This aquarium is in a sad state of affairs like mall it resides in . The aquarium is in need of a good cleaning. The exhibits are sparsely populated with fish. Many of the exhibits are covered with paper that say they are closed for renovation . The exhibit the kids can climb into smells like sweaty gym socks . The touch tanks are sparsely populated And the staff lacks knowledge of the of the creatures they supervisor . Honestly don't waste your money . Travel to real aquarium . read more

This was a great place, my son and I thorougly enjoyed ourselves. When my nieces come for a visit we will be going back!

My boyfriend's a marine science major - when he came up from Florida to visit me this was the closest aquarium that had saltwater fish to satisfy his coral curious, fish fact filled mind. He was amazed at how large some of the fish were - apparently the ones in this aquarium have been well selected and taken care of to get to such a large size. As a non-marine science major, I enjoyed the little digital screens & artistic prints that explained neat facts & where each creature was from. They have a student rate & other discounted rates, but it's still a bit pricey & the gift shop is way overpriced even for an attraction like this. The tunnel tank is pretty cool though & the touch tank for horseshoe crabs was nice to see. A good selection of sea creatures & corals, plus my boyfriend pointed out one of the clownfish pairs is apparently about to have babies soon - he spotted eggs in the tank & showed me how the clownfish was caring for them, so the aquarium might just have some new editions soon! Skip the rest of the mall though - it's dying & some shops aren't even open during the week. read more

This a small delight. Located in a mall and I suspect that as the mall continues to close shops the aquarium will spill into the neighboring space. Not on the scale of the big city fish zoos but the tanks were cleaned and wonderfully decorated. The tank's lighting is excellent and the variety of fish and other aquatic animals is great. The staff are young, smart and eager to answer questions. We went on a Friday morning (they open at 10:00) and the place was not crowded. I thought the price of admission was very reasonable. The gift shop has well chosen items and again they were reasonable. The aquarium is not that old. It is the place you would want to see now and return in anticipation of much more to come. read more

I went with my boyfriend when it first opened. It was a good time! The exhibits were cool and interesting and the atmosphere was pretty. The only disappointing thing was that it was kind of short. We walked through the entire aquarium in about 30-45 minutes. read more

I honestly thought this aquarium was going to be a bit better than it was. I love aquariums and so I was pretty excited to go here but perhaps my expectations were too high. It's relatively small for an aquarium. It has pretty much 2 hallways of exhibits that both lead to a large area that you can feed some fish and learn starfish, horseshoe crabs, etc. There's a sting ray exhibit that has about 5-10 stingrays but it's kinda hard to actually touch them as they swim by because the waters a bit deep. The exhibits were nice in terms of cleanliness and cool colors but they just weren't too spectacular. The tunnel tank was pretty cool. They have some sharks but they are really little but nonetheless you can see them which is always cool. All in all its a decent outing for the family but it was a $50 afternoon ( admission and small toy for kid) that lasted about an hour tops. The staff was nice and engaging with the kids and the place was clean throughout. It's just not that big of an aquarium and doesn't have any spectacular exhibits. read more

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We went to this aquarium on a Sunday for a fun little day trip. Unfortunately, it was not fun at all. We have been to several aquariums, but the tanks were unhealthy, the visitors were rude, and the atmosphere was horrific. I will never go again. The aquarium was way too over crowded with children. Parents with strollers were blocking the only exit. I understand that aquariums are for children, but the set up makes it less than ideal for people to stroll. Small hallways and bad set up. Save your time and money. read more

Via Aquarium is a small but cute and clean aquarium. Staff was very friendly. We went there as a family with my 1 and 2 year old. The kids had lots of fun and we enjoyed watching them rush around the place excited. For little kids this place is a 5/5. 3.5-4/5 from an adult perspective. Kind of pricey if you had to pay full price for a whole family due to the size of the place, how quick you can go through the place, and not as much variety as normal aquariums that you expect. (ie turtles, penguins, etc.) We were there for 45min-1hr and did 2 laps around the place. My kids are so young they are free so $40 for a family outing was definitely worth it but again its a small aquarium so a bit more than that would have been a lot. Might be worth the season passes if you have little ones though and you think you will go a lot especially in the winter when cabin fever sets in. My one year old couldn't take her eyes off the lighted tanks and watching the fish swim around. I really loved how large most of the fish tanks were. My 2 year old, really enjoyed the interactive areas and definitely has less fear than me. He tried to put his hand in the koi touch tank which is allowed and encouraged. I had to stop him. I have never seen a koi fish behave quite like these ones. They know you might have food and the way they all swim over to you at once. Wow. Watch out, not for the faint of hearts lol. My husband and son enjoyed them but they definitely freaked me out and I had to keep my distance lol. I will admit even though they scared me, they were kinda neat to watch and were really a unique experience I have never seen elsewhere. I learned fish might be a lot smarter than I ever realized before! My son and daughter really loved the water table and spent most of their time there. I think this place is such a cool asset for the capital district that we have never had before. I hope to see them grow and expand in the upcoming years to provide more variety of ocean life, programs, and experiences. Would be neat if they expanded to have a little cafe in the aquarium itself. We had to go elsewhere and left a little earlier than we would have liked for food since there are not a lot of good options in the mall. Not sure if via entertainment across the way had food options but we didn't want to get the kids excited about an arcade especially when it wasn't in our plans and they are too young to play games anyways. Although there are areas of improvement, overall I definitely recommend. We will most likely be back. read more

My experience was not that pleasant. For the price I was paying, I expected more. The fish seem to be genetic defects from the pond behind the mall. The experience was incredibly short-lived, as it is a small aquarium. On the flip side, it is the only aquarium in the area and probably the highlight of the mall. read more

Small but very cool! My daughter loves the touch tanks. I enjoyed the "black light" vibe to the main galleries and the variety of unique species. read more

I enjoy this aquarium over the New England aquarium in Boston. Via is a unique experience that is far more "hands-on" than other aquariums I have been to. I have been to the New England Aquarium in Boston, MA as well as the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, IL. This aquarium, though small in comparison to the aforementioned, is unique in the way it engulfs you into the marine experience. Never in my life have I ever touched a starfish, horseshoe crab, or a stingray. This aquarium allows you to touch and interact with all three animals. I am amazed by the level of interactiveness this aquarium had to offer. The regular tanks were not bad with colorful displays of fish and other marine wildlife. One aspect of this aquarium that truly impressed me was the "Deep Sea" exhibit which shows three unique sea-creatures that dwell in deep-sea environments. My dream since I was a small child was to see the creatures that dwell in the deep-sea! Admission is reasonable but what really sparked my interest were the gift-shop prices. No price gouging here! The prices were all reasonable and actually made me want to purchase something. TLDR: Go to this aquarium. The experience is unlike any other and the staff is friendly. I truly enjoyed my time here and will definitely be returning. Thanks for a good time, Via! read more

We had a lot of fun taking our time going through this aquarium. We went on a Monday evening and had the aquarium to ourselves. It was the perfect date night. For an aquarium housed within a mall, it has plenty to offer. read more

This seemingly small aquarium had a lot to offer with a nice variety of large fish. The staff was very knowledgeable and engaging. There are interactive areas where you can pet stingrays and horseshoe crabs if you are so inclined. I would definitely visit again. read more

My husband and I visited for the first time today with our 17 month old son. We usually make the drive out to Boston for the aquarium but didn't feel like doing a long drive today, so we figured we would give Via a shot because it's less than half the distance and a way better price. I had low expectations but I was pleasantly surprised! It's certainly on the smaller side but it is very cute, clean, and spacious. There was plenty of space for our son to run around and most of the exhibits are low enough that he could check it out without needing us to lift him up. Some of the interactive tech things weren't working properly, but he was way more interested in the koi pond, the ray touch tank, and the starfish touch tank. There's also a water table that kept him entertained for a while. The staff was very friendly and enthusiastic and we found the items in the gift shop to be very reasonably priced compared to what we are used to. A couple exhibits were empty with signs saying they'll be full soon. We didn't feel that it took away from the experience and look forward to coming back when they are complete! Overall, my oceanography-loving husband and my fish enthusiast toddler were overjoyed and it was worth the trip for sure. read more

I went here with my little cousin for her birthday, and we were having an alright time until the end. I had told her she was going to be able to touch the manta rays and she had been looking forward to it all week! When we finally got there she ran over to them and I showed her how to stick her hand in gently, so as not to hurt the rays, and she was doing it the exact right way. However, when one touched her hand she squealed and snatched her hand out of the water, thus scaring away the rest of the rays, and one of the employees (told me his name was Dave) basically screamed at her for "petting them wrong" even though I tried to explain they only ran away because she startled them, not hurt them. He then asked us (rather aggressively) to leave. His outburst was so uncalled for, even I was scared! I was going to buy my cousin season passes for her birthday but now she never wants to come back here again, and frankly neither do I. read more

The aquarium was alright, pretty small for the price you pay. $20 for maybe an hour of entertainment. They do have a lot of activities for kids. Lots of photo opportunities but it's so dark in there it's hard to get any good pictures. We went across to the arcade after to change the baby's diaper...the family restroom was out of order and there were no changing tables in the women's restroom. There may have been one in the handicapped stall but that was locked. We ended up changing her on the bench outside the restrooms whilst receiving MANY dirty looks from other patrons. read more

Visited the aquarium yesterday, Saturday afternoon with family members. The line was very long and took us 30 minutes to get in. What a disappointment. We walked through the aquarium leisurely looking at every display and were done in one hour. The exhibits were nothing much more than you could see in a good fish/ pet store. The only redeeming exhibit were the tunnels you walk through at the end before you exit to the gift shop, which took 5 minutes. My daughter who knows quite a bit about aquariums and fish noticed that several fish were injured or ill. Some of the tanks were dirty and none of the tanks had nice displays . I would only recommend visiting the aquarium if you have small children and you are looking to entertain them for a period of time. Tickets for adults are $19 plus tax and for what we saw and the time we were there it was terribly overpriced. I would say save your money. read more

I took a small group of disabled individuals recovering from traumatic brain injuries to visit the aquarium. Upon arriving I inquired as to why the admission price for our staff was significantly higher than the reduced rate offered our disabled clients who would be unable to attend without staff assistance. The associate "Chris" very rudely informed me if I had a problem he would happily change me and my group full price. After contemplating his rudeness I decided to ask to speak to the manager. While walking around the aquarium "Chris" aggressively approached me and my group and inquired as to why I wanted to speak to management. I informed him I had no interest in speaking with him further and would only like to talk to his supervisor. He took an another aggressive step towards me and got directly in my face asking me if I was sure. Absolutely Chris. I intend to pursue this issue and ask for a response from the owners of this business. The aquarium itself was beautiful and the rest of the staff was very friendly and attentive. read more

It's good if you have young children, like under the age of 5 or 6. The exhibits have little fish that can be hard to see. The tanks are sort of empty-looking. The most interesting part is at the end where you can see and touch koi fish, sting rays and starfish. It's worth a one-time visit, but once the novelty wears off I'm not sure if we'll be regularly coming back at $19 per adult. read more

Great aquarium, very kids friendly. There are sting rays that you can 'touch' (put your palm into water and they can sometimes swim toward it so you can touch them). There is a sand plus light installation, where if you remove some sand, it "fills" with imaginary water (a darker light). There is a station nearby where the kids can wash their hands afterward. Overall, turned out better than we expected, especially for one visit. read more

Small but clean and had touch tanks for fish, sting rays, and crabs. Not too crowded on holiday weekend. Kids loved it!

My husband and I took the day off from work for my birthday and decided to check this place out. It's smaller than I expected but still worth the trip. We went on a Friday afternoon so it wasn't that crowded. We took our time and it took us a little over an hour to walk through. The staff are friendly and seem quite knowledgable about the fish and other species that are there. We don't have young kids but if you do its definitely a great place to take them. There are all kinds of different fish ranging from local to international species. There are also lobsters, seahorses, a small octopus, jellyfish, and-of course-sharks. I was pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of the tanks and I was glad to see that the fish looked quite healthy and well-cared for. I actually enjoyed the touch tanks. You can play with starfish and pet manta rays. There's also a large koi pond where the fish actually come right up to you. It was pretty cool. I've seen my share of aquariums, having been to some very large metropolitan ones (i.e., New England Aquarium in Boston, Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans, and Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas) and I would say for Rotterdam, NY this little place isn't bad. Definitely recommend a trip there especially if you have little kids. They'll love it! read more

Great little aquarium- we took our kids and spent several hours. The staff was very helpful, the place was clean, and the kids had a great time! read more

First impression is mixed. Visited on Tuesday, February 21, 2017. I expected a crowd due to it being February/Winter Break. What I didn't expect was how poorly prepared the aquarium was to handle the volume of visitors. The line to purchase tickets was easily 100 people long, and I'm not exaggerating. It extended the full length of the mall corridor. I was grateful for a friend's recommendation, in advance of our visit, to purchase our tix online. If we had not done so I can't even imagine how long we would have waited in that line to the cash registers. The system of entry is similar to that at a typical movie theater: buy tickets in one line then get in another line to enter. There are three (3) turnstiles to enter the aquarium once you have your ticket, however only one (1) turnstile was staffed/in use. This backed up the entry line. The layout of the aquarium is such that one follows along the "path" from start to end, viewing mostly inset wall tanks along the way with a variety of interesting sea life. These tanks were poorly labeled, imho, despite the presence of an LCD screen to the side (typically two (2) tanks share a screen placed in between them). With the crowded halls you could not easily read the screens as they are torso-level, for adults, and the writing is not static so if your only chance to glimpse the screen doesn't offer a name or description of what sea life you are viewing then you're out of luck. The touch tank was fun, and thankfully staffed, so inquiries could be made if desired. There is a topographic sand table that was actually my preschooler's favorite attraction in the entire aquarium despite her fascination with aquatic life and indeed very popular with many other children of varying ages. The tunnel tank is at the very end of the "path" and is nice/interesting with small sharks and other sea creatures. The tunnel leads to the gift shop, and then the exit. The gift shop was staffed only with a single person at the register, so, you guessed it, there was another line to waste time in if you wanted to purchase anything. Unfortunately, the gift shop was also quite poorly lit (overhead lights were OFF), which is just a poor sales approach. I did not see any restrooms throughout the aquarium, so if there were any, they were not clearly marked. After exiting the aquarium, I was directed by mall security to restrooms in the arcade directly across from the aquarium. [N.B. This arcade is very loud. Also, the only baby changing table is in the locked unisex/family bathroom. One must obtain the key from a staffer.] All in all, the kids enjoyed their visit to the aquarium quite thoroughly, while the parents and grandparents in our group were mildly entertained while also feeling a bit frustrated at the seemingly bad planning for a school vacation week. If you take nothing else from this long review let it be the tip to BUY YOUR TIX ONLINE, IN ADVANCE. You'll be glad you did. read more

Via Aquarium - Topographic sand table at Via Aquarium in Rotterdam, NY - Aquariums Near Me - Schenectady, New York

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My son loves this place. He went with Grandma last week, and immediately asked to go back. They went a second time in the same week and bought the year pass. He was very excited about touching the sting rays, feeding the fish, and seeing the huge lobster. I will also be checking out the upcoming homeschool classes. read more

So tiny and crowded, lines were really long for such a small place and they didn't have much to look at. Also, the place has no air circulation, it was so hot inside and it was in the middle of winter. I wouldn't go back. read more