Tennessee Aquarium

Please note: As part of the Aquarium's phased reopening plan, timed-entry tickets are required. Visit tnaqua.org/plan-a-visit for everything you need to plan and safely enjoy your next Aquarium visit. 

About the Aquarium:

Dive into two worlds of wonder and excitement at the top-rated aquarium in America. Begin with the freshwater exhibits in the River Journey building. The adventure continues with the Ocean Journey building. Experience two aquariums in one great city — Chattanooga.

Along the way, you'll have opportunities to come face-to-face with feisty otters, enormous Arapaima giant catfish, and tons of turtles. You can also touch a sturgeon. Enjoy playful penguins, touch a stingray, and marvel at toothy sharks, lemurs, and butterflies. Plan on spending at least three hours to enjoy observing and learning about all of the Aquarium's diverse gathering of animals.

Things get wonderfully weird around the Tennessee Aquarium during ODDtober – a month-long celebration of strange creatures from around the world and in our own backyard. Learn odd facts about Aquarium animals and look for fun fall touches inside our exhibits. See pumpkins flicker with an eerie glow, flashing along with the pulses of an Electric Eel. Find out why some “scary” species are not-so-creepy after all. At the end of your tour, grab a free sticker in the gift shop when you mention “ODDtober” (while supplies last).

PLUS – Underwater pumpkin carving is back for 2023! Watch SCUBA divers slicing up jack-o-lanterns as fish and turtles swim by – Saturdays at 2:00 pm ET in the River Journey building.

Come see our latest exhibit, Ridges to Rivers! Dip beneath the surface to explore the life-filled waters of Southern Appalachian streams and rivers (no fins or dive mask required). See how a single stream can provide homes for an astonishing array of colorful fish and reptiles as it descends from mountain headwaters through stony rapids, wide runs and placid pools. Pop up inside an exhibit for a snorkeler’s perspective on life at the bottom of a river before laying fingers on bona fide living fossils in a newly expanded Lake Sturgeon touch experience.

Celebrate Pollinator Week with us! A new self-guided “Pollinator Pathway” experience has landed on the Tennessee Aquarium campus just in time for Pollinator Week! As visitors enjoy gardens on the Aquarium plaza and across the street at the IMAX Theater, they will discover the importance of the world’s many species of pollinators and the ways we all can help protect them and their natural habitats. Our friends from TDOT will be on site Saturday, June 24 with fun activities like pollinator bingo. McKee Foods will also be at the Aquarium June 22, 23 and 25 with samples of Sunbelt granola bars.

*Please note: On October 22, the Tennessee Aquarium will be closed for a special event.

Learn more at www.tnaqua.org.