Audubon Aquarium

I finally had the chance to visit the newly renovated Aquarium and Insectarium, and it was definitely a treat! While the renovation brought a fresh look, many of the exhibits and setups felt familiar from the old aquarium. That said, I really enjoyed the Insectarium--especially the interactive section where you could try bug treats! The Cricket King Cake was surprisingly good!My daughter had a great time, and the visit brought back a lot of nostalgia for me. While I would have appreciated a few more completely new updates, it was still a really enjoyable experience overall. Definitely worth a visit!

Are the tickets a bit pricy? Sure. But this was a great way to spend the day with kids. Ours were 8 and 10. My 10 yo absolutely loved the ray touch tank exhibit and we probably could've spent a full hour there.I don't really get why the Insectarium and the Aquarium are listed as different places, as you literally can't buy separate tickets. Both are great. This would be a perfect rainy day activity. That said, it does get crowded.

I have always loved coming to the Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans as there was so much to see. I was really excited to see it again after they remodeled and changed things up.We got there and admission was almost $90 for 2 people. They put the insectisarium in the aquarium now which was nice so you dodnt have to go to 2 different places.They also seem to make the path of travel one way flow so you are always moving in one direction to see everything.The albino alligator didnt look real as you saw his tail was straight laying on top of the water and not in the water. As he was laying on the concrete slab, you never seen him breathing. I have a feeling he passed away and they had a fake one of him out there to make it look like he was sleeping.We got through everything so quick that it seemed like they took some things out. The whole gulf of mexico experience seemed smaller than before.Definitely was disappointed and not worth the money we paid.Will say that they are still renovating so it may be more in the future.

I don't know about you, but I seldom turn down an opportunity to observe and learn about the complex ecosystems on our planet and to focus on the local aquatic creatures. What was an extra bonus at this aquarium was a fabulous exhibit on insects. The highlight of the exhibit was the butterfly room.The aquarium portion was ok and I really liked the portions that featured regional animals. Got to view alligators up close and personal. It is a relatively smaller aquarium which is not a negative. You can take your time and explore all of exhibits before getting museum fatigue. Glad we came.

We were visiting and staying nearby. The staff was great. Living in Ct I am used to Mystic Aquarium which is larger and has more exhibits as well as hands on areas This aquarium was much smaller but we enjoyed it. The penguins were adorable and very interactive. Along with admission you have access to the insectarium which had a butterfly room you could walk through. Wear light blue and you will have butterflies all over you.

The Aquarium and Insectarium are in one huge building. The man who sold us our tickets suggested that we walk through the insectarium first.It is an amazing display of insects, some surprisingly large, like the "walking stick". It is approx 6-8 inches long.There were several displays of cockroaches and cockroach related critters. They come in many sizes, including one really huge one, 6 inches long.Spiders and lobsters are distant relatives! Before we moved to the Aquarium, we went into the butterfly room. One has to enter through a double door to guarantee the beautiful creatures do not fly out. There were several feeding dishes, around which the butterflies congregate. They might land on you, but you must not try to catch one. It's a very calm room.Then on to the Aquarium. There were many many individual exhibits, but also one huge central tank with a lot of presumably compatible fish and a couple of turtles.There was a display of alligators. They looked very docile, just lying around.If you are trying to get in your 10,000 steps in a day, it's easily accomplished here.

When in town visiting, we decided last minute to visit the aquarium. We looked at the time and saw we would only have about 2.5 hours to visit there. We contemplated whether this was sufficient time but we decided to go for it. We were glad we did! This was a good amount of time and especially so since it was very quiet and empty because we went on a Monday afternoon. The insectarium was our favorite part. We have been to a butterfly enclosure in Denver and while it was huge, we liked the Audubon one better because it was smaller so the butterflies were closer and more easily visible. We read that the butterflies like light blue so we put both of our kids in the color. The butterflies landed on them often. They were also able to name and release young butterflies into the room for the first time. That was really special! The worker in the butterfly exhibit was so knowledgeable and friendly. Actually, everyone we encountered was! They do a great job hiring and training an excellent team. The kids loved the massive turtle, too. The penguin enclosure was nice, but one thing our home aquarium offers that our kids love, that this aquarium didn't, was listing the names of each of the penguins. At our home aquarium, they have a chart with a color code for each penguin's name that corresponds to their little arm tag. My kids love knowing each of the penguin's names. This penguin enclosure was really nice and visible though. Overall, we are so glad we made the decision to go! Really fun experience. And my kids both ate a bunch of cricket snacks. lol The only reason for the 4/5 stars is that it was very expensive for how small of an aquarium it is. The cost was greater than our local aquarium but ours at home is triple the size.

It was a rainy day in New Orleans, so we decided to go to the aquarium. We found out that there is more. The Insectarium is connected, you can buy tickets for each one or a package for both.It was recommended to us, to first visit the Insectarium. There were a lot of very interesting insects. Walking sticks (some really hugh, like 6 inches), ant colonies, and the butterfly room. That is really special. You walk in through a double door area to prevent the butterflies to escape. After that it is amazing. Butterflies in all colors and sizes flying around. Another double door (please check if no butterfly landed on you for a walk out) and on to the aquarium.Plenty of nice species, some in smaller tanks, some together in huge tanks. There was a number of aquariums with jelly fish.When in New Orleans and it rains (which happens a lot, according to our tour guide), this is a wonderful destination.

Came here for the first time with my family. The aquarium admissions comes with the insectarium exhibit so it was definitely worth it. The aquarium was pretty cool. If it was by itself, I'd say it wasn't worth the money, but because of the insectarium, it made it worth it.Our hotel was nearby so we walked. There is a paid parking lot nearby. There are a few homeless people outside so just be careful. All the staff were very friendly.

We bought the $50 ticket that gave us access to all 3 attractions: the aquarium, insectarium, and zoo. Such a great deal in my opinion! This was our first time visiting, so we really took our time going through the exhibits. I don't like or care for insects, but it was neat to see everything such as the honeypot ant and elephant beetle. It was lovely being able to walk through the butterfly garden. The aquarium was definitely my favorite. We started off in the bayou exhibit. Got to see alligators but unfortunately we couldn't see the albino one as it was hiding its face. We saw fish and birds of many kinds. As we transitioned to the next exhibits, we really experienced the ocean vibes- the inside was dark, blue, and cool. We were able to watch the penguin feeding and pet the cow nose rays (so cute). I greatly appreciated every opportunity that was offered for interactions. Overall, our visit was a good one! There wasn't an overwhelming amount of people, the employees were kind, the AC was a plus of course, and the whole place just seemed to be taken care of fairly well! The aquarium was less than a 20 min walk from bourbon st.