Tennessee is home to two top-ranking aquariums: The Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, and Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies, which is in Gatlinburg. Both are worth visiting and feature an array of marine life and special exhibits.
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East Tennessee is home to two top ten aquariums in USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice vote, with Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies taking the #1 spot and the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga coming in at #9. Gatlinburg is home to America's favorite aquarium once again!
Both are great interactive experiences for children & aquatic life. If you have to choose between the 2 I would probably say visit the GA Aquarium, but I live in Atlanta & still take my kids to the TN Aquarium when we are in Chattanooga.
The Georgia Aquarium is the largest aquarium in the world, whether you're measuring by the number of fish (more than 100,000) or the volume of water (more than a million cubic feet). It houses about 500 species in 60 habitats with 12,000 square feet of viewing windows, and it cost $290 million to build.
The Tennessee Aquarium is one of the world's largest freshwater aquariums, and easily Chattanooga's biggest attraction, contributing more than $115 million to the city's economy annually.
The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta is located just north of Centennial Olympic Park and is a worthwhile activity during your stay. This large property boasts 10 million gallons of fresh and saltwater and holds dozens of unique animals. View fascinating species including penguins, stingrays, sea turtles, and even sharks!
Out of an abundance of caution for Aquarium guests, staff, volunteers and the Chattanooga community, the Tennessee Aquarium and IMAX 3D Theater will remain temporarily closed until further notice. All programming and events are cancelled as a preventative measure to help slow the spread of COVID-19 through our area.
The Tennessee Aquarium has been ranked as one of the 10 best aquariums in the world. Travel website TripAdvisor ranked the Chattanooga-based aquarium seventh in its 2018 rankings. The aquarium finished one spot behind the Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo and ahead of Hawaii's Maui Ocean Center.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium remains the only aquarium in the world to successfully display a white shark. However, our main purpose for keeping a white shark in this exhibit was to answer important research questions. Those questions have largely been answered, so we will not display white sharks in the future.