I decided to bring my 18 month old to Atlantis Marine World. Atlantis Marine World is the aquarium in Riverhead on the east end of Long Island NY.
Price:
Children under 2 are free
Ages 3-12 $21.oo
Adults 13-61 $27.95
Seniors 62+ $23.50
Check the web-site for a $2 off each ticket coupon. Also check your local public library, many offer discounted tickets.
Rides and stingray food are extra
Atlantis Marine World is not too big which makes it a great park for toddlers. When you enter the aquarium the stingrays are right there to greet you. You are able to put your hands right into the water to touch them. You are also able to feed them. My 18-month-old Janelle was afraid to touch them but she put her hands into the water. The first thing we chose to do was see the sea-lion show.
Sea Lion Show
The sea lion show was great. It takes place outside in a small coliseum. It was not that long I think it was around 15 minutes. So it’s just long enough to keep your little ones attention. The staff was great explaining the difference between sea lions and seals. They did a couple of ticks. Janelle loved it. For an extra fee you can get your picture taken with the sea lion giving you a kiss. I did not do this as I believed Janelle would have been scared.
Penguins
Since we were already outside we took a look at the African penguins. Janelle enjoyed going into the little dome to get a closer look. They have 45 minute penguin encounter where you can get an up close encounter with penguins while the staff teach you about the. The cost of the encounter is $50. I did not choose to do the encounter.
Other Outside exhibits
They have a Koi fish pond which Janelle loved. She liked watching the fish swim and they way their mouth moved, she thought it was so funny. While we were looking at the Koi two staff members brought out two small alligators. After they spoke about the alligators you were able to line up and pet one. Janelle was not interested in touching the baby alligator.
They have otters to look at. Again like the penguins they had a dome you can crawl though to get a closer look.
Japanese snow monkeys, more stingrays and a snorkel adventure were also outside.
They have an agricultural dig. I did not go in there as Janelle is at a stage where she does not like to get dirty. I have gone in there is my niece who was 9 at the time and she loved it. Kids get to shift though the dirt to find stones and other items.
They have an outside marsh. You can walk through the marsh without shoes on and pick up small animals that live in there. Again, I did not go in with Janelle. It looked like a lot of fun and some of the older kids looked like they were having a great time.
Inside exhibits
Inside the aquarium they have many tanks filled with a variety of fish. Janelle loved the large shark tank. We stayed at the shark tank for a good 20 minutes. She just enjoyed watching the amazing sharks. They had so many different types of fish I couldn’t name them all. Another tank that Janelle loved was the seahorse tank. We looked at them for quite a while. They also have a table where you can pick up starfish and hermit crabs. It was very interesting.
Butterflies and Birds
We went into the butterfly exhibit. I wasn’t sure how Janelle was going to like this as I know the butterflies fly around everywhere. Janelle enjoyed the butterflies for a while. We walked into the bird area. Janelle was less interested but wasn’t scared.
Food
They have a small area to buy food. They offer regular park food, fries, burger pizza. They also let you bring your own food which is a plus in my opinion. I did bring my own.
Changing Stations
The bathroom has changing tables so you are able to change your little one.
Overall Impression
I enjoyed the aquarium. Like I said before it’s not that big so you only need a couple of hours to see it. Janelle enjoyed her experience, I would definitely go back. I believe the park is best for children ages 1-9.
