Tampa Attractions

A trip to the Florida Aquarium will open your eyes to a view usually reserved for experienced scuba divers; Florida from under its waters. Divided into four different galleries, the aquarium follows the course of water from wetlands to the depths of the ocean off Florida's shores. In the Wetlands Gallery you can view alligators, river otters, several varieties of turtle and an entire mangrove estuary containing numerous species of fish. Showcased in the Bays and Beaches Gallery are numerous species of animals who call the shore and near shore communities home. Within the aquarium they have daily dive shows, up close animal encounter shows, and two touch tanks.

The signature exhibit of The Florida Aquarium, the Coral Reef Gallery, encompasses a spectacular 500,000-gallon artificial reef tank containing over 1,600 reef animals. The last exhibit, the Offshore Gallery, features the larger marine animals; sharks, sea turtles, jellyfish and more, as well as a touch tank allowing you to get up-close and personal with live sharks and rays. The Florida Aquarium has a unique opportunity for guests to come face-to-beak with African Black-footed penguins. The penguins come out to meet and greet during daily Penguin Promenades with each pair showcased during the enriching interaction.

The children will enjoy the new Explore-a-Shore water park area. Alone, this is probably worth the cost of admission since they can play all day on the Pirate ship and in the streams of water that shoot up from the ground. Here you will find a variety of water spouts, slides and playground-like equipment for children to play on. They have equipment for all ages. For the older kids they have slides and a large pirate ship to climb and play on. On another side of the park is where the children are able to spray each other with water from the water jets in the area.

The Florida Aquarium is located downtown Tampa, in the Channelside District. It is highly recommended that you visit this must see attraction while in the Tampa area.