This Summer, we took a much anticipated day trip to play tourists in Coney Island! To stick with the theme, we did all of the popular things to do including Deno's Wonderwheel Amusement Park, eating at Nathan's, and visiting the New York Aquarium.
The New York Aquarium is a place that is talked about in my family all of the time thanks to an adventure my father had as a child. At a very young age, my dad hopped the fence to the penguin exhibit and was just chilling with the penguins! Despite hearing this story over and over again, I never took the time to visit until this past Summer.
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New York Aquarium (link) | Brooklyn, NY
Where is the best place to stay?
There are many places to stay in the area, but the Best Western Brooklyn-Coney Island Inn (link) is the only one right in the heart of the action! As a double bonus and exceptionally rare for the city, it comes with free ONSITE parking.
Prices, Parking, & Reservations
There are two ways to enter the New York Aquarium. For a fee, you can drive into their parking lot and enter through the front gates. The second way is to find public parking nearby and then enter through the side entrance located on Riegelmann Boardwalk. For those taking a day trip like us, it is super convenient to pay the $40 daily parking rate. You're then free to explore Coney Island to your heart's content and retrieve your car at your own convenience. The parking meter is a machine and does make following aquarium hours necessary.
While there are several options for parking and entering, there is only one current option to purchase tickets (link). They must be done in advance and made with a very specific reservation that lists the time and date of your visit. Ticket prices shown in the picture above are average for New York, but come with very little. Your ticket comes with admission, a short, live show in the arena, and one 4-d experience.
Exhibits & Things to Do
There are several indoor and outdoor exhibits to explore.
1. The "Spineless" exhibit. This is the home of the anticipated, super hyped up, yet highly disappointing, giant pacific octopus.
2. Ocean Wonders: Sharks!
3. Conservation Hall
4. PlayQuarium
5. Sea Cliffs. This is the outdoor exhibit with the sea lions, otters, penguins, and seals.
The New York Aquarium also offers a live sea lion show at their outdoor aquatheater. The animals were adorable and the trainers seemed to really love what they do. That being said, the show is very short. As in, it probably took us longer to enter and exit then it did for us to watch. It also plays at very limited times throughout the day. If you don't plan accordingly, you will miss this show.
As you're leaving, don't forget to stop by the 4-D theater located next to the parking lot. This is where you'll watch an interactive video that's educational and probably existed when my dad hopped the penguin fence.
What was your favorite part of the visit?
There were really two things that stood out to me at the New York Aquarium.
1. When everyone was mesmerized by the sharks, I couldn't stop staring at the really intimidating Japanese Spider Crab! This guy was HUGE. As in, GIGANTIC. The beastly crustacean really looks like a spider and has these two eyes that were wiggling all around and in different directions at the same time. As much as I was scared, I couldn't look away!
2. The second thing that shocked me was the overlook at the Oceanview Bites restaurant. We didn't eat here because of the ridiculous prices, but I had to walk all the way up just for the view! We were able to see the boardwalk, the famous rides, the beach, the ocean, and all the way to a neighboring land that I think might be New Jersey. It really was an unexpected highlight.
Maybe? It didn't live up to the hype, but it was still a great time. If you're playing tourist for the day, I would recommend adding it to your itinerary. I would not recommend it if you're going just for a trip to an aquarium.
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