Love those jellyfish at the Waikiki Aquarium!

Moon Jellies at the Waikiki Aquarium

On a rainy day, the Waikiki Aquarium is a great place to go. On a sunny day, the cool and darkened inside-exhibit area is a welcome relief from too much “fun in the sun”. Some consider this to be the best small aquarium in the world. The Waikiki Aquarium has both an outdoor section and an indoor one. Outdoors, you can watch Hawaiian monk seals frolick in the water or get up close to see the Edge of the Reef exhibit.

Indoors you’ll find a reef shark tank, several types of jellyfish, sea dragons, octopus, eels, and a colorful assortment of tropical reef fishes. What you may not realize, however, is that the Waikiki Aquarium has a world class assortment of live coral. Thanks to an innovative design, the tanks have access to natural sunlight which allows the coral to thrive.

The Aquarium is open daily from daily from 9AM – 5PM. It’s closed on Christmas Day.

Tips:
* Be sure to pick up the audio tour wand that come with your paid admission. Many of the tanks and exhibits have numbered plaques indicating a stop on the audio tour. You will enjoy the aquarium much more if you make use of this feature.

* There are often interesting early morning and after-hours educational activities for children and adults held here. Check out their website for a listing of upcoming events.

* Don’t forget to check out the gift shop filled with ocean-related gifts, books, toys, and artwork.

* If you have kids, they might enjoy swinging on the vines of the large banyan trees adjacent to the museum. There’s also an ocean-front walkway between the back of the aquarium building and the ocean. This heads down past Queen’s Beach into Waikiki.