Visiting the Aquarium of Niagara

By Tori Mayes

The Aquarium of Niagara is a place rich with history right in our own backyard. It’s important that when you visit you try to make the most of your time and get the best value of your money by trying to pack as much as you can into your time there. It’s in those action packed hours that you will have the most fun and learn the most as well.

They have quite a lot of different presentations and behind the scenes opportunities that you can take advantage of. Visit the website beforehand to see if any of the behind the scenes encounters might be worth booking or if any particular presentation catches your eye. They have some presentations that repeat throughout the day, while others only happen once, so planning ahead of time is important. It’s suggested you time your visit around the presentation that catches your eye the most. Also, from the website, you can order your tickets! However it’s not required at all! You’d still be perfectly fine buying your tickets at the front desk, but keep in mind you might have a bit of a longer wait if it’s super busy. Ticket prices are $25 per adult, $23 per senior(60+), and $18 per child(ages 3-12).

Did you know the Aquarium of Niagara has 2 buildings? Great Lakes 360 opened back in July of 2024, right where the old Discovery Center used to be, down the trail from the main building. It is full of fresh water animals compared to more of the saltwater species found at the main building. One ticket grants you admission access to both buildings, and as long as you hang onto the barcode tickets given by the admissions desk, you can leave and re-enter both buildings as much as you’d like. The main building is the popular starting point, but you could always start at Great Lakes 360 instead!

Mostly everything at the Aquarium of Niagara is self guided, meaning you navigate the exhibits by yourself at your own pace. This means that unfortunately it’s easy to accidentally speed through the different exhibits and be done with your visit rather fast. Instead of speeding through, take a second to see if you can learn something about each exhibit you see! There’s a lot of different animals to meet and facts to learn if you take the time to learn them. Going into your visit with an open-minded and ready-to-be-educated attitude is important to make your visit the best one possible.

If you’re having trouble picking a presentation to start with, or if you can’t decide a time to show up, here’s a hypothetical way you could plan out your visit: Plan to arrive at 11:30am at the main building. You’d start your visit off with a free Seal Presentation at the outdoor exhibit, before making your way inside and checking in. Next, you’d have time to walk around a little before getting to view the Sea Turtle Presentation at 12pm. From there, you can finish up visiting the first floor of the main building and make your way to Great Lakes 360 to watch the Sturgeon Presentation at 12:30. After that, finish looking around at Great Lakes 360 and head back to the main building for their 1pm Sea Lion Presentation. Explore the 2nd floor before viewing the 1:30pm Featured Feeding Presentation(in which the location changes daily) and keep adventuring around to view the Penguin Presentation at 2pm, and then continuing to walk around, view more of the presentations, or head on home.

These suggestions are supposed to be helpful guides, but you can make your own fun based on who you go with and how you want to spend your time. The important part of any visit to the Aquarium of Niagara is that every penny you spend goes back into taking care of the animals. So while it’s important to get the most bang for your buck, the real important thing is that every time you visit you’re helping feed the animals that call that place home.