Ripley's Aquarium/Myrtle Beach, SC
Written: May 27 '06 (Updated May 27 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent viewing area, touching the sting rays, holding a horseshoe crab
Cons: A bit pricey like most beach attractions
The Bottom Line: An informative and fun way to spend a few hours while seeing some amazing sea creatures.
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| CyndiCM's Full Review: Ripley's Aquarium/Myrtle Beach, SC |
Upon entering Ripley's Aquarium/Myrtle Beach, SC you are greeted by a smiling employee who asks you to stand in front of an immense cylindrical aquarium. After striking your pose she snaps your photo and hands you a number. You are then told you can preview/purchase the photo down stairs.
Moving on you enter a large room called the New Exhibits Hall. When we were there the presentation was called: Mars - the Search for Life Exhibit. The exhibit contained all kinds of interesting information about the planet Mars. Here you can learn about Mars and how it differs from our wonderful planet Earth. My husband's favorite part of this exhibit was the scale. You dialed in your Earth weight and it told you your weight on Mars, you weigh significantly less on Mars. My hubby was trying to take it with us; even asking where he could purchase one for our home! They even had a cool space suit arranged so that you could stand and have your picture taken to look like you were inside the suit; my children and husband are now Mars astronauts.
The next area we encountered was an interactive learning lab called the Marine Education Center. The Ripley's Aquarium/Myrtle Beach, SC conducts informative classes at different times throughout the day. Unfortunately we were there at a time when we would not be able to sit in on a lesson. You could go in and look at all the displays even if a session was not taking place. My children loved the low set tank they had filled with starfish, sea anemones and more creatures that are normally at the bottom of the ocean. They also had a fish tank in this room that had clown fish, yellow tangs, blue tangs and other colorful fish found in the deep.
Leaving this room you travel down to the lower level where the Rio Amazon display is located. On the wall to the right there were huge tanks that contained several large Pacus; they can grow up to 40 some pounds. They also had some of the smaller fiercer Piranha fish. Around the corner there was a tank that held a large group of Barracuda's. It was shocking at how still the Barracuda were. They would just kind of float in one spot, barely moving at all. Very scary looking, with large, extremely sharp teeth, piranha are a not so attractive silvery fish; quite large, bigger than I expected. There were also Redtail Catfish, Oscars, Tiger Shovelnosed Catfish, Arawana, and some Arapaima's.
Located at the bottom of the ramp was an area called Rainbow Rock this tank was full of beautiful brightly colored fish. My children made short work of identifying various fish they had recently seen in a movie. They excitedly yelled out different characters names to no-one in particular; funny enough several other children did the exact same thing when they approached the tank with their families. In this tank were gorgeous Yellow Tangs and Blue Tangs, Clown Triggerfish, Blue Surgeon's, Harlequin Wrasse, Clownfish, and many more. Several times a day the aquarium has dive shows in this tank, it was thrilling. My children were so excited they thought they would be able to get in and swim too. Some sad faces walked away from that tank, but like children are prone to do in just a few seconds they were on to the next shiny object in their path.
In an area called The Living Gallery there were several small tanks that each contained one species of sea life:
The coolest tank was one of the smaller ones that contained some awesome sea creatures called Leafy Sea dragons. They were amazing to look at, like bright green seahorses that were tangled up in a bunch of leaves. The Leafy Seadragon’s are brilliantly colored, and rather pleasant to look at. The bigger they were the more leaves and green color they had. Neither my husband, myself or are children knew that such a creature existed and we were quite enthralled with them. They looked almost unreal in their strange beauty; it’s hard to give a description that does them justice.
Another tank held several jellyfish with long beautiful tentacles. Of course if I was in the ocean and ran into one I may not think they were so beautiful, but there gracefully swaying in that tank; they were quite majestic looking.
There was a tank with a Giant Octopus, but it was all squished up in an upper corner of the darkened tank and this made it quite hard to see.
Friendship Flats, was so cool, you could lay down on your stomach and put your hand in the water and the various rays would swim right up to you and let you touch them, They were very friendly and would come to the edge of the water and do a flapping type motion and slap the water. Reminded me of what you might see seals or maybe a dolphin do at some water shows. The rays in the tank had their stingers removed so there was no danger of anyone getting accidentally stung. We stayed to watch the feeding show and were tickled at how they swarmed over the diver and almost completely covered her while trying to get the food. The seemed quite gentle and very playful. My children loved this attraction and we stood watching for quite some time. The types of rays in this tank were: Cow-Nose rays, Atlantic rays, Spotted Eagle rays, and Southern rays. There were several small Bonnet-Head sharks in this tank as well; they mainly stayed down in the deeper end of the tank called Ray bay. Every now and then one would come up to the petting area and the guide would just tell you to hang on a minute till they left. The deep end of The Ray Bay tank is 12 feet deep. This tank holds 85,000 gallons of water. There were two different locations at Ray Bay that offered hand sanitizer and paper towels, so you could clean up both before and after touching the rays.
Going back to the upper level from Ray Bay you pass by a small area called Frogs and Lizards where there were several poisonous frogs and some lizards. My children were interested in the brightly colored frogs until they found out they could die if they touched one and they were ready to move on.
On the lower level is the main attraction of Ripley's Aquarium/Myrtle Beach, SC the Dangerous Reef . This is where the amazing Reef Tunnel is located. What is The Reef Tunnel? It is an awesome 340-foot long 750,000 gallon tank that you travel under!! Going through this part of the aquarium you have the option of walking or using the glide path. The glide path is like a slow moving conveyor similar to moving walkways at the airport. The sharks in this tank are massive and watching them swim over head and being able to see those teeth is just incredible. The scariest looking shark was also the biggest one, a Sandtiger. The teeth on this shark stuck out and you could see several rows. OUCH!! We saw Nurse Sharks, Sawfish, Goliath Groupers, Hammerhead Sharks, Sandbar Sharks, Blacktip Sharks, massive Green Sea Turtles, and many other fish.
Also on the lower level of the aquarium is the Discovery Center. Here there was a large shallow tank called the Touch Tank; this tank held a dozen or so Horseshoe crabs. You were able to touch and even pick the crabs up as long as they were by them selves. However if the crab was on top of another crab you were not supposed to pick them up. I did not ask why and the nice lady working this area did not give us any additional information as to why we shouldn't. Just as with the Sting Ray area there were several places to sanitize your hands after holding the crabs. My children would not pick one up, so mommy did and they touched the one I held. The underside of a horseshoe crab is interesting to say the least.
Located near the touch tank a small display had been set up. There was an old diving suit, a huge old anchor, and different rocks and such to make it look like the diver was on the ocean floor. There was a small area that looked like wooden planks, my children stood there to have their picture taken with the diver. The old fashioned dive suit was fascinating, we had never realized just how large and awkward the suits were; a far cry from the skin tight scuba suits of today.
The restaurant in Ripley's Aquarium/Myrtle Beach, SC is called of all things Feeding Frenzy. The restaurant looked nice, however we were at the aquarium when the doors opened at 9:00 a.m. and we had just eaten breakfast at the hotel. So, I cannot give a personal opinion on the food quality or service. However other people seen at the restaurant seemed to be enjoying themselves.
My daughter’s and I made a trip to the ladies restroom while at the aquarium and found it to be large, very clean and well stocked.; my husband and son went to the men’s bathroom and found it to be just as accommodating.
Ripley's Aquarium/Myrtle Beach, SC, we enjoyed it so much we went through twice!
Ripley's Aquarium/Myrtle Beach, SC is wheelchair accessible with all exhibits being accessed by a ramp. The aquarium provides wheelchairs free of charge to anyone requiring one. There is also an elevator in the aquarium for people that may not need a wheel chair but are unable to traverse up and down a ramp without difficulty.
The following information on prices and hours I took from the aquariums website: http://www.ripleysaquarium.com/index.ph
General Admission Prices* include dive shows, marine science presentations and special exhibition hall.
Adults (12 years and older) - $16.95
Children (Ages 5-11) - $9.95
Children (Ages 2-4) - $3.95
Children under the age of 2 are admitted at no charge.
* Prices do not include sales tax and are subject to change.
When we purchased our tickets we also bought a neat Ripley's Aquarium Souvenir Guidebook for $1.00. It is an informative and interesting full color 48 page guide through the aquarium. We found the guide to be quite helpful in providing the names and interesting facts about the various fish and other sea life we saw.
Group discounts were available for groups with 12 or more in the party.
Ripley's Aquarium/Myrtle Beach, SC offers several different Marine Science Camp opportunities for children:
Marine Science Camp Adventurer: goes from 9:00 a.m. on the first day to 5:00 p.m. the second day. Yes you get to spend the night sleeping under the reef tunnel; you also get to scuba dive with the sting rays. If you stay over night the cost is $147.99 if you just stay both days until 5:00 p.m. the cost is $109.99 June 12th-13th, July 6th-7th, July 17th-18th, August 3rd-4th, August 14th-15th. This camp is for children ages 6-14.
Fintastic Overnighter: involves activities in various locations inside the aquarium as well as a trip to the beach for a scavenger hunt. Camp starts at 9:00 a.m. day one and ends at 5:00 p.m. on day two. Cost for this adventure is $99.99, July 27th-28th. This camp is for children ages 6-14.
Field Days: Be a Marine Biologist for the day, experience what it is like; conduct activities and even take a field trip. Starts at 10:00 a.m. and ends at 4:00 p.m. Cost is $49.99. Ages 6-14
Wednesdays - Pier Fishing
Thursdays - Snorkeling
From June 7th -August 24th.
Week Long Camp: Lot’s of activities both at the aquarium and at various locations around town. . Cost for the week is $269.99 and runs from Monday at 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Friday. This camp is for children ages 6-14.
Week one: June 19th-23rd Snorkeling, Explorer Cruise, Alligator Adventure
Week two: July 10th -14th Pier Fishing, Kayaking, Pirate Adventure Cruise, Dolphin Cruise
Week three: August 7th -11th Deep Sea Fishing, Amphibious Boat Tour, Sea Screamer Ride, Horseback Riding
Kid’s Night Out: Music, dancing, karaoke, pizza, scavenger hunts, sleep with the sharks under the reef tunnel. Starts at 7:00 p.m. ends at 8:00 a.m. Happens every Wednesday from June 7th- August 23rd. Cost is $39.99 Ages 8-14.
Marine Science camp Adventurer II: More scuba diving with the sting rays, just at a more advanced level. Starts at 9:00 a.m. on day one and lasts until 5:00 p.m. the next day. Cost is $147.99. This camp is for children ages 8-15.
June 26th -27th
July 20th - 21st
August 17th - 18th
Water Logged: Two days and nights with Marine Biologists , deep sea fishing, snorkeling in the ocean, dolphin cruise, a Luau on the beach, and spend the night “sleeping with the sharks” under the reef tunnel. Starts at 9:00 a.m. on day one and ends at 5:00 p.m. the next day. Cost is $169.99. This camp is for children ages 8-15.
June 15th - 16th, July 3rd - 4th, July 24th July 25th, August 17th-18th
Extreme Adventurer: Take a trip to and spend the night at the Aquarium in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Two additional nights will be spent camping out. You will hike in the Great Smokey Mountains, go rock climbing, white water rafting, and much more. Cost was not listed; you have to call for more details.
June 28th - July 1st
Ripley's Aquarium/Myrtle Beach, SC is open 7 days a week 365 days a year.
The hours of operation are:
Sunday - Thursday
9a m -10 pm
Friday & Saturday
9 am-11 pm
Thank you for reading, CyndiCM
Recommended:
Yes
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CyndiCM
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Location: Danville,Virginia
Reviews written: 208
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About Me:
Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven.
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