The family and I had such a fun experience at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium which is located on the West Bank of the Flats right in Downtown Cleveland in the historical Powerhouse building. Before we even stepped into the Aquarium, we were able to admire the beautiful West Bank of the Cuyahoga River. I couldn't get a great shot, but we saw a plane take off from one of the buildings, observed folks board the Nautica Queen, and checked out artwork from local artists on buildings.

If you've never been down to at least the flats, you'll need to check it out solely for the awesome views of the Cuyahoga River and check out the awesome entertainment down at the Improv, Nautica Queen, or hop on Lolly the Trolly for a tour of Cleveland then you can circle back around to the Greater Cleveland Aquarium.

Now back to The Greater Cleveland Aquarium… that's what you came to this post to read about anyway, right?

I had to stop my son from going ahead so many times because he was just going crazy over all of the marine life that they have.

I may just have a marine biologist in the making…. who knows!

The Greater Cleveland Aquarium is filled with intriguing aquatic life from the Great Lakes and colorful sea creatures from around the globe. From moon jellyfish to a Giant Pacific Octopus, you’ll discover more than 1,400 animals representing 250 species.

Over the course of about 90 minutes while inside of the Greater Cleveland Aquarium, you’ll explore 50 exhibits—many with 360-degree views—ranging from rescued African Spurred Tortoises to an 11,000-gallon touch pool inhabited by Cownose, Southern and Atlantic stingrays. A 175-foot SeaTube takes you to the ocean floor where you can watch barracuda, stingrays, grouper, angelfish, and three species of shark swim right overhead.

There are 5 new species that they introduced recently at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium:

Green Tree Python
Frilled Lizard
Solomon Island Leaf Frog
Weedy Seadragons
Pacific Spiny Lumpsuckers

So make sure you stop by those exhibits and check them out! My husband was super happy to see the Green Tree Python & the Frilled Lizard. Good thing I'm not scared of reptiles or amphibians because I was pretty excited about the Solomon Island Leaf Frog myself!

My son and his friend had an absolute blast being able to go through, check out all of the cool species of marine life, then stopping at the Sting Ray quite a few times to tickle the tops of the stingrays that would glide past. The boys were getting such a kick out of the stingrays gliding through, even my husband got in on the fun with us! A few of the sting ray's even gave my husband gave a few kisses, which he said felt like a supercharged vacuum suction.

After spending a couple of hours going through the entire aquarium, 2-3 times, the boys stopped at the Imagiquarium where the kids can become marine biologists and exam micro-organisms under a microscope, feed the “sharks”, tickle their fins as they make their way through some seaweed and more.

Even though my son is 13 and his friend is 12, they both had a blast (it's supposed to be for kids under 12, but since there weren't any other kids in there when we got to that point, they were able to check it out).

Overall, we had a great time, but most importantly, we made some pretty awesome memories with the boys.

I do feel that the price of admission is just a bit steep, since you really only spend about 1 – 2 hrs going through the exhibits. However, the kids do enjoy themselves a lot, so it's worth it just for the memories alone.

Know Before You Go:

All galleries are fully accessible. Plan on spending at least 90 minutes when you visit. Your tickets are good all day and you may reenter once you exit as long as the Aquarium is not at capacity. Our Coral Cove Gift Shop closes at 5pm.

There is a cafe also for you to get snacks, let the kids play on a few arcade games, or even have a quick lunch/dinner. There is a cute little Imagiquarium that the kids can plan in also (which I mentioned above).

HOURS:

Blackout Dates: Closed Thanksgiving & Christmas Days. (Close on Christmas Eve at 2pm.