Wonderful place soon many fish!! Got to pet a stingray and a coy fish.. Tunnels were awesome makes the fish and sharks look like the are out of the water

It was cute. Not a whole lot, but just enough to entertain my toddler without making her fatigued from the walk.

It was small but good enough for toddlers. Lots of cool, exotic fish. We loved the walk through tunnel tank and the end

The aquarium is wonderful, but in my opinion its a bit overpriced for everything that you get with it. Again, I have no complaints on the aquarium itself. Its wonderful and fit for kids. My 1.5 year old had a great time. There is so much to do for kids. But it is over priced. Kids 2 and under are free though; thats not over priced. Regardless of pricing, my little family will probably come back again. We really enjoyed it. Note: there are cheaper days of the week that you can go. We went on a Friday, and weekends are most expensive.

Great places to spend quality time or just to walk in and see the amazing sites

I loved being able to pet the coy fish and stingrays. The finding nemo tank was cute.

I love going to the aquarium.I may be 24 but I always feel like a giddy child when I visit. Its just good fun

We had a great visit. The place is well maintained and very clean. There are touch tanks for sting rays and another for other creatures like horseshoe crabs, starfish, and urchins. There is also a large river with fish you can feed as well as stingray feeding. The kids also enjoyed the water play area where they can play with boats, dams to see how water flows and faucets to change water flow. Finally there are many tanks full of interesting species with educational information about them. They also have a reptile show and a sand play area to dig for treasures. Well worth the visit!

My 3 year old and 15 month old both LOVE the aquarium.

A great place to bring young kids. There were a lot of activities for children in the fish feeding area. We went through it in a little over an hour. The fish tanks were very well done.

Great time I was excited to find the stingray touch exhibit was open as the website said it was closed.

Great place and plenty to do for young kids! My 5 and 6 year old absolutely loved it! Took about an 1 hour and 30 mins to get thru everything. The gift shop was great too! Alot of interactions with the fish and Sting Rays was very fun as well!

Way smaller than I hoped for but considering its inside a mall in Rotterdam, it was pretty nice. My kids had a great time, which was the purpose of going. There are a lot of hands on activities, including petting sting rays. There were a few displays that were closed and its very warm inside, so wear layers. The price wasnt horrible, but I wouldnt say its a great price either. This was not something we could spend all day doing but you can definitely get in a few hours.

My family really enjoyed Via Aquarium. There was a lot to see and the facility was clean and inviting. My daughter was so excited when she saw there were three separate touch tanks (her favorite part): stingrays, koi and one with starfish, urchin and horseshoe crabs. The staff was very friendly and helpful, and they made for a very pleasant visit. We were also there for their Mermaid Show, which was so wonderful. My daughter was in absolute awe. The set up was nice (children in one line, near the mermaid tank, so each had a moment to meet and greet (rather than a mob). And parents, on a separate line, behind them to take pictures). My only suggestion, is to possibly have an employee stand near the front of the line, in the future, to ward off line cutters. After driving 2 hours to get up there, and standing in line for 40 minutes, and my daughter being super excited to be first in line to meet the mermaid, another family cut in front(with others attempting), shoving their daughter in front of mine, as soon as the mermaid was revealed. Very frustrating and confusing for my daughter (and the mermaid, since she wasnt sure who she was supposed to be paying attention to) and all the others that stood, patiently waiting, in line for so long. And me telling the families there was a line, fell on deaf ears. Wonderful experience in all, though. Theyll always be rule breakers/line cutters, where ever you go. Huge respect for all the families that actually waited patiently. It was definitely worth it.

Granted its not NOLA aquarium. Surprisingly decent for location and all going on with covid.

Great aquarium. My 3 year old son had a blast! Its perfect for a quick trip out of the house. Awesome hands on stuff as well. Just expect it to be very warm in there.

My favorite part was the fish in the area with the water overhead.

It’s a smaller aquarium but is jam packed with stuff to do. Koi touch tank, sting ray touch tank and horseshoe crab touch tank are all amazing. Staff is very helpful. Tons of different kind of fish. Did the behind the scenes tour for $5 which was super informative and interesting. Definitely worth the money and 2 hour drive by far. We will be back.

Very nice aquarium. Well maintained and very clean. My daughter enjoyed the water toys as well as seeing the fish. I enjoyed seeing the koi, moon jellyfish and sea horses. Husband just enjoyed seeing his girls having fun, he enjoyed it also. Made a detour to this aquarium on the way back on a business trip and so glad we did. Thank you for making my daughters first visit to an aquarium something for us to remember!

I really like petting the rays.

We enjoy our time at the aquarium,much to see and learn about.

BEST PLACE AROUND TO TOUCH STINGRAYS CAW CAW

Its a small aquarium, but does have a nice petting area. You can pet a few crabs and sting Rays. You can also fees the koi fish which was pretty cool. Its worth taking your kids to even though its a bit pricey. Wouldnt go out of my way though if we werent local to the area.

Ive been to alot of aquariums from Olympic Park to Disney to Myrtle. Its small but its clean and the staff is very friendly. It has alot of blank wall space that could use some lighted educational graphics to perk it up. But its an aquarium in the Capital District. That deserves 5 stars alone. With the casino near by and proctors all this mall needs is to be turned into an outlet mall and this place becomes the busiest place around. Via Port is that close to the next level. Big s/o to the aquarium staff again.

I really enjoyed the actual aquarium. However my main complaint is accessibility. There is no cut out by the entrance for wheelchairs, the closest one is down by some loading docks. There is a really long hallway to get to the mall and then the aquarium is to the left. The site said there were wheelchairs available to borrow, what they didnt say is at guest services in the middle of the mall.

If you havent been to another aquarium this place might be nice or maybe for small children but honestly I didnt like it. It was too much money for what it was and a little disappointing. Theres literally nothing to do in Rotterdam so I guess its good for here. They do give people a hands on experience with a few aquatic critters which is nice.

Amazing aquarium spent almost a hour and a half in there looking at all the cool fish love the stingrays and also there was a lot of stuff for kids to do, for the price I think it was worth it I have been to bigger aquariums for twice the price. Not to mention the tanks were well cleaned and the fish were healthy. Also the gift shop guy was super nice and we did get a lot of cool stuff. I would definitely go again

I have been to large & small aquariums. This place is no Baltimore, or Boston aquarium. However, if you take your time, you will find that theres plenty to see. We had a great time at this aquarium and the price was very reasonable. Check out the package offered in the game room, which includes lunch & aquarium admission.

Youd think there were gonna be big sharks

We absolutely love the aquarium. Perfect for my toddlers. We became season pass holders.

Nice little aquarium. My girlfriend and I really enjoyed ourselves here. We really liked the koi pond and how all the fish would swim right up to you. Nice to do if you have a weekday off, I feel that the weekends would be crowded.

Mall is not handicapped accessible in the back. I parked in a handicapped space next to the aquarium entrance. The entrance, which is just a mall entrance, required someone else to.open the heavy door so I could enter.Aquarium itself is fine, all on one level.

Had a lot of fun here, my sister and I traveled 3 hours just to check it out. The staff was nice and friendly, and theres lots to learn about, especially local waterways and habitats. They have lots of different fish and aquatic life from many different areas of the world on display. Great for kids, and even better for curious adults. There is a Koi River, and you can even pet the stingrays! Im really into the fishkeeping hobby so this was a wonderful experience. Prices arent that bad, it was about $34 incl. tax for my sister and I to get tickets. Definitely worth checking out if youre in the area, or if you make the trip long distance like we did.

It was very cheap to get in. Considering the price, I was surprised at how big the aquarium was! It had multiple exhibits. It was $2 for the reptile show and that was well worth it.

I love it here!! Its a wonderful and clean environment. The fish appear to be well taken care of and there is so much information on the ocean and ways to protect it. A great place to come on a free day.

Awesome aquarium! Very clean and well taken care of. Touch tanks were a hit. Great for all ages. Definitely worth the money!

This was a nice aquarium and all the fish seemed very happy. The price was reasonable. I liked that they repurposed the old mall instead of building a new building

I enjoyed it because there arent aquariums in this area, but I wish it was just a bit bigger.

I am not sure how people leave low ratings. This isnt meant to be Ripleys Aquarium. If you stop and look at the exhibits it will take over an hour. If you stop and pet the stingrays or mingle with the Koi fish you could spend hours there. We like it a lot. This is my second time here. The first time the space was new. After a couple years being open and used it needs some upkeep and attention to detail.

My family visited today and we had a great time. My daughter really enjoyed petting the stingrays. The staff was very friendly and price was reasonable. I purchased tickets on line which was quick and easy.

It was a lot smaller than i expected. It took an hour or less to walk through and see everything. Wasnt worth the expensive ticket price. Other than that the place was clean and well kept.

Good place for all ages

For the area this is a great little place to take the kids. They have touch tanks and a few rays that the kids can try to touch.

As many of the other reviews have mentioned, it is a small aquarium. But we spent an hour here with a 4 year old and had a great time.The staff was friendly and helpful. The staff member at the Manta Ray tank was very friendly and enticed a bunch of the rays up close to the surface so our son could touch them.The displays were very nice and there were a bunch of really cool exhibits including some Japanese spider crabs.Overall we were very happy with the experience.

Fun place, the costumer service at the gift shop shop is terrible...the lady was extremely rude

We took our 7 year old daughter there and had a fabulous time. We were skeptical based on comments made on a one-star review and was planning to go to a larger aquarium out of state. We are very happy that we visited. We spent about 3 hours there and enjoyed ever second of it. I personally saw aquatic life forms that never were seen in larger aquarium. The education atmosphere was also superb. Even at age 57, I learned quite a bit. My daughter was very excited and thrilled. It was great to see her excitement. The staff was very friendly, engaging and willing to teach. It is a very nice place for family activities. Five stars without hesitation. We will be back very soon.

Great place if you want to see a beautiful array of fish.

Good for kids and adults alike. Go slow, dont rush exhibit to exhibit. The fish are healthy, the tanks are well kept with a wide array of species. Awesome place :)

Love the ever changing tanks and still seeing my favorites too

Wide variety of aquatic life here. The stingray exhibit is great, you can pet them and at certain times of the day you can feed them.

Customer service is why this gets 5 stars from me. Adding a person to my membership was super painless. Also since it is so quiet during the weekday it is a FANTASTIC place to bring your young children. This certainly isnt the New England Aquarium or the Virginia Aquarium but that may be a good thing. You dont have to worry about your child disappearing into a crowd of strangers or arriving during your ticketed time.

Its a nice aquarium, and my kids loved seeing the fish. It didnt take long to walk through the exhibit and it felt very underwhelming compared to other aquariums we have visited. The selection of fish there were pretty small and it lacked that wow factor. For it being such a small aquarium we felt like we paid a lot of money.

I waited to visit the aquarium for a while after it opened. Ive been to some of the largest aquariums around the continental US and for what this was I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. Lets not get carried away though this is a mall based aquarium. It offers great information for budding biologists and eager to learn minds on the local species and some far off others as well. Adults can really enjoy the short tour with their children, that wont take all day and leads to the wonders of the touch tanks. Great first date as well. Enjoy folks.

It is a wonderful aquarium with beautiful fish. However for the price it’s on the small side. Doesn’t take long to get through the Aquarian. Although their season passes are actually a solid deal.

New manager is great...her drink mixology is different.

Too much money for a twenty minute walk through of this place. It’s definitely for younger children 1yrs to 10yrs old.

Great place to see and interact with sea life!

Awesome experience, well maintained and interactive sections for all to enjoy.

I read the reviews and a lot of ppl were saying that its too small. Ive never been to an aquarium. This one is beautiful. I was excited & my children were thrilled. It was a lot of fun. Worth the money. Were definitely​ going back.

Petting the sting rays and learning that they like being pet was my favorite part.

Although some complain of its size, my family and I found it to be perfect. A lot of unique and detailed exhibits, very knowledgeable staff, and well designed. This place is awesome!

An amazing place. Will definitely return in the future.

We love aquariums, but this one leaves much to be desired. Its small and there are no large fish. Very much overpriced for the amount of time it takes to walk through...should definitely be half the price. The gift shop is really nice though. Overall, our six year old appreciated seeing a new place, but we dont recommend driving too far for it...

The aquarium is a great place to take the kids to give them a bit of education on aquatic ecosystems. The ViaPort is focused on a brief education on several types of aquatic ecosystems including oceans, rivers, and lakes. The aquarium is set up like a fun house where you follow a long corridor and look into different fish tanks, until you go through a glass tunnel under a giant fish tank, taking you to a big room which is set up like a petting zoo for fish. This part is pretty neat since you can pet stingrays. This place isnt the Boston Aquarium, so dont expect the most amazing experience ever, but the kids will still have fun

This place is not what these people make it look to be. I drove from NYC to spend $48 for one adult, a senior and a 12 child. The place occupies a small place in a shopping center. Theres nothing to see. Its a sham! It doesnt deserve a star. Its a waste of your money.

We went today and had a pretty good time, but it ended up taking barely more than an hour to get through. I feel the cost isn’t in line with how much is there. It’s nice enough, but it’s too pricey for my tastes.

The aquarium itself as a customer was splendid! Loved the expierence with my little brother.

The Aquarium is great, but so not bother stopping to eat at the restaurant. Which I believe is all part of the same company, VIA ENTERTAINMENT.Sat 10 minutes without getting drinks then another 45 minutes before our food was brought to us. The worst restaurant service I have experienced. Server brought my niece and nephew regular sized cups for a 2 yr old and 4 yr old. That was after coming back to ask what drinks we ordered to begin with.Food was brought to the table, had no silverware or napkins at the table. Had to ask for them, and went and found napkins ourselves. After all the waiting you think pour food would been hot.The arcade appeared nice but I couldn’t speak to it too much as all our time was spent waiting for our food. But the few games my younger nephew could play were broke/out-of-order.Will never go back here again. VIA Entertainment, you should consider changing your name. Cause, Entertainment? You know nothing about.

I have been to many aquariums in the past couple of years and this one is literally top notch, it is The Best Experience Ive had in Ny. Its not the biggest aquarium yet not the smallest so it allows a perfect opportunity to view all the animals, it has unique interactive situations between animals and viewers that I havent experienced before, again, I have been to locations with touch tanks and amazing situations, but this one is unique and pungent, you will be left saying wow. The staff are beautiful, kind, and eager to assist which ever way possible, will be getting a season pass soon!

Had a blast me and my friends decided to stop in while visiting a college and we loved it very fun

Stopped by for the soft opening today and was very impressed. The aquarium is located in the former Rotterdam Square Mall - now Via Port Rotterdam.The tickets were reasonably priced for an aquarium. It was a Friday and we were charged the weekend price - $19/adult; $10/kids; under 4 FREE. On weekdays the only change is adults are $16.It makes great use of a smaller space. The layout is conducive to east movement through the exhibits. Several of the tanks stretch close to the floor so little ones can get a close up view without being picked up. There was a touch pool with sea stars and crabs as well as a ray encounter touch pool. We saw plenty of Nemo and Dory as well for all those with Disney kiddos too.The tunnel tanks were amazing! Two short tunnels with all the fish at adult eye level and over head. My girls loved the shark, eel, and puffer fish especially in those tanks.The store at the end had a variety of price points so there was something for everyone and every budget. We were able to upgrade our daily pass tickets before leaving to the family membership and cant wait to go back again and again!

Great for young children and parents. Our 17 month old and almost three year old really enjoyed it. The size is perfectly manageable for a few hours of family fun. The tanks are easily viewable from strollers or toddler height. The touch tanks are also accessible by young children using varying heights and steps. Children under 3 are free. I think some of the negative reviews may have been expecting massive sharks and habitats, so go in understanding the focus is on kids an the sharks are only 3ft long. This is a gem for the capital region and I wish them success. Arrive early to beat the line on Saturdays.

It wouldve been a great experience if it wasnt for the female at the gift shops nasty attitude. She acted like I was bothering her, with no smiling or helpfulness from her. I still went back to her (I had no choice), to finalize my picture order and got served with not much explanation and she tried to rush me. Heres the best part: she blocked my one year old daughter from approaching her by raising her foot and blocking her. As if my adorable daughter was an animal who threatened her safety. Smh

I went on a Monday afternoon my girlfriend is a college student so she got a discount on her ticket with her id. You can buy tickets on line. Although the aquarium itself isnt large the touch tanks and tunnel made the 32 (our admission) dollar day worth it

A lot of fun! Geared towards all ages.

Very friendly and accommodating staff who worked well with my children when allowing them to try and pet the stingrays. Also, love the set up of the tunnel you walk under while being surrounded by part of the aquarium. Something unique which I havent seen in other aquariums I have visited.

Overpriced, small, understaffed. $17 per person the amazon river section was empty no fish and it was one of the main attractions. No staff around to explain anything or teach you about what your seeing so be prepared to read the very few badly placed educational signs. Employee at the stingray tank was too busy talking to another employee to pay any attention to customers. Employee attending starfish attraction seemed annoyed to be working. Overall it’s a walkthrough with a few good parts. Not worth a special trip.

The website said weekend price is $17 for adults but when we got to aquarium the price was $19. The place is clean and interesting but very small. In my opinion it’s too pricy. We walked through the place in 15 minutes.

Its not as impressive as the Georgia Aquarium or the Virginia Aquarium, but its pretty sizable, has a large array of fish and sea life, and a number of neat interactive exhibits. My group needed about two hours to go through everything. Most of the aquarium consists of narrow passages that can be a bit crowded at points, but theres a cavernous main hall about two-thirds of the way through the self-guided tours, where one can interact with the rays and also get away from the crowds for a bit. Its nice to have something like this in the Capital Region; it wouldnt be the highlight of any visitors trip, but it is a nice way to spend an afternoon. The line to enter was sizable, expect to wait 20 minutes if going on a weekend.

Could have cheaper prices

The aquarium is very aesthetically pleasing and there are lots of interactive things for children to do during the visit. The stingray tank was a big hit with the kids and they also enjoyed the koi pond. There is good value in purchasing an annual pass. However, someone purchasing a one day pass may not feel that there are enough exhibits to justify the price tag.

Great experience for childern under 17 yr old. Only gave it 4 stars, because it can not compete with others in major cities. Well worth the money. It fun and could be educational.

Was very disappointed. Took my 15 month old with his father. We both enjoyed watching him get excited but was very displeased with how small the aquarium itself is and how little the exhibits turned out to be. Definitely feel we were misguided by the explanations of the aquarium website. 2 hour car ride there and back home, spent all of 30 min inside. We would have liked more for him to see and interact with. Felt like it was a glow in the dark building with tropical fish tanks and a little pricey for how small it is.

Very helpful staff, wonderful experience & offered multiple discounts

All in all, it was a pretty nice aquarium. Its also the first one in the area, so I would say it is totally worth it. The only thing that keeps it from 5 stars is that the information for the exhibits are on constantly changing screens that seem to turn just as you were about to look at them. If they just had static prints, it would be much easier to learn about what youre looking at.

Excellent experience for kids - the jellyfish and ray exhibits were awesome! Staff was extremely friendly and helpful. A bit small but nice decor and ambience. I recommend buying tickets, then upgrading to the year pass if you like it.

I wasnt sure what to expect, and was very pleasantly surprised! I is a smaller aquarium, but very enjoyable with beautiful exhibits. Theres a large variety of animals and habitats along with interactive exhibits. The staff was very friendly and our kids loved the hands-on touch exhibits with horshoe crabs, sea stars, anemone, koi, and rays. We purchased feeding cups and had a blast hand feeding the rays!

Fun but pricey!

It was alittle pricey. We even did the online tickets so it was $2 less each ticket. My husband, my 2 year old and I spent about 2 hours in here. There was alot to see. My son liked most the water play area. Note to self Bring extra clothes for him next time. Didnt know there was a water play area for kids but he loved it. Alot of educational facts which was really good. It wasnt huge. But wasnt small. We enjoyed out visit.

Prices are too expensive considering what you actually experience.... Ok but definitely room to improve.

Its not too bad for a place in Schenectady! I wouldnt go back every month but now and again. Twice a year maybe.Pros:- a lot of species of aquatic animals- very hands on- visually appealing- informative and educationalCons:- it gets old quick- very short- not as breath taking as I expected it be- aim towards small children- gift shop doesnt have anything genuine. Its all cheap toys

Great little aquarium, it is great for younger kids the exhibits are pretty standard. Most of their fish you can find at an exotic fish shop but the way the display and show you are really cool

Of course it doesnt compare to major aquariums, but I was really happily surprised at how many cool fish and fun activities they had. Three generations had a great time!

Great hour out for kids, but most non-saltwater fish are the same as what youd see in a home aquarium. The touch tanks are fun though.

The aquarium is nice for the area. However, customer service needs improvement. When calling, you have to listen to several minutes of information that is already on the website before you are directed to another extension, and then instead of someone answering, I had to leave a message (this was on a Friday during normal business hours). It would be nice to be able to purchase the seasonal pass on line also.

Went last night with wife and very pleased. Very clean and educational. Cost $30.00 both us which is little high but that is almost cost see movie. Would recommend others to go.

This was a great family outing! Not too long for little legs to see everything. They especially enjoyed the touch tanks!

I rate this a two star because the front desk lady ate the ticket both was rude and the lady that worked ate the gift shop was very rude and act like she dident want to answer questions I bought my daughter and niece here on 7/8/2019 but beside that a pretty cool small place for family time

Much larger than I thought it was going to be. We had a great time. Great to have something like this to do in the capital region.

Great place for a great price!