This place is terrible! It takes everything touristy about an aquarium, leaves out everything educational (and educated - clearly no one here is a zoologist or marine biologist) and slaps it down in a stip mall beside a Salvation Army. I bet if you asked one the high school kids working there where a particular hfish came from, they wouldn't know. The fish and birds probably came from the pet store down the street, anyway. Every creature there Is commercially available and "expendable" as far as the pet trade goes. They take care of the animals as though they are expendable. The big tanks are made to look pretty (though they aren't spectacular) with little to no consideration for the animal's natural habitat. The little tanks look like starter home aquariums. They mix fish from completely different parts of the world together in one tank. I'm all for hands on, but their animals (birds, reptiles, and fish in touch tanks) are stressed out from the thousands of handlings they get from rambunctious kids. These animals will get sick and some will die. In fact I saw dead fish. Pure exploitation. read more

My first time with my little sister in the Big Sister Program. I was just going to write this review about how horrible it was and then I read the yelp reviews which confimed my feelings. I plan on reporting them to ASPCA. If you don't have enough money to keep tanks clean, put up signs, add lighting so you can see, don't run a business....and especially off of animals. Many are in small contained tanks with no surroundings. Large Turtle is just by himself on some sand. Large iguana is put up on high so all the kids (toddlers) can touch him all day. No supervised staff walking around. Koi pond was filthy. Way overpriced for that experience. I don't mind the shopping center location, just spruce up the place to make it inviting so see healthy fish and mammals, not depressed ones. Check in was not pleasant and gal tried to overcharge me after I told her my little sister was free (Big Sister Program) and I am a senior, she says, "$30.00 please". read more

I was traveling from out of town with a friend, and one thing I love to do in new cities is visit their aquarium. Given that Austin is such an amazing city, we had high hopes for this aquarium. One thing that sets them apart is that they have lemurs that you can pay a little extra to interact with, and that was so fun for us - especially King Julian! The staff was also very nice. The reason I'm not giving more stars is because this is like an old department store or maybe a Petco or something that they converted into an aquarium. It's very, very small. The smallest that I've been to. The young children looked like they were having fun, and this may be a great place for young kids if you don't want to spend hours looking around. If your kid is older than 10, they may be expecting something bigger. We got through in less than an hour. If you're an adult without kids, this may be a little bit boring and underwhelming for you. read more

The place is small and looks old and decrepit in spite of just opening. The only thing my children enjoyed was being able to touch the sting rays. Other than that the whole experience was disappointing. A lot of the displays look homemade. The staff is not very knowledgeable and do not monitor the exhibits. There were teenagers ripping the star fish off the rocks. This business is just out to make a buck without in regards to the safety or health of the animals. Some of the fish and other animals look sickly. It probably took us 30 minutes to go through the exhibits because a lot of them were empty! I feel bad that I contributed to this place. Save your money!! read more

Well today we visited the aquarium. It was, at best...OK. Here are my thoughts and observations from today's visit. Walking up to it, was not well laid out as you enter, it was very dark throughout the very tiny space, the enclosures the various animals are kept in are minuscule in size compared to other aquariums we have visited, there were lots of fish, lorakets, and lizards....but lacking in variety. Additionally, the size of the animals, fish included, were small. There were a few tanks and cages empty or mis-labled which was disappointing to us all. The party area set up for birthdays and such was so dark and the play area was closed and looked incomplete and unsafe in the current state. The kids still enjoyed the sights though overall. There were a few things that stood out as "fishy" to me as well. I know from experience in other cities, that hand washing before touching the animals, or the water they live in is a MUST. Here it was not. The washing station is actually located behind the pool and we only noticed it because our hands smelled fishy and we wanted to get the smell off. I was reluctant to let my kids put their hands in , but caved after I was clearly the odd mom out! In fact, after seeing a boy drench his entire arm into the stingray pool, I provided some rules for my own kids. There was no one standing there monitoring at that time. The second stand out mistake was the shark tank. Again, no hand washing was required. It was however merely suggested by the lady monitoring the tank. BUT, they were not allowing us to feed the sharks as we were told when purchasing the tickets because the PH balances were off. Specifically, I was told, "We monitor the water PH. And, we stop the feedings whenever we notice spikes in the Ph balance of the water; therefore, we are not allowing this today." My question is this: why then are we allowing people to put their hands and arms into the water tank?? My kids were instructed to not. The last part that stuck out as odd, the cashiers were unable to do many things that would be helpful. This included, returning items that were over charged, applying the 10% discounts for members after ringing up a total, changes to any memberships including adding people or canceling them, and providing refunds. All these tasks required a manager to complete the task. I was so disappointed with this experience, I called and refunded my son's birthday party I had scheduled. That, was smooth and easy. I thank them for that. We won't be returning. :( read more

They have no receptionist or telephone operator. I tried to call them several times at their one and only number 512.284.9240 to get better directions and ask about possible promotions and just got a voice mail that said to "leave a message." This is ridiculous for a business. I will not even attempt again to go there especially with the bad reviews about being overpriced and limited exhibits. read more

This place is not only a joke, but a scam as well. It is located in a strip mall next to the Salvation Army. Half of the tanks were empty though they are still charging people full price. The tanks that are full are dirty and the animals look depressed. Most of the fish are tiny. Their website advertises a huge tank you stand in front of-not accurate at all. You have to kneel down to see anything in the tanks. Additionally, they advertise large sharks; the only sharks they have are small. What was most blasphemous is that in the aquarium itself, they have a picture of a large shark, with "Feed the sharks: $3" on it. Really? Oh, and most of the tanks are open on the top, and they let all the kids (hundreds) dip their hands into the water, which could explain why the water's so dirty. The animals do not seem happy at all. The employees are mostly teenagers and know nothing about biology or marine life. We had bought the tickets online, and I asked for a refund because they didn't even check our tickets going in and we only spent about 10 minutes inside, it was so small and depressing. After a few minutes of irritability, the girl told us "the person upstairs" would do the refund...well, it's been days and they still haven't. They don't answer email apparently and I tried to call once, but no one answered. Oh well. I hope they shut this place down. Not only is it lame, but I'm sure the animals aren't being cared for properly. The place seems like a creepy skate joint for kid's birthday parties...there are hundreds of kids, a dark and weird-looking play area, and birthday parties going on in the back. This place was a waste of time and money, and very disappointing. They are literally stealing from people. It mostly pisses me off how misleading their advertising is. Also, it is not educational at all. Usually aquariums and zoos have informational tidbits about the animals...these were nonexistent here. Like another reviewer said, the experience was akin to walking through PetSmart and looking at the fish...except at PetSmart there's better lighting and also labels about what species the fish are. Ridiculous! read more

Crazy, crazy AWFUL!!! The website, logo and branding is completely misleading. This is the worst waste of money for me in who knows when!! The only way I can justify my stupid mistake is that it's new, and I wouldn't have heard otherwise, but had to go myself to see what this new Aquarium was all about. The locals will figure it out. My thought is that tourists who don't know any better might get sucked in to going, cuz it sounds good, or website has a professional look, al the while this is amateur at best and a total waste of money! Seeing the other reviews of this place now, I am totally bummed that I fell for this. What a waste of money. The only way I feel I made up for it was to go to Luby's up the street, afterwards for Kids eat Free on Saturdays, hahaha. sad, sad, sad.... to make up for the $53 for NOTHING that I spent. This is pathetic and a disgrace! IT's not going to be there long. Nor are the animals. Some staff were keeping an eye on a half dead alligator when we were there. The hands in the interactive pools are gross! Poor animals. I see this lasting a few months at the most. A strip mall next to Salvation Army, no offense SA, is A REALLY BAD SIGN. Credit to the branding, it looks good, looks are deceiving... the gift shop is decked out in comparison to the actual aquarium, with hardly any exhibits. Good grief, I can't believe how awful.... To the reviewer John K... it looks "not quite finished" but it probably IS. read more

very unhappy, It located on a strip mall which was not good at all,it very small,not worth spending your money there,you will be disappointed read more

We bought a family membership to support the Aquarium when we heard there was an Aquarium coming to Austin. We had high hopes but were very disappointed. First the facility itself is tiny to be considered an Aquarium...it took us about 30 to 45 minutes to explore and see everything they have to offer. There was a poor effort at any education since most of the displays have no or poor information about what you are looking at. Overall it was somewhat tacky and not at all what you would expect when you visit a "real aquarium". Its hard to believe they will be around very long...we definitely will not renew our membership. Austin deserves a better facility if they are going to call themselves the Austin Aquarium. read more

Our family had a membership, which we enjoyed especially as we got it as my then 2 year old daughter had limited mobility in a stroller as she was mending a broken foot. Fast forward a year to today, and I contemplated upgrading our day passes to another year membership for our now 3 year old, though I quickly decided not to as my daughter fell twice by the sting rays. The floor was so slick by the back wall (and not where it is damp from the sting rays splashing) that I saw two other children fall to the floor in the same area as well. I told an employee about the issue of such slick flooring who then said it had been reported to the manager previously but nothing had been done yet. I talked to the manager directly right after who said he would look into it and work on getting some more traction on the flooring. What should've been a fun outing with friend turned into many tears. My daughter's knee has a knot/bruise the size of a golf ball from the incident. Not cool. If this gets remedied quickly so no other kids get injured, I will gratefully improve my review. read more

This place is sad. Not knowing anything about it I want thinking it would be like the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, boy was I wrong. This is a glorified pet store. All the animals are in small tanks/cages. The place was in horrible dirty shape including the kids play area. We liked feeding the sting rays but other than that we hated the place. I was so mad my husband took the day off of work so we could go. Save yourself the money and visit Petco instead. read more

This is a great place if you know what to expect and if you're the target audience. We have two young children, live close by, and bought the cheap family pass. For us, this is ideal for short, frequent, inexpensive family outings. My kids are happy walking around Petsmart, so this is major fun for them. I wouldn't compare it to a first rate aquarium so don't go in with that expectation. As much as I think my family will enjoy it, I don't think I'll bring friends and family that don't have memberships. The single visit ticket price seems too high for what it is. I also wouldn't take a day trip to see it if you're from out of town, unless you pair it with other activities you're excited about as well. I read the Yelp reviews before going and wanted to comment about complaints that I read prior to going.... - Everyone does not dry their hands on the same wet towels. I actually asked about the towels out of curiosity. It's like one long towel on a roll. Pull down for fresh portion of the towel and the dirty part goes back into the machine to be stored. It is later removed and laundered before being reused. They said it wasn't turning properly the first few days so that's probably where all those complaints came from. It is working now. - Yes, it is dark. Darker than I would like, but it didn't really bother me. The playscape was closed for repairs, so my kids didn't get to play over there. The playscape was also darker than I would like, but it didn't seem so dark that it would be unsafe. - I didn't see debris laying around inside the aquarium, but there was some out front that needs to be picked up. - Employees were great! Lots of employees who are all friendly and knowledgeable. They kindly told guests which animals not to touch and how to touch the ones that you could touch. - Tanks seemed adequately sized for the animals. The stingrays and other animals in the touch tanks could easily stay away from you if they didn't want to be touched. - Overall, the other visitors were respectful of the animals and parents were watching their kids. I did see one woman pick a star fish up from the boat and actually take it out of the water so her kid could touch it. With all the employees around I'm surprised no one saw it. They should definitely have a sign before you go in with detailed rules. There were signs all over about only touching with two fingers, but obviously some idiots need to be told not to remove starfish from the tanks. The handwashing also doesn't seem to be enforced and I do wonder how unwashed hands affect the water. - Most tanks had animals in them. It seemed almost fully stocked. - They weren't allowing guests to feed most of the time we were there. They said that the water quality wasn't quite where it should be so they weren't allowing it. I'm happy to see that they monitor the water quality closely and stop the feeding when necessary, even if it means not making money from selling the fish food. I do wonder how our hands impact the water quality though. -The gift shop was very large and had lots of neat stuff - I like that you can bring your own snacks. I hate getting gouged for a bag of pretzels and a juice box. My kids had an absolute blast! They seriously loved it. I bet they'll be seeing us a couple times a month. If I didn't have kids, going once every few years would be enough for me. read more

This aquarium is horrible, not because it is a "let down" but because the animals are in horrible condition. The place smells horrible, tanks have leaks, and the animals seem extremely stressed and a few of them were dead. I'm not kidding, this place won't be open long. It is NOT worth the price for the "opportunity" to pet live, freaked out sharks and rays that are trying to beach themselves. Stay away from this place. read more

This place was cool. From the outside we thought it was going to be a pet shop but very well organized and great for kids. Awesome staff and lots of hands on learning opportunities. Highly recommend. Don't be taken back by appearance. It's a hidden gem. read more

Do not waste your money and do not support this dump. The place looks run down as if it's been in operation for years and hasn't been taken care of when it's only been open a short time. The tanks are about as impressive as those you'll find looking at fish in a pet store. Many of the fish and other species looked half dead, many of he larger species were in tanks far too small for them, and they are planning to bring otters, seals and sea turtles in. The thought of those larger species being trapped in these horrific conditions saddens me. I pray that this place is shut down in the near future and every species there is taken to a better, more humane living environment. read more

I took my granddaughters and we had a blast! I saw nothing but caring staff who were eager to teach my girls about the animals. We took a behind the scenes tour with Hank the octopus and oh my gosh.....so much fun!!! He is sooooo cool and Alan a staff member was incredible telling us all about Hank...very patient with my young granddaughters. I could not have been happier and before we were even leaving they were asking when we could come back and see the animals again. Oh and be sure to feed the birds! They flew all over us for almost 30 minutes. This place is flipping incredible!!!!!! read more

I had very low expectations for this place and somehow they still disappointed me. I don't even care that it's small and you walk through it in 30-45 minutes. I can also live with the price even though it's ridiculous that they are charging the same prices as a full-sized aquarium would. Also, the darkness isn't really a big deal to me since I can see pretty well in it. What REALLY ticked me off was that those poor animals are being ABUSED. Stingrays swimming around in circles all day getting touched my grimy hands and hand fed by people with oily skin. They even put out a sign that said, " sorry our rays are stuffed to the gills." That's not good. I understand kids love this kind of stuff but feeding rays this much food by so many different and dirty hands is going to kill them. It's appalling. Don't even get me started of the birds or sharks. They are already in captivity which is sad enough as it is, please stop pimping them out to little kids with boogers all over their hands. This place needs to be shut down. read more

Pretty Underwhelming ! ...not many exhibits and very small , it ended so quickly and the whole thing seems very unprofessional and a little cheap. Yes they have sharks but they are small ones in an open pond , have some other fishes , reptiles and birds as well yet the whole thing is kind of flimsy and cheap. May be ok for very small kids ..i wont go there again. read more

This is not worth the entrance fee they charge. Its just a bunch of fish tanks where they have sea horses, frogs, snakes. They have 2 big tanks with sting rays and other fish. I think one was a very small shark. You can feed these in the big tanks which you pay $3 for a very small amout of food. They also have birds that you can go into the cage with. Theres a better aquarium at Cabellas in Buda and dont forget corpus. If not then just go to a store that sells fish and fish tanks and its free. read more

I was unimpressed. It cost $14 and took about 45 minutes to stroll through the entire place. It is more like a large fish store where no fish are for sale. In my head I was expecting a small Seaworld, but that is far from reality. The aquarium is in what used to be Lacks Furniture (I think). Austin zoo is less expensive and has much more to offer. Pros: the staff was all pleasant and knowledgeable. read more

The exhibits and the aquarium experience were interesting and entertaining. The accessible tanks which allowed feeding and touching were great. My wife and I went and think it would be a wonderful experience for the grandchildren. Why then the low rating? Simple: the personnel. In the 2 hours we spent there we were acknowledged and actually spoken to by one employee even though we initiated interactions with at least a half dozen. The usual responses were grunts or single syllable answers. Every employee from the front door cashiers to the feed vendor at the rear of the exhibits were flat out rude, with the exception of Denton who approached us, greeted us in a friendly manner, answered questions, was a wealth of information, and a bright spot in this personality wasteland. The $3 each or 4 for $10 fee for food for the exhibits is ridiculous when you discover what you get, about 5 krill to feed the rays, a one and a quarter once cup of pellets for fish. I understand "for profit". I also understand gouging. Admission costs vary. Our "senior" rate was $13.95 each. read more

First of all I feel they combined what should be an aquarium with a zoo!! Why are there birds at an aquarium again? Why is there a tortoise ? Where are the sea turtles? The Sharks were a joke (about the size of a remote control and I'm not kidding Lolol) ...our home aquarium is more interesting (again not kidding). The exhibits are not labeled well and anytime you need help from staff you have to walk allll the way to the admissions counter to get assistance (not convenient when you have 2 kiddos with you plus the kiddos that are already there) I feel admission should be free due to the lack of sea creatures and you should only pay for food if you want to feed the animals and gifts...the mermaid was a nice touch, but what about a merman? My boys were not interested in her lol... I like how there are sinks throughout the facility for hand washing which deserves one star! To be honest you are better off taking your kid to Walmart or pet smart to look at the fish section... The staff are friendly but they are only at the admissions area and birthday area. The people that are assigned to the birthday area are NOT as helpful... I have lived in Austin for 2 years now and I live right up the street so I said why not try...but for what we experienced, a nice day at the park would have sufficed ... Even my 5 year old wasn't impressed. The exhibits are not labeled well so you don't know what you are looking at most of the time and you will be walking around in circles because there are no signs telling you which direction to walk in to se a specific display.... The owner needs to read these reviews and make a change...Austin is a really nice city with a crappy aquarium... I know you can do better so review the feedback and make some changes... If this is the first aquarium you have been to, I encourage you to travel outside of TEXAS to see what a REAL aquarium looks like... suggestions : Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is Amazing, the aquarium in New Orleans, Orlando and Atlanta are the ones I know so far. They put this aquarium to Shame..heck even San Antonio aquarium read more

We've been members for years here and have seen fantastic changes since Alex took over managing it. We love bringing our grandsons here and watching them identify all the beautiful aquatic life. PLEASE if you are the owner remove the unsupervised play area in the back! It is a lawsuit waiting to happen! Although it is supposed to be for smaller children, larger kids enter this tiny area and manage to climb up extremely high and when falling down hurt the children below waiting to enter the enclosed slide. Which is another problem. The slide opens out into the room where people are walking and it becomes a human bowling alley with children being hurt and knocked down. We are with and watching, supervising our children. Too many parents there do not and this area has become an unsupervised unsafe dumping ground for people who would rather play with their phones than their children. We had to leave early on our last visit because our 2 year old for the 3rd time was roughly grabbed by another child while trying to come down the slide. You can easily turn this space into an interactive learning area that would enhance the aquarium instead of setting it up for a law suit because a child was injured. Children that want to play that roughly should be in a park playground and not the aquarium! We cannot supervise other people's children. Our only recourse was to leave. Please I'm begging you to remove the play area! read more

It's not as bad as people are saying... You need to have realistic expectations for an aquarium that is in a strip mall in NW Austin. It's not Dallas World Aquarium (5 stars) by any stretch of the imagination. Yes it is dark inside, but every indoor aquarium I have ever visited is dark. C'mon is that even a realistic complaint? There were some issues that need to be developed. For one, the signage and descriptions for each display. Secondly, more of an effort to remove animals that are no longer with the living. There were some dead looking jellyfish that I think were only moving because of the current of the water in the tank. I notice there are some pretty negative reviews on here. I think that for the most part people that wrote a review don't have any respect for the effort being made to entertain you, or you are on a PETA crusade. (save your energy for SeaWorld) The big iguana was quite a "showboat" and that was pretty entertaining, but the highlight of the experience for me was hearing the excitement in all of the kids voices. One child exclaimed, "Oh wow, a seahorse! I have never ever even seen one of those!" That was just awesome. Thank you to the owners, thank you to the staff, and mostly thank you to the animals that a lot of these little kids wouldn't be so quick to see, touch, and experience otherwise. read more

I was not impressed at all it was implied that they were only open for members, for purchasing a membership, but I saw MANY MANY people buying tickets to get in so it did not matter if you were a member or not , which led to the place being way over crowded plus half of the tanks were empty and the touch tanks were around 3 feet deep so you could not reach the fish even if you wanted. I did not see enough staff protecting the animals there were kids tapping a banging on the tanks to make the fish, frogs, and other various animals jump and I had to take it upon myself to tell them to stop! There are only restrooms at the front and not anywhere else in the Aquarium . It was not very handy for the handicap there was no place to rest along the way , not that a normal ability person would because you go through the aquarium to fast because of the size of it , I will give the Aquarium another chance but at this point I am Highly disappointed in my day at the Austin Aquarium !!! read more

We just visited the Austin Aquarium with our 7 and 3 year old. It was very crowded for spring break but to be expected. The place looks very un finished and very dark with wires hanging all from the ceiling. The kids liked it of course because they are young and don't know anything different. Lots of exhibits for touching animals, but kind of sad to see so many kids with hands in the water and not much employee supervision. Lots of empty exhibits and the signage totally sucked to tell you what you were even looking at. When an actual employee did try to talk about the animals, it was so loud you couldn't hear anything. I saw field trips that were totally rushed through entire areas with the tour guide who told them they couldn't touch anything because of the crowds. Not really worth it for $45 for 4. Save your money and go to the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus! Much better!! read more

We bought a family membership and my family loves comming here. We have a special needs daughter who can sometimes get loud when she gets excited. Instead of the staff (Randy in particular) looking at her like she was different or making us feel like we were not welcome, came over and helped her feed the fish. They were also VERY patient and knowledgeable in answering my sons, what felt like, hundreds of questions. We are excited to see the new animal additions they have planned for this year! read more

It was exactly what I expected. It is VERY family friendly (think petting zoo). It has a couple of really neat exhibits. The shark tank has a cave that the kids can walk under that is completely enclosed in glass and see-through. The mystery of discovery through having the opportunity to see Jelly Fish, a crocodile, touch sting rays, a very large iguana. It was a nice opportunity to take our daughter to experience sea life. It was not the fanciest place in the world, but who cares! We will go back. They now have digital displays up around several of the exhibits that tell what is in some of the tanks. Even as recently as a week or two ago, many of the tanks were not yet labeled. This aquarium is brand new, so they still have some growing to do, but the staff was friendly. I think that the attitude of the people working there tells me that they are going to continue to improve and I think they will work out the kinks, and improve the signage. I think it will always be a very kid friendly aquarium, (i.e. a lot of the exhibits have glass faces that even people only 2 feet tall can see.) I give it 5***** for family fun, but it is a "3* hotel," so if you are looking for a more exotic aquarium - you will need to try Chicago, or even Houston. The price was reasonable at $36 - if you buy your tickets online ahead of time. We have a 2-year-old, so we bought the season pass - $75 (after tax). Go twice and it is roughly a break even, go thrice and you got a deal. The truth is: I want to see this local aquarium succeed and thrive. I went in with low expectations after reading some of the really derisive reviews on this page. But, the staff was good, and I think if you know what to expect, then, you will be pleasantly surprised. read more

Austin aquarium is such a great place! Great staff great everything I highly recommend going

Went to this aquarium for the first time the other day for a 'date day' with my partner... It cost $30.00 for 2 tickets to get in. Pretty pricey but it looked fun so I didn't mind... Until I went through the actual thing. It was not worth $30.00. It does have a couple of neat fish and you do get to touch sting rays but that's about it. We were able to purchase some food pellets to "feed" the fish but none of the fish cared about the food? It was as if they were all too full already. So that was a bummer that we purchased the food. It was still fun(ish) to drop them into the water but not for extra money when the fish didn't care. The place had water EVERYWHERE on the floors with no wet floor signs and I almost fell twice. I saw a little girl slip in the water as well. Very dangerous. The iguana is what I was most excited to see and it was not even there. I would have been more happy paying about $10.00 for 2 tickets... Not $30.00. Will not ever be going back here again. read more

Austin aquarium is great. My daughter loves it. You can make an appointment to have a one on one interaction with Hank the octopus. The octopus care taker Mandy taught my daughter everything about octopi. Mandy was great and really knowledgeable and patient with my daughter. I highly recommend it. read more

My little boys (2.5 & 4.5 years) enjoy the aquarium, but I feel that I am far over due for a review. We have seen animals come and go since it has opened and it has had its share of construction issues and leaks etc... Something is always out of order or under construction. We have overlooked these issues and continued to return, however today's experience warrants this review. The manager said that she could not and did not have the staff to clean up a URINE ACCIDENT in the children's playscape area. It was reported and she knew of this incident. Other children were still playing in this area!! Totally disgusting and shockingly irresponsible!! read more

The cost is not much less than that of major aquariums in Dallas, Houston, etc and the experience takes about an hour to walk through the entire place. It would be a nice place to take a toddler as they do have an indoor playground my son was way more interested in than petting sting rays at the age of 2, but he can do that anywhere for much less. read more

It's a shame this place has the word "Austin" in the title. It's in no way affiliated with the city. It's a for-profit enterprise run in a former Lack's Furniture store. We went for a birthday party and won't be back. If you've ever been to another city's aquarium... this isn't that. read more

I don't think this should actually be called an aquarium. It's a collection of improperly cared for, and extremely overcrowded animals in filthy cages. This is not a non-profit, educational opportunity. It's a privately owned chain, (that have been shut down in other locations for the neglectful care of their animals, and who's owner spent time in prison for illegal capture of marine animals). I was fooled by the name, Austin Aquarium, and thought it would be similar to aquariums I've seen in the past. It was extremely dirty in the building, overpriced, and there were no employees anywhere to help safely guide you in touching or feeding the animals. All in all, if you want to see a depressing petting zoo that borders as animal abuse, go here. Otherwise, don't waste your time or money. read more

What a joke. My daughter was looking forward to the octopus that they advertise. They are in transition and the new one is still in training. Not worth the dough. read more

Been here twice. First time was good considering it was within the first month of opening. Second time not so much. First of all the guy working the register needs to find a different line of work. He wasn't so pleasant and just had that "I've got better things to do" attitude. If you're going to work customer service you should at least learn how to smile and say thank you, especially when your biggest clientele is children. (Don't know his name but he was working the register last night between 6-9 pm.) I like the concept of the touch and feel pools but they really need to be supervised. There were NO employees in the first room with the starfish pool. No one to make sure children running around with out their parents weren't causing harm to the fish or putting things in the water that don't belong there. I did see a fish that looked near dead just laying on the bottom of the pool. Poor thing. Same goes for the second room with the stingrays. No one supervising the tank to make sure they were being fed and touched properly. Sure there's a sign telling you how to feed them but I barely even noticed them so I highly doubt excited kids running around are going to see it. Now there was one employee but he was focused more so on the snake that he was holding. I guess his job was to let people hold and touch it. So after feeding and touching the stingrays and the snake you need to wash your hands so they have a sink but the soap was completely out. The next room holds a tank full of Koi fish. And when I say full I mean FULL. There's also an area that you can walk into to feed a bunch of parakeets. My daughter was pretty thrilled about that. The girl running the show had her hands full, as she was running around preparing the food and making sure that people knew when to get in and get out. There was a lady there with her two kids that were freaking out from all the birds so the girl working the aviary helped the mom by picking them up and taking them outside. She was good but she definitely needed another person to help her. Walk down the hallway a little and there's a couple of parrots sitting out on their designated branches but not caged in with only a rope separating them from us. Again no one there to supervise. They do birthday parties there so there's kids running around unaccompanied by adults. My kids know better but say one of these other kids decide they want to touch the birds, well what's stopping them. Not even a "do not touch or feed" sign. Even the gentlest of birds can bite and when a parrot bites it can break a finger. The gift shop is nice but I'm pretty sure I could have walked out without paying for my items. There was one girl at the register and she had her back towards us because she was helping the people coming in. Oh wait there was another guy by the name of Alex that was too busy bribing a couple to give him 5 stars on a yelp review, which is actually what prompted me to write this review. He told them he would give them free passes if they went on Yelp and gave him 5 stars. Of course I was curious so I checked Yelp on the way home and sure enough the girl took the bribe and made the review for Alex giving him 5 stars. What a shame! Finally Mr. Smiles came to check us out and after I was done paying he says "ok you're done". Again no thank you for coming or come back to see us. My husband also made a purchase but he didn't even get a "you're done" because the guy was too busy chatting with the girl behind him. Well that guy was right about one thing, we are done and we wont be back. read more

We had a great time at the Austin Aquarium. It is a family friendly environment and fun for any age. All the staff were very friendly. Our daughter is 21 months and had a great time running around and seeing all the birds, fish, and reptiles. read more

I think this aquarium just opened. My son (almost 2) had a ball as did older kids. There were 3 touch areas. First you wash your hands to not contaminate the tanks (maybe bring your own hand towel to dry if you might mind using the eco-friendly resuable towel..I just didn't get how that works). One area when you first walk in has sea stars. Watch out for the signs they don't actually want you to pick them up but you can touch them and the sea plants. Theres some tanks with jelly fish , an eel, sea horse and shrimp. Theres another tank with beautiful fish thats open on top. Its pretty tall but I still didn't at first see the sign that said its not a touch tank. Don't stick your precious fingers in that one the fish jump up and bite! Ouch! JK they do bite but it didn't hurt. There's a tank where an octopus is supposed to go but he/she was out quarantined. There's a big tank were the kids (and parents) can feed the rays. There are tons of them and they are not at all timid. They just come up and stick there heads on your hands to get shrimp. My little one loved this. We would have stayed there forever but he started splashing so we had to carry on. Further on there were maybe 2 empty tanks near the climb and play area. The next tank had big turtles. Next to that is a big cage with many colorful birds. You can go in with an attendant to be closer. Be careful, don't stand right under their little wire or you might get pooped on! Theres some other tanks with iguanas, a macaw and some other animals. There was a guy with some small snakes that we let slither on our arms. Next is another big touch tank with sharks. You can feed the sharks and pet them just be careful! The place was not perfect but very fun for a rainy day outing. I think they are still perfecting everything. If all the tanks were full I would give another star. The parking is free and they were giving military discounts. read more