Chattanooga Tennessee Aquarium
World's Largest Freshwater Aquarium

A Fun Filled Day at the Chattanooga Tennessee Aquarium

We took our family to the Chattanooga Tennessee Aquarium on the Fourth of July holiday in 2005. What a wonderful time we had!

Tell us about your trip to the Chattanooga Aquarium!

Read about what others have said about Chattanooga's biggest attraction!

Family Membership or One Day Tickets

At first we planned only to purchase tickets for a single day admission. Then as we began to price tickets, we realized that it would only be about $20 more to purchase a family membership for our family of six. And with the family membership we can visit the Chattanooga Aquarium as many times as we wish for an entire year!

The Chattanooga Tennessee Aquarium River Journey Building Aquarium members that purchase the basic membership package like we did also get the following extra benefits:

10% Discount in both Tennessee Aquarium and IMAX gift shops

Discounted IMAX tickets: $5 (Adults) $4 (Children)

Up to 10% savings on Aquarium & IMAX tickets for guests

Savings on Birthday Parties and Behind the Scenes tours

free subscription to River watch, quarterly publication

Advance tickets can be ordered by telephone at no additional charge

Opportunities to participate in special events and programs

Discount at Big River Grille (ask server for details)

Note : There are even more benefits if you choose one of the more advanced memberships!

Needless to say, we decided to go the membership route. After all, we live close by and can visit the Chattanooga Tennessee Aquarium any time!

One more thing:If you do decide to go the single day admission route, I strongly recommend purchasing your tickets in advance. The ticket line on Saturday was about 2 blocks long!

Chattanooga Tennessee Aquarium: River Journey

The river journey building is the original building on the Chattanooga Aquarium complex.

My boys in front of the Chattanooga Tennessee Aquarium A good size American alligator at the River Journey exhibit

It houses a wide array of river life from not only the Tennessee River and its lakes and tributaries, but also from other fresh water bodies worldwide!

We began with the Seahorse exhibit in the basement area where the aquarium keeps things fresh by rotating the types of creatures exhibited from time to time. In the past they have had a Jelly fish exhibit and a Venom exhibit with poisonous fish and creatures from around the globe.

The River Journey building is also home to a wide variety of snakes, alligators, and other reptiles. We also saw river otters and even a sizeable Gulf of Mexico saltwater exhibit.

It really is worth the trip!

Our Extra Wet First Visit

TGI Fridays restaurant just opposite the Ocean Journey building We started our visit on Saturday and intended to visit both the River Journey exhibit building and the new Ocean Adventure exhibit building in the same day.

But, let's just say the weather put a "damper" on that plan. We got soaked to the bone just going from the River Journey building to the TGI Friday's restaurant on the same block. We only had two average size umbrellas for the six of us!

So, at lunch we decided to come back for another round on Monday. Membership really does have its privileges!

Chattanooga Tennessee Aquarium: Ocean Adventure

The 2005 addition to the Chattanooga Aquarium is the long awaited Ocean Adventure building. Our adventure started out with freshwater and saltwater rays and a shark and ray petting exhibit that both we and our kids loved!

From there we strolled through one of the most enchanting butterfly gardens I have ever seen. The flowers and beautifully colored butterflies galore make this a wonderful natural escape!

Then we proceeded down a level to the main coral reef tank. The reef was wonderfully constructed and had such a variety of reef life that it would take quite a while to identify all of the species present!

The kids and I absolutely loved the huge sharks that were cruising the reef. When we first arrived there were also divers in the tank apparently conducting an educational presentation. After viewing the top-most portion of the reef we proceeded into an area that housed many species of Jelly Fish, a Cuttlefish, a huge Octopus and even a special tank with giant crabs that presented a unique photo opportunity.

Then we moved to the bottom portion of the reef that gave you the feeling of walking through an underwater cave with amazingly unique views of the reef life and sharks close up and even overhead!

Bottom Line

Our family loves the Chattanooga Tennessee Aquarium, more properly called the Tennessee Aquarium!

I bet you will too!

See what other travelers have to say about the Chattanooga Tennessee Aquarium here!

Click here to see more Chattanooga TN Aquarium photos!

Opened May 3, 2007...

The latest addition to the Chattanooga Tennessee Aquarium: Penguins' Rock

Tell Us About Your Trip To The Chattanooga Tennessee Aquarium!

Do you have a story to share about the Chattanooga Aquarium? Share it with us!

Enter A Title For Your Story

Share Your Story! [ ? ]

Upload A Picture (optional) [ ? ]

Add Picture Caption (optional)

Author Information (optional)

To receive credit as the author, enter your information below.

Your Name	(first or full name)
Your Location	(ex. City, State, Country)

Submit Your Contribution

Check box to agree to these submission guidelines.

(You can preview and edit on the next page)

What Our Visitors Have Said So Far

Click below to see great stories from other visitors to Chattanooga's Aquarium...

Chattanooga Tennessee Aquarium Hospitality
We had a wonderful time at the Tennessee Aquarium yesterday!

"I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful time at your aquarium, yesterday.

I was ...

Our First Aquarium Visit
On September 30th, 2007, I visited the Aquarium at Chattanooga for the first time, along with 3 others who had been there before. We had a blast!

I ...

Our day with the Fish
On my husbands birthday, July 27th, we decided to take our grandchildren to the aquarium. My granddaughter, Dixie, is 2 and a half and my grandson, David,...

Great Trip to the Chattanooga Tennessee Aquarium Not rated yet
The Chattanooga, Tennessee Aquarium did not disappoint us!

This aquarium is so much better than the Georgia Aquarium! The GA Aquarium is way too crowded ...

Treated Poorly at the Chattanooga Tennessee Aquarium Not rated yet
We arrived at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga excited to see the fish, etc, but my daughters camcorder ran out of power. So after we purchased our ...