Ripley's Aquarium
Combine excitement and education as you visit Ripley’s Aquarium located in Broadway at the Beach, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Off to the righ of the upper level of the aquarium is the educational center where they host regular events and can schedule special classes for your group. This current year’s featured attraction is found dead center of the upper level. The 2010 exhibit is “Lethal Weapons,” featuring some of the ocean’s most deadly creatures.
Walk down the ramps and explore the Discovery Center. Equipped with hands on displays and experienced staff educators the Discovery Center offers a look at various sciences and their relation to oceanography. Here you can pick up and pet a horseshoe crab, while an educator explains their habitats and why they really aren’t a crab at all. Crawl beneath the blow fish tank into the darkness and discovery a tiny fish that lights up the darkness for you.
As you wind your way through the Aquarium you will have a chance to visit the Amazon River and see the freshwater fish that have made the river so notorius. View the silver arawana who are known to jump six feet into the air to capture their prey and the red bellied piranha and its close cousin the pacu. Continue your journey and view various frogs and toads from around the world.
Make your way to the lower level and make sure that you visit the Living Gallery. Filled with exotic deep sea denizens in a series of tanks that resemble an art gallery display, the Living Gallery provides guests with a unique glimpse into ocean life. Near by is Rainbow Rock, a tank display that gives a look at the Indo-Pacific coral Reef.
A must see part of Ripley''s Aquarium is the self guided tour through Dangerous Reef. You ride on a “Jetson''s” like conveyor belt through an underwater cavern that is a sampling of reef life. You will see sharks, corals, eels, sea turtles and so much more.
During your day at the aquarium don’t forget to visit the gift shop or the Feeding Frenzy Restaurant. While you are eating you can watch the various creatures of Dangerous Reef swim to the top of the tank. It is as if you are eating with the sharks themselves.
