Loved the jellyfish! Came here cause of a school assignment before COVID but I really enjoyed all the marine life they had. Hopefully I can come here again sometime. I do wish it was bigger, this is kind of the smallest aquarium I have gone to, but I also understand the environmental aspect of it you shouldnt capture too many animals for human entertainment you know

Within easy waking distance of Waikiki Beach. It has nice displays, several beautiful tanks, a large fish gallery with a shark, and an adorable leopard seal outside the sea dragons and several seahorses tanks were an absolute favorite. Would make for a great stop for families with small children. Indoor and outdoor exhibits. Its not a huge facility but it is nice, has clean restrooms, and a cute gift shop. Oh, and the jellyfish tanks are very pretty too!

The Waikiki Aquarium contains the right amount of exhibits for a visit. There are enough exotic specimens to interest about anyone. They have less outdoor exhibits than some bigger aquariums; but I dont think many folks would stay out in that tropical sun very long anyway. I was able to put into use the advice the marine biologist gave about the proper distance to stay away from a beached monk seal. I encountered one and did accordingly with no incident.

After snorkeling the beach and the north shore we thought we would give the aquarium a try. It was great. The kids were amazed by all of the unique creatures. We saw a zebra shark in a huge aquarium, loads of amazing tropical fish and my daughters favorite the sea horses. The seal habitat was closed and why we gave it a four but overall a great experience. The entire space can be done in an hour. Tip: Go early for free parking.

Excellent attraction read the reviews yes it’s small and yes not as big as large aquariums but this place has really nice displays. Clean and we presented areas. Fantastic fish to look at and some nice outdoor areas. It’s only $10 something dollars to get in so real great value. A major yes for kids.

Small but enough. Have a lots of aquatic creatures. Kids enjoy it.

A lovely treasure trove of sea life, especially the Seahorse section and seal lions. Affordable prices and large selection of souvenirs.Upside: Plenty of hands on activities, located along the beach, great views of Waikiki.Downside: Flow of crowds are uneven- some parts are busier than others.

Small place, but not bad for the price. Great for kids and right next to the park.

This aquarium is big enough for all kids to enjoy. They have plenty to see within an hour or so of your time. It is small but I do recommend it. My kids liked it a lot, we enjoyed our time there.

The size of the aquarium threw me off (its not as big as I was expecting) but there are some great interior exhibits with beautiful fish. It is definitely worth a visit and is very kid friendly.

The aquarium is really small, they have some interesting animals inside witch was interesting expiriance, but outside they dont have almost nothing.Its okay, and its not so expensive ( 12$ for adults, and 5$ for kids), but I expected a little bit more so I was dissapointed.It can be good choice for families with kids.

So ended up here as a fall back plan but it was a nice experience. It is a modest aquarium but nicely executed. Mostly fish although there is a shark and an adorable monk seal who acts as an ambassador for the severly endangered species. It only takes about an hour to walk through if you are letting your toddlers look at every exhibit. Its next door to a pretty cool piece of Honolulu history called The War Memorial which was a giant seaside pool built after The Great War. It is unused now but still pretty neat. All and all the aquarium was a nice visit but has not yet reached the size to be consistently interesting i.e. I wouldnt buy a pass however, they do appear to be improving and expanding so I would check back in six months or so. The price is fair and they offer military discounts.

Very small but fun aquarium. Quick walk through it all, I recommend also going to the zoo on the same trip or enjoy the local beaches around it.

Fun for the kids and adults both as long as you love marveling at Gods diverse creation!

Short walk through exhibits We went through twice. Loved the fish and seahorse exhibits. We did this before our flight going home. Not expensive at all. Gift shop was small but I found great unique items. Beautiful walk along the beach.

This is a small aquarium but will entertain your children for an hour or two. There are some wonderful exhibits including: octopus, jellyfish, sea horse, sea dragons, a shark and lots of fish. The monk seal is no longer there and leaves a hole in the aquariums impression. There is a tiny parking lot, free street parking on one side and metered parking on the other. They have a pretty good souvenirs shop and sometimes have educational events going on.

It is 2nd oldest Public Aquarium in the nation. Managing by University of Hawaii. Great place for families and children

Venue is a bit small, and parking is practically non-existent. But the layout is nice, there is plenty to see, and the staff were very nice. They have some gorgeous exhibits, and if you take your time and read the placards, it is easily half a day trip. I coupled it with the zoo, which is only a short walk away. If your staying in, or near, Waikiki it is definitely worth checking out.

Great little aquarium, pretty hard to get around when its full, but a nice stop for anyone.

Nice displays, very friendly staff. However I was in hopes of a better display

Lots to learn and a great place to beat the heat for an hour

Love coming here... Ohana Night was the best!!

Managed to get a parking space there which was great as it’s free, only about 10 spaces there but loads of parking elsewhere right outside, just have to pay for it. Rather small but a lot of fun, especially if you need to stay out of the sun for an hour or so. Said they would feed the monk seal at 12 but that didn’t happen.

My kids and I liked this small but well-maintained aquarium. As long as you dont have high expectation, I believe you will enjoy it. Explanations about coral ecosystem were excellent. Great place to learn and enjoy oceans various creatures. Parking space near the entrance is limited but there are lots of parking space by the roadside near aquarium.

Almost feels like this attraction should have been part of the zoo due to its location and size. Nothing too spectacular here. Just your run of the mill aquarium. The sea lions are cool if you arrive on time to see them.

Moderate sized aquarium with a rich history run by the University of Hawaii. We spent about 90 minutes going through at a modest pace, which I felt was perfect. Really enjoyed the jelly fish, octopus, and tropical fish exhibits. Very few dedicated parking spots, just plan on parking elsewhere and walking a bit.

Magnificent experience! Very nice place to see amazing variety of creatures!

Lovely little aquarium, about a 20-25 min walk from the main Waikiki drag. Its quite small for what you pay, but for what they have quite worth it to see. Great rainy day activity. If you want to get away from the huge crowds and busy beaches, this provides a quick little escape from the hordes of people.

Small aquarium by the beach. Part of the exhibit area was closed off for construction. Staff are friendly. There is a variety of marine life displayed here for patrons to enjoy. A nice visit but I just wish there was more there for the money.

The Waikiki Aquarium is super small. You can definitely walk through the whole place within an hour. I guess that’s the silver lining - you won’t have to spend the entire day walking around, which is exhausting for me already, let alone for little kids. We took my niece here and my sister is a member, so not including herself, she can bring two adult guests in for free (it was me and my fiancé). Regular admission is $12, so it’s still not too bad. But the bad thing is that the parking lot is super small (15 cars maybe?), and street parking is a bit difficult to find.It’s a nice visit if you live on the island, but if you’re a visitor, there are plenty of other things you can do if you are traveling with kids.

Great value. Lots of coral and colorful fish. Awesome jellyfish exhinit. Mostly indoors so ideal activity for a hot day.

VERY small. If youve ever been the Monterey Bay Aquarium you will be underwhelmed. The our 4 and 6 year old boys enjoyed it for a bit. Saw the entire place including the gift shop in 1 hour. Only worth visiting once. No off street parking. On Street Meter parking only.

Great displays, especially for small fish. Can easily see most things in an hour. Nemo and Dory are there. My 3 year old had a great time. One place lets the kids touch baby hermit crabs. Not a comprehensive list: all kinds of tropical, colorful fish, sea horses, star fish, a small zebra shark, a seal, sea anemones, jelly fish under black lights.

Small. Our driveway is bigger! You have been warned! Don’t be disappointed! Have fun!

I visit here often and plan to spend even more time here over the summer so I will surely post another review after thay

This place is very small but I did get my moneys worth. There are a lot of amazing exhibits in the aquarium and I actually spent about an hour walking around and found myself enjoying every minute of it. My favorite things is the smaller reef tank outside and the jellyfish exhibits inside. It was a fun place to go to and offers a nice military discount for those that have ID cards.

I think this place is really under appreciated.Their exhibits accurately portray the ocean. In particular, their reef exhibits do accurately portray the ocean. You really get a feel for what corals and local fish actually look like. The place could use some funding and a bit better budgeting to renovate some areas like the restrooms and add a few exhibits, but it is still a good aquarium.

Perfect for a short afternoon. Has a fair amount of beautiful fish and entry fee is reasonable.

What an awesome aquarium, run by students and volunteers, all the negative reviews Ive read maybe some people should sit back and appreciate how hard it is to run an aquarium, an awesome place to just sit and watch the fish, a great way to appreciate what life is about caring for fish that will later probably be extinct. Look after our future for our kids and our kids, kids. Life is too short to leave negative comments, if you dont like the place leave if its not to your liking or get in there and donate some time or cash. These people work their butts off for you, would you leave a negative comment for your family, probably not. Great work here team, I stayed for hours, enjoyed what I sighted, didnt want to leave. Awesome aquarium.

More of a teaching facility than a tourist oriented aquarium (like Monterey Bay, Boston or Baltimore Harbor aquariums). Regular admission is a bit steep for what is available, goes to a great cause though.

We thoroughly enjoyed visiting the aquarium in Waikiki! We had read the positive reviews and found them quite accurate. It isnt a fancy aquarium, however, the fish and sea life in many of the exhibits are exquisite. We spent a leisurely 90 minutes. It was very calming to walk around and view the exhibits, especially enjoyed and were thrilled by the octopus and the sea dragons. The gift shop is the best place to buy gifts and memorabilia in our opinion. Lovely and unique clothing, glass miniatures and jewelry at reasonable prices. Knowing that the proceeds benefit the local universities is a bonus. Highly recommended as a change-of-pace from busy, sunny Waikiki.

Cool place to hang out!

Small aquarium but they filled it with a lot of nice exhibits. My son is obsessed with Marine life and really enjoyed it.The only disappointment was the closed exhibit outside for the seals & sea lions. Would have been nice to get a discount given one of the main attractions was closed.

This is more of a historic visit than a must-see on the island. The aquarium is VERY small and can be breezed through in 20 minutes. We spent 2 hours walking and enjoying the fish for my sons birthday - he had enough space to walk freely around and really enjoyed himself so I think kids definitely enjoy this spot more than the adults. It is slightly disappointing that a couple exhibits were under construction and a couple more just not operating; even the monk seal exhibit was closed! Only one small interactive area that allow people to touch sea creatures and shells, but a few open air tanks that can be misleading for little ones. The fish are beautiful, its just too small with nearly no parking on site. Inside, there is a tiny gift shop. Items are cute but pricey. Overall, a great stopover/holdover activity for young children but other than that, it is quite lackluster.Kamaaina rate was $8 ($12 for standard admission), children under 3 are free, for what its worth.

Not very big but packed with awesome, colorful fish and coral. Great cephalopod collection too. I really enjoyed it, easily covered in an hour but as other posters said the AC is nice to hang out in too.

My family stopped here on a whim. It is excellent to go to with small children. It isnt extremely large but it isnt thumbtack small. It was perfectly sized to see enough and enjoy without feeling overwhelmed. There was a great variety of underwater life to see and read about. The man that checked us in was freaking FABULOUS!!!

We thoroughly enjoyed visiting the aquarium in Waikiki! We had read the positive reviews and found them quite accurate. It isnt a fancy aquarium, however, the fish and sea life in many of the exhibits are exquisite. We spent a leisurely 90 minutes. It was very calming to walk around and view the exhibits, especially enjoyed and were thrilled by the octopus and the sea dragons. The gift shop is the best place to buy gifts and memorabilia in our opinion. Lovely and unique clothing, glass miniatures and jewelry at reasonable prices. Knowing that the proceeds benefit the local universities is a bonus. Highly recommended as a change-of-pace from busy, sunny Waikiki.

Excellent collection of fish. It is small compared to other aquariums.

While this aquarium is small in size it more than makes up for it in the quality of the exhibits. The number of displays with live coral is much higher than you would find in most larger aquariums. It isnt too expensive to visit and if you live there or are a member its even better. I suggest visiting on week days as they are usually quieter and less crowded. My kids, who usually get bored pretty quickly can easily spend a couple of hours here without complaining. There is no snack bar or anything like that just in case you were wondering.

Its a good place for children.

We thoroughly enjoyed visiting the aquarium in Waikiki! We had read the positive reviews and found them quite accurate. It isnt a fancy aquarium, however, the fish and sea life in many of the exhibits are exquisite. We spent a leisurely 90 minutes. It was very calming to walk around and view the exhibits, especially enjoyed and were thrilled by the octopus and the sea dragons. The gift shop is the best place to buy gifts and memorabilia in our opinion. Lovely and unique clothing, glass miniatures and jewelry at reasonable prices. Knowing that the proceeds benefit the local universities is a bonus. Highly recommended as a change-of-pace from busy, sunny Waikiki.

We thoroughly enjoyed visiting the aquarium in Waikiki! We had read the positive reviews and found them quite accurate. It isnt a fancy aquarium, however, the fish and sea life in many of the exhibits are exquisite. We spent a leisurely 90 minutes. It was very calming to walk around and view the exhibits, especially enjoyed and were thrilled by the octopus and the sea dragons. The gift shop is the best place to buy gifts and memorabilia in our opinion. Lovely and unique clothing, glass miniatures and jewelry at reasonable prices. Knowing that the proceeds benefit the local universities is a bonus. Highly recommended as a change-of-pace from busy, sunny Waikiki.

It’s okay. Inexpensive but probably a better attraction for kids. Wasn’t really my thing.

Nice place...parking is small. You can walk through it in 45 min. Awesome place for partys and private functions. Awesome summer time Hawaiian music concert series.

The price is a little steep for the size of this place, but there is still a lot to look at! Id definitely go back.

We had not heard or read much about the aquarium but it was an easy walk from our hotel so we took a look. We could not have been more pleased. The exhibits were very well done with a wide variety of corals, fish and other animals. The octopus was simply delightful to watch. Maybe even better were the jellyfish tanks. I have never these creatures so well before, they are amazing. But the fish were great too. So many kinds, excellent groupings with live corals. We spent nearly 2 1/2 hours. I hope my phone-photos and videos do it justice. We really loved being there.

Small but quality focused! Really nice exhibit and good entry fee cost!

The aquarium contains a lot of different and beautiful animals. You really can see a lot. I really like Aquariums and this one is really worth a visit.

Cool exhibit but a little small. My kid loved it and had a blast

Is a fascinating and well-maintained touristic point, as well as the whole territory of the island with amichevoles and the climate

Nice place...parking is too small. You can walk through it in 45 min. Awesome place for partys and private functions. Awesome summer time Hawaiian music concert series.

Small but very well put together. Staff is very friendly and well informed.

Cute little aquarium! At first it looks like there isnt much to see, but then you get inside. So many tanks with a lot of fish I hadnt seen before snorkeling. I really enjoyed the seahorses, totally adorable! The monk seals were neat as well, swimming and lazing around. The first one enjoys bobbing up and down and spinning in circles before he does some laps of his tank. So funny. All the tanks looks clean except the outside ones, but then again they are outside and open to the elements. Nice location right on the ocean and lots of shade in the parks nearby for a picnic after you go through.

A great place for family activity! I highly recommended if you are in Waikiki area! I loved the intimacy of this place, it is not too large, however there is so much to see. Great for families if you ever get a rainy day in Hawaii

We enjoyed spending a couple of hours looking around the aquarium. The exhibits were clean, well-maintained and labeled. The staff shared some interesting stories about some of the sea life and it has a cool little gift shop. It was a pleasant walk from the Waikiki Beach hotel strip.

Ive been to larger aquariums but I really enjoyed the exhibits and the staff members were very friendly and well informed!

Beautiful

Nice that they inform about corals.

Great little aquarium, lots of fish and reef. It actually took us an hour to see all the tanks, would have stayed longer if it wasn’t closing time. Cool gift shop and if you are a student, bring your student ID for a discount.We had a volunteer show us some fish we would have never found on our own. Great varieties here from all over the world, much more than just local fish.

Awesome little aquarium with a tremendous variety of tropical marine life and caring staff.

We especially loved the Luau. Pricey, but so worth it.

So glad we came! Beautiful displays and many colorful fish! Discounts for seniors and military. The seal is back.

A very nice aquarium

I know the aquarium isnt quite in charge of the size aquarium they have. It was quite small compared to the size depicted online. My fiancé and I spent maybe 30 minutes in the entire aquarium. We of course bought the cute little book when we were headed out that had our pictures in it. Sad to see how small it was. Gorgeous coral and fish throughout!

Honestly your local Petco is going to have more fish and be more exciting. But it was cheap and killed 20 minutes.

A wonderful relaxing afternoon

Quaint but quality over quantity. Only about 2 hours if you stop and read everything and pay attention to the exhibits thoroughly, but the exhibits are very unique. Day octopus (very active), giant clam, (also active!), chamber nautilus, and a seahorse tank all are things you dont normally find. Very cool, very worth it

Nice place, a beautiful collection of ocean creatures s

Nice aquarium, but I expected more things to watch

Mini aquarium in Honolulu, features marine lifeof Hawaii.

Small but informative .. worth the visit

Some of the fish was cool, but not worth the money. For 13$ we had it done in 20min and there wasnt anything that impressive. Im very disappointed.

The kids enjoyed it not too expensive 13 dollars for an adult they have good ac so walked through it slowly

Much smaller then expected but a lot of fish. The only big problem we had was the monk seal they have is in a super small tank, alone. He looked miserable, swimming in circles. We felt so bad for him. Plus they had a tank connected to his but it was blocked off. At least open it so he has more room to swim smh

Fun little aquarium. Only $12 bucks and there is plenty to see. Takes about an hour to go through. There is a Giant Clam here and plenty of sea life to take up your time. Its also close to the beach.

I have not been to the aquarium since I was a child. Did not realize how small it was. I honestly felt like making my kids walk thru a second time just to make our time it took to get there worth it. For the cost, even as a kamaaina I did not feel it was worth it. Well for me at least. My kids on the other hand learned a little more about sea life. Pretty bummed that the seal exhibit was under construction.

This is my first time in Waikiki Hawaii and I usually love aquariums!! This one was very disappointing. Not only was it super short but the Monk lion was missing from its exhibit. Not even worth the money!!

I went to the Aquarium in early May 2019. I saw native fish, reefs and that’s it. The aquarium had 1 seal (I believe) that i couldn’t see. It’s not worth the money ($12.00). I got a nice professional pic to show I was there. That was it! I was told the university takes care of/responsible for the aquarium so the funds collected are probably used for the university. A waste of money and time. I would like to see, and would pay more, for more water animals that I don’t normally see.

Lackluster at best. Took us 5 minutes to walk through everything, 10 at a slow pace. No large marine life. Cost wasn’t worth it at all.

The sea life was so diverse, and the layout of the gallery was beautiful!

The exhibits are beautiful and there are some beautiful fish to see but it is quite small and the price of $14 per adult seems a bit high for the size of the aquarium. They are also doing some maintenance so we could not see all the exhibits.

Not a bad aquarium, but is borderline whether the price point is worth the experience. If you have young kids and its raining - its a good way to kill 30 minutes to an hour.

As a volunteer my opinion is a bit biased but from my experience most, if not all visitors from all different places enjoy a quiet afternoon at the aquarium. On certain days (usually during the summer or on spring break) teen volunteers run exhibitions on Early Hawaiians and the Sea. The exhibits are a bit small but beautifully maintained and vibrant. Would recommend as a short educational stop with the zoo.

They have cool ac in the gallery

An interesting place to bring younger kids to see some local marine life. However, just like some other people commented, they are too overpriced for what they have to present here.You will spend 20-30 minutes here, max. So if you have spare time and have nothing else to do then you can stop by, but theres definite much more interesting things to see and places to explore than this.

I love the place! Comforting and kids friendly. Educational spot, with a good variety of sea life.

Nice small aquarium. I was able to check it out with my luau ticket. They only alloted 30 min for us to view aquarium and that probably was enough time. So I wouldnt recommend paying to go for such a small aquarium, although not sure what the pricing is. Fish were very cool, but some exhibits looked too small of a tank for the animals. Kinda sad.

It was pretty but not worth the admission price. It took us 30 mins to look at all fishes and no monk seal. There should be no admission price for this place. Sorry.

Perfect familys with small children. All exhibits are at a height that the kids can see without your help. You can see the whike thing in about an hour which is convenient for my 2 year old. Very reasonable priced for military. Non military is like 12 bucks so thats kinda pricey but not bad for Waikiki. All in all was a fun experience. Would go again

Update your holiday hours.