Headed to the Baltimore National Aquarium tomorrow!

[Spork3245]

My gf and I are heading to the National Aquarium in Baltimore tomorrow. Is there anything you guys would recommend we definitely check out? I haven't been there in over 14 years. It's about a 2 hour drive to get there so I want to make sure the trip is worth it!
We went to the "Adventure Aquarium" in Camden, NJ a couple of months back, it was neat but was over-all pretty small and we saw all there was to see in probably 90 minutes or less (still neat though, even though a lot of their exhibits featured fish, inverts and corals I get to see at the LFS all the time :lol2:). I remember the National Aquarium in Baltimore being overwhelmingly large, though I was like 12-13 at the time I went so that may have made it seem bigger than it was :p

[Savant]

skip the dolphin show.....lame

[Fizz71]

I actually miss the OLD Baltimore Aquarium with the descent ramp through the shark tank. Anwyay...last time I was there they also had a sea lion exhibit outdoors (before you went in) which I thought was nice while you waited (if you have to wait) but it's been a while so I don't know if it's still there. I wasn't a big fan of the dolphin show either, but I would still go again...just because it's there and free.

If you have the cash don't forget about the immersion tours (http://www.aqua.org/explore/baltimore/immersion-tours). I've never done one, but I did do the guest diver package at Disney's Epcot and it was fun.

I don't suspect it will be crowded on a Wednesday but keep in mind that when you buy a ticket..you buy a TIME...so if it's busy it can be hours before you get in. You can buy time and tickets in advance to be sure of your entry time.

And I know it's not really livestock related, but if you stand right behind the huge tubes of bubbling water when you first go in, it makes a great photo. :) (Up close face shot...the tubes distort it quite nicely)

[Fishypapa]

Skip it altogether, buy a ticket to CA, and go to the Monterey Aquarium. Nothing like it in the country! haha
Seriously though I've been planning to take my son to Baltimore so thanks for making this post.

[Spork3245]

The NA was a ton of fun. The place is HUGE. Three buildings in total. When you first walk in to the main building and into their main exhibit room, you're on walk-ways over-top of a huge man-made coral reef filled with tons of tangs, wrasses, clowns, damsels, etc. It must be 10k+ gallons honestly. It was really neat just to stand over top of it and watch wrasses and other fish swim around, school and even occasionally jump (there's a later section where you can look into it instead of over-top of it).

They unfortunately don't seem to have the Sea Lions/Seals out front anymore. I saw the Dolphin show, at least the last half of it as it was free and time wasn't much of an issue (as long as I wasn't leaving the city during rush-hour :p), wasn't too bad and it was neat watching the dolphins interact with the trainers and audience.

I didn't do one of the immersion tours due to the time-frame it takes to get there and how early most of them start, but I definitely want to do some of them next time, especially the interactive dolphin experience.

Definitely worth the trip! I think I'm going to try and make it a yearly thing to go there.