Review of the Georgia Aquarium in Downtown Atlanta

Downtown Atlanta is becoming more of a hot spot for daytime attractions. One attraction in particular is the Georgia aquarium. I could not wait for the aquarium to open. From driving by the construction site, and seeing the many means of advertisements, I knew it was going to be big. It is the world's largest aquarium and houses whale sharks and other unique species of marine life that were brought in from all places in the world. Opening day was November 23, 2005.

Their website, www.georgiaaquarium.org, is a very user friendly site and allows you to purchase tickets on-line, which is what I usually do. The tickets will give you a timed entry to try and control the number of people at a time inside. You can look at live web cams, and also gives you a sneak peek to what you will see. Explore around and entice yourself. You can plan ahead of time what you will do when you arrive.

Once inside, there are many interactive stations like petting stingrays, horseshoe crabs, starfish, & even shrimp. And the rest of the aquarium is set up in little quadrants that allow you to walk through and see everything. It is just frustrating when the aquarium is overcrowded, I felt it wasn't as enjoyable. There are cute little playful sea otters, amazon species of fish, beluga whales, sea lions, penguins, and tons more. But my favorite is going through the acrylic tunnel of the vast sea creatures. You can look up, left, and right and see fish, sharks, and stingrays gliding all around you and then you will eventually make your way through the tunnel and be mesmerized by the gigantic window. There are seats to sit down and take it all in. You could just relax for hours and never get bored with the ever changing scenery. And when you want a whimsical show, they also have a 4-D theater. It plays a little animated flick. The kids will really like it. The aquarium also has several choices of food at their cafe if you are there for lunch or dinner. I have yet to try it so I am no help in that department.