My family and I visited the Austin aquarium today for the first time. It was very fun! There is ample parking for everyone , as it has a large parking lot. Upon entering the establishment, we were warmly greeted by two employees and two beautiful birds! The birds were so friendly, they were crawling all over the employee, they were obviously very happy and loved. It was $25 to get in for an adult. They also sell tokens to buy food for the animals. Most of the animals are actually touchable! There are rules and restrictions that must be followed. I witnessed the employees cleaning up after the animals promptly, every animal seemed healthy and happy. There was quite a few people inside, not so many to be uncomfortable. All the children inside were ecstatic! So many "Oooo! And "Ahh!". I took nice pictures, I hope you enjoy them, We spent a few hours just walking around and looking at all of the different animals and fish. There was a very large python that I thought was interesting. They also had some beautiful endangered parrots that I enjoyed looking at; those could not be touched. There are too many animals for me to list in this review. My two-year-old granddaughter was so happy and so interested in everything she saw. At the end, there is a wonderful gift shop that is not too terribly expensive! I bought four adult shirts and four beverages and my total was $96. That's an amazing price! I will be back to visit these wonderful animals. Next time, I think I'll touch them! I hope you enjoy the pictures. I highly recommend you visit this aquarium which is so much more than an aquarium! read more

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Lots of small animals, birds, reptiles and fishes in a very small place the place smells and they charge a lot of money, which adds up quickly for small tokens to buy food for the animals. My son got bit by the shark, which is a very common thing over there. read more

It's always great to see animals and learn about them but to enclose them in spaces that are minimum requirements or less by regulations is awful. The penguins thrive swimming in large pool and swim deep. There 4 ft sq pool is awful, it's worst than jail. One is supposedly shedding feathers but probably really caused by stress. If they can't make them thrive and happy in bigger areas they should not have them, and the lemurs area also. All sad to see! read more

Austin Aquarium - Information on how much area for African penguins to be happy - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

Not worth the money as an aquarium. It's more an expensive petting zoo geared towards small children. I should have suspected something when our GPS led us into a strip mall. I went with my son, his wife and my granddaughter. We arrived just as the place opened and it wasn't busy...yet. I know Texas has "opened" and lifted many requirements but in these days of COVID, I expected more staff to be wearing masks but the person at the ticket counter wasn't and neither were a few others I saw. We went into the place and were surprised by how close we could get to the displays and the animals which was nice but without staff to interact with, we didn't realize we could touch some of the animals. Some of the electronic informational devices weren't working so, once again, we were unaware of what we could do or what we were looking at. The exhibit of jellyfish was disturbing once we figured out they were probably dead and were simply being pushed around by the "current". As we got deeper into the aquarium/zoo, more people started arriving and the music was turned on. My granddaughter has sensitive ears and complained about it being loud and put her hands over her ears. As we progressed further in and the number of visitors increased, the ability to safely distance yourself was eliminated. Once a school group arrived, the lack of supervision by school staff or regulation by employees, we felt the need to leave. We did see several people taking advantage of the animal encounter experience. They did look to be enjoying their time but I'm not sure it's worth the expense. (My granddaughter is also too young to participate as they are age limited.) We got a few souvenirs and left after spending about an hour inside. Save your money and go elsewhere. This place is more zoo than aquarium. (I may be biased as most aquariums I'm familiar with have huge tanks and aren't landlocked.) read more

Austin Aquarium - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

This was a fun thing to do to kill a few hours. It is not very big, but you can interact with the different animals and feed them. You can rack out a pretty big bill very quickly if you want to interact with multiple animals. Feeding the otter was very fun! read more

Austin Aquarium - They encourage you to pet the animals - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

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It's small but a good place - the employees make it wonderful! I am calling out the employee in the parakeet room, the balloon guy and the princess - they made it so fun and they were so kind. Also did not realize that they take in owner surrenders of various animals. Some not in good shape - so kudos for that. read more

This isn't an aquarium. It's a rundown pet store. It sits in a strip mall for gods sake. Red flag. The first thing you'll notice is the smell. A combination of lemur diarrhea, fish food, and the stink coming off of every cage that hasn't been cleaned. It's like tiger king got into fish and opened up a factory. The tanks are just open. I can't get over this. You could jump in if that's your thing. It's so unimpressive. Dirty. Cramped. The tanks are SO disgusting. How is this place not shut down? Animals are crammed into cages way too small and carted around for photo opportunities for those willing to pay. There isn't a single good thing to say. I guess the kids are having a good time throwing fish food in tanks but is this really what it's about? We've taken the very best of this world and shoved them behind glass tanks too small and caged animals in such a way that is so very depressing to anyone looking closely. I grew up loving aquariums like in Baltimore or Monterey. This place made me feel physically ill. read more

I'll keep this very honest. My daughter loves sea animals and this is the only aquarium in Austin. We're members there and it's way cheaper to get a membership if you're going more than 3 times a year. The actual aquarium is not the nicest looking or the biggest but it gets the job done and the kids really enjoy it. There are lemurs, sting rays, capybaras (think Encanto, iykyk), etc. lots to see and enjoy. They have their mascot tortoise walking around with a balloon tied around his shell, a mermaid that does glitter tattoos, stingray and shark feeding tank, basically a lot to keep the littles entertained. There is a scent that lingers around there but it's to be expected with the amount of animals crammed into this place. Also, this is a lifesaver activity with kids when it's triple digit heat outside. Wear clothes you would mind getting wet or dirty since they'll be getting their hands wet, OH! And don't forget some hand sanitizer as well. read more

Awful, appalling. First two words that come to mind. The stench right as you walk in the door should be the first clue this place is inhumane. A parrot greeted us at the door shaking with half of its feathers gone. We entered around 2:15 and were gone by 2:30 as I scooted my daughter through. How is this okay? Animals in terribly small enclosures, no daylight, signs that actually say "touch me!" A high school girl was touring and I overheard her say, "these animals look like they hate life". How can anyone enter this establishment and enjoy themselves? It's 2023, we all know better. I'm terribly regretful I spent money here. It's like some sort of side of the road show you would find in the 60's or 70's, back when we thought it was okay to paint with lead based paint, use asbestos and smoking didn't cause cancer. We know better. Whoever owns this, do better. This should be closed. read more

We had never been to this place before but a family member had their birthday there, so we went. My son was bitten by their kinkajou during an encounter. The bite broke the skin, and when I asked for vaccination records on their animals, they don't have them. They directed me to their vet who recommended we go through rabies vaccinations. The girl who works there, the only person I spoke to there, said they take no responsibility because there is supposedly a sign posted somewhere near the entrance that if you come in, you accept the risk of whatever may happen to you, apparently being attacked falls under that. We had to go through emergency room visits to get rabies vaccines for 3 weeks. I asked for the owners to contact me. They never did. I asked if they would cover our medical costs. They would not. Their animals are not properly vaccinated. This is a danger to the people and the animals. Their animals show signs of distress. If we hadn't had insurance, this would have been catastrophic. We are still dealing with the costs. Each vial of rabies vaccine is $900 and there were 3 shots and that doesn't include administering the vaccine and office visits. In the process of learning about what to do, I contacted another man whose daughter was bitten by a lemur there and had the same experience. I've had to talk to Animal Control, state officials, Disease Control, the Better Business Bureau, insurance etc. It's been awful from beginning to end. I CAN NOT believe this place is still in business. DO NOT GO. read more

This place was fantastic we had a blast with my 4 year old! Staff was incredibly both times. A fun afternoon feeding the animals and visiting and really just hanging out. Will be back again! read more

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First and last visit here. All of the tanks and water looked cloudy and dirty. People can just stick their hands in the tanks to touch and feed the animals with no supervision. As mentioned in other reviews there is no natural sunlight coming into the building for the animals. A giant tortoise was roaming around and I did not feel comfortable with my 1 1/2 year old son walking around with that going on. Seriously bad experience and I hope this place gets inspected and closed down. read more

Biggest waste of money! We came on vacation thinking it'd be like a real aquarium... it's not! My 2 year old was not even amused. The animals looked sick or sad. It's way over priced, there were 3 of us and we got 6 tokens and it was $101... it was awful. I'm mad. I want a refund! We went through the whole thing twice and weren't even there an hour. The staff was really nice, it's not they're fault but the visitors and animals deserve better!!! Don't waste your time and money! read more

I am in awe of how cool this place was! It was so fun and amazing and everything was hands on for kids and adults! Came here on a rainy Texas day and was so shocked at how much sea life and wildlife they could fit into this former shopping center in what appeared to be a strip mall. But don't let the façade fool you, this place packs a punch and here's why... When you come in you pay your entry fee and make sure you purchase some tokens for animal food. That part cost a little more but is so worth it and helps support the animals and their care. (Pro tip: check in on Yelp and you get an even better deal.) When you walk through the first thing you come to is a stingray tank. The stingrays are actually really friendly and they love to eat krill, which you can buy in the vending machine nearby. Next, you come to a tank filled with hungry koi, friendly turtles and quite possibly even a few ducks. These guys eat the pellets which cost one token. Definitely don't miss the chance to go in through the bird aviary and feed millet seeds to the cute colorful budgies. They will sit on your hands and feet and head while you feed them. So fun! One of the most unique attractions here is a cage where you can hang with some fluffy lemurs. You need to be 6 years old or older for this event and it costs 4 tokens per person. Thank you Austin Aquarium for being so awesome. The staff here is really great too! We are from California and you guys definitely give Sea World a run for their money, no joke! read more

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Terrible living conditions for the animals, staff mistreated, and there have been multiple incidents of guests getting injured.

Have witnessed some of the negative events that groups have claimed with my own eyes.

I visited back during 2021 and the poor animals were stressed. Maybe due to crowds. But it was so unsettling to me.

Marcus was patient and had the best attitude. He helped me find the best fitting package for my family. We had so much fun feeding the different animals and got to pet everything from sharks to silkies! Thanks Marcus for making sure we knew the best parts of the fun attractions. read more

Austin Aquarium - Great white shark model in front of fun cut outs to take photos with. - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

DO NOT GO HERE! These poor animals are being abused and neglected; with a tight environment, IN a roofed building, it's pretty clear that these animals are stressed and isolated. The string rays are being put in a small container, where they would consistently bumped into each other. And from my observation, not just one -- but AT LEAST three are suffering with "death curls". A death curl is when a string ray's tail has a curl, this is typically means that the sting ray is being severely stressed and malnourished. However, it could also be a symptom that it is about the sting ray's life time is about to pass, but with multiple sting rays suffering from this -- is concerning. I would not like to assume, but with an unfitted environment, these sting rays are clearly overwhelmed. This is just ONE of the many example, there are multiple animals being held in that aquarium, with the same poor treatment and absolutely disgusting environment. They deserved to be freed and cared for by a more fitted and PROFESSIONAL animal's institution. How is this even still open? The business should be shut down. Aside from the horrendous treatment towards the animals, the workers there didn't show any respect either. They charged me with the right amount of money needed to be paid, but as for my friend, they over charged her. Gross ass place. Go somewhere else like a park or something. read more

Austin aquarium doesn't quite compare to several more well know places, but they do have a good selection of animals to see. The kids were entertained the entire afternoon! read more

They do not have adequate care or space for these animals. It is not appropriate for these animals to be held like this.

I've been living in Austin for about a year now and I was almost as anxious as my daughter was to see the aquarium. I ended up purchasing the tickets off of Groupon for a great price I might add. Upon on arrival you would think it would be small in size because of location but it was actually surprisingly large for its space. The entire faculty was pretty clean, no smells out of the ordinary as you expect the watery smell. After entering we purchase gold tokens so my daughter could feed the animals. She enjoyed observing and feeding the fish, they're pretty friendly. We also were able to feed some exotic birds and actually hold one. The staff is amazing as everyone is very friendly and also patient with the children and parents. The food wasn't too good and it was overpriced as well which would be my only negative remark. But seeing all the fish and other animals made my daughters day. read more

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Please don't go here! 1. The animals were in very small cages that didn't look well maintained 2. Children were allowed to touch many of the animals and hand washing was not enforced 3. The place had a distinct fishy smell even before you entered the building 4. The obstacle course was disgusting - very sticky and with blocks that were falling apart 5. It was extremely expensive and it's clear that the money isn't going into maintaining the building or caring for the animals. This was a very sad experience for us and we won't be returning. read more

I tried to look at descriptions online that spoke of crocodiles, bunnies, and great experiences. There weren't half of the animals they claimed to have online and the inside had tons of flies and a lot of koi fish in a medium size tank. The animals had no sunlight as the aquarium is in a shopping center. I can see how this would be a fun experience for very young children who have short attention spans, but it is borderline animal cruelty letting the small children get so close to the animals who are packed in so tightly. Very disappointing, I was so sad to have spent money supporting it. read more

Austin Aquarium - Koi "pond" area - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

An aquarium in the middle of a strip mall. Very small enclosures for the animals and they have no sunlight at all. Its not clean at all. I love zoos and aquariums but this was just sad. read more

Expected it to be larger the exhibits were so small for these animals it made me sad. Kids banging on the glass with parents not telling them to respect the animals. Expensive coins to feed the overly fed animals. Only to be told most times we cannot not no staff is free to help us. Then why sell us coins! And this aquarium had a few animals I would not expect at an aquarium like monkeys? read more

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Yoooooooo! This little gem was perfect for my youngest!! She's 6 (7 in November) I wanted to do a mommy/daughter day and found this on Groupon. We had a blast! She's been begging to return ever since. read more

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For the amount of money they charge for entrance fees and then on top of it having to buy dam tokens for the attractions is beyond me and for them not to have enough employees to run each attraction it's ridiculous, you would think they can staff accordingly to their business.. so over this place not worth the time or the money.. read more

TLDR; overpriced ($14 entry +$30-40 optional -- but recommended -- tokens per person for animal interactions), lack of effective signage, crammed spaces and overcrowding (for people and for the animals!). We had a poor experience with an incredibly rude employee, and a decent experience with the porcupine and stingray interactions. Animal care: I am by no means an expert in animal care, but I did feel that many exhibits were small and overcrowded. Many of the bird cages contained 15-20+ birds from vastly different regions. The koi pond was disturbingly over stuffed with koi, snapping turtles, and ducks. No hand washing was enforced before putting hands inside of tanks. One person that was with my group witnessed a kid pick up two different snapping turtle, wave it around outsides it's tank and faced no repercussions (not even a word!) from their camp counselor. Overcrowding: This place seriously needs to limit the number of people at a given time. Maybe mandatory reservations or even a first come policy would drastically improve the experience. When we came today there were so many kid's-camp groups that it was hard to even walk through the exhibits. Additionally the over crowding seemed to put serious strain on the employees (more on this later!) and their capacity to answer questions, host interactions, etc. Pricing: At the entrance it recommends 8-12 tokens per person (although the employee at the front actually explicitly recommended 5 per person instead). These tokens can be used to purchase food to feed the animals (stingrays, birds, etc), animal interactions (petting + 1 on 1 with a animal guide), and food at the cafeteria. For our group of 3 adults and 1 infant, we decided to buy 15 tokens equating to around $50! Our experience: We definitely did not need 15 as it was rather difficult for us to use them on animal interactions as employees or the animals were not ready at a given time (there were understandable rules regarding when an animal is 'ready' to be pet, etc). We did however get to spend some tokens on the porcupine which was a cool experience! We got to hand feed, pet, and hear some interesting facts about it. We also spend some tokens on food for the stingrays which was also fun. Once we were ready to leave we still had around 8 tokens left. We decided to spend the rest at the cafeteria. Presumingly from the overcrowding they were out of most things in the menu. There was only one employee behind the counter who was obviously overwhelmed and got frustrated at everything we said. Over much compromising over the scraps left on the menu, and what we could purchase with tokens the employee continued to mock and scoff at us. We were waiting for our order of nachos (for about 15 minuets) when they finally got someone else to help out. When we asked about our order the new employee apologized saying that they were actually out of chips. Meaning that the first employee knew this and had said nothing for 15 minutes. Concluding thoughts: Overall do not recommend this aquarium, it is small, overcrowded, overpriced, and I am concerned about the potential of an accident with a child and animal (due to the inability to supervise properly with their sheer number of people at a given time, the lack of proper warnings/signage, etc), as well as the overall treatment of said animals. read more

The aquarium was such an amazing experience. You are able to encounter so many different animals and is such an amazing time! The staff is all very friendly and knowledgeable. Sky was super informative and extremely nice. If you have a chance to go to this aquarium I would highly recommend. read more

Austin Aquarium - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

During my Austin visit, I came upon this aquarium that was interesting to see that visitors have the opportunity to interact with the animals (some for free while others for an add-on fee). I also saw in some exhibits there were booths where visitors can get temporary tattoos, or caricature drawing for a fee. Since I went during the weekday, these booths were closed and there were some empty exhibits (not sure if the animals were resting somewhere that cannot be seen). They also have free admission for first responder (just need to show them your work ID) and foster children. Overall I think if the exhibits are filled with animals and the booths are open then it would be a fun place to visit. read more

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Really enjoyed the ability to get so close to the animals and experience the care given to all the creatures there well done!

It was a fun experience for my 1 year old. Lovely animals, especially had a fun experience in the bird enclosures.. However the place is a bit pricey(Spent $107 for just my mother and i and thats not even including my child) Tokens are used to feed animals but theres barley any food for the animals in stock.. Quite hazardous and not so spacious, lots of unsupervised children running around which makes it IMPOSSIBLE to get by (Mind you most of the flooring is wet too) Place is really small, and too packed. read more

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For me that's one hell of a depressing place: outdated, dark, clearly has seen better days. Frankly, it's the first time in years I've visited (and regret that fact deeply) a place that looks that sad. Fish tanks are small and dull, some of them were empty (bite there are not so many to start with), the fish looked not happy at all. Well, I admit that I can't but compare this place to the ones in SoCal, where the education efforts are present, talking about conservation of species and just the importance of ecosystems, local species, how to help, etc all over the facility. It doesn't feel like it's important at all here. Not coming here again,not recommending to anyone. Even Petco looks more promising than Austin Aquarium to me. read more

Very very cool experience , I took my son while visiting the area and he got to feed exotic birds, salt water fish, porcupines, and all sorts of animals. He really really loved it! I enjoyed it and so did my girlfriend. Glad we went to experience this aquarium. read more

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The Austin Aquarium is a fun place to take you family and there is a lot more inside than it appears. Cute animals to interact with. The highlight for us was Merlyssa, the mermaid. She was awesome! She was believable and so friendly. It wasnt like she just put on a costume or acted like she was tired or bored. She sang, took pics, interacted, all while being patient and kind. We will definitely be back to see her as she made our family smile! Call ahead and ask for her if your littles (or grown ones) like mermaids. read more

I mostly liked the prices here. We went in for Mothers Day and all mothers received free entry that day. And my group got a second discount because the rest of us were students and the student price is discounted as well. So that part alone was nice. I personally do not like the token method at these types of places. They should really just say "wanna pet a lemur? Pay this for the lemur experience". Not lemur experience is x amount of tokens and have you back track the cost. Be upfront. I also believe feeding the creatures should be included in the entry price. If you're not feeding an animal there isn't much else to do there but walk around and look. Making the entry fee a total waste. It's a pretty small and dark building. And believe me tokens are necessary. Animals will only come to you if you have food! You buy tokens and put them into a vending machine to get the feed. Each vending machine is unique to the creature it's nearest to. Some fish eat seaweed so you'll find seaweed next to it while birds need pellets etc. I feel each ticket should include maybe 3-5 tokens? Or something like that to make the trip worth it. Because believe me it's not without buying food. The birds in the cage will not come near you without food. Watching the koi fish race for food was cool too. Even experiencing some fish come up for seaweed was really nice. But all of these required tokens that we purchased on top of our tickets. One token got stuck in the machine and luckily a worker kindly gave us one so the staff is helpful. If not for the discounts we got we probably wouldn't have gotten tokens at all. Especially because we were a big group. It was cool when they brought out this huge turtle with a balloon around him. They just let him roam around for you to pet and take pictures. I think he got fed up though because he walked himself right up to a staff door and everyone joked that he was "clocking out for the day". I've been to one of these interactive parks in Houston and though this location is better it's not that great. Honestly could have lived without going to either location. 3 stars for great discounts and great customer service. But other than that the experience fell flat. And would have rated lower. There isn't much to see here. We were expecting something similar to Houston's Downtown Aquarium but it was nowhere close to that. read more

Austin Aquarium - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Yes, it is small. You can spend a lot of time and money or you can walk through for very little money. We had a lot of fun. The animals seemed very happy and the staff really cared about the animals. Enjoy the animals and you w I'll have a good time. read more

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This place is CRUEL. I was almost in tears when we left because of the treatment of these animals and fish. There was a poor bird right at the entry who had lost all of his feathers from stress. It was very sad. All enclosures were very very small and didn't have enough for the animals to play with or do. The tanks were all way too small for the amount of sea life and did not contain hiding spots or entertainment for the sea life living in them. The amount of touch tanks and animal enclosure that people can interact with was totally shocking. They didn't force people to wash hands before or after interacting with animals or sea life. The entire place looked like a criminal bought animals off of the black market and decided to take a closed down grocery store and turn it into an aquarium. If you want to see a real aquarium go to Dallas World Aquarium. This place was a dirty, sad , waste of money and my family and I will never return. read more

We had family in town and my nephew loves animals. It was also Memorial Day so my husband and I got in for free. We had never been here so we were taking a chance plus it was also suppose to be a rainy day. Upon arrival we thought we were in the wrong location since it was located in a strip mall. Everyone expected the worse because of this luckily we were pleasantly surprised. Once inside my nephew was in heaven. Both my niece and nephew got coins so they could purchase various types of food to feed the animals. Most of the big tanks allowed people to touch and or feed the animals to include: giant tortoises, birds, fish, sharks, sting rays, etc. There was a stronger fishy smell to the air in certain parts of the building. There is also washing stations throughout which was helpful. read more

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