The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk♥

The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk offers visitors of all ages the opportunity to have a good time while learning about the vital natural resource just off their shore: Long Island Sound. Visitors explore at their own pace, observing 34 exhibits featuring more than 1,200 marine animals of 259 species. These close encounters with animals, enhanced by friendly volunteer interpreters and informative display panels, educate visitors about the aquatic life of Long Island Sound and its watershed. The sharks, seals, river otters, sea turtles and other animals, carefully tended in re-created natural settings, serve as ambassadors both for their species and the Sound's natural environment. The Maritime Aquarium also boasts Connecticut's largest IMAX Theater, with a movie screen that's six stories high.

My family and I had the chance to visit The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk. The first thing we did was visit the Jiggle a Jelly: Touch Exhibit. It was pretty awesome doing something you've been told not to do all your life: touch a jellyfish! This fun display lets you safely touch live moon jellyfish, a common local species whose stings are generally benign to people. My oldest daughter absolutely loved this exhibit and so did my Fiance. Not only were they able to touch Moon Jellyfish but they learned so much about them.

After the Jiggle a Jelly: Touch Exhibit my daughters noticed the Shark and Ray Touch Pool. This wasn't our first time touching Stingrays but we usually have to pick them up, as some Exhibits are a little high. Not this Touch Pool. It was perfect for them. The touch pool has a side window, plus an underwater viewing window for kids.

Next, we made our way to the Frogs Exhibits. These cool exhibits feature dozens of species of frogs, toad and other amphibians from around the world! My youngest took a lot of interest in this exhibit. It was fun to watch her explore and learn about all different kinds of Frogs and Toads.

After having lunch at the Cascade Café, we had the chance to enter the "Flutter Zone". The exhibit features hundreds of exotic tropical butterflies of dozens of varieties from Asia, Africa and South America. During our walk through the Flutter Zone a butterfly or two chose to land on us. While I'm not a fan, it was pretty cool. Plus, Entry into “Flutter Zone” is free with Aquarium admission!! Everyone gets to enter a Magical environment.

Before leaving we decided to visit the Marine Lab which featured my daughters FAVORITE exhibit, Jelly Fish (Jellies). Jellies are fascinating and soothing to watch; in The Maritime Aquarium's display, they're like a living lava lamp. Now, I want to talk about our experience at The Maritime Aquarium's IMAX Theater, we had the chance to watch Great White Shark on a screen as tall as a six-story building! We absolutely LOVED the movie and learned so much about the Great White Shark. The 40-minute film takes viewers around the world to great-white hotspot! At first my daughters were scared but by the end of the film they wanted to learn more.

Overall, we had a wonderful time at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk and of course we plan on visiting again. Our visit was very educational but in a kid-friendly way. They offered tons of activities which were decently priced from $1- $5, you can't go wrong. Also, If you are local, make sure you check out their website for more information on their Public Cruises, Passengers must be over 42" tall!

DISCLAIMER: The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk provided complimentary passes to their Aquarium. All opinions stated are my own and are not influenced by any affiliates.