The shark tunnel moving walkway under 5.7 million litres of water is an experience your kids will talk about for years. The jellyfish gallery glows neon at night. This is a serious aquarium.
Neighbourhood: Entertainment District · Address: 288 Bremner Blvd, Toronto, ON · Hours: Mon–Sun 9am–11pm · Price Range: $$$ · Phone: (647) 351-3474 · Editorial status: Not yet verified
If you’ve never stood just inches from a sand tiger shark, the glass tunnel here gives you a front-row seat—moving walkway included—without any of the stress. Plus, interactive touch pools let you pet stingrays and tiny sharks.
Ripley's is the only place downtown where you can walk underneath 100+ marine species with nothing but glass between you and the sharks. The neon-lit jellyfish room is striking enough to make even adults stop for Instagram shots, and late-night hours turn the atmosphere almost otherworldly.
Ripley's Aquarium of Canada opened in 2013 and immediately became one of Toronto's most-visited attractions, drawing over 1.5 million visitors in its first year and maintaining that pace ever since. It sits immediately beside the CN Tower at 288 Bremner Boulevard — making a combined visit almost obligatory — and holds over 9,000 aquatic animals across 5.7 million litres of water.
The centrepiece is the Dangerous Lagoon: a 97-metre moving walkway tunnel that passes through a tank containing sand tiger sharks, sawfish, sea turtles, and a school of bonnethead sharks. Standing beneath a sand tiger shark as it drifts overhead is a legitimately arresting experience regardless of age, and the slow conveyor gives you time to watch the animals in detail. Divers enter the tank twice daily for feeding and cleaning, offering a unique vantage point.
The Rainbow Reef section houses one of the largest collections of Indo-Pacific coral reef fish in North America — 16,000 creatures including lionfish, moray eels, and the kind of fluorescent reef fish that look like they were designed by a child with access to every crayon. The Planet Jellies gallery, with its neon-lit tanks of moon jellies, sea nettles, and Pacific sea nettles drifting in pulsing columns, is serene and hypnotic. It photographs beautifully and is the gallery that lingers in memory longest.
The aquarium is open until 11pm every night — the evening experience, with dimmer lighting and smaller crowds, is particularly atmospheric and worth considering over the peak weekend afternoon crush. Book online to save $5 per ticket and guarantee entry on busy days.
Adult tickets (ages 16+) cost approximately $43, children (ages 3–12) $28, toddlers (ages 0–2) free. Booking online at ripleyaquariums.com/canada saves approximately $5 per ticket versus at-the-door pricing. A combined CN Tower and Ripley's ticket is available and offers a meaningful saving if you plan to visit both.
Most visitors spend 2–2.5 hours. The full aquarium can be experienced in about 90 minutes at a comfortable pace; families with children typically take longer due to the touch pools, ray bay, and the time children spend at the Dangerous Lagoon conveyor. The Discovery Centre (interactive exhibits for children) adds another 30–45 minutes.
Weekday mornings (9–11am) are the least crowded. Evening visits from 7pm onwards — the aquarium is open until 11pm — offer a genuinely different atmosphere with dramatic lighting and significantly fewer families with young children. Weekend afternoons (noon–5pm) are the busiest and should be avoided if possible. Thursday nights the aquarium sometimes holds adult-only events.
Excellent for young children. The Ray Bay touch pool (where children can pet cownose rays) is a highlight, the Shoreline Gallery has starfish and horseshoe crabs for touching, and the Sandy Shore beach area has interactive play. The Dangerous Lagoon conveyor and the giant tanks are accessible for strollers and visually engaging for children of all ages.
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