared to other aquariums

The new shark exhibit is very nice. The sea lion show is ok. It's a long wait in line for a ten minute show that's mostly talking.

This place is amazing! Support the Aquarium they are doing wonderful things. Check out my behind the scenes photos.

I loved the animals, though they could clean it a bit more and they definitely need to have more order there. The are a lot of school trips going on and it gets very crowded and disorganized.

Expected more, it will be more worth the price once there are more atrractions

Getting better. Had rough time after hurricane sandy. If you have 45 minutes to kill, enjoy it there

It's a little small but they were in construction. Seems to be going to be awesome in the future

The new shark exhibit is fantastic. Very clean and fun to visit.

Amazing! The new shark exhibit is incredible. Looks like you're at the bottom of the ocean! Lighting was on point.

Something impressive I could see two people swimming with the tubers very close. A very interesting job

Great place to visit with kids and the shark display amazing. Very little collection of fishes.

It's fun to come here to see the different types of stuff life but it's kinda small. I only go when my company is offering free or discounted tickets. Dolphin shows are fun to watch. Last time I went there was a lot of baby stroller traffic. It's also fun to hang out in Coney Island after.

I loved everything but what the seals do is amazing

This is magical place. If you are in NYC, I will recommend you to visit it.

The shark exhibit is new and by far the best attraction. Everything else is old news, including the aqua show....and by old news, I mean decades old. So much wasted potential......

Awesome
Experience

I want to give this place a better rating but I can't right now. Everyone who works there is awesome and they really try, but they got screwed by hurricane sandy so there's not a whole lot to do there and you can run through the place in about 20 minutes. This will probably change once they get their new addition all set up. Can't wait for that.

Having said that, it's still a fun place to take little kids. The animals are super cute

Almost half of the aquarium waa close. The other half was the bored half

Very nice but it seems that the tickets of the children are a bit expensive

The best part is the sharks tank, I think the Aquaroum needs to add an extra wing of fun stuff and more sea life diversity. But overall is a fun place to spend a couple hours with the fam

My daughter loved it and so did I. Wonderful experience overall. Staff was friendly and the place was well kept

Fresh! Clean! New! Although it was cold outside when I went, it was nice inside - and not smelly or steamy as some aquariums seem to be. The Shark complex has a nice flow to it and seriously interesting set up wherein the fish and whatnot swim over your head!
There is an outside turtle tank with one of those reallly big ones!
I didn't get to the 4D experience movie. not sure what that was all about.
It wasn't crowded when I was there - but they are SERIOUS about their closing time...don't dawdle.
Bonus! two penny squishing machines (one was out of order).
Gift shop had lots of fuzzy creatures to take home (and some nice glass ones, too).
If you are at Coney - why not stop by?

NOTE: at $25 per adult, it is not cheap.

My daughter enjoyed herself while watching the Penguins, Seals, sea Lions and sharks. Hurricane Sandy damage parts of the Aquarium, which is under reconstruction. This is a learning experience for kids and adults alike. The 4 stars is due to the construction.

Right now there are long lines to go into the shark building. but once you get inside it is very innovating for children.

Over half the park was closed when we went. Aside from the show, there was about 30 minutes worth of exhibits to see. The staff ranged from quite pleasant to rude. I only rate it 2 stars due to the veterans discount that got my wife and I in for $6 total. The usual price during construction is almost $11 per person. Not even close to worth it. Save your money and go to the beach.

Not recommended to visit on a rainy day - most of the attractions are outside.

It was very nice and educational. Nice place to bring the kids.

Small aquarium, really good for the price, the sea lions show is really good