Adventure Aquarium — Attraction in Camden

Adventure Aquarium (Camden, NJ): Touch a Shark, Feed a Stingray, and Keep Your Sanity Intact

Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ is one of our favorite day trips from Harrisburg—just over 2 hours away, but packed with enough sensory-friendly, hands-on, kid-approved wonder to make every minute of the drive worth it. It's got all the aquatic awe of a major attraction, minus the chaos that usually sends parents spiraling into snack-fueled survival mode.

What Makes It Worth the Drive?

Shark Bridge: A rope bridge over the shark tank. Yes, really. Our 6-year-old crossed it, declared himself braver than Dad, and frankly… he’s not wrong.

The Only Aquarium in the U.S. with Hippos: These 3,000-pound comedians might be the real stars of the show.

Touch Tanks: Stingrays, starfish, tiny sharks—pet them all. The staff encourages it.

Playful Penguins & Bubble Dance Parties: We may or may not have joined the penguin rave.

Seahorses That Apparently Perform Just for Toddlers: “They’re dancing for MEEE!” said our 3-year-old, and honestly, it looked like they were.

Tunnel Tank: Our baby stared in awe while sharks and turtles swam overhead like an aquatic dream sequence.

Why It Works for Families (Especially Ours):

Adventure Aquarium is one of the few places we’ve visited with five kids (ranging from baby to tween) where no one melted down—including the adults. It’s wide, stroller-friendly, and includes actual benches placed there for parents to sit down on purpose. There’s a rhythm to the layout: big wow moments followed by quiet, exploratory spaces where kids can breathe, touch, and move.

Sensory-Friendly Design Done Right:

Strollers are welcome. The hallways are wide. There are ramps that make sense. Sensory backpacks, nursing pods, and staff trained in neurodivergence awareness? Check, check, and hallelujah. Even when our crew got loud, curious, and a little pirate-y, the staff met us with patience and kindness.

Food, Parking, and Mom Math:

There’s a big lot right next door (with re-entry allowed), but we usually eat at the on-site café to avoid dragging our hangry circus across the lot mid-day. The food is decent, the process is easy, and not having to repack the baby carrier gets bonus points.

Final Verdict:

Adventure Aquarium somehow manages to be thrilling without being overstimulating, and educational without being boring. It’s accessible, inclusive, and magical in all the right ways. If you’ve got shark lovers, hippo fans, or kids who need a little space to do things their way, this aquarium gets it.

Go. Feed the stingrays. Conquer the shark bridge. Let your toddler fall in love with a seahorse. And know you’ll make it back to Harrisburg before bedtime—with happy, tired kids and your sanity still...

All in all, this is a great time for a date night, a family day trip or a perfect time for single parents and only children to have a memorable experience!

Ridiculous wait at the counter. Not sure if they are new, but the 2 women were VERY slow and not seemingly interested in excellent customer service.

The cost is so so. There's quite a bit to enjoy, especially the light touching of some of the animals. I'm skeeved-out by that sort of thing, but my son, the future surgeon, was enamored.

My son is 10 years old, and for some reason, I thought he was over this type of experience. I couldn't have been more wrong. He LOVED the entire experience. He especially enjoyed the hippopotamus exhibit and walking over a large live shark tank! Big 🤪

I loved the moments I could enjoy having a seat, since I wore boots that said: I'm here vs. I'm comfortable. Wear comfortable shoes or sneakers there's a lot of walking, hence a lot to see.

Pros:

PHOTO OPS: Plenty of places, specifically designed for photo opportunities. I thought this was wonderful. You may dining have to wait your turn.

CLEANLINESS: From the moment you enter, there's someone with a broom. The bathrooms are outstanding. The stalls aren't too tiny, and the CLEANLINESS is top notch. The ladies cleaning the women's bathroom were gracious, especially the one with the reddish hair.

DISABILITY: The hallways are wide enough for wheelchairs if needed. There are seats throughout the entire place There are elevators on each level (I believe there are 3). The stairs are not for the fair if heart, though not terrible if you're in reasonable health.

GIFT SHOP The gift shop has something for every budget, especially the sale items.

FOOD: The food is surprisingly tasty. I had a hot dog, and my kid had a pizza. There are chicken wraps, coffee, and ice cream, too.

CON:

Customer Service: The person Danny at the help desk was absolutely NO HELP AT ALL. He had no idea where the penguins were since the outside exhibit was empty. He had no idea about the feeding schedule of the animals and couldn't care less to help us find out. This was disappointing bc we only had 2 hours to enjoy the entire aquarium.

PARKING: Here's where the headache is. Leaving this place was a bit of a chaotic nightmare. These 2 ladies suddenly closed one exit and the only place left seemed disabled so things were slowed down tremendously bc we had to wait on 1 person to take our money or card, retrieve our receipt and then go lift up the gate etc... It took about 30 min to get out of the...

We love Adventure Aquarium, and we actually chose it as the venue for our wedding! So while I would also give them five stars for just being an awesome aquarium (especially because of their team’s conservation work as well), I want to tell everyone specifically about how much they rocked as a wedding venue!! My (now!) husband and I toured quite a few venues, and from the moment we got to Adventure Aquarium, we were sold. The care and attention we felt from the whole team was unmatched. Megan, our venue extraordinaire, was absolutely incredible about matching people’s energy- I’m loud and bouncy, and she got super excited with me! And when we then toured with my dad, who’s much more reserved, she was cool and collected and answered all his questions.

The week of, she was even more awesome. We were able to bring our decor early, and she helped our coordinator set everything up day of. She also ran our rehearsal and was very clear and communicative.

The venue has in-house catering with Aramark and it totally rocked. The head chef, JT, is awesome and all the food was fantastic. It was also so marvelous that we didn’t have to pick catering, and that the in-house option was flawless.

Now the venue itself- unreal. The ballroom has floor to ceiling glass into the Shark Realm. It is the coolest backdrop of all time. Not to mention that we had the shark tunnel open for our guests and during cocktail hour, WE HAD A PENGUIN!

Incredibly important to note as well, the venue assigns you a bridal attendant- Darlene. She was AMAZING. She was with us from the moment we arrived for photos, until our big send-off. She was literally on the ground fixing my dress for photos, she got us food and drinks all night, she guarded the bathroom while my bridesmaids helped me with my gown, she took us and our photographer around the aquarium after close for cool pictures. Darlene forever!!

Also for anyone considering getting married here- it’s also so. fun. because all the little kids going to the aquarium think you’re a legit princess in your wedding dress. Just a truly beautiful bonus how sweet all the people we encountered that were just going to the aquarium!!

Truly, we are so happy with our choice in Adventure Aquarium for our wedding day. Thank you Megan, JT, Darlene, Sammy, Sarah (x2), Jen, Kendra, Patrick, Kayla, Kendall, Anthony and many more!!

Photos by Peach...