We visited the New York Aquarium on Jun 26, 2025 as part of the Road Scholar's "American Mosaic -…read moreAn NYC Exploration" program. Tickets were provided by our tour group. Parking isn't free, or cheap. We didn't have to worry about that since we took the subway. We started at Glover's Reef and slowly moved through Conservation Hall. By "we", I meant me. There was a lot of people, and they kept walking into my shots. That meant waiting and more waiting, but it was worth it. From Conservation Hall, I exited to an outdoor area known as Sea Cliff. This area housed the otters, sea lions and penguins. More on Sea Cliff later. I approached the Ocean Wonders: Sharks! building, went in, and was immediately greeted by the wonderful underwater glass tunnel. This was easily the most impressive gallery in the aquarium. Multitudes of marine creatures were swimming over my head with every step I took. It was breathtaking. The rest of Ocean Wonders was all about sharks... mostly. There were rays, turtles and other fishes too. Next was the Spineless and PlayQuarium building. The Spineless gallery was not impressive, with the spider crabs and the octopus being the only standouts. No sturgeons. The collection of fishes wasn't as impressive as Ocean Wonders or Conservation Hall. We bypassed the PlayQuarium and into the gift shop. Last but not least, the sea lions. They were adorable. I took some videos but am unable to post them here. They can be found in my YouTube channel @1Somber. Look for "2025-1: American Mosaic - An NYC Exploration" playlist, and the "Day 5: Sea Lions" video. Thankfully, we didn't have to pay for our tickets. If we had, I would insist on visiting the 4-D Theater and the Aquatheater. But we did not due to lack of time. We were given less than 2 hours and the time was almost up when we were done with the main exhibits. The New York Aquarium is definitely comparable with the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA. The visit was enjoyable. It's worth visiting one time.

Visitor rating: 4/5 | Local rating: 3/5…read more As a visitor, I really enjoyed this aquarium! I hadn't been in years, and it was great to see all the updates and changes. During my visit, I saw jellyfish, sea lions, seals, otters, penguins, fish, and sharks. There's plenty to see both indoors and outdoors. The aquarium also does a sea lion show twice a day, and there's a new sea tunnel where sharks and other sea life swim all around you--it's really cool! After your visit, you can walk along the boardwalk and explore the nearby area. I rated it lower as a local (3/5) because if the exhibits don't change often, it can feel a bit repetitive and less worth the price. Overall, a fun visit--I'll definitely be back. Check out the aquarium today!

Pretty views at the Coney Island Beach walk. Nathan's hotdogs & slushies were great! The night…read morescene here was more memorable than in the day. Not as busy for the rides & You don't see as much trash on the beach than you would in the day. Fun family spot.

Coney Island Boardwalk Entertainment Edition…read moreBrooklyn, NY 11224 As you walk along the elevated pathway, there are many amenities along the along the 2.7 mile boardwalk. Out of all the attractions, these are the top three highlights I highly recommend seeing: 1) Coney Island Beach or Brighton Beach Both beaches are free to enter. Be sure to bring your own beach towel, lounge chair and bathing suit. Catch some sun rays or take a dip in the Atlantic Ocean. 2) Pat Auletta Steeplechase Pier Walk along the pier. This is the perfect fishing location for all anglers! If you don't feel like fishing, grab a seat and enjoy the soothing views of the ocean. 3)Nathan's Be sure to stop by the original Nathan's, home of the annual hot dog eating contest. Although it's not the best tasting hot dog, this is a historic location that everyone should visit at least once. Regretfully, a major disadvantage of this boardwalk are the non-cinematic appearances of an abandoned amphitheater and parachute tower. Aside from this, it's a cool place to spend an afternoon especially during the summer and spring seasons. #coneyisland #coneyislandboardwalk #coneyislandbeach #nathansfamous #nathansfamoushotdogs #riegelmann #riegelmannboardwalk #stillwellavenue #stillwellave #pataulettasteeplechasepier #patauletta #pataulettapier #nathansannualhotdogeatingcontest

Luna Park Coney Island is so much fun Wednesday the animals are free the weekends music on the…read morebeach board walk I love coney island in the summer so much fun

Came by to Jump start spring during break for the kids. Its exactly as I remember it…read more Talk about blast from the past. With an addition of some newer rides I've never seen beforem. My 6 year old loved the kid portion of the park. Well maintained and clean. Staff was friendly. Ample restrooms and good food options. Can't wait to come during the summer

Beautiful display tanks. Lots of great lps and zoas from $10 and up. Amazing selection at the…read more$50-$100 price point. Everything is clean and healthy. Salespeople are knowledgeable and friendly. Also good selection of fish and sps. Great store!

They relocated from their previous 8th ave location. Their setup in the store is exactly like the…read moreprevious. They have sufficient space between the aisles for browsing. Definitely one of my go to places for fishes. I visit quite often to check out their weekly selection. They have your fresh water and salt water fishes, corals, plants and other aquatic needs. Great prices, and knowledgeable customer service.

At almost 100 years old, this ride is a classic. This is one of only two rides I rode today. The…read moreother one, the wonder wheel. The two most iconic rides on Coney Island. At 10 bucks, it's a tiny bit pricey, but still reasonable. On a Sunday afternoon in August, there was still only about a 10 minute wait. I was lucky, when it was my turn to board, I got the last car on the train. I really got whipped around!. It's a fun ride. For being an almost 100 year-old wooden coaster. The drops definitely get you. Yes, it is a bumpy ride, and, on the turns, throws you around and beats you up a tiny bit, but that's the fun of the ride! And hey, the seats are cushioned! (unlike the coaster at New York, New York in Vegas. That one throws you around and beats you up, but it shouldn't, because that one is a steel coaster that should've been designed better. But, hey, I digress...) I've always wanted to ride the cyclone, and I'm glad I finally did. It was a blast!

97 years and counting! Protected by the government as a national landmark. It's one of the oldest…read morecoasters in America with its original aesthetic intact. It's $10 a ride but worth it. It's separate from the Luna park so be prepared to have extra cash. It's about a minute or so ride and four steep drops. Ride in the back for more g force! If you're visiting and roller coaster enthusiast, this must be your first choice before other rides. It's even open during autumn season. A Ny stable attraction.

Very nice store. Salesperson was incredibly helpful. He looked at photos of my tank and advised on…read morecoral including reviewing my tank chemical parameters, lighting, etc. There were many beautiful pieces at a variety of price points. I bought a nice hammer coral, a torch, a war coral, and a candy cane. Frags were from $10 to 95. Everything was in excellent health and good value. I highly recommend Mosreef.

I didn't buy anything from this fish store. I just happened to see this store. This fish store…read morehas a lot of salt water fishes.(clownfish, dory, sea anemone, and others). There are different sizes and species of sea anemone ranging from $15 to over $100. The store is a bit dark. I was afraid of knocking over stuffs. I guess the sea water fishes needs to be in dark area.

He is extremely knowledgeable. He took his time to teach/explain so many things to me. I highly…read morerecommend Bay Pkway Aquarium.

My girlfriend and I are the proud owners of Coney Island carnie goldfish and Ming was the absolute…read morebest! He shared valuable information about goldfish and aquarium care. He even did a demonstration for us on how to properly clean a tank. We will definitely be lifelong customers... or at least as long our goldfish stay alive!

2 stars for service. 4 stars for the places we visited on…read morethe tour. Touring with a Chinese traveling agency has its ups & downs. At first it may seem cheap. I had low expectations because I knew what I was walking into & boy was there a major catch. I went on a 4 day trip to Canada with my mom, sister & boyfriend. When you book the tour, you pay for tickets for the seats, their deal was buy 3 tickets, get 1 free BUT after you get on the bus, you find out that you have to pay couple hundred more for tickets for places that we had to visit. Initially our trip was suppose to start on Thursday but we got a call asking if we can move it to Friday. We were fine with that since there was no school. Day 1: If you lived in Flushing, there's a meeting place there by the church & if you lived in Chinatown, there's a meeting place in front of their office. We got there super early searching for a coach bus which is what we expected to get on. Turns out we had to get on those small shuttle buses. If you google "small shuttle buses," you'll be disappointed if you were expecting a big coach bus. It took us to Chinatown where they picked up the rest of the people. We were furious because we didn't pay to travel on a shuttle bus. Everyone paid to travel on a coach bus. They told us that we will change buses the next day. Okay fine. We started traveling to Albany where we made a pit stop at McDonald's for bathroom & food. Then we continued our way to Ausable Chasm. Here we hiked and the scenery was beautiful which ultimately led to a rafting ride. Our stop after crossing the border to Canada was Chinatown in Montreal. Here we stop by to walk around & grabbed dinner on our own & met back at the bus at a certain time. After dinner, the tour guide brought us to our first hotel which was at Hilton Garden Inn. This hotel was amazing which included a gym & a swimming pool. We didn't know that we should have bought something for breakfast for the next day. Day 2: Early morning, we were so hungry but we packed our bags & continue on with our tour. We visited St. Joseph Oratory of Mount Royal. The church was really nice especially when you go all the way up but my boyfriend & I somehow took one too many pictures with the amazing view that we ended up getting separated with the tour. We ended up being the last ones back into the bus. Next stop was at Montreal Olympic Stadium where our tour guide took responsibility to get our group into the place first over all the other dozen tour groups that were there. Another place with an amazing view looking over Montreal. Next we finally found a place to get breakfast before we went into the Montreal Biodome. We can view the animals so much closer than how we view the animals here in NYC. A lot of the exhibits didn't have a glass that separated you from the animals. Next was another couple hours to Ottawa. We were brought to a very touristy place but they had really good hot dog & poutine. After staying at this place, our tour drove us another couple hours to the Thousand Islands. Here was the place where we were going to change our bus to a coach bus! On the coach bus there were another half of the group. After changing buses, we took a boat tour that showed us the Thousand Islands. It took us across the border & back via water. We stayed at Sheraton hotel (another nice place) Day 3: CN Tower, Downtown Toronto with the glass floors. Oh man, Ripley's Aquarium was right next to it & I wish that it was included in the tour because we don't have big aquariums like that in NYC. We had another relaxing boat ride after this. After that we went to Skylon Tower in Niagara Falls. Here we watched a dumb movie which I regretted paying for about the Niagara Falls & had lunch inside the tower. The restaurant spins very slowly so it was a really cool experience to eat & see the view change. We were then taken to the Maid of the Mist where we got to skip the super long line. This event was probably one of the best on this tour. After we can walk around & visit places on our own & had to meet back at a certain time. We had to cross the border after this which took quite a while due to traffic. We were brought to our hotel called Quality Inn in Batavia, NY. This hotel was complete crap compare to the first two places. If they were aiming for low quality, they got it down. I visited the Walmart supercenter at night since it was opened 24 hours & bought some food & snacks for the long trip back home. Day 4: On our last day we went to Corning Glass Museum where everything is literally made of glass. After that we were taken to a crappy buffet place in the middle of nowhere. I've tried better buffets in NYC for this price. The food was stale & disgusting. The bathroom was so filthy. After this, it was time to go home with a couple pit stops along the way.

I would put negative stars if I could. I booked a tour through take tours booking agent for me and…read more3 family members and ended up with be taken by Happy Vacation tour line. We chose a Friday for our Niagara Falls / DC tour so that it would go to upstate NY and make its way to Howes Cave ,close to Albany where I live. We confirmed prior to purchase that we could join the tour their, just 40 minutes from our house. Suddenly we were informed that they will not be going to Howes Cave because of the July 4th Holiday weekend (our Tour was for July 5th, Friday), and we had to get up at 2:45AM to leave by 3:30am to make it to grab our bus in Chinatown by 7:30am. We get there, and if you are not that familiar with Chinatown, well you had better know that it is one of the most filthy places you can go in the United States, its gross.. and its a shame that they cannot live a clean life. So we get shuffled from the first meeting point to a second meeting point, then they have us hanging around for 30 minutes, then ask us if we care that the tour has to be reversed in order..and we didn't really know how we felt and just wanted to be cooperative and helpful so we said, sure.. whatever you need. So they then shuffle us to a different street.. and have us hang out for a while then board this terrible bus that is literally falling apart.. has missing grills, rusted spots that were just partially sanded and repaired... dirty, etc.. Get on.. its completely humid and hot inside.. bus driver has the bright idea of not turning on the bus to cool it down for all of its passengers. He is absurdly obese, and has not moved from his seat the entire day, until the buffet at dinner! He apparently does not care for his own health or safety or that of his passengers. Because of an irregular pattern in a section of the highway and his weight, he began bouncing up and down in the chair..and it began squeaking excessively ..and all I could think of that it sounds like a movie sound of a couple having nooky upstairs :) ..passengers were quietly cracking up. The bus driver proceeds to say frustratingly to the tour guide, that this bus is falling apart and began to confirm when we will arrive at the hotel and how long are we there so that he can have a bus swapped out. Ok.. i've gotten ahead of myself... We were supposed to leave by 8am, we did not get out of their until 8:45am and it was hot and muggy . With only had a few chinese people on the bus from which I learned speak english for the most part & the tour is not in our country's language, English, its also in mandarin. The tour guide, Justin, has no passion, could care less to connect to the passengers and rapidly blares out quick statements about this or that in English and Mandarin like a drone, opposed to asking the handful of Chinese if they are fluent in english and mind the tour be in english as its simply more efficient and Justin was completely overwhelmed with all the apparent confusion with the tour operator and overbooking (although our bus only had 29 guest). The microphone hardly worked and he mic checked literally, at least 60-80 times through July 5ths day of the tour.. static .. feedback.. squelching.. instead of simply talking to the group with his own voice which would have been perfectly manageable. He proceeds to start to sell us tickets to upcoming non inclusive parts of the tour.. and thats neat for being organized, but there is more to it. We join the DC cruise, he says $23/ each , find out on the cruise that it was $20 to the general public. The cruise was terrible by the way.. the cruise ship, 149 passenger indoor a/c , was nice.. guides again did not connect at all with the passengers.. just rattled off a bunch of facts in english and again in mandarin . So we end up at this buffet tonight and are told $16 a person including drink and tip (keep in mind its a buffet! - no one serves you). I am in line and I notice that its $12.85 on the sign in front of me. The two girls ahead noticed the same thing and wanted to pay the normal price and not the inflated price. The manager defended his sudden inflated price until I jumped in and had to threaten to call the authorities. These Chinese restaurant managers and operators along with the chinese tour operators are trying to scam their own people and innocent tour attendees which is despicable. They should be ashamed of themselves. Even worse was the food. A complete filthy mess. -- fruit in huge chunks and no flavor and barely edible -- sushi was dry old and tasted terrible -- ice cream spewed liquid chocolate and terrible vanilla ice cream. Just plain dirty. -- I could not bring myself to eat any meat or seafood but others at my table felt sick to eat anymore than the lite they had. Just go somewhere else and eat less and higher quality. This is just day 1.. and our family is having a good time anyway.. but there is no way I would ever choose these sleazy, underhanded hustlers for a tour