A Visit to the Georgia Aquarium

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*Caution, affiliate links ahead…Don’t worry, I’ll use the money for something practical, like wine…. or a pony!

I have to admit that as much as I fought it, Atlanta has become one of my favorite cities. Being a born and bred west coast transplant, I think that we are prewired to dislike anything that isn’t on the west coast, but Atlanta has won me over, the attractions here are truly world class and fantastic for families visiting, or locals enjoying a staycation. The past few weeks I have had the chance to experience some of Atlanta’s best attractions and I will be sharing them with you over the next few weeks.

One of the places I got to visit was the Georgia Aquarium. Opened in 2005, the Georgia Aquarium is the world’s largest aquarium and the only US aquarium to have whale sharks. Since their opening they have had more than 11 million people walk through their doors and experience the magnificent creatures the aquarium is home to.

We started off our visit with a behind the scenes tour where we visited the beluga tank during feeding time and got to see the belugas interact with their keepers, they even put on a little show for us.

We also got to go above the tropical tank and watch the whale sharks, stingrays and other fish up close and personal. The whale sharks are my absolute favorite animal at the aquarium so being that close to them was an incredible experience.

We also got a sneak peak at some baby penguins! They were about 6 months old and almost full grown, but they still had the downy coat and they were so stinking cute!

After our tour was over we hit the aquarium on our own to see all the exhibits. We started at the sting ray tank where we could reach out and touch the rays that came near the surface, boy was this a hit with my kids. My 12 year old son had no desire to leave, he was perfectly content just petting the rays.

Next we hit my absolute favorite exhibit, the ocean voyager, here you can get a close glimpse of your favorite ocean creatures, including zebra sharks, sandbar sharks, giant manta rays and of course the whale sharks. The moving walkway takes you under the ocean to get the best view of your favorite ocean animals (and an occasional diver!)

Tropical diver is my next favorite! We explored jellyfish, sand eels, seahorses and many more. My 3 & 5 year were so excited to find Nemo and Dory! They sat in front of the tropical reef just mesmerized by the colorful tropical fish. (I seriously need one of these for my house!)

Cold Water Quest was up next, we got to visit with our new beluga friends again along with penguins and adorably playful otters.

Unfortunately we had to skip River Scout and Dolphin Tales as I had to pick my oldest up from a friend’s house. I was disappointed we didn’t get to experience everything, but it gives me a reason to go back!

This is definitely a must see for anyone visiting Atlanta. We had a fabulous time and are looking forward to going back sometime soon!

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