The New York Aquarium Reviews

New shark section is worth to visit! Try to go early to avoid insanely long line! They added new snack places!

Like the upgrade I just wish they had the big sharks like they use to

Great place. Something you must need to visit in NYC

$ 12 for the buy in..but there are pay what you wish days on Fridays

Well set up, but the main aquarium building is actually quite small. I wish they would expand it with some more freshwater exhibits. The sharks exhibit is cool though!

Very average spectacle of sea lions ... interesting sharks, very noisy but remains charming.

Most of the aquarium was closed off but the parts that were accessible were pretty nice.

It is very beautiful, because children also learn about the diversity of the oceans and take the opportunity to go to the beach ... it is excellent, I highly recommend it.

Nice updated exhibits park still going through construction updates

Few animals and the high price, animals do not drink

Excellent sea lion show, it varies based on the day and the size of the crowd. About half of the exhibits are still closed from Hurricane Sandy. The newly reopened shark exhibit is excellent.

Love this place
Specially for children

A #touristinmyowncity - excellent fish tanks - soent 3 hours there & all enjoyable...

We came here on Friday 09/25. It was a great experience my son loved the sharks! I can t relate to what others are saying about it being crowded it was a Friday and it wasn t crowded at all. We didn t wait in line for any of the exhibits. There was hand sanitizer in all the stations we tried. I love how educational this aquarium is. We learned many things about sharks, such as all the cruelty that goes on. We will definitely rethink on how we eat seafood. The spineless exhibit, the octopus! It s such a beautiful creature! Love the NY aquarium and really hope WCS does everything they promise to do with our wildlife! There s many species to view, and yes it is still small but remember guys they reopened in 2018 after hurricane sandy so this is al brand new construction. Which I m sure will expand more.

Particularly enjoyed the sea lion show, surprised that the overall aquarium facility was not bigger - but then there will be two new exhibits coming, dates unknown.

It was fine I really enjoyed but when on wednesdays it is free for kids under age 12 their are lots and lots of people to crowd and I got separated from my group

I was confused, it was quiet and they need more people because I wanted to watch a 4D animation movie and the only woman there basically went inside to watch the movie too and then more people arrived on the wait line and as I did they were asking "where's the woman? Is this working? I don't know I don't see anyone here. I'm confused" I'm disappointed. I hope they improve the Aquarium in general.

It's February 2019 and just took a walk along the seafront, all is closed till April.

Wednesday from 3 pm is "pay what you want". Very good ride.

May 14, 2018- Sad, display areas too small for animals and water extremely dirty. Due to damages from hurricane more than 3/4 of the facility is closed. Only view is seal, indoor aquarium, and otter. It must cost more to run and pay employees than what they are making at the door. Should consider trasferrimg animals to Central Park zoo and employees temporarily. I feel terrible for employees and animals but at least they are receiving a paycheck. It took 45 min to get there from upper Manhattan and 15 minutes to see the area.

Small for the price but cute and lots of variety of fishes. Parking should be cheaper with the size/reconstruction, I suggest paying the same amount of money in a outdoor lot and then just walking a block or 2 to the aquarium cause that one set price is for all day parking vs hourly at the aquarium. The new shark building is nice though wish it went up higher instead of just being a restaurant attraction outside. More construction in the building next to it for a playquarium or something. For NY I'm shocked there isn't a big place like Baltimore's.

Getting to the parking was horrible. That experience alone 1 Star. The Aquarium is good. 4 Stars for that. But getting to the parking lot from the street. Needs to be revamped.

Nice exhibits!
I recommend the sealion shows.
A bit lacking. Not too many exhibits.

This aquarium located in Brooklyn, near Coney island, had amazing collection of sea animals. I would highly recommend Their sea lion show. They have a big collection of sharks, over there they also have informative sessions about sharks. They have a not-to-miss 4D show as well at the exit. Kids love this place like anything.

I wouldn't spend time visiting this aquarium. The upgrades are going on and many exhibits are closed, but the ticket prices are the same. You would want to use the 'pay what you want' feature in NYC and avoid paying the full ticket fare.

Well I'm from out of town and always wanted to go and they are remodeling the place. So maybe when I go back it'll be done.

The new shark tunnel is amazing! Also love that all of the attractions are included in the admission price.

Wonderful place to have a great experience with the sea .

Great sea animals performance. Staff is very friendly

Very disappointed in what I saw, half of the exhibits were closed, and the one with the shark gave a shame how the animal was.

Let me just start this off by saying that Nicholas is an amazing employee and was sooo helpful when I needed it. You can tell he really cares about the visitors of the New York Aquarium! I went on 08/30 and it was very very very packed (despite tickets being for specific time frames). In the heart of coney island, this is a beautiful wildlife conservation establishment so I don't understand why people come here expecting something different...it's not an amusement park, it's not a playground, and it's definitely not seaworld. Despite it's smaller size, there is so much to see & learn, & all the animals seem very happy & taken care of.

Okay for now, very small while construction is up but kids loved it.

This place is awesome. On vacation from England. Best aquarium I've visited so far

Cute little aquarium. Couldn't see anyone spending more time there than and hour or two. The staff is very helpful and knowledgeable. Well worth the price.

Lots of fun! But the price is high and they don't have a lot going yet. Find a discount or wait for more parts of it to be finished and open.

Very interesting but smaller than expected and a lot of it is outdoors, so February is not the best time to visit. Food availability is spotty in the off-season so bring snacks and have a plan for lunch. The staff clearly does a lot with a little and the aquarium's mission is commendable. Definitely catch the sea lion show.

Only thing worth seeing was the new Shark exhibit. Everything else was closed. Major disappointment.

Awesome place and really cheap tickets. Can't wait for the new exhibit

Great Experience Love to visit here again. Excellent Renovation, variety of fishes and good food...

The fish are great the facilities lacks a bit of love but the show of the sea lion is fascinating.

It is a robbery we pay 70 dollars and there is nothing to see

A unique experience to see or beautiful that nature has within the sea

What a terrible mess, the concession stands are a ridiculously overpriced racketeering scheme. The city and whoever runs this charade should be ashamed! Water is more expensive then soda?!

Small aquarium in the midst of NYC, enough said. .

The aquarium is small. Can be toured in minutes. However, if you spend time reading and examining exhibits like works of arts, about 1.5 hours. The outdoor animals seem lethargic and poverty-stricken, notably the penguins. Don't expect them to perform a show for you. I think they know they're "imprisoned" and are bored of seeing hundreds of humans per day.

If you want a show, there's the Aquatheater, a small stadium site with a seal performing tricks at the command of its trainer or other feeding events. You MUST look at show listings when you arrive for times.

Some nice wall tanks inside filled with a variety of fish and rays. A couple of tiny exhibits concerns itself with conservation, like coral reef replenishment and anti-pollution efforts.

The main attraction here is the the shark exhibit. The sharks are simple sharks, don't expect great whites or mako sharks. When you walk in, it's a tunnel-like aquarium above you that curves down to your sides. Followed by another room with a large glass wall that allow to peer at a couple more sharks.

Cons: parking! Yes, they have parking, but it's a nightmare on weekends/summer AND it's pricey: $18 up to 3 hours, $25 3-4 hours, and $40 for 4+ hours. If you visit weekend, there is a wait and a line that reaches out into the main road.

Cons: this place gets packed on weekends/summers. This creates a 'wait' for the tiny shark exhibit. They restrict entrance to groups at a time to avoid unsafe massive indoor crowding.

Is this place "enjoyable"? Young children will enjoy it. Adults might leave wanting more.

If you visit, visit early.

They have hand sanitizer everywhere and only a minimum of people can go to the octopus section

A very good sight experience. And the new shark tank is great. All the animals are great but they need to sxpand and get more land for more exotic creatures. But to what the do have it is great. The sealion show is a blast and so are the sharks

Still under repair from Sandy. Price reduced to $12 to compensate.

The Aquarium still hasn't fully reopened all their exhibits since Hurricane Sandy 6yrs ago, so that's a little disappointing, BUT the new Shark Exhibit is pretty cool taking this from a 3 to a 4. Many sharks and there's a shark petting above the building at certain times! There's also a little water tunnel for little kids (or adults to crawl) to go through.

The buildings could use more a/c and be prepared for some rude tourists pushing their way around. It has very long lines on the weekends and they're still in the process of reopening and creating new exhibits. Will be better eventually.

Shark exhibit was dope! Under construction with an area so that was annoying. Probably shouldn't cost as much as it is.

The admissions fee is to much for a City park. We took students on a field trip it was not worth the money $13.95 per student and $8.95 per adult, which we found out once we got there and that was at a discount rate. Very disappointed.

It was quite attractive and the four stars is because like everywhere there are animals, the animals are hidden or something like that but the experience is quite good

I got tickets sent me last week(for adults that expire 12/31/18+4D theater) for m previous bad experience.
And yesterday 7/23 me, my husband and 2 kids decided to go there.
As we had 2 tickets for adults, we needed to buy one more ticket for my eldest daughter, she is 4. Another one is 18 months so didn t need to pay for her.

So my husband showed cashier 2 tickets we had and asked for another one for kid+4D. She charged him about$17. And gave him 4 different tickets back and took our.
We entered the building, woman who stood there scanned all, and gave us 2 tickets back. I told her that we also were going to the 4D, and she answered that it was fine.

So we saw lion show and sharks

After we went to movie, waited 30 minutes on line among all children s from summer camp, the wether was quite hot and wet after rain. A man who was there told us that we had wrong tickets and that we had go back. we did go, I spoke with manager Angela about all this situation. All she can say: we don t keep tickets, we give them back.
We argued. Best management I have ever seen.
My daughter said: I don t like those people, let s never come to this place again. Let s go next time to another place(Prospect park), they also have sea lion show.

So as it s my second terrible expiriance there and I will never go there again, until you teach your workers how to treat customers and work with tickets. They mixed our tickets, made us waste our time on line for the movie, and then refused to help, from arguing with them all our members were upset.
Last time you helped us for their unprofessional attitude, but second time I think it s not an happenstance, but the way they usually work.

Delightful experience. There is a wide variety of fish form around the world.

I have always loved this aquarium. It s very family friendly!