Hippo Haven Now Open at Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ + Ticket Giveaway!

I received complimentary tickets to the Adventure Aquarium to facilitate my review. The opinions in this post are 100% mine. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Just before summer ended we took one last day trip to the  Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey, just minutes from Philly. We had never been before and we had the best time!  The Camden Waterfront is such a pretty place and the Aquarium is just awesome. There is so much to see but the interactive exhibits were hands-down our favorite.  Another favorite? Hippo Haven! This is a new permanent exhibit at Adventure Aquarium and it is just something to see in person. WOW!

As the only aquarium in the world with hippos on exhibit, Adventure Aquarium’s Hippo Haven offers guests an unparalleled hippo viewing experience, allowing them to come nose-to-nose with Button and Genny both above and under water.

“We’ve invested more than one million dollars in Hippo Haven to ensure it offers a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our guests – hippos are big animals with big needs and a big home – we wanted the guest experience to be equally as big and impressive,” said Kevin Keppel, Executive Director of Adventure Aquarium.  “We’ve created an incredible marriage of sight and sound that will leave guests with amazing memories.”

We’ve never seen anything like Hippo Haven. It really feels like you’re walking into the African Safari. There’s a high deck you can go up on to get an overhead view of the hippos, and then you can walk around the perimeter of their 60,000 gallon pool and get right up close to them.  We were SO close! And these girls were doing a little dance with each other while we were there, putting on quite a show. Check it out:

Wild, right?! These girls were pretty awesome and we watched them for quite a while. See that little hand on the glass in the video? That’s my daughter’s hand. That’s how close you can get!

Hippo Haven is reason enough to make a trip to Adventure Aquarium, but there is plenty more to see there. My kids loved the interactive exhibits that are everywhere.  They got to pet sting rays, sharks, sea stars, a sea urchin, and even a sea cucumber. Oh, and a blue lobster! I’m sure I’m forgetting some.  There were places everywhere that allowed guests to really interact with the exhibits instead of just walking through as an observer which  is awesome for kids that don’t do well with ‘look but don’t touch.’

Some of those sting rays are GIANT! We all got a thrill out of being able to reach right in and touch them, and the amazing part for me is that they seem to like it. They swim right along the perimeter where all the people can reach them instead of staying toward the interior of the pools. The staff there are really informative and always offering some extra information about the animals. My kids LOVE to learn about stuff like this, nature and animals, so they soaked it all right in.

There’s something neat around every corner at Adventure Aquarium. We sat and watched a variety of sea life swim around in a giant shark tank. It was like a movie screen sized aquarium. Much better viewing than what’s on TV!  We saw the coolest frogs, penguins, turtles, and so much more.  The jellyfish were also a big hit. They’re beautiful as long as they’re behind glass, right?

If you’re within driving distance of Camden (right near Philadelphia) or planning a trip to the Northeast, Adventure Aquarium is definitely worth a visit. It’s so fun, interactive, and very educational. A winning day-trip for the entire family!

Adventure Aquarium is open 365 days a year from 9am-5pm. General admission is $24.95 for adults (and children over 13) and $18.95 for children 2-12. The ticket lines can get pretty long, so I’d suggest buying yours online ahead of time and printing them at home. And if you think you’ll visit more than once, their annual pass would be a great choice and would pay itself off in just two visits!  Plan on $10 for parking, too. Be sure to follow Adventure Aquarium on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube.

 

Adventure Aquarium is generously offering one of my readers a family four-pack of tickets to visit and see all this and more for yourselves! This giveaway will end at 11:59pm ET on September 5, 2014.

Good luck!