Travel

Day trips in NJ in winter- Visit Adventure Aquarium Camden

 

Winter is here. With winter comes the challenge of restricted visit to outdoor places like zoo, park, beaches etc with kids. Thinking of where to go for day trips in NJ in winter? Adventure Aquarium Camden NJ can be your sure shot destination in any of these winter weekends. It is a great place for few hours of unlimited indoor family fun in this chilling climate.

Just like you , I have a preschooler. And keeping him entertained during his Christmas holiday break was a task, a tough task I must say. When I was looking for day trips in NJ in winter, I came to know about this place. So just a couple of days after Christmas we planned to visit the Aquarium. And here I am going to provide you the snapshot of our visit as this might help you to plan your trip.

Location

The Aquarium is located at Camden, New Jersey on the Delaware River Camden Waterfront at the border of New Jersey and Philadelphia. It is just across the river from Philadelphia downtown.It is almost 1 hr 30 mins drive from Edison, New Jersey.
The location itself is so exotic with a beautiful riverfront and a clean sidewalk. I bet you can not resist to take a stroll and click a few pictures on a nice sunny day.

Camden Waterfront
Camden Waterfront in front of Adventure Aquarium

Attraction & Exhibit

As mentioned in their official site, this beautiful aquarium features one-of-a-kind exhibits with more than 8,500 aquatic species throughout two million gallons of water. Spread over a space of 5 acres it is divided into four zones. It exhibits Hippo Heaven, Creature feature, kids zone, ocean Realm, Piranha falls, Shark bridge and many more. Penguin park is the latest addition to it.

Adventure Aquarium
Underwater Sea Animal

You have tons of different options to entertain yourself for hours. The different colours of fish reminded my kiddo of the Dr Sues book One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.

Day trip in NJ in winter
Penguin park & Shark Bridge

Crossing the shark bridge was a daredevil task for the little one. Touching the sharks were quite exciting too. Seeing the little cute penguins in a park like set up was mind-blowing. Kids were in awe seeing the huge hippos from so near.

Kid zone Adventure Aquarium
Kidzone- fun activities for kids under 6

Feeding the penguins and Hippos or watching a documentary on sea animals at the 3D-theatre is equally thrilling.

It was an amazing experience to visit the Piranha fall. They have aesthetically recreated the Amazon river a vast rainforest, waterfalls and lots of piranha.

As we were lucky enough to visit the aquarium during Christmas, we saw eye catchy Christmas decoration throughout the place, on the ground as well as underwater. They beautifully wrapped gift boxes and decorative ornaments and kept them with the sea animals. It was a visual treat to see the world’s largest and no-doubt most amazing underwater Christmas tree.

Underwater Christmas Tree
World’s largest underwater Christmas Tree

Useful pointers for your visit

Ticket Booking-To save time,It is always better to book the tickets online from their official site Adventure Aquarium Ticket Booking Online

Parking facility– Aquarium has its own parking facility just adjacent to the premises.They have a flat rate of $10 for the whole day.

Time required to explore-The Aquarium is open from 9:30 in the morning till 5 p.m.It is up-to you,how much time you want to spend there.But as per my personal experience 3 to 4 hours should be enough to completely explore the place with a lunch break.

Locker room:Adventure Aquarium have locker facilities inside the premises to keep your valuables.

Strollers : You can carry your own stroller to most of the areas inside except places like Shark bridge.Also you can rent one for $6 dollar from Aquarium.

Food court: They have an excellent food court with plenty of options.But if you want to carry your own food,you can do that and  allowed to eat at the food court.

Gift Shop:I liked their gift shop.Good place to buy some colourful underwater theme souvenir or toys.

Total Expenditure for a Family of 2 Adults & 1 kid –

Ticket 2 Adults-30*2=60

1 Kid-22

Total =$82(excluding tax)

Parking        $10
Food        $25
Shopping from gift shop        $25
Photo Frame with Picture clicked in Aquarium       $20-
Total    $162

We had an amazing time at Adventure Aquarium.My little one enjoyed a lot.So what are you waiting for?Go book your ticket and plan your trip soon.

To check other places for a Day trip from New Jersey check my post on Jim Thorpe, PA & Watkins Glen State Park, NY

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