Every day is a new adventure when we are out and traveling and I love telling the kids where we are off to each morning as that is part of the fun. We are not in Virginia Beach and there is no shortage of fun to be had. I believe my hardest task on vacation each day is figuring out what fun we are going to head to.
My kids have the faces that tell me all I need to know, excitement and the wonder of adventure is always glowing in their smiles so today’s adventure would be Oceanic in nature,but not to the beach. We headed out to see the awesome, fun, and really sea life oriented Virginia Aquarium where we would have an interactive, educational time yet all met with tons of fun.
We are ready for sharks, manta ray, turtles and more. Here’s my tale of lavishly living travel out loud at the Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach.
The Amazing Virginia Aquarium
So here is my crew, ready to have a fun day, and then head back to the beach after we are all done visiting. What is inside? What will we see? My kids are tweens and teens and adventure beckons them and they love the mystery of the Ocean and all things aquatic, so this is going to be fun!
When we first visited the Virginia Aquarium I thought we were going to be overwhelmed, but we were able to easily navigate our way through the day at the Virginia Aquarium. If your kids are into sea life, marine animals and learning all about our great underwater world this is a must do while in Virginia Beach.
You need to consider what time allotment you are going to use on your vacation to visit the Virginia Aquarium? For us about 3 hours or so passed rather quickly and we were able to see so much in that period of time. There is so much you can stop and experience you might want to make a day of it, as it is quite possible to do.
The Virginia Aquarium A Family Destination
The alligator is one of a few we have seen when we have been at aquariums, and this one stayed against the glass so we really got to see it.
Here I am getting munched on by a Shark before entering the Shark Exhibit Area. Look at the fun we had. I am not sure if I had more fun with this….
or if the kids had more fun, as you can see on our faces!
The sea-life is amazing.
See so much more here on our Video:)
The Komodo Dragon exhibit offers a cool option, you go underneath you can put your head in the bubble and get a picture snapped with it albeit a bit fuzzy you can still tell that its your kid.
You can pet the Sting Rays, horseshoe crabs, and there are many live demonstrations where they are talking about the stuff that’s there. It’s living science and quite interactive. Do you want to sign up and take a right on a dolphin tour you can do that there is well. We saw the boat that leaves the Aquarium pass us on the beach in the distance when we were at the Best Western Oceanfront!
This passage was pretty interesting and so pretty.
The sharks swam right up to the glass it was cool to be that close yet separated, and WOW did they have some teeth on them.
Did you see this picture of the turtles?
My son is infatuated with turtles so this simply made his day and you can see so much of the turtle as they swim right up to the glass, look at the photos I captured.
If you take the outside passage over to the Adventure Park even if you’re not going to the Adventure Park it is one third of a mile from the aquarium over to the other part of the aquarium, where you will find the sea lions in the otters, as well as the snakes.
Do you provide yourself enough time, and wear the proper walking shoes as it is quite a jaunt from building A to building B but it is very well worth it. almost 1/3 of a mile.
If you happen to get hungry by the time you get from the Virginia Aquarium over to the Adventure Park side you can snack on popcorn, slushy’s, soft pretzels, and hot dogs and we found out that they were all allergen free, and they do not use latex gloves.(if you are allergic be sure to ask as products used ALWAYS change) Also a side-note: when I mention allergen free this is based on my son’s food allergies, yours many differ. The snack pricing was very reasonable, pretty much a drink, hot-dog and popcorn for Under $10.
Everything is in one place, which makes it very convenient to spend time with both the aquarium as well as the Adventure Park. We however split it into two separate days. There are no charges for parking so do not worry about that and there is plenty of parking at the Virginia Aquarium you can either park right at the aquarium or on the opposing east entrance.
I do have to say that after 3 and 1/2 hours of Zip-lining, the kids were whooped and going on to the Aquarium would have just been overkill. It is a great idea to make two separate outings out of each place, even though you can access both while Adventure Park. The kids had a sensational time playing that day, but I will share that story later.
Parking
I can tell you from my perspective there is plenty of parking and if you can’t find it directly in the Virginia Aquarium lot, their overflow lot across the street offers more and of course .5 of a mile away is Adventure Park which is also part of the Virginia Aquarium so you could start there and park there as well.
Parking is FREE. You pay admission to get into the Aquarium. In addition any of the things you choose to do from Adventure Park to the theater are so many ways to fill your day there.
The sharks, fish, turtles and sting rays are waiting for you at the Virginia Aquarium. Get a real splash out of things and visit the Virginia Aquarium while you’re with your family on vacation it is a great place to see all of the fun marine life. Lavishly live travel out loud at Virginia Beach.
We love visiting aquariums. This one looks really nice. Thank you for sharing!
Oh wow, sounds like it was a fun day for you and the kids. I have never been to an acquaruim before, I think the closet have been was when I was in Munich Germany and was choice between Aquarium and food stalls, guess which won lol. Lovely pictures.
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I love to go to aquariums. This one looks amazing, there is so much to see. That shark photo is great.
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Fun and amazing place indeed. What an experience! Hope to visit such kind of place too!
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We would enjoy seeing the other sea life the turtle we have fun with hands on but it is always great to see the other sealife and so close. We would have a ball with family for a day there. Great pictures you got, swesome!
OMG this reminds me we havent visited our local Aquarium in Years. We used to love going there too. My children are Tweens and teens too and they are quite the travelled lot. I guess we are too busy seeing other shores. ts time to revisit before we head off again!
These images and your detailed review of Virginia Aquarium makes me wanna jump on a plane come visit!
it’s about the small pleasures … and the large.. Travel is the best education — it is all we do.. seeing the world is an experience
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Even though I live right here in Chesapeake VA, I have never been to this aquarium. It needs to be done with my three kids asap.
Yup.. it is a great adventure..:)
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It does look like a great place to visit. I love the family shark picture, lol
What a gorgeous aquarium! I wish I had an aquarium in my home state.
I wish we have more places like this in the Philippines. It sure is gonna be a fun experience both for the young and young at heart!
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I love visiting aquariums in different states. They are so much fun! And there is so much to learn.
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I would love to see this! I know the kids would probably like it more than me but that’s the point! haha
My daughter loves visiting the aquarium. She gets so excited to see all the different sea animals and thinks Nemo lives somewhere in there too. Hehe!
This really is a good-looking building.
It looks like it was lots of fun for you and your family.
I love your pictures, especially the faces you make in your family pictures with the shark!
The Komodo dragon exhibit looks really unique, especially for an aquarium.
I love going to aquariums. I have always wanted to go to Virginia beach too. If I ever get the chance to go I will be checking out this aquarium. Sounds so nice!
If looks like you all had a blast! And took a ton of great photos too!
My kids love to visit aquariums. I’m going to put Virginia Beach on my list of places to visit. It looks like it could be fun. My kids are teenagers as well so it’s great to know that this is a great place for them.
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What a fun experienced! I like to have a picture with the Komodo dragon too, sounds interesting!
Aquariums are always so exciting and I love taking the kids there! It’s a great way to learn more about the different animals that live in the sea. Marine life is such a fascinating topic for me!
I love aquariums! I’ve taken my family to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and the Virginia Aquarium seems just as great!
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This looks like a ton of fun. Our kids love aquariums, and this would be a blast for them.
This aquarium looks great! I love the pictures. I’d be excited to see the turtles too!
This is a great place to visit with the kids. It looks awesome! I guess even adults would love viewing the beautiful marine creatures. There is so much to learn and appreciate!
I would love to see that aquarium! Such a fun and exciting activity!
My son was very fascinated with undersea life when he was younger. he would love this post
My family and I love visiting a good aquarium, and always try to find one while on vacation since we do not have one here locally. The jellyfish are always my favorite.
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Looks like a great Aquarium to visit. we just got a new one in our city and we’ve been a few times, its such fun to go and explore! What a fun day!
What a fantastic experience, loving all those beautiful photos of blue blue water and aquarium life. Visiting aquariums is certainly an educational and entertaining experience for any age person!
I love visiting aquariums and seeing all the different creatures. I find the atmosphere so serene. Will have to check out the Virginia Aquarium if I’m ever in the area.
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What a fantastic aquarium! I love that observation dome in the floor. What an interesting view!
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Thanks for the tip about the zipline! I would probably be too afraid, but it’s the kind of thing my husband would LOVE!
You are welcome. And HE will love it. This is a 3 hour event.. while it is attached to the Aquarium.. the park itself will wipe you out of energy:) 3 kids all day)
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I love the pictures you included! I’ve been to the VA Aquarium a few years ago, and this cute post brought back some fun memories. I don’t live in Virginia Beach anymore, but am thinking of vacationing there next year to show my husband around, so we might have to do the Aquarium together!
I am so glad that you visited my blog and that I could bring back a few fun memories– we made many there! We loved our Visit to Virginia Beach there was so much to see and do and the Aquarium was just great fun and educational:) If you like Ziplining they have a great Adventure Park for Ziplining right at the zoo and it is so much fun! Thanks for the note:) Dana
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