Newport Aquarium
June 1, 2004Grade: B
Went to the Newport Aquarium in Cincinatti this past weekend. It’s part of a development called Newport on the Levee, which includes shops and restaurants and a large movie theater. The other aquarium I visited once that was part of a shopping development, Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco, was frankly a disappointment. Thankfully Newport Aquarium turned out to be pretty decent.
They have of course the standard exhibits–jellyfish, sea snakes, morays, etc. They also have a couple of those tunnel tanks, where you walk under the tank with an acrylic ceiling separating you from the fish. Nice selection of sharks and turtles in those tanks. They also have a couple non-fish exhibits, like a lorikeet aviary where you can buy a little cup of sugar water and feed the birds. Just watch out because the birds do have a tendency to do their business as they’re flying right over you.
Now this aquarium will never match Monterey Bay Aquarium if for no other reason than Monterey Bay itself is a spectacular natural wonder. That alone makes Monterey Bay the aquarium to beat in my mind–it’s well worth the trip from San Francisco just to see the Monterey Bay area, the aquarium is a bonus.
Still, Newport Aquarium is pretty decent and I think it’s better than most mid-size aquariums. Definitely better than Aquarium of the Bay, and probably roughly on par with the National Aquarium in Baltimore (though Newport doesn’t have any whales or dolphins like National does).
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