South Carolina Aquarium — Attraction in Charleston

I LOVE this aquarium, and I have a lot to say about it, lol. For context, I work at an aquarium in my home state, so my opinion might be a little biased.

1. The Price: An adult ticket to this aquarium costs basically the same as an adult ticket for my aquarium. Considering there's a lot more to see and do here at SC, I honestly think they lowball the value of a ticket. I know from personal experience that keeping an aquarium running takes LOTS of money and people - especially one this big - so it should be higher. That being said, as a guest I appreciate the affordable price haha.
2. The Staff: They were so friendly and knowledgeable! I had lots of questions to see how similar+different they do things compared to me and about all the exhibits they have.
3. The Animals: I'm pleased to say they're very well taken care of. The stingray touch tank has a deeper end they can go to if they want to be left alone, but all the cownoses were very friendly! The chain dogfish petting tank singlehandedly cured my chronic depression, they were so cute and sociable. A lot of them were cuddled in lazy piles but that's normal for carpet sharks. Whenever someone (mostly children, let's be honest) were being too rough at a touch tank, a staff member kindly corrected them.
4. Lots to See/Do: There are so many fish and animals here! I love how many interactive stations there are; there were lots of learning opportunities. I appreciate how you can see behind the scenes in a way that's not intrusive to the employees. I'm a neurodivergent fish fanatic so I read every sign and took lots of time looking at every single exhibit which made me go a lot slower through it than my mom and brother did. It took me about 3 hours to do it all at my pace, but I would've spent hours just at the touch tanks if I hadn't come with other people.
5. The Gift Shop: I appreciate that most of the stuff you can buy is made out of recycled/sustainable materials. I personally am not willing to spend $30 on a t-shirt, but I understand that high quality, sustainable merchandise costs more to make. I did have my mom buy me a $30 blacktip reef shark stuffed animal though (mostly because I was impressed they sold them). I also appreciate that the exit isn't at the back of the gift shop; a lot of tourist attractions make it to where you HAVE TO go through to get out which is a perfect way to make more money because of course the little kids will want something.

Obviously there are some things my aquarium at home has that this one doesn't (and vice versa), but I do wish this one was more wheelchair accessible. There is an elevator, but due to COVID regulations there's a one family at a time rule that could cause a wait for someone who can't take the stairs. My family and I are able-bodied so it wasn't a problem for us, but it could be for a group with someone...

South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston, SC, is not the biggest aquarium I visited, nor the one with the most species of marine life. However, it is definitely the most friendly and welcoming one I have visited. Specifically, I am most impressed with the full-time staff and volunteers working in the aquarium.

My family of four visited this aquarium on a Sunday afternoon in June 2025. I did not expect a full-time staff who worked in the marketing department on a regular Mon-Fri office hours to show up on a Sunday much less to serve as an exhibit guide. She enthusiastically pointed out many different interesting avian (yes, they have one avian section although it was relatively small) and marine animals to different visitors, including my family, and answering all of our questions. When she could not answer one of our questions, she went into the office to get the answer from someone and then came out again to give us the answer. This is someone who really loves her job.

Other than her, there was another effervescent full-time staff who not only walk around serving as an exhibit guide but also tirelessly going from floor to floor to host different games and activities engaging the visitors. The aquarium also have two touch pools where visitors can touch star fishes, stingrays, horseshoe crabs, and many other small marine lives. These two pools (one outside and one indoor) are also staffed with volunteers who are eager to help and answer questions.

Other than the two individuals I specifically mentioned earlier, I must have also spoken with another 4-5 more volunteers in the aquarium and they were all equally friendly and helpful to children and adults alike. Thus, if you are looking for a friendly, educational, and interesting place to visit in Charleston, South Carolina Aquarium is certainly the one place I...

This is a review of the South Carolina aquarium located in Charleston South Carolina.

Happy to report that this facility does honor military discount with proper ID and if you park in the parking garage which is City owned then you will get free parking if you have handicap disabled veteran tags.

Everyone we encounters that worked for the aquarium was smiling friendly and very helpful from the people who are standing outside telling you where to go to the young men and women who are taking the money for the tickets to especially all the employees inside who were working with the animals everyone is super professional friendly and absolutely awesome.

In particular the first young lady that we encountered whose name is Anna who was working first thing in the morning at the outside Sea Ray tank was so awesome that we even got to go on a behind the scenes tour of the giant tank as she selected a whole bunch of people from the building that day. I have been to this aquarium several times and this was the first time I got to do it behind the scenes tour it was absolutely great to have her take the time to show about a dozen of us around how feeding worked how filtration worked for the giant tanks how they tried to save endangered species and was willing to answer any questions anybody could come up with she was super knowledgeable and absolutely fantastic.

If you look at the website for the aquarium you'll notice that they have gone to a time-sensitive fee schedule meaning that Saturdays which is the day that we went was the most expensive every single day is different so you will need to look at the website before you go in to figure out what the price will be for your tickets for that day.

Absolutely 10 out of 10...