Home to over 200 species of aquatic life, the Downtown Houston Aquarium is an impressive & entertaining place to visit with the entire family. You can truly spend an entire day watching the adventures of your favorite sea creatures under 500,000 gallons of wonderment, dining within a full service restaurant and enjoying a variety of amusement rides to thrill kids of all ages. Grab your Houston CityPASS and save 49% off your visit to the aquarium and four other top attractions in the city at just $59 for adults and $49 for kids.
As you make your way through the Louisiana swamp you’ll spy gators, snapping turtles, crayfish, bullfrogs and more that will make you feel like you’re really exploring the bayou. Within the Shipwreck exhibit you’ll view a colorfully diverse array of coral, tangs, groupers and moray eels.
Aside from the red bellied piranhas and venomous freshwater stingrays they featured in the Rain forest exhibit, we were all happily surprised by the handful of other inhabitants to view, like the emerald tree boa, vibrant birds and tree frogs.
If you’ve ever found yourself curious about the day to day travels of a shark, OCEARCH‘s global shark tracker enables scientists, explorers and even families at home to follow the tagged sharks in real time.
Hands down, the stunning restaurant was definitely a feature of the Downtown Houston Aquarium that stood out to me.It felt like a scene from the Little Mermaid with twinkling fish shaped, light fixtures above us. While dining you can take in the mesmerizing views of the beautiful sea creatures swimming by, so why not take a few pictures with family and friends.The sting rays and eels were not shy for the camera at all so snapping pics are a great way to pass the time before your meals arrive.
I’m all for trying new things, so feeding the sting rays at the reef was a must do! Now please keep in mind that this experience is not included with your CityPASS but it’s totally still worth the additional $5.99 for the value pass which includes the entry and the food. If you’ve never done this before it’s really fun, I didn’t realize their mouths were beneath them and when you place your hand below to feed them it’s pretty interesting how they suck up the tiny fish like a vacuum. If they aren’t too grossed out by the idea, kids will get such a kick out of this.
Afterwards we headed back outdoors to check out their 5 amusement park rides. Guests can ride aboard the C.P Huntington train through the Shark Voyage a 200,000 gallon tank filled with a variety of sharks that you can get up close and personal with from every angle. If you’re a fan of being up in the air then take a spin 100 ft. up in the Diving Bell Ferris Wheel or drop 65 feet from the Lighthouse Dive all while catching spectacular views of Downtown Houston. Visitors will also have a good time riding on the back of a dolphin or alligator of the Aquatic Carousel or bounce around on the Frog Hopper. Additional pricing ranges from $3.99 to $5.99 per ride.
