The Greater Cleveland Aquarium

The Greater Cleveland Aquarium

The Greater Cleveland Aquarium is located within the PowerHouse  in downtown Cleveland tucked within the West Bank of the flats.

As convenient as that may seem I was totally unaware the aquarium was located within the PowerHouse. And so, this was the start of my disappointments. 

I guess, for some reason, I assumed The Greater Cleveland Aquarium was going to be

in its very own large, upscale building - setting it out from the rest - possibly a building with some great aquatic artwork, like the Cleveland Public Power building that sits on Marginal Road...

(Maybe my next post should be about the mystery of the whale painting on the side of the Cleveland Public Power building. Lol  I remember always thinking that building was an aquarium when I was little and my dad would drive the family down to the lake.)

My boyfriend and I purchased our tickets for $21.95 each PLUS tax of course, and received our little map.

At the time I thought it was a fair price, but within the first 5 minutes of walking through the exhibit I was getting very disappointed.

It seemed somewhat small, cramped, and almost as if we paid bookoo money just to see the same fish as we would have at the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo!

Even though I was quite disappointed I enjoyed a few pretty cool displays.

Overall, walking through the entire aquarium took less than an hour, and as with almost all exhibits it was necessary for the two of us to walk through the gift shop upon exiting. 

I really enjoyed the experience, but truly feel it was worth $15.00 admission MAX instead of $21.95 PLUS tax.  Yes, I understand the admission is higher due to the '1 million gallons of water' they use, the 'shark tank that homes 15 sharks', the 'underwater seatube that’s 149ft long', the '5,000 fish +', etc., but I somehow feel I was slightly gypped.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to have experienced The Greater Cleveland Aquarium, but I think next time my boyfriend and I will just go to the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo… on a free admission Monday and see most of the same fish for free IF they're still there.

Has anyone else visited The Greater Cleveland Aquarium since its grand opening in January of 2012?  What did you think about it?  Leave a comment!  I comment back at ya! 

Create a DYNAMICAL day everyone!  <3