Adventure Aquarium

Description:

• The former New Jersey State Aquarium is seriously cool. The expansive facility has hippos you can watch bob for heads of lettuce, stingrays to touch in open tanks, jellyfish that morph before your eyes, performing penguins, and cavorting seals.

  All in all, there are 2 million gallons of water in the place. While all the exhibits are impressive, there are a few things to look out for. Alligators cruise the West Africa River Experience. Rarely exhibited bluefin tuna zip past in the 760,000-gallon Ocean Realm. Let the kids take their time at the Touch a Shark tank. That's what they'll remember most. For additional fees, visitors age 18 and over can get even closer to the animals. The aquarium offers a variety of interactive packages; swimming with sharks in a 40-foot glass tunnel, feeding sea turtles, and training seals are among them.

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010