The day after our visit to the Roger Williams Park Zoo, we decided to stop to visit the Mystic Aquarium on our way home.
I had heard good things about it, and our visit was a delight. The Mystic Aquarium is in Mystic, Connecticut, a seaside town which according to Wikipedia is “a major New England tourist destination,” as it is the home of the Mystic Aquarium & Research Institute and the Mystic Seaport, a premiere maritime museum. I am guessing that school children and families from a large surrounding radius are familiar with this town.
While we did not get a chance to explore much of the village of Mystic, what we saw of the village was very picturesque. We took in the view of their beautiful holiday lights from the parking lot of Rio Salado Mexican Restaurant after our visit to the aquarium.
If you are looking for a hot take, I would describe the aquarium as a little pricey at around $50 per person. (But I might have been wrong in this initial assessment. A quick google search showed me that tickets for the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ and National Aquarium in Baltimore, both of which I have been to previously, were similarly priced.) Visitors can save a little money by buying their tickets online before their visit. If you buy your tickets online several days before your visit, you can save a little extra money. I believe the ticket costs operate on a surge pricing model.
That being said, the experience was worth the price. (Those animals have to eat after all!) It is a very nice aquarium. In fact, it might be my favorite in terms of aquariums that I have visited.
Photo by CB Nicholson. Used with permission.
I have never seen so many marine mammals at an aquarium! They seemed to be very well cared for. Not long after you walk into the aquarium, you are greeted with the view of beluga whales in an open enclosure. Belugas are the friendliest, happiest looking animals imaginable. Seeing them really puts a smile on your face. Additionally, their enclosure is large and open and visitors feel like they have an interactive audience with them. As with all the exhibits that we saw, there is a staff member nearby on a microphone giving facts and answering questions about the animals.
We also saw other outdoor animals exhibit including including pools for two different types of sea lions, African penguins, and multiple varieties of seals. We also watched an indoor sea lion show in large indoor theater and visited touch tanks for sharks and rays.
One thing to note if you do decide to visit the Mystic Aquarium, make sure that you bring a coat if you visit in November. If you have only visited the National Aquarium in Baltimore or the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey, as was our experience, you might be anticipating an indoor adventure. However, many of the exhibits and experiences at the Mystic Aquarium are outside.
Mystic, Connecticut is a coastal town and, on the day, we visited in late November, the weather was sunny but crisp. Mr. Man remarked that he did not know that so much of it would be “so outside”. Luckily, we all had our winter coats with us so we could explore all the outside exhibits as well as the inside. There is even an outdoor playground area for little ones.
If you visit, you should make time to see the Sea Lion show in the Marine Theater. This is included in your admission.
Also, a lesson that we learned is that if there is a special exhibit (ahem Dino Seas) and you think that even one person in your party might like to visit it, buy you special exhibit tickets online beforehand. (Even if only one of your children would like to see the special exhibit because the other child is afraid of dinosaurs).
Also, if one of your children decides that they really want to go on the ropes course at said special exhibit (which they did not ever know about before walking into the aquarium) that is advertised throughout the aquarium, take them to the special exhibit early in your visit. Otherwise, all the ropes course spots might be filled for the day (even though a nice man in a ticket booth just sold you a surge priced ticket for a child and their parent to get inside probably knowing full well that they could not get in and do the thing they really wanted to do). Just a word to the wise.
Otherwise, our Mystic Aquarium visit was a really nice experience. 9/10. Would recommend.
