San Antonio Aquarium gets 12 thumbs up from our family – a review
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Shark faces

San Antonio is a special place for our family, so each year we spend one weekend there around Christmas time. Over the years, we have added many new places to visit in San Antonio that are interesting to our family. We finally decided to try out the San Antonio Aquarium and we are all so glad we did! Not only is this aquarium very hands on and fun, but it is also very educational as well!

We only purchased single day tickets since we weren’t sure we were going to want to go back (the website didn’t convey how impressive this aquarium was when we looked at it). When we left that day, they allowed us to apply that days tickets to a family membership which also happened to be on sale for half price! It was a deal we couldn’t pass up! When you have the membership, you have access to both the San Antonio Aquarium and the sister location in Austin. (We added the Austin Aquarium to our post on the Top 8 Places to Take Kids in Austin)

Many hungry birds at the Aquarium
Feeding the Lorikeets at the Aquarium
Lorikeet up close at the Aquarium

Inside the aquarium, there are feeding rooms to feed both Lorikeets and Parakeets. Only a certain amount of guests are allowed in at a time for the feedings. Once you hand over your token, the bird keeper brings you a cup of food and the birds immediately fly to your hand to start fighting over the food. My favorite room is the Lorikeet (seen above) room. They are just beautiful birds to look at! On our very first visit, one landed right on Aaron’s back and scared him so much that he won’t go with me to feed them anymore! Adler still loves to feed them with me! It is so much more interesting when they actual land on you and are so up close!

Stingrays at the Aquarium
Aaron feeding the stingrays

While Aaron may not be a fan of the Lorikeets, he absolutely loves to feed the Stingrays. Depending on when you visit, if the Stingrays are hungry, you’ll have a whole bunch right in front of you all trying to fight over the shrimp in your hand! Be prepared to get splashed when this happens since they are all very excited for food and flap their wings quite a bit. I love that the aquariums has built in rock edges for kids to stand on so they can reach the water more easily to experience the stingrays instead of parents having to hold them up the entire time. The aquarium also offers a special event – snorkeling with the sting rays (for an additional fee), check it out here!

Iguanas at the Aquarium
Up close and personal with these huge Iguanas

Everywhere you look in the aquarium, there are animals that you can either touch or get very close to. These Iguanas were just hanging out in a boat near the entrance of the aquarium. Look how huge this guy is! Our boys were very excited to be able to be this close to him as well as touch his skin. There is also a room where you can use a token to feed the iguanas, we haven’t actually done this feeding yet.

Ball pit at the Aquarium

The San Antonio aquarium has a jump house play area called I-Guana Jump. There are multiple bounce houses, air basketball and obstacle courses.. This is an additional fee for daily tickets, but it is completely free for aquarium members! We’ve only taken advantage of it one time and our kids had a blast! Anson enjoyed playing in the this ball pit and getting lost!

Toucan at the Aquarium – Look how close we were to this Toucan. This is not a zoomed in picture.
White Peacock at the Aquarium
Ostrich feeding at the Aquarium
Ostrich feeding at the Aquarium
Four boys outside the Aquarium

The outside area of the aquarium is nearly as nice as the inside. There is a cute little pond with Koi, it really feels tropical outside. The biggest animals of interest outside are the Ostriches, Emus, and Toucan! All of these birds can be fed as well! There is also a huge white peacock, tons of ducks, birds, and chickens. Outside you can buy small containers of food and have fun walking around to see which birds want to eat. After we had spent so much time inside, the boys wanted to stay out in the outside area and enjoy all the birds there.

Giant Turtles at the Aquarium
Armadillo at the Aquarium

Each time we visit this aquarium, they add a new animal section, so it is hard to keep up with all the animals they have to offer! There is a shark tank where you can touch and feed sharks as well! There is an armadillo area. While we have never actually stopped in the dinosaur area, our kids always want to. It is set up like a dinosaur dig area. There are beautiful macaws that talk to visitors. Lemurs, Alpacas, Alligators, and Kangaroos are other big animals of interest.

One of the exciting things the aquarium offers are animal encounters. These are all for an additional fee, but some of them are totally worth the extra cost! The animal encounters offered are with a sloth, kangaroo, and lemur. They also offer a morning rounds tour to get the full experience. You can learn and see everything that goes into prepping the aquarium for the day. Check that out here!

Shark faces at the Aquarium
Dinosaurs at the Aquarium

Our family absolutely loves this aquarium, and the Austin location as well. We give it 12 thumbs up and truly think everyone should visit when they are in San Antonio. Before you visit, be sure to check out Groupon.com for special offers! They also offer foster children and educators free admission! Ticket prices currently are: Children (weekday: $8.95, weekend: $10.95), Adults (weekday: $13.95 , weekend: $13.95). Tokens can be purchased either at the front or at the food counter inside. Tokens are a better price when they are purchased in multiples. Go here to learn more about this amazing aquarium!

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