The Florida Aquarium | Aquariums in Tampa

The Florida Aquarium, located in the Channelside district of downtown Tampa, is one of Tampa Bay’s best attractions and family destinations with activities for adults and kids alike!

The Florida Aquarium first opened in March 1995 as a privately held entity, but was eventually taken over as a not-for-profit organization by the City of Tampa. It is a 250,000 sq ft. aquarium that houses over 20,000 types of aquatic plants and animals.

TripAdvisor.com has recently ranked the Florida Aquarium in the top 10 aquariums in the country and Parent’s Magazine ranked it in the top 5 “Kid-Friendly Aquariums”. Overall, the institution continues to attract an increasing number of visitors with a record number of visitors (675,000) in 2007. There are plans for expansions over several phases for the future.

Currently, the Florida Aquarium boasts 4 main galleries:

The Wetlands
Bays and Beaches
Coral Reef
Ocean Commotion

and other activities and adventures:

Explore A Shore- an outdoor water fun zone on 2 acres with canons, geysers and a climbing pirate ship
Penguin Promenade- see six African Black-footed Penguins to the wonderful selection of aquatic birds housed in our facility
Behind the Scenes Tour- A tour that lets you see the "off-limits" areas and learn what it takes to make the Aquarium work
Dive with the Sharks (for SCUBA certified divers)
The Bay Spirit Tour- Wild dolphin encounters
Swim with the fishes- this is an in-water reef adventure that gives you the opportunity to encounter one of the Florida Keys' most beautiful coral reef dive sites without being a certified SCUBA diver

For more information regarding the Florida Aquarium, please visit: http://www.flaquarium.org/