Ripley's Aquarium of Myrtle Beach

Ripley's Aquarium of Myrtle Beach

Ripley's Aquarium of Myrtle Beach
4
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
About
Glide on 330ft moving path beneath the Dangerous Reef! TOUCH sharks, stingrays, hermit crabs & jellies! Experience a world of eels, colorful fish, mermaids & poisonous predators! NOW OPEN - PEARL HARBOR EXHIBIT! Ripley's Myrtle Beach offers 5 unique attractions open 365 days a year. Don't miss all the fun!
Duration: 2-3 hours
Meets animal welfare guidelines
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  • Alicia D
    Dallas, Texas49 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Nice Aquarium but overly priced
    We had a good experience and the exhibits were nice. Wasn’t too crowded either. My only complaints is some of the exhibits were too small for the sea life and I felt bad for them. My other complaint is the tickets were a bit overpriced, in my opinion. But still overall, it was good.
    Visited November 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written November 9, 2023
  • sm0ss123
    Latta, South Carolina3 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    MONEY WELL SPENT
    I was a little worried that it was going to be a waste of money! Let me tell you, IT WAS A BLAST!!! I never realized how much there is in that building. The glass bottom boat was educational and fun! I never knew I could have so much fun and spend so much time just looking reading taking pictures and watching my granddaughter ooh and awe at everything. She loved it as much as I did! You could spend an entire day there and still be impressed.
    Visited November 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written December 12, 2023
  • travelrus
    Clifton Park, New York410 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Wonderful aquarium beautiful Christmas trees
    This aquarium is clean and well lit. Lots of different sea creatures to see. Boards were informative. You could pet the stingrays and a few sea creatures as well. The shark tunnel was a highlight (and very long) as was the jellyfish. Highlight during December was the Christmas trees. They had one from each state with different ornaments on it. They were all lovely. Highly recommend.
    Visited December 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written December 29, 2023
  • Cindy D
    9 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Ripley’s Aquarium
    We were able to visit the aquarium with family. It had been a few years since we had been. Many additions had been made. We especially liked the tunnel tank where we could view the sharks, Gabby the sea turtle, and sword fish. We had a great visit. Can’t wait until next time. If you’re an educator, you get s discount!
    Visited December 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written January 1, 2024
  • Emily H
    3 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Our Favorite Aquarium!!!
    This is our favorite Aquarium to visit. Love how much they've added since our last visit 10 years ago. Penguins, sloths...more touch tanks & 2 awesome play ground areas inside! Our favorite is the danger reef & the stingray touch tank! Will be back next year!
    Visited January 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written February 2, 2024
  • checker411
    88 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Worth the price
    We visited the Ripley's aquarium in Feb. 2024. It was a bit pricey, but when you go in you get to see a lot for the money. The staff were very knowlegeble and happily answered all of my sons questions. My wife just love touching and feeding the stingray. She named the spotted one batman. Walking through the glass tunnel was great. We spent a lot of time in that. The restrooms were clean. The gift shop was large. We will return. Recommend
    Visited February 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written February 8, 2024
  • daearz77
    Charleston, South Carolina523 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Expensive but fun
    We stopped here with our 9 year old. It is definitely expensive, $112 for 2 hours, but we thought parts of the aquarium were very well done. The tunnel with the sharks and other marine life was one of the coolest I’ve done at an aquarium. The penguin exhibit was very nice as well.
    Visited March 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written March 15, 2024
  • jenna f
    Belleville, Canada84 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Weekday visit
    Overall, an easy visit with some minor complaints. We didn’t care for the layout to get to some exhibits, you can easily miss a few things (stingrays). We took our 2.5 year old, we happened to be there while a class trip was also happening. Hard to avoid something like that but the kids mowed down our toddler. This would be great if your visiting and the weather isnt great, need a break from the beach, etc. We went as it opened.
    Visited March 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written March 22, 2024
  • BRIAN E
    Greenfield Center, New York43 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    An aquarium experience
    What a wonderful place to take your family. The walk through shark tank is amazing. The penguins are so cute and being able to go in their enclosure inside a viewing tube was great. A definite must if you are in the area with children or grandchildren.
    Visited February 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written March 26, 2024
  • Jennifer H
    5 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Mediocre at best.
    It's not worth the price you pay for the aquarium entry fee. I had much higher expectations of such a highly advertised experience. Quite unfortunate as there's not a ton to do in Myrtle Beach when it's raining and this would be the perfect place for families. Look for coupons, if available!
    Visited March 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written March 31, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles9,255 reviews
Excellent
4,254
Very good
2,686
Average
1,622
Poor
479
Terrible
215

angelavacay
Elkton, VA67 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2020
This place was very interesting as well as educational. It had lots of cool photo opportunities inside and of course a large array of neat sea creatures. The area is quite spacious inside, but I thought they would limit the number of people that are allowed inside at one time considering MB has such a high rate of coronavirus cases. They spaced visitors 6 feet apart while waiting to enter, but once inside, people were absolutely running everywhere in every direction, and it was PACKED. We didn't feel safe and only stayed about 30 minutes before leaving. It's a steep price for such a short visit. Yes, it was my choice to go and I'd definitely visit again...but not during a pandemic unless I knew better precautions were taken to avoid excessive crowding.
Written October 4, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jonathan H
Rock Hill, SC44 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2020 • Family
My family and I enjoyed the aquarium. We visited early at 9:30 am. There was no line. The staff were constantly cleaning all surfaces. They offered a teacher discount (with id) the three of us got our tickets for less than the price of one typical adult ticket. You cannot get teacher discounts online. You must purchase the tickets on site from a person working. This was a lot of fun and would be a great experience for all ages!
Written July 2, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Karen D
Pittsburgh, PA14 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2021 • Family
Overpriced. For the money I assumed there would be a lot more to see. Our zoo costs less and has an aquarium that is nicer included in the price. Stood in line for a long time to see the sharks. There were a ton of people inside so there was barely any place to move and if you got close enough to see something you were quickly moved forward. I would not spend the money on this again!
Written July 3, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Bob L
Hanover, PA495 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2020 • Family
My daughter really wanted to see the penguin exhibit so we decided to go right before a tropical storm hit. The line outside was confusing with painted sharks on sidewalk meaning different things. The mandatory mask wearing inside was a hassle and of course not everyone did wear them also. The penguin and the shark tunnel were the highlights, but the rest was pretty much the usual aquarium sights. For the price I would expect way more or better yet just lower the prices!
Written August 6, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Chris N Kristi W
Lebanon, OH36 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2020 • Family
We had a fun time at the Aquarium with our teenagers. Yes, you have to wear masks but it’s much better wearing them inside in the a.c. than outside in the humid heat. The shark tunnel was the highlight. Absolutely breathtaking. We even got to touch stingrays! They had hand sanitizer stations everywhere as well. Most patrons did their best to social distance but some of the young ones got excited and didn’t get the whole “6 feet distance” from each party. My boys are teenagers and I am a former teacher, so I totally understood. We just took our time and yielded as we needed to give families with little ones the right of way. It gives you more time to read the signs and learn even more while you wait.
Written July 27, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

GregK1239
Contoocook, NH146 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2022
We went here on a recent trip to Myrtle Beach and myself and my kids were all overwhelmed. I will admit that it is neat to see, especially the tunnel under the water, but for the price of admission, there should be more to see and do. For 2/3 the price, this place would be worth the 4 or 5 stars, but for what you pay, it isn't worth it. My kids were bored fairly quickly.

The one big negative was the big digital signs advertising "Live Mermaid Shows" out front. When we went it, there was another digital sign advertising "Live Mermaid Shows" with three different show times, the first show being at 12. Around noon, about 50 people were gathered where the Mermaid Show said it would take place. Everyone was waiting, and finally at 12:15 I went and asked the front desk and the lady said shows only happen Friday-Sunday, not on the day of the week we were there. I told her their advertising was misleading and apparently a lot of people were confused by it by the number of people waiting to see the show, but she didn't apologize or seem to care.
Written April 30, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jen T
Louisa, VA7 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2021 • Family
If I could give this a 0 I would. It's not worth the money at this location, a lot smaller than the one in Gatlinburg and seems all they care about is packing the people in. Was a long line to get to the shark tunnel. Had to walk down to temporary exhibit and back to large area with one tank and wait for people in front to move. The moving walkway was not working so people just kept standing not moving on to give others a chance to enter tunnel. Never saw the turtle. Penguins were very disappointing, just all standing in one area not doing anything. At the Gatlinburg location there is an area you can walk outside to view the Penguins swimming. Seemed like there were hardly any fish to see. Very small viewing area of sting rays. Definitely not worth the money to go. Save your money go on a dolphin watching trip or something, probably see a lot more sea life with less crowd.
Written June 23, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

freebirdVT
Wells, VT290 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Family
Compared to other aquariums, this one is small. It didn’t disappoint with hands on stingrays and horseshoe crabs. The highlight for my kids was the mermaid show and meeting the mermaids after the show. The walk through tubes gave a wonderful view of the sharks and the smaller displays had us mesmerized. The jellyfish photo bubbles had my 2 year old standing there to see his photo reappear.
It was fun. Food court was way overpriced, but the kids enjoyed the play structure in that area.
Written February 9, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks for visiting and for taking the time to share this 4 bubble review. We are glad to hear that your family enjoyed the visit and we hope that you will come back to see us again!
Written February 11, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Dale H
Eldersburg, MD5 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2020
COVID-19 conscience with signs everywhere reminding people about social distancing and sanitizer stations everywhere. Great layout and variety of aquatic life. We enjoyed this aquarium and we are from a city with one of the best aquariums in the US. It DID lack outside larger fish/aquatic animals however for the price, it's worth the visit.
Written August 21, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

NinjaTwins2013
Sumter, SC87 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2020 • Family
We paid $150 for a family of 5 to spend an hour walking through the aquarium. Many of the exhibits were closed due to Covid-19 yet the admission price didn’t appear to be reduced. It’s a neat aquarium but completely overpriced for what it delivers!
Written May 27, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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RIPLEY'S AQUARIUM OF MYRTLE BEACH (2024) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

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