Family Fun: Aquariums in Minnesota

Fish in Aquarium

Maybe finding a fishing pole, buying bait, putting on a life jacket and getting into a boat (or walking on a dock) is not your thing, but you still really appreciate fish. 
If that’s the case, we have rounded up where you can go to visit some fish and appreciate their beauty–Minnesota Aquariums, Zoos, and even Pet Shops.

Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth Minnesota

Great Lakes Aquarium
353 Harbor Drive, Duluth, MN 55802
Open daily, $12-$18/pp plus $5 parking.

If you are looking for a Day Adventure, you can head up to Duluth.  While you are there, you can check out the aquarium. 

Great Lakes Aquarium makes education fun while exploring  the  importance of freshwater.  And being that it’s on the shore of Lake Superior there is an intense focus on that incredible resource. 
Covid safety protocols are being followed, and you can learn more on their website.

Check out what Anne’s family loves about the aquarium in this article.

Print a Fish Poster from Explore Minnesota for Take A Kid Fishing Weekend

SeaQuest 
Rosedale Shopping Center, Roseville
$10.95-$16.95

This is a hands-on experience covering 20,000 square feet. SeaQuest wants their guests to touch, feed & interact with animals including rays, fishies, otters, sloth, and kinkajou.

Sea Life
Mall of America, Bloomington
$12.50-$26.99

Minnesota’s largest aquarium hosts two 14-ft-long sawfish, sea turtles, giant sharks, and lots of other tropical fish and rays and such.  Stroll through unique settings the  underwater tunnel, the rainforest, the coral caves, and a lagoon. 

MN Zoo
Apple Valley
$13.95-$19.95

Rays and sharks, seahorses and sea dragons, and various coral reefs fill Discovery Bay with fish and fun of all kinds.  A day at the Minnesota Zoo can be a full day, and Discovery Bay is definitely a highlight.

FREE Options

Como Zoo
St. Paul
1225 Estabrook Drive, St. Paul, 55103

You can enjoy our finned friends in two locations at Como Zoo.  First catch them in Tropical Encounters attached to the Visitor’s Center.  And you will also find them in the Aquatic Center (this is an odiferous building, but one of my kids’ favorites) where you can check out the penguins as well. 

Pet Shops
Here is a list of pet shops you could browse with your kids to get them excited about the world under the sea (or, in the case of Minnesota, in the lake).

Aqualand Aquarium Center 5355 Chicago Ave, Minneapolis

Aquascapes 5705 Colfax Ave S, Minneapolis

A World of Fish 1516 E 66th St, Richfield

Petco Multiple Locations around the Twin Cities

PetSmartMultiple Locations around the Twin Cities

Pet Supplies Plus 4751 Hiawatha Ave, Minneapolis

Premier Aquarium Service 5801 Excelsior Blvd Parking Lot Along, Yosemite Ave S, Minneapolis

Reef Collective 1459 1st Ave NW, New Brighton

Sea Level 8590 Excelsior Blvd, Hopkins

Sonnen’s Pet Shop 406 St. Peter St, St. Paul

Wet World 3390 Coachman Rd, Eagan

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