We had a fantastic time here and can't wait to come back! The animals are wonderful and so friendly. You can tell they are loved by all the staff. Sloan was our guide for a couple of encounters and was super knowledgeable! He added to our great experience. We walked away from here with full hearts and an even greater respect and love for our animal kingdom. read more

This is by far the worst aquarium I had ever been to. In fact, this shouldn't even be called an aquarium. It's a fish petting zoo that also had a capybara, lemurs, tarantulas, and birds. When I first walked in through the doors, it gave me pet store vibes right away. I should've turned back but I had already paid for the overpriced tickets. This was definitely not worth $20 per person. It's even more if you pay for the tokens that get you access to extra things like the sloth encounter or a picture with a Disney Princess, which is so random and odd. Princess Jasmine had a whole set up by the lemurs. It was so chaotic inside. The space itself is pretty small and each room is packed with tanks and exhibits of animals. I'm sure this place is pretty busy on a regular basis but we happened to have gone on a day where there was a birthday party. On one hand, you have little kids with balloon pirate swords running around (yes, there's a booth with man doing balloon animals for a few tokens). On the other hand, you have lemurs screaming from their cages. I can't imagine the stress all the animals must be feeling on a daily basis. While I get the whole hands-on, interactive experience aspect, I think this aquarium overdid it to a point where it's impacting the animals' habitats and stress levels. Every open tank was filthy. Even the facility itself is dirty. There's no signs anywhere to ask guests to wash their hands before touching the animals. In fact, there's no one even enforcing a two finger rule or educating visitors on all the animals that people could touch. I was flabbergasted when I saw a child ran to a small open tank, shoved his whole arm in and tried to grab the poor little fish swimming around. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if animals have gone missing from this place. The tegu exhibit was fully out in the open. Even a small child can easily just step over the short glass wall and grab the lizard. I think what shocked me the most was the lack of staff monitoring visitors' behaviors and enforcing the rules on how to handle animals. When I went by the shark tank, I witnessed a lady grab a shark by its tail and attempted to bring it out of the tank. My jaw literally hit the ground when I saw that. Thankfully the shark slapped her in the face with its tail and swam off. When I looked around, I saw an employee by the tank but she didn't say anything and was more focused on passing around these balls of fish bait to the same family that lady was with. I honestly left that "aquarium" angry and feeling incredibly sad for the animals. I would never go back nor would I ever bring my family back here. I've been to aquariums and zoos in developing countries where the animals were better cared for than this place. read more

I would love to give this place 5 star, but unfortunately it's not worth it. Tickets are quite pricey for this aquarium. I purchased mine though Groupon and it was a better deal. First of all staff on the register are all spaced out, then you need to spend extra to buy tokens for any additional activities, and it was hot and humid inside while crowded on a regular Saturday. Compare to sea life in San Antonio or one in Dallas, this one needs some improvements. My child enjoyed some parts of it, but was not that impressed. I wish they would have more funds to inprove the quality of the conditions. read more

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This place is just amazing.It seems like all that animals are treated right.The places kept clean.The animals are fed and the staff here is great. We had the great pleasure of meeting lee, one on one when he gave us the wallaby exhibit, and he was just outstanding guy, very personable, how to al answered questions made you feel comfortable?May the kids feel comfortable at the same time kept by the rules.It was really an experience that you have to come and see for yourself.I would suggest bringing your little ones here and checking it out. It's fairly reason to be priced as well.And they have tokens where you can feed the animals and interact with the animals, turtles, fishes, surf.Turf it's so fun read more

Austin Aquarium - Amazing turtles - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

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I really can't say enough good things about the Austin Aquarium. I have been coming for years with my grand kids who all have enjoyed it! Today we met team member Cody-(sp.) who was nice enough to chat with us. He was feeding some of the ?lizards live crickets and I offered a general compliment about the atmosphere and what a great hands on experience they provide! My grand children all love snakes -and the fact that I'm totally afraid of them . Invariably -they (and especially the youngest g-son) will request to hold a snake of get the ginormous, largest reptile there out of her environment so he can " cuddle" with her. Don't hesitate to go-it's affordable and appropriate for ALL ages!!! read more

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The Austin Aquarium is a combination of a party center, petting zoo, aquarium, and indoor zoo. It is a bit pricey compared to a regular zoo and they have a separate token purchase system for little rides, petting or feeding different animals, or for partying with the mermaids. They also have a small cafeteria with a bunch of seating to host a party. On the way out they have a huge gift store. You can probably see everything in 30 min if you don't want to spend extra tokens. My 4yo son wasn't too fond of this place - maybe it was too dark and felt claustrophobic for him. I did enjoy seeing some unique animals not too common at other zoos, like wallabys, capybara, and the extremely rare axolotl. For kids, one benefit of checking out the Austin Aquarium is that they have Indigo Indoor Playground right next door and its a short drive to an awesome Japanese restaurant - Midori Sushi. read more

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Only positive about this aquarium is there is a few places for actual interaction. But I'm not sure the water is being properly filtered? I'm not sure any of these exhibits are being properly cared for. Air circulation is stale. The whole place needs to be reconstructed and updated, especially at the price and token rate you're paying. You feel like you're walking into the tiger king version of an aquarium. Staff were nice though. Don't come on the weekends it's packed as hell. read more

Austin Aquarium - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

We went to the Austin aquarium for the first time today. My wife and I, our son and daughter-in-law and grandson all went. It was a great experience and I think well worth the money. We we were fortunate that a young man by the name of Markus Greeted us at the counter when we came in. He helped us to figure out what was the best package to buy. We ended up with the annual pass for my wife and I and that allowed us to get our kids in as guests for the same money that it would've cost us. This allows my wife and I to go back to the aquarium once every month or so and to take other guests with us when we go. The establishment was extremely clean and I think well organized. I also would like to thank a young man by the name of Lee, who was very helpful to us both in the Wallaby encounter as well as one of the bird encounters that we did. All of the staff that we engaged with, and that we saw helping others were extremely good. read more

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The Austin Aquarium was such a fun experience, especially for little ones! While the building itself is on the smaller side, all the animals and fish looked beautiful and well cared for. They had a great variety of creatures including stingrays, ducks, turtles, chickens, wallabies, and of course, plenty of fish. One of the highlights was how interactive it is. Kids and guests get the chance to feed and interact with the animals, which made the visit extra special. The workers were all friendly and helpful, making sure everyone had a good time. It's the perfect quick outing, especially for toddlers. We spent about 30 minutes there, which felt just right for younger kids. A great little spot for hands-on fun and learning! It's on the pricier side compared to the Austin zoo that's way bigger read more

Austin Aquarium - Outside - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

What a mistake it was going to this 'aquarium'. I cannot in good conscience ever go back or recommend this place and question those who would. Are these 5 star reviews actually real? This place is in a strip mall with animals like lemurs and capybara in a caged area, again inside a STRIP MALL. Not sure what I was expecting but sad places like this exist. I essentially paid to watch animals in bad living conditions with my family. They shouldn't be in business nor should this be a source of entertainment or education for kids. read more

" Never judge a book by its cover " that phrase applies to this place looks small from the outside but it's actually quite nice once you're inside. The family had a blast! read more

Really didn't expect much BUT I was surprised You can touch, feed, multiple animals such as lemurs, sloths, sting rays, and more For extra fee, you buy tokens to pet animals and buy food to feed others They have a concession stand and big gift shop Look at the yearly pass Might be cheaper Kids and adults alike were all around Staff was very nice and they will carry animals around for you to pet-for a token I recommend you go check this out read more

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While there were many interactive displays and a lot to look at, this aquarium was NOT worth the time or money. This place would potentially please a young child but no one over the age of 5. Not only was it extremely expensive, but the tokens (to interact with certain animals such as the capybara or lemurs) were pretty much useless. We waited around for multiple animals just to be told that we couldn't see any but one. When we waited for said animal, they never showed up. We couldn't see any animals but watched staff sit around enclosures taking pictures of the animals while actively ignoring customers. They avoided not only us, but everyone else trying to use their tokens as well. One of the team members made my daughter extremely uncomfortable and exchanged very creepy glances with her the entire time. The living conditions for a lot of the animals were terrible and it was disturbing to see. Overall there are options that are so much better, much more appropriately staffed, and less expensive. Would not return again and would not recommend at all. If you were to go, I would NOT purchase tokens as they did nothing for us. read more

This is such a cute small but plentiful place , They have so many aquatic animals n furry reptilian friends ,... Customer service is amazing!!!! They r so kind n helpful, very knowledgeable From front desk to animal care The bathrooms I will say they r very clean!!!!!! Which is rare for a place tht host mostly kids There are lots of hand washing stations next to everything and even those r clean They have a fun spot in the center for kids to kinda run around n play with this digital Game on the floor as well as a snack area with healthy n non healthy options Definitely a really fun and interactive place to go regardless if you have kiddos or not It's such a fun place to go that you can make a long trip or you can even do in a few hours read more

Great place to take the kids. There are some interactive events for them to join in on so make sure to check their schedule. First responder friendly. read more

The Austin Aquarium is a decent option if you need something to entertain your kids for an hour. It's fairly small, but almost all the exhibits are interactive...for a cost. In addition to general admission, you have to buy tokens that you can use to buy fish food, ray food, shark food, or animal encounters. Animal food is one token per container-which depending on the animal you are feeding may contain only one piece of food. Animal encounters range from 2-20 tokens. There are also a lot of touch tanks and opportunities for visitors to touch starfish, snakes, macaws, and lizards. Despite the cost and small size, it is frequently very crowded, so be aware. Staff is very friendly and helpful. If you are local to the area and a family of four, a membership will pay for itself with 2 visits in a year. read more

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Saddest tanks I've ever seen, I'm a fish enthusiast with my own tank at home and wow these tanks are not cared for. They are over stocked in some tanks. The tanks they are in are also incredibly filthy , every animal I saw looked like they were in a prison in there home. The tengus were stacked on top of each other in a little corner. Felt like this was borderline animal abuse they had an eel in a vertical tank? Who does that!! They need allot of maintenance done in every tank . For $25 per ticket I would expect them to have better care for all aquatic life. read more

Austin Aquarium - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

This was honestly just a really sad place. This "aquarium" looked like it was an old Kroger in a strip mall. The place almost looked like an animal thrift store and none of the animals looked happy. I paid $20+ to see animals in horrible living conditions. There was two Cobras on window display and animals like a capybara and lemurs in tiny areas with dog cages. Over all depressing and sad to see what humanity does to animals like these. Don't come here and support this. read more

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I think it's awesome that teachers get in for free! This made me so happy to get to experience this and possibly consider this as a field trip in the future. This places was packed on a Saturday! There was lots to see and so many different ways to feed the animals. I was enjoying watching others go into the cages and feed them. The iguana likes to get out of his area. It was quite funny and entertaining! I chose to feed the koi fish because they are so funny to watch! There's lot of different photo opportunities and plenty of parking as well. They have a food court in the back to purchase more items and food tokens. Loved it and I'm glad I was able to experience it! read more

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This place is disgusting and depressing. The name is misleading because it implies it's a city aquarium, but it's not-- it's privately run in a strip mall. The tanks are overfilled. They allow kids to touch the fish. It's dark and it has poor ventilation. read more

Austin Aquarium - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

For being an aquarium, there was certainly not enough aquatic animals. I really don't understand why an aquarium would have that many lemurs, kangaroo,and a sloth. Said animals didn't seem to have nearly enough space and left us sad to see. I will say I could understand the appeal for children with many interactive areas and the ability to feed some of the animals. We went in with little to no expectations and still ended up disappointed. We spent probably 20 min in there, saw everything, and left. read more

The kiddo is learning about sea animals so we figured what better way to spend a Monday than by visiting the aquarium. My son enjoyed the touchable animals! We fed the rays, sat with some chickens, said hello to some lemurs, and his favorite animal was the octopus. I must say I was pretty impressed with the variety of animals there. I also loved that there are so many interactive areas so you're not left feeling like you're walking through a giant petsmart. We came expecting to be one time visitors and we left as members lol. My son loved his time there! The toys from the gift shop are also very reasonably priced. read more

Austin Aquarium - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

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What do you do if you like the sea but are landlocked? You could brave a trip 100 miles south to San Antonio or about double that to Corpus Christi. Or you can save a lot of driving and stop here. Not big, not fancy but easy to get to and interactive. Enough touchy feely stuff to keep a 2yo busy. Touch the sea stars, pet the rays - feed them if you're so inclined. There are even a couple of touchable sharks. Don't worry they aren't the man-eater variety. They're used being fed it so they swarm whether or not you have food. The open aviary is a little more particular. No food? No visit. Tanks with jelly fish, fresh & saltwater fish and octopus. Plus reptiles, amphibians, lemurs, a toucan. I'm sure you get the idea. If you want magnificence you're gonna have to drive. For what it is, where it is it's ok. There are worse ways to spend an hour or two. Hey, it kept a 2yo focused and entertained for a couple of hours. read more

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Really disappointed about care animals . I was there in July 2025 . The place was so old with bad smell and waters was so cloudy and dirty. Glasses of pools is not clean. Animals looks like sleepy and sick . All snacks was sleep don't move. No any shark there . Just the Simple species of fishes. The children was there but no body drive them . A little girl played with flat fishes and she splashed water to people . Nobody there drive her. The place of aquarium was so dark and sadly. Price was $25 each person and more $3 additional tuition and plus tax!!!!I can't understand about additional tuition!!!! What's that???? read more

Very fun experience for the humans, but feel bad for the animals. some fish tanks are very overcrowded. The stingrays tank has some space but of course not enough. I went there last time 4 years ago, they had way more stingrays back then. I hope they're doing okay because what i saw back then was three times as much stingrays. But some emloyees seem like they genuinely care for the animals which is good. I hope they build bigger tanks especially where they keep 6 sturgeons, 4 catfish, some turtles and 50 koi fish in one tank... read more

We took some out of town friends to the aquarium this weekend and were truly impressed by the staff. 1. We were treated like VIP's at the front desk 2. My kids were hoping to pet the porcupine but staff asked that we wait until "lunch". They actually came and found us and let the kids feed them. They went out of their way. 3. Feeding the birds was my favorite. It was so relaxing. What a great way to get a break from the Texas summer heat. I highly recommend this place read more

The Austin Aquarium Rocks! I've been there a few times now and I learn something new after each visit. What a unique experience for kids and adults! Today, Emma put us in touch with Devon and David so we could experience the Giant Pacific Octopus. A memorable experience that we'll never forget. This place is spotless and employs extremely knowledgeable staff that love the animals. I don't know what the other negative reviews are referring to since I didn't observe or experience anything negative at all. The enclosures and tanks were cleaner than what I've seen at the San Diego Zoo. The fish are all in appropriate size tanks, yes..including the eels.!I think some of the commentators aren't as knowledgeable about tank volume size and what is a safe size and environment for various species. I was curious about if the negative comments had any validity so, I shared the pictures and video footage with my dad. For reference, when my dad was studying to become marine biologist, he used to work alongside the notable marine biologist, Dr. Halstead. He wrote the book "Poisonous and Venomous Marine Animals of the World", which is still used by the US Navy to date! So, I trust his opinion. He said all the tanks were stellar and was impressed with their care and filtration system. I think I'll stick with his review rather than a fish tank hobbiest! I've read some that discuss they should be living out in the wild. Obviously since they're accustomed to living in their current environment, it would be a death sentence to release them in the wild. Also, they live longer in captivity and they don't have the additional stress of predators. The lemurs are "wet nosed primates". During COVID when many zoos had to shut down, all over the world, primates went through a period of depression due to the lack of interaction they were accustomed to with their visitors. Here's one article about that: https://www.sciencealert.com/when-the-pandemic-came-the-zoos-closed-and-the-animals-began-to-act-differently. In addition this place is currently helping to repopulate endangered and at risk species. So, they're actually giving nature a helping hand. Last, allowing and educating children about how to interact and love wild animals, will set the foundation for a life of love and respect for nature and animals. Who knows, this could be the beginning of a life long career these kids will go into due to their experience at the Austin Aquarium. If the critics want to cite PETA well, maybe this article can illuminate how they have mislead the public and have many times more harm than good. https://www.ranker.com/list/messed-up-peta-facts/laura-allan read more

Austin Aquarium - Cleaner fish tickling our hand as they clean. - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

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We loved being up close to the exhibits! Their biggest drawback was waiting for staff to go into the exhibits to encounter the animals, that you pay extra for. We stood at one such exhibit for 25 minutes being told it would be 10 minutes. Then when a staff member FINALLY arrived they told us that the animals were asleep and couldn't be woken up. Some of the exhibits were mislabeled, leading me, who hates snakes, come eye to eye with one. Not pleasurable. Would I come back again??? Probably. read more

Animals are in crowded cages, water is cloudy, and many of the animals look like they're on their last leg. Ticket prices were too high for what we got and you have to pay extra for coins to do anything. Do not eat the food there. Trust me. Save your money and go to a place that treats their animals right, have better trained staff and isn't in an actual strip mall. Take your money and support businesses that actually cares about the animals. read more

My wife and I decided to do a date day and went to the Austin Aquarium, as we love Aquariums and Zoos. Our only regret is not taking more pictures while we were there! The staff was extremely friendly and knowledgeable, and the entire experience was amazing. They have so many animal encounters, we had a hard time choosing which to do! So first thing to know is they have a token-based system there. If you want to feed the fish/sting rays/sharks/etc, you put a token in the little gumball machine and an egg with that exhibits food comes out. Some were less than others (one only had 2 berries in it) but still fun to feed them all. You get to pet/touch several of the critters (two fingers only on their back, avoid head and tails) and that's always fun. The staff was amazing and you can tell they REALLY care about the animals and their comfort and safety. We got to talk to several as there weren't too many patrons when we were there, and got to hear about their favorite animals there and some great information in general. Shout out to Brittany who helped us with the Tucan encounter and the penguin encounter (my wife's absolute favorite now!) We also got to see them training new staff and see how serious they take the health and safety of both animals and guests. My favorite was the fish pedicures! I've always wanted to do that and it was weird and awesome and I can't wait to do it again! We will definitely be back as there were a few we didn't get around to like the sloth and capybara encounter. And it will be our new destination when we have visitors coming into town to visit read more

Austin Aquarium - Capybara chowing down - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Out to Discover My wife and I have a list of Austin places to visit and on it was the Austin Aquarium. So we decided to check out this place. Upon arriving there was a large parking lot but looked full. Perhaps should have shown up on a weekday, but was able to find a spot. And of course there was a line to enter, so we waited. Just to note I was not expecting this aquarium to be on par with the Monterey Bay Aquarium but a place to experience seeing different types of sea life and land animals. When we finally able to get through the door there was a cage with huge iguanas to greet us. The hold up was people in front of us did not pre-purchase tickets on the website. We did and had our passes which made the check in process much quicker. You can add tokens for animal encounters. The distinct experience here is the fact you can interact with more animals than any other place I have been to. You can hold many animals and dip your hands into tanks to feel a wide range to sea critters. The kids here pretty much had a field day and something you can't do anywhere else in Austin. In the front will find the restrooms and gift shop, and the back there is a snack bar and seating. I did not see any private rooms for birthday parties. One drawback is this place needs better air filtration where I felt it very stuffy and with the smell of birds, lemurs, and water tanks. Not surprised if they have thought about expansion to a much larger space like an old abandoned big box building where it seems very popular and feel very congested in bumping into people and perhaps enlarge the exhibits. But as is the Austin Aquarium is a great place to bring your little ones to enjoy encounters with a variety of sea-life and land dwellers. read more

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Great trip to Austin, ended it on a Sunday afternoon at the Austin Aquarium. They got food and snack available. You can purchase tokens to use to interact with some of the Aquarium's host in an extremely fun experience. read more

This would have been a five star review, unfortunately 2 things prevent that: #1)treatment of larger animals including birds and smaller mammals(like wallabies) is completely cruel/incompatible with these animal's basic needs(including sunlight, which doesn't exist in the strip mall they are located in. #2)pricing structure is completely dishonest. They advertise a price, and when you show up to the door they charge you an 'entry surcharge...' I am mid Gen Y, and never once encountered price dishonesty in the USA where one price is promised and you get up-charged at the door. Absolute shame! I hope they go out of business and get forced to sell to an entity that takes better care of animals and is more honest with money. read more

Austin is a world class city, with a population to match. You need a true dedicated aquatic space that is safe, viable for the animals and pleasant for visitors who come to be entertained, educated and enlightened. An overpriced pet store cramped into a mall setting won't cut it. The displays had some nice specimens and the ability to feed/touch is nice, but based on my previous knowledge of aquariums , fish need one gallon of water per inch of size. Most of these fish are living in overcrowded slums. The live animals are not better off. In the parrot habitat , one bird has plucked his on its feathers to the point of having bald patches. This is stress, from lack of space, interaction, diet , one or all the above. read more

Very kid friendly! There's also a kid space where they have games on the floor for the littlest to enjoy. My daughter loved it. Snack bar was closed due to short staff when we went but more to enjoy! One of the workers was super nice, peoples tokens got stuck in the feeding machine and he refunded everyone with more than enough! read more

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It was mostly a nice experience. The staff was very friendly and the animal caretakers were very knowledgeable and always looking out for the animals' best interests. I liked being able to see and touch different animals. There's not a huge variety, but enough to enjoy the experience. The only downside was the long wait to get assistance for entry to animal enclosures. They would announce when it was open to the public to go to these enclosures, but no one would be there. It was confusing. Maybe they were short staffed or maybe it was during peak hours, not sure. I'm thinking of going again, but not on a weekend and during the early part of the day. Maybe that will be a better time. read more

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This is a horrible place that mistreats the animals under their care. Entry fees as high as $60 yet none of that goes to vet care when animals are sick or wounded. Please do not support this business if you love animals. read more

Please don't give this place your business. We came here on Sat and the minute we walked in, we saw parrots flying freely around and one of the parrots looked visibly unwell. The feathers on its head is almost all plucked off. I don't know about you, but that's a first red sign to me that the animals here may not be well taken care of. And we had parrots flying really close to us a few times, which is a little unnerving. We checked out the lemurs that are close to the entrance and one of the lemurs jumped at us, hitting the glass that stood between us and startling us. I can see the appeal of this place to children. There are a lot of interactive opportunities for kids to feed, pet the animals. However, none of these stations seemed to be managed by any of the staff so it feels kinda like "pet/feed at your own risk." There are a few places where you need to pay tokens in order to interact or touch the animals but once again, I hardly saw any staff member at any of these stations, which seems concerning to me. Are they just expecting visitors to know how to handle animals with care? There is a bird aviary that does not require tokens but it is the saddest aviary that I have ever seen. No windows, and the space looks really depressing. We didn't go in. I was not comfortable bringing my two young kids into anywhere where there is a obvious lack of supervision. There was another station where there's macaws who were not supervised and there was no barrier between them and us. But there is a sign that says "Don't hold these birds. Strictly enforced." Enforced by who? There was no staff there, and hardly anything stopping a curious kid lunging forward to try to hold those birds. The place looks pretty unkept and floors were wet in a lot of places we walked by. Overall, we felt the place was very poorly managed, dirty (my husband calls it a dirty dungeon) and the animals we saw seemed depressed. Even the plant that was sitting next to the tortoise was dying. I did not feel safe in this place with my kids and we left after 20 mins or so. I read later on that a women was attacked by a lemur in May this year and that Austin's Animal Advisory Commission is looking to recommend new rules pertaining to interaction with wild animals that will impact Austin Aquarium. This place needs to be shut down, and the animals moved to somewhere where they are properly taken care of. read more

Austin Aquarium - The most depressing aviary I've seen. - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

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It's always great to see animals and learn about them but to enclose them in spaces that are minimum requirements or less by regulations is awful. The penguins thrive swimming in large pool and swim deep. There 4 ft sq pool is awful, it's worst than jail. One is supposedly shedding feathers but probably really caused by stress. If they can't make them thrive and happy in bigger areas they should not have them, and the lemurs area also. All sad to see! read more

Austin Aquarium - Information on how much area for African penguins to be happy - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

Great interaction & educational experience for all ages, well worth the fee. Staff was professional, friendly & helpful explaining to families membership may be less expensive. Our afternoon visit lasted bit over a hour, with no rush to leave.Aquariums Bathrooms & animals, in sight were clean & being cleaned in our presence. Washing stations were available every few feet. The least disappointing, one of the better smelling & most comfortable stops in Austin FOR ME ‼ read more

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