ABQ BioPark Aquarium

This was the smallest aquarium I've been to, but it was a great stop on our trip. I like how they have everything set up in an easy-to-follow trail through the aquarium. They had a few surprisingly large tanks for the size of the aquarium. The otter was especially adorable & being able to check out it's exhibit from both under water and above was neat. The aquarium was clean and didn't have an overwhelming fishy smell like some aquariums tend to have. The bathrooms were also clean, and the gift shop had a lot to offer.

Amazing! Beautiful! Wonderful! And that was just the girl at the ticket booth! Really the whole place was incredible! The wife and I very much enjoyed the different types of gardens but were especially impressed with the huge wild toad and the pet table koi in the thoughtfully designed and cared for Japanese garden. On our way out we enjoyed seeing the friendly workers decorating the tiny train area with string lights; then we happened upon the best part, the fantasy area for kids! The giant bugs and vegetation along with the cave and massive fallen tree along with the termite mound maze definitely lent to a feeling of being transported into a world of imagination! All of that along with eating lunch next to the incredible aquatic display in the lunch room was well worth the $20 admission fee, and we didn't even have time to enjoy the included entry to the aquarium! Give yourself a few hours to enjoy these two parks included in the one ticket, we had a plane to catch! By the way, the burgers and sweet potato fries are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Wow are they delicious! As for advanced ticket purchase, only do this if you know it's likely to be busy, maybe a weekend or holiday; they require choosing the hour you will arrive ahead of time, we didn't want that stress so figured we'd chance just purchasing when we arrived and were glad we did!

Definitely the smallest aquarium I have ever been to, but it's nice. Clean, pleasant staff, and a easy pathway from start to finish, you definitely can't get lost here. I enjoyed it despite the briefness.

This is a really clean and well kept aquarium that has lots of different kinds of fish. The main aquarium was exciting to just sit and observe the fish being fed a little food by one of the keepers who was in the aquarium. When you go to the shark cafeteria you can see it from the other side. Nice and relaxing.

Went to the River of Lights and it was so beautiful much more then last year's. They has food and baked goods. The had drinks for adults and children. We really enjoyed our time.

Only $8 for adults! Felt like a good deal since it wasn’t the longest exhibit. But we got almost an hour out of it. No complaints!

This is a delightful little aquarium. It doesn't take long to get through and was surprisingly small. But it is very clean, critters are well labeled and in good health. The otters were so adorable and even got to see them being fed and the large viewing tank was nice.

Enjoyed the River of Lights. However the choice of snack vendors is poor poor choice. Ger ride of that corn in a cup, it's disgusting. Other than that everything else is great!

After strolling through the botanical garden, we made our way to the aquarium, which was just right next to the botanical garden. The admission ticket allowed entrance to both the botanical garden and aquarium, which made it a great deal. The aquarium was a bit small but had a variety of exhibits. We were able to walk through in under half an hour. Overall a great way to spend an afternoon especially since you get to enjoy both the aquarium and botanical garden.

This is a staple for all Albuquerque people. But they need to expand and add more. They need more cool fish and change up the main display tank. It's going down hill and is very boring. Not exciting anymore.

Excellent little aquarium. I love the reef tunnel and the jellyfish tanks. Admission includes the botanical gardens which is a great deal.

Very small aquarium took us 30 minutes to see everything. Most of the exhibits were closed. They do have some cool animals, but for the most part, it would be nice if they had animals you could feel and explore. If you have time to do a quick stop, I recommend it. If not, you're not missing much.

Visiting the entire Biopark-Aquarium & Zoo combination-we started with the Zoo, which was a tough act to follow- making the Aquarium seem very small in comparison, but after the large packed morning, the small (A/C filled visit) was a nice balance- the kids loved the fish tunnel, sting ray tank, and the larger stink ray/shark tank at the end. the highlight of the visit was our lucky timing arriving during the large tank's feeding time- so the kids were able to see the staff in scuba gear interacting with the animals- overall, it was a nice following the zoo after-visit, wouldn't have made a good all-morning activity, but would recommend as an add-on

Great time visiting another city stable while on vacation in Albuquerque. This was a nice aquarium and had some good exhibits for viewing and we got learn about some fish and get awesome pictures while we were at it. You see the Stingray smiles for the camera Until next review Kisses

The ABQ BioPark Aquarium is located in downtown Albuquerque within the BioPark compound and is open daily from 9am-5pm except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. The aquarium is quite small, especially compared to the zoo. Unfortunately approximately half of the exhibits were closed or empty when we visited in September 2023, including the eels. The largest attractions at the end of the aquarium (the Atlantic Coral Reef and the Pacific Coral Reef) were open and were by far the best part of the aquarium. Overall it could be a great little place, especially for children, but it needs to invest in reopening its collections.

This is a good aquarium for its size. Good focus an regional fish and habitats, with crowd pleasing otters and sharks included. There's a fun underwater visitor path that takes us beneath a large aquarium. Kids went bonkers in there! The day I toured, there were many children groups in attendance.  They loved each exhibit, so long as the aquatic life was moving, of course! I heard laughing, screams, "wooooow"s, and "look at that!" over and over. There's a good message of recycling to help save our rivers and oceans, thereby saving the aquatic life. I really liked that. This aquarium is easily done under 2 hours without children and not stopping to eat in the Cafe. The $14.50 out of state admission was reasonable for this experience.

I hadn't been to the aquarium in a hot minute but recently I had some family in town that wanted to go. I've been going to the ABQ Aquarium since I was a young child and needless to say, not much has changed over the years. The most notable update is the otter exhibit which is super adorable. The otters are very cute and even have a little waterslide. Everything else seemed much smaller as an adult but obviously this is still a lot of fun for small children. My little sister is ten and she blazed through it but used to love it when she was younger. The saving grace here is that the price of admission gets you into both the aquarium and the botanical gardens which is much more expansive.

Can't believe I haven't written a review of the aquarium yet... it's a nice little place to come for kids of all ages, for concerts, picnics, see the butterflies, have lunch at the Shark Reef Cafe, River of Lights, or a nice afternoon to walk around the gardens. I'm glad they also brought back events, like the Winter Wool Festival this year as well. It doesn't take a long time to go through the actual aquarium itself, but it is well maintained. You can tell the shark exhibit is definitely a favorite for all. It used to be that you could buy a ticket for just the botanic garden alone. The last visit I had here was in late July (but the otters weren't on exhibit this time). They also have unique snacks like "penguin sundaes" and loaded hot chocolate, that never seem to stick around long. 2022 #50

They had some huge tanks with tone os fish and sharks. The kids loved the otters and the birds as well. It was a bit smaller than I expected, but was well worth the price (which was inexpensive). One of my kids touched a stingray in the touch area and talked about it for days. I recommend this aquarium. Parking on site was very easy and the staff was helpful.

Kiddo rates this one a 4/5 for the lack of jellyfish merchandise. Otherwise, we had a blast! So many fun things to learn and so many cool creatures to visit in this small local aquarium. It was busy today but even with a few field trip crowds we managed to have a GREAT time! Price was worth it. Snacks at the cafe are excellent. THEY HAVE EDIBLE STRAWS!

Purchasing a ticket to the ABQ BioPark Aquarium also gives you entrance to the botanical gardens which was pretty cool. The aquarium was a little on the small side. The kids had a good time. They love seeing big fish. I enjoyed watching the otters and the jellyfish. The fish tank tunnel was nice.

**WARNING** the aquarium gift shop does not honor displayed price. In picture you can clearly see the sticker that says $27.99 but when the rude employee scanned it on the register it sells for $45. Does the stuffed jelly fish really look like it's worth $45? The aquarium was ok just the rude employee behind the counter.

Great place for kids. it's small but a nice thing to do when it's too hot or cold out. bring snacks and if you have an EBT card, it's like $6 or less for a family of 2!

This is a tiny aquarium with not a lot of displays. It was not very expensive though either, plus I could walk through the botanical gardens too. There were some nice exhibits of river otters and a big tank with sharks and rays in it. Overall a nice little aquarium. The botanical gardens were nice too. They were busy setting up for the Christmas light display so that was interesting to watch.

really pretty fishes & sharks I didn't look at everything but most of it I did. It was nice & good place to go if u have nothing to do & if you are bored trying to stay out of the way.

My favorite part of the aquarium is the River Otter exhibit. They are so darn cute, I encourage you to go early to see them active. My Daughter is 5 years old and loves absolutely everything that lives in the water. We usually go through the Aquarium pretty quickly, and eat lunch at their Shark Reef cafe. The food takes awhile, but isn't bad at all. They have a kids menu, salads, sandwiches, smoothies, coffee drinks and alcohol. We are Bio Park members and usually spend some time next door at the botanical gardens as well to make it a well-rounded trip. I think it would be amazing in the future if the Aquarium could expand to house more creatures and offer more educational opportunities. It's such a gift for our children here in NM to be able to learn about and interact with aquatic life.

We visited the ABQ BioPark Aquarium, which was a fun place to visit and check out sea life. Though it was smaller than anticipated, this aquarium does much for what it has. For our tickets, you're able to get a combination with the aquarium and the botanical garden, which is what we did. I noticed how much cheaper the tickets were compared to Seattle, so gotta love how affordable it is here. The aquarium is small, but is easy to get around and makes good use of its limited space. I really enjoyed seeing all the different sea life, as it features a lot of different fish species. Not a lot of mammals here, so much of the displays are tanks. My favorite animal to watch were the manta rays. They were really active and those facial expressions are unforgettable! Though they have information about other sea life like the otters and sea turtles, we didn't see any areas that had these animals, which was a bummer. However, the information is good to see for children, which this aquarium is well-suited for.

The coolest experience! Walking around the giant bug farm, the exhibits, the wildlife, the train-sets throughout the property... it's a treasure!

It's a nice aquarium just very small grandson loved the sharks. so happy that you also get admission to the botanical garden as well. We were sad the train was not working to go to the zoo as well.

This place is so cute! It's small, but if you are a New Mexico resident it's $10 a person and the botanic garden is also included!

Worth to stop by!! We stopped here when we where passing by. Affordable and so much to explore with kids! So many unique things to explore and just walk around.

This was my first time here! I had heard this aquarium was small so if you know that going in then you shouldn't be disappointed. I went with my boyfriend (no kids) and it was a cute way to spend an hour. I love that they give discounts for New Mexico residents. There were a bunch of young kids but overall a lot less crowded than I thought it would be for a hot Sunday morning in the summer. I loved watching the otters play the most! I felt like a kid again. I am interested in coming back to have dinner next to the fish tank in the restaurant attached to the aquarium.

This aquarium is very nice! The employees are nice, they have many different Sean animals to see and the decor of the place is super cute! My toddlers and I loved it here! I totally recommend you go!

Very unpopulated, which was awesome. Would've been cool if lights were on. Pretty impressive grounds, sad we couldn't see bugs and roses were dead.

Normally I'd give this a 3-4 star rating, but it deserves 5 stars for the following reasons: -admission is cheap: $9 max, plus discounts for kids, senior and military -my little nephew got in for free since he's under 3 years old (and he loved it) -friendly volunteers give talks sometimes -it has an exhibit on the fish of New Mexico, which was informative and may surprise some visitors to this desert area -parking was easy and free -wasn't too crowded even on a school holiday As other have said, it doesn't compare to the big fancy aquariums in Atlanta, Boston, Monterey etc. but it doesn't need to, it's perfect for Albuquerque! Great place for people of all ages to learn, relax, and think about life under the sea (as opposed to how things are going above it).

This is speaking to the aquarium portion of the park only (it shares grounds with the botanic gardens which we did not tour but the ticket price covers both). Exhibits were in good shape generally and the marine life looked healthy enough, but this place is really small. The otters are cute, but their glass is so scratched up you can barely see them through it from inside the building. This took us about an hour to get through.

Small but mighty. They have a good amount of variation of fish. They have a lot stingrays and handful it healthy/big sharks. It's worth a stop since the aquarium and park.

Great place for tourists at a reasonable price. The whole spread of animals or exhibits offer a good variety and I noticed mostly wheelchair accessible which is not always a luxury in businesses. Though this place had quite of few things I have never seen from other aquariums before, I can honestly say that overall, the place is on the smaller scale of an aquarium. My husband and I are from CA which is as close to water life as one can get and set up for show in an aquarium. I honestly think my favorite part of the place was the koi pond up front and thought we could feed them as that's usually what one can expect with koi ponds. Sadly, it didn't look like that was an option. There's a nice café spot that had lots of yummy looking treats and drinks, even a few alcohol choices. So fun for all ages lol.

The aquarium isn't big and you can literally see everything within 30- 45 minutes. It is entertaining to see the stingrays, jellyfish, and various fish. I recommend getting the zoo and aquarium pass to see both exhibits. The aquarium also has a souvenir shop you can pick up small items. There is a train that takes you to the aquarium and I recommend buying that when you get there. The train departs every 30 minutes.

While it's not the biggest aquarium I've been to, it was thoroughly enjoyable. I loved the variety of species they had on display. I especially liked the reef fish with all their vivid colors. You can see a lot of different fish in a fairly short time. Your admission is also good for the botanic gardens which you can stroll around after enjoying the aquarium. I have to mention how good the employees are in the Biopark. I had a good lunch at the Shark Reef Cafe. The counter people and the manager were all friendly and helpful. The food was fine but the real stand out was the staff. Also, if you need help, go to the administrative office and talk to Eric. I needed to call a cab but my phone had died. Eric made multiple calls to taxi companies for me. However, no taxis had bothered to show up by the time the park was closing. Knowing I was stranded, Eric gave me a ride to my hotel on his way home. I was in a jam and he stepped upon a big way. This review is my attempt to give him the credit he truly deserves.

Okay, okay. I know. It's small. Really really small. That being said, you need to downshift a few notches and take your time meandering through so you don't finish the exhibit in 15 minutes flat. This is the spot that me and my mom friends would meet while pushing our strollers with one hand and adjusting our baby bjorn's with the other...we'd gawk at the jellyfish and seahorsies (my two favs), and end up sitting in front of the shark tank for another hour just chillaxin. When my babies became toddlers, they'd run through the ramps and stop at their favorite exhibits, try to find all the tropical fish in the overhead tunnel, and then sit down in front of the shark tank for an hour watching all the other exotic fish creatures (the sea turtles are soooo coooool). Listen, even though it's small, it has an unexpected charm. They do overnight excursions throughout the year where you can pay to spend the night with your child and watch the nightlife of these mysterious creatures. They have scheduled feeding times, and hand on exhibits. They also have a nice cafe, and cool gift shop, and some interesting ship displays down the stairs. I do hope they expand in the future, but for now, we still enjoy our visits. I highly recommend getting the yearly biopark pass that includes unlimited visits to the zoo/aquarium/botanical gardens. The aquarium may be the lesser attraction of the 3, but the yearly pass is a great deal and really makes it all worth it.

Things I'll never pass up on: food, drinks, shopping, manis, zoos, and aquariums. I've been to my fair share of aquariums, pet some sting rays along the way (does Mall of America still do this?), and ooh'd and aah'd through it. Although the Albuquerque Aquarium is relatively small, I enjoyed the massive amount of Dory's, the well-fed sharks that didn't eat a single small fish while we were there, the glowing jellyfish, and the impressive amount of literature that accompanied all of the Xzibits. I'm rather jealous of Albuquerque and it's aquarium because we here in EP don't have one yet. What the hell are we waiting for? And the staff was awesome. I only interacted with two employees, but they were ridiculously bubbly...just loving love, loving the aquarium. Fantastic and super helpful. The gift shop (like all gift shops) was overpriced, but we did leave with a Albuquerque Aquarium clown-fish shot glass. If you don't have a memento, it didn't happen. It was like 9 bucks, but I can now boast to my friends that I've been to an aquarium in the desert. One thing that I really loved was the train to the zoo. I didn't end up getting tickets for it because I showed up too late, but being able to combine the botanical garden, aquarium and zoo makes for an all-day adventure. I'll be back to do it all. I was forewarned that the aquarium would only take 10 minutes to walk through so no biggie. Luckily the aquarium ticket price includes access to the Rio Grande Botanic Garden and for $12 a person you really can't complain.

If you have a chance to do Aquarium Overnight, do it!! That's a whole new (and better) way to enjoy this tiny gem. It's a small aquarium, BUT if you do the Aquarium Overnight, you get a docent at every exhibit so you can learn so much more and get the most intimate and personal aquarium experience you can ever get. As for the aquarium on the normal will go pretty quick. There are two touch tanks. I didn't know they had the invertebrate touch tank and my mini-me really enjoyed touching the giant hermit crab & sea star. There are three big tanks/exhibits. The tunnel where you can view from under and all the way around; Atlantic tank which consists of one wall and a round peephole; and the main gigantic shark tank with rays, turtles, & bunch more big fish. There's a nice viewing area to sit and gaze in amazement. That's the best/feature room they have...the aquarium abruptly ends there and it's a bit anticlimactic but it's still a cute little aquarium worth your trip. Aquarium Overnight: personally, I think this is THE way to experience this place!! The event starts at the education building with an ice breaker game/activity. We left all of our stuff there and had a free roaming time at the aquarium. There were a handful of activity tables like making seahorse or a shark with paper cutouts, decorate a tee shirt table (bring your own shirt), coloring, sketching contest, etc. oh and the scavenger hunt. My hubby, who is super competitive, was hard at work and won us the prizes for the kiddos (ours and the new friends) was fun too. Then we met at the theatre and played Aquarium Jeopardy. We broke out to claim our sleeping spots after that and most mad dashed to the big shark tank BUT remember that the lights go OUT. Pitch black in the tank areas. We chose the hallway leading up to the Atlantic (first) tank/exhibit and it was perfect. There were light sockets and just enough light by the sting rays exhibit where it stays lit. They have movie night from 20-about midnight. It doesn't get totally quiet till about 1am..ish.

I have visited this place so many times in the short span of living here in just over two years. I love this little aquarium. And yes I can say little as I have been to some of the best and largest aquariums in the US. The size of this place would easily be just an exhibit in the likes of the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta or the National Aquarium in Baltimore. However, for Albuquerque, this place is too cute. My favorite is the huge open pool filled with Ray's and silver fish and puffer fish. My niece enjoyed it very much which was the most important thing. I also love that the aquarium is visible at the resturant. We actually spent more time watching the fishies from the resturant viewing glass than the actual aquarium.

We went as reciprocity members of the Phx Zoo. For 4 of us, it was still $29 for a max of 30 minutes of aquarium experience. It seems like it was in disrepair. We did enjoy the tunnel aquarium.

This is a great place to take the family out for a day or a short trip. Weekends are of course busy but during the week in the school year there are fewer people and you can really check things out. The restaurant located in the Aquarium has a side to the tank that you watch while you are eating.

This is a very small aquarium but cute. We finished it in just a few minutes, but my two year old loved it. We probably spent more time in the cafe looking at the fish from that side, but it made my kiddo happy. It was clean. There was staff cleaning one of the tanks and she was talking to people about the fish in it. I'll definitely say that I've never seen such huge puffer fish.

For being a smaller scale aquarium they were quite informative and had employees everywhere to answer questions and talk about the different aquatic life we were seeing. They had a few hands-on exhibits that were nice too. Very clean and a great addition to the BioPark experience.

Honestly, we left this aquarium very disappointed. The single staff member we met was nice, but this place was severely understaffed, and there were no clear signs on where to go for tickets; the entrance to the aquarium; or the botanical garden entrance. With all the good reviews and the current four star rating I was expecting a good few hours at a nice aquarium. The tanks in the aquarium were quite small and unimpressive. Even with my husband, myself, and my four year old finding and identifying each fish in every tank, we finished the aquarium in under an hour. We revisited the otters and sting rays to add an additional 15 minutes to our time. The touch pool is open Monday-Saturday. So if you happen to come on a Sunday, expect a disappointed kid. This aquarium has a few shark species, such as the sandbar shark and the tiger shark, but they don't have any dolphins. There are model dolphins hanging above the sting ray tanks near the entrance of the aquarium, and my daughter was wanting to see dolphins after seeing the "fake dolphins" upon our arrival. Needless to say, this was also a let down by the time we reached the end. If you've got a few hours to spend, go to a different place. If you've only got an hour of free time, feel free to waste it here.

Maybe I haven't been to enough aquariums, but I was underwhelmed by this one. I took my baby, hoping to have enough to see to whittle away the better part of an afternoon during summertime. While it beat being at the hotel, we were pretty much through the aquarium in 30 minutes. I'm bummed I didn't go to the zoo instead. But- bright spot was perusing the botanical gardens afterwards. That part is truly impressive.

We really enjoyed the ABQ BioPark Aquarium. It is a smaller aquarium but we had a great time here. We always make a point to stop by an aquarium when we visit out of town.

This Aquarium is so small. There hardly anything to it. There were a few neat things. You can be in and out of there in 30 minutes. Don't waste your money

For all you out-of-staters-- yeah, I get it. Not exactly the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Boston Aquarium, etc, (both of which I have visited) but give them some slack. California and Massachusetts are coastal states. Nice selection of little fishies-- they look like they stepped right out of Finding Nemo, bigger dudes like some small sharks, turtles, sting rays, jelly fish, seahorses, and coral. If you go at the right time, you can watch the turtles get fed. I think it is done during the weekdays. Fun facts about various marine life posted, too. Good, basic aquarium. This place is not one of those big blockbuster aquariums, but it is not trying to be, and that is reflected in the price. You go to Steinhart (San Francisco), Monterey, Boston, etc, and expect to shell out $35+ for admission. Here it isn't even half the price, with an even bigger discount for NM residents. Fun to take the kids here for a day. Even for me and my co-worker, two childless adults, it was neat to see. It also meant that we were done in 20 minutes.

Lovely gardens and water features - cute miniature train displays running outside. Plenty to see outdoors but kids will want to rush through or avoid gardens to see indoor exhibits like aquarium and Bugarium. Fun for whole family

This is a place for kids no doubt. It's small but the added feature of the gardens just down the way make this a place for a family day out. Lots of discounts: senior, free for kids under 2, military. The tide pool area was not open; which was a bummer because my little one is VERY in to fish at the moment. The facilities are clean and it wasn't too crowded for a holiday weekend. I've been here in the summer and it wasn't too crowded either. The gift shop is way overpriced; par for the gift shop course. I paid $35 for a baby board fish boom and two tiny stuffed fish that looked like nemo and dory but were not. (I found the real deal for half the price at Walgreens). Over, it's okay. There is such opportunity to amp up the excitement factor though. It's an aquarium... not a pet store.

I traveled to the Albuquerque Aquarium with my husband and our good friends. The overall experience was fun and rewarding. There are many exhibits that are worth spending a good deal of time exploring. I wish the overall building was better maintained. It is very used. For an Aquarium located in the desert, though, it is definitely something to check out. When my husband and I have children, and if we relocate to the Albuquerque area, I think we will invest in a season pass. I heard that it works for both the botanical gardens and the Aquarium. For the price, I think a season pass would be more affordable in the long run. The botanical gardens are AWESOME... AND included in the ticket price.

This is a really chill and nice aquarium to spend an hour or two at. We had contemplated going to the zoo, but I was dubious with it being winter, and tropical animals being involved. So we came here instead. I guess I am just a kid at heart, because I love staring into the tanks and trying to locate all the fish on the plaques. They are undergoing some renovations right now. For the price tag, I feel it is a pretty good deal. 9 $ in state residence, or 12.50 for out of state. You can get a combo ticket which included admission to all 3 parks and unlimited train rides for 15$ or 20$ respectively. Which I would surely like to do. Not the biggest and fanciest aquarium, but it does have some large displays. My favorites were the Jellyfish, tropical fish tube, and the skates in the shark tank. It was feeding time and the stingrays are are kind of dog like. I was joking to my boy. I want to have one and keep it in a tub in the kitchen. Not a logical idea, but it would be a funny conversation piece. The turtle in the shark tank really wanted to cuddle with the divers feeding the skates, and they kept pushing him away. We also saw a rare hand fish. You are supposed to exit the shark tank side doors FYI so if you go backwards through you will have to loop back. When you enter and to the right there are models of boats, not well marked and easy to miss.