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According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, only 26.1% of the ocean has been explored. See some of what we have discovered at these amazing aquariums in Houston. From sharks to penguins, jellyfish, and more, find yourself face to face with the most fascinating creatures under the sea at these Houston aquariums.
Photo credit: @houstoninteractiveaquarium
Get up close and personal with life under the sea at the Interactive Aquarium & Animal Preserve. Home to thousands of creatures of sea, land, and sky, the Humble hidden gem offers exciting opportunities for visitors to engage with wildlife in a hands-on manner. Here, visitors can pet and feed a variety of sea life including the likes of sharks, jellyfish, and tropical fish.
For the ultimate experience, the aquarium offers a special Snorkeling with Stingrays attraction, where visitors aged 6 through 12 can dive into the Majestic Underwater World with stunning creatures. The venue also offers a scuba experience where visitors can swim among a school of tropical fish. See here for tickets.
5440 N. Sam Houston Pkwy, E. Humble, TX 77396
2. Houston Zoo
Named one of the best zoos in the United States by Blooloop, the Houston Zoo is a city institution that keeps getting better. Home to over 6,000 animals across 55 acres, the Houston Zoo offers a wildly wide range of experiences for guests to interact with wildlife.
In honor of the zoo’s 100-year anniversary, the Houston Zoo debuted its immersive, cutting-edge Galapagos Island exhibit in early 2023. Evoking the habitat of the islands, the exhibit features cliffs, caves, and other unique landscapes populated with sea lions, penguins, tortoises, and sharks.
The exhibit’s centerpiece is a 270,000-gallon aquarium. Home to sharks, sea turtles, rays, and other marine life, the aquarium is also equipped with molten lava tubes, an underwater tunnel, and sea cave. In addition to regular viewing, the zoo also hosts a range of events at its sea caves including its summer sleepover experience and ongoing Zoolates classes held inside the exhibit.
6200 Hermann Park Drive, Houston, TX 77030
Photo credit: @houstonzoo
3. Aquarium Moody Gardens
As one of the largest aquariums in the Southwest, the Aquarium Pyramid at Moody Gardens is a 1.5-million gallon aquarium home to a stunning variety of marine life. Standing at 11 stories tall, the aquarium feature an incredible range of exhibits including an illuminated Jellyfish Gallery, two-story, 30,000-gallon Gulf of Mexico Rig Exhibit, penguin habitats, and interactive touch pools.
Home to seals, jellyfish, otters, sharks, and penguins, the aquarium offers a range of animal encounters including but not limited to penguin encounters, jellyfish tours, and sting rays feeding.
To really make a day out of it, Moody Gardens is also home to a number of other wild attractions including its Rainforest Pyramid and Discovery Pyramid, the latter now hosting its 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea interactive adventure.
1 Hope Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77554
4. Downtown Aquarium
Look for the ferris wheel to find the Downtown Houston Aquarium. The first that comes to mind when considering aquariums in Houston, the Downtown Aquarium teems with a plethora of vibrant marine life including but not limited to piranhas, sting rays, puffer fish, and 17 types of sharks.
The venue features a range of separate aquatic exhibits including a special Discovery Zone, Underwater Rig, and Stingray Touch Tank. Additionally, the Downtown Aquarium houses a restaurant as well as a number of rides, games, and animal shows.
One of the aquarium’s hit attractions is The Shark Voyage. Here, visitors can take a special underwater trains that takes them in a submerged tunnel through its 200,000-gallon shark tank where passengers can look upon its shark residents including brown sharks, sand tiger sharks, and saw fish.
410 Bagby St., Houston, TX 77002
5. Sea Center Texas
Located in Lake Jackson, Texas, Sea Center Texas comprises of a vibrant marine aquarium, an interactive education facility, a fish hatchery – the largest redfish hatchery in the world. Spanning 75 acres, Sea Center Texas is managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) in collaboration with partners such as the Coastal Conservation Association and The Dow Chemical Company.
The venue is home to a number of separate aquariums including its Coral Reef Aquarium, Coastal Bay Aquarium, Salt Marsh Aquarium, and Jetty Aquarium, as well as a 20-foot touch pool where visitors can interact with stone crabs, blue crabs, hermit crabs, and anemones. The centerpiece at Sea Center Texas is its 50,000-gallon aquarium, where visitors can marvel at Gulf of Mexico marine life including bonnethead sharks, Atlantic spadefish, gray spanner, green moray eel, and other species. Sea Center Texas is free to visit and explore.
302 Medical Drive, Lake Jackson, Texas 77566