AquaRio
4
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
About
GET TO KNOW THE AQUARIUM With 26,000 square meters of built area and 4.5 million liters of water, we are the largest Marine Aquarium in South America! Here at AquaRio, we have 10,000 residents from 360 species from Brazil and around the world, divided into more than 40 enclosures – or better, homes. In addition, we have unique attractions and all the necessary infrastructure to provide fun and education to all audiences.
Duration: 1-2 hours
Meets animal welfare guidelines
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingTours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
Full view
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience AquaRio
The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Zona Central (Central Region)
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
1,922 within 3 miles
Attractions
575 within 6 miles
Contribute
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 waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.0
5,512 reviews
Excellent
2,573
Very good
1,678
Average
813
Poor
279
Terrible
169
Lourine J
Jakarta, Indonesia1 contribution
Nov 2022 • Couples
Literally the saddest aquarium I’ve ever visited. There isn’t much to see, very small (you can finish in 15 minutes), nothing engaging. Most information is in Portuguese, the only English part is just the name of the fishes. The variety of fishes are also very standard, nothing interesting/exotic, and obviously nothing to learn from here. I can say that the no species is interesting or new - worst part, many of the fishes came from Asia. I was expecting more local species/unique animals here.
My bad for not reading the review before, but please save your money and not go here. As the largest aquarium in South America, this is very dissapointing to visit especially for tourists (it costs us 150BRL/person).
My bad for not reading the review before, but please save your money and not go here. As the largest aquarium in South America, this is very dissapointing to visit especially for tourists (it costs us 150BRL/person).
Written 20 November 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.
Anna C
London, UK10 contributions
Apr 2023 • Family
We had half a day to kill in Rio before our flight back to London and, since we all enjoy looking at sealife, we decided to visit AquaRio. And we regretted we did! The tickets were not cheap, about the same price you would expect to pay in the US or Europe, yet the experience was not worth it:
- the variety of sea life was very limited, which is surprising for the country with the largest river eco-system in the World, home to some 2,500 of fish! London Seaquarium had more fish from Amazon than AquaRio. They didn’t even have arapaima. And we had to queue for 10 minutes to get closer to the water tank with piranhas… this is in a country where both arapaomas and piranhas are a common fish in the cuisine of the Amazon region!
- there were too many people there, making it impossible to enjoy whatever little fish variety there was. Despite the venue having a timed access for tickets, it was clear they simply sell too many tickets vs the capacity of the venue. As a result it was stuffy and air conditioning wasn’t working properly. My husband got short of air and had to go outside and wait for us.
Net, if this is not your first aquarium you will likely be disappointed. For us it was the worst aquarium visit ever (we’ve been to aquariums in Miami, Baltimore, London, Cincinnati, Moscow and Dubai).
- the variety of sea life was very limited, which is surprising for the country with the largest river eco-system in the World, home to some 2,500 of fish! London Seaquarium had more fish from Amazon than AquaRio. They didn’t even have arapaima. And we had to queue for 10 minutes to get closer to the water tank with piranhas… this is in a country where both arapaomas and piranhas are a common fish in the cuisine of the Amazon region!
- there were too many people there, making it impossible to enjoy whatever little fish variety there was. Despite the venue having a timed access for tickets, it was clear they simply sell too many tickets vs the capacity of the venue. As a result it was stuffy and air conditioning wasn’t working properly. My husband got short of air and had to go outside and wait for us.
Net, if this is not your first aquarium you will likely be disappointed. For us it was the worst aquarium visit ever (we’ve been to aquariums in Miami, Baltimore, London, Cincinnati, Moscow and Dubai).
Written 9 April 2023
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.
Hello.
How are you?
Thank you for contacting us and for you to understand better, here at AquaRio we treat 4.5 million liters of water daily, taking care of the health and well-being of the thousands of animals housed in more than 40 enclosures. That's why we depend on revenue from tickets and commercial activities to maintain and sustain our entire structure.
We have 10 thousand animals, of 360 species from Brazil and the world, divided into more than 40 enclosures – or rather, homes.
It is important to remember that we have an agreement with the City Hall of Rio de Janeiro so that all students and teachers in the municipal education network and all municipal public employees have free access to AquaRio (by specific appointment), in addition to a department responsible for carry out institutional and social visits.
We remain at your disposal if you need us.
A hug from the AquaRio team!
Written 23 February 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Will L
5 contributions
Aug 2022 • Couples
Not sure how this is rated so high. Was an okay visit we spent about an hour here and saw everything, visited on a Friday and it was pretty busy and hard to see the tanks. Very expensive as a foreigner paid R$150 each for entry and not worth the price.
Written 19 August 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.
TULSAOK918
Tulsa, OK8 contributions
Sept 2022
I live in a very small city but we have an aquarium. It is small but very nice. Since Rio is so big and exciting then I suppose I had that expectation from their aquarium but I was very wrong. If you have ever visited any aquarium anywhere else in the world then there is no reason to visit this one. My travel companion had never visited an aquarium so she was happy and she was loving the experience but when it was over then she was like - wow, that was a very short tour with few exhibits! I just think the aquarium is so small that even if you are happy there then you will still be disappointed with how small it is. I cannot really say anything about the staff because there was no reason to be engaged with them. I suppose one bright point to this aquarium is that it is next to the Rio Star and it is close to the Museum of Tomorrow.
Written 26 September 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.
Róisín T
39 contributions
Sept 2023 • Solo
I had a couple of hours to kill in Rio, and it turns out the traditional museums are closed on a Monday!
On advice of my hotels reception team I took a visit to the aquarium.
Bought the tickets online - saved 30R that way.
The recent reviews are an accurate representation of the exhibit.
Nothing too exciting, and I really stretched it out to make it last 1 hour.
As some of the other reviews mention - the signs were in Portuguese. I have no issue with this.
However, there was a QR code that you could use to get information in Spanish or English.
The only thing is, there was no phone service in the building!! Maybe if they provided Wi-Fi it would work better
On advice of my hotels reception team I took a visit to the aquarium.
Bought the tickets online - saved 30R that way.
The recent reviews are an accurate representation of the exhibit.
Nothing too exciting, and I really stretched it out to make it last 1 hour.
As some of the other reviews mention - the signs were in Portuguese. I have no issue with this.
However, there was a QR code that you could use to get information in Spanish or English.
The only thing is, there was no phone service in the building!! Maybe if they provided Wi-Fi it would work better
Written 18 September 2023
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.
Hello.
How are you?
We are sorry that your experience did not go as planned.
Your opinion is of great importance to us, which is why we are committed to evaluating the identified point of improvement.
Any question we are available.
A hug from AquaRio's relationship team.
Written 21 February 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Stéphane D
Matoury, French Guiana1 contribution
Jan 2024 • Family
Full full full and too noisy. No place enough to take a moment and enjoy each part. At least, I saw much better for a better price. Just good for families with kids. No more.
Written 11 January 2024
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.
Hello how are you?
Thank you for your review!
We inform you that during high season and holidays, we have a significant increase in visitation to our park. This is why the circuit is a little more crowded and the queues are longer.
We are working on the identified points of improvement, as our mission is to provide everyone who visits us with a great experience.
Any question we are available.
A hug from AquaRio's relationship team.
Written 9 February 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Samita J
11 contributions
May 2023
I was visiting the country and took my baby to see the aquarium. I didn't realize until I got home that we were charged for 2 adult tickets. I contacted Aqua Rio to let them know this and they are insistent that BOTH tickets were used. I have tried to explain to them that it was only one. They told me that if there was an issue, I should have brought it up then. I did not know about it until I returned home and checked my account. I'm a bit irritated that they won't take the time and look at the records that it was only one.
Written 6 July 2023
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.
Hello.
How are you?
We are sorry that your experience did not go as planned.
Your opinion is of great importance to us, which is why we are committed to evaluating the identified point of improvement.
Any question we are available.
A hug from AquaRio's relationship team
Written 23 February 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Richard W
1 contribution
Jul 2022 • Family
Very disappointing visit, charged extra for not being Brazilian, several smaller tanks of fish you can see in a shop seeking tropical fish and one huge tank with some sharks, rays and other fish. Visit lasted about half an hour. Save your money because it isn’t cheap, Rio has better things to offer. And if you think this is near the Museum of Tomorrow (Museo Da Amanha) think again, good half hour walk in the heat.
Written 29 July 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.
D. Aaronson
Asheville, NC700 contributions
Jul 2023
My son wanted to visit on his birthday so we spent an afternoon here. It's fine as aquariums go and at least one 12 year old enjoyed his day. Not sure I'd recommend it without kids in tow but it's a good option with them.
Written 3 August 2023
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.
Hey how's it going?
Thank you for taking the time to review us.
We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you again.
Yours sincerely,
Relationship team
AquaRio
Written 23 February 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Lovin' it on Phuket
1,289 contributions
Nov 2020
I love aquariums and when I saw that the AquaRio was the largest in South America I was super excited. I thought to myself this is going to be an amazing place to check out and photograph some species of aquatic life as well as get to interact with different animals that I may have never seen before.
I was wrong.
If this is the largest aquarium in South America, then that's very pathetic. It is small and there is nothing special about it. The aquarium in Phuket is more interesting. At least they have sea turtles. Aquario is simply an over priced gold fish bowl.
If you have ever been to a major aquarium don't go, you wont like it. It takes about 15 minutes to see the whole thing. From the outside Aquario seems huge but it houses 3 attractions so really its like 1/4 of the building.
You walk around and see some small tanks of pretty common tropical fish. No deep sea animals and nothing is in English so don't count on it being even remotely educational. I know it's Brazil but if they want tourists maybe they should look beyond Portuguese.
You pay an astronomical rate to get in and it's literally for nothing. Ripley's Aquarium of Canada is less expensive and way better. As I said this is not even as good as Phuket Aquarium and the cost for it would work out to about R5 or so.
There is no interaction with any animals, the most exciting part is the short tunnel that you walk through and the odd shark swims over it. Even our infant son was bored by the time we got to that part.
I didn't feel like I got any value for my money from visiting. I actually felt a little ripped off. You can see by my profile that I have gone to a lot of places and I like to think I know what a good value is. If you want to see something impressive in Rio go for a walk along the boardwalk between the Museum of tomorrow and Aquario. It wont cost you anything and there is some pretty cool street art.
I was wrong.
If this is the largest aquarium in South America, then that's very pathetic. It is small and there is nothing special about it. The aquarium in Phuket is more interesting. At least they have sea turtles. Aquario is simply an over priced gold fish bowl.
If you have ever been to a major aquarium don't go, you wont like it. It takes about 15 minutes to see the whole thing. From the outside Aquario seems huge but it houses 3 attractions so really its like 1/4 of the building.
You walk around and see some small tanks of pretty common tropical fish. No deep sea animals and nothing is in English so don't count on it being even remotely educational. I know it's Brazil but if they want tourists maybe they should look beyond Portuguese.
You pay an astronomical rate to get in and it's literally for nothing. Ripley's Aquarium of Canada is less expensive and way better. As I said this is not even as good as Phuket Aquarium and the cost for it would work out to about R5 or so.
There is no interaction with any animals, the most exciting part is the short tunnel that you walk through and the odd shark swims over it. Even our infant son was bored by the time we got to that part.
I didn't feel like I got any value for my money from visiting. I actually felt a little ripped off. You can see by my profile that I have gone to a lot of places and I like to think I know what a good value is. If you want to see something impressive in Rio go for a walk along the boardwalk between the Museum of tomorrow and Aquario. It wont cost you anything and there is some pretty cool street art.
Written 31 December 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.
Como fazer uma autorização de uso do ingresso assinada pelo titular da compra?
Written 11 July 2023
Não é necessário imprimir.Basta apresentar o Qrcode
Written 19 January 2023
Posso colocar peixes guppys ou cardinal em aquário que tem ampularias, camarões e caracoes?
Written 31 December 2022
Comprei o ingresso antecipado para as 10h, consigo entrar mesmo se chegar atrasada?
Written 7 September 2022
Vc comprou ingresso individual ou grupo de duas ou mais pessoas? O seu ingresso dá direito a visitar o Cristo Redentor? Chegar atrasado não deve ser problema. Problema é não comparecer na data agendada.
Written 8 September 2022
Não vi ninguém revistando bolsas. Além da lanchonete com mesas na entrada, também há pontos de venda de lanches ao longo do percurso onde se pode comer a vontade inclusive lanches levados nas bolsas.
Written 25 June 2022
Bom dia!! Moro em Itaguaí Rj, e quero saber como faço pra ir pro Aquario e Bioparque? Acho que eu tenho que pegar a Van de Itaguaí para a Central. Mas depois não sei qual veículo pegar para ir no Aquario e no Bioparque, alguém pode me explicar por favor?!
Written 17 June 2022
Na Central você consegue o Vlt para o Aquário e o Metrô para o Bioparque, saltando na Estação Sao Cristóvão. O que precisa definir é o roteiro que vc pretende fazer. Eu começaria pelo Aquário com o VLT e terminaria com o Bioparque, onde você pode almoçar também
Written 18 June 2022
é necessário levar os ingressos impressos ou pode apresentar no celular?
Written 12 February 2022
Quem compra meia para criança tem que apresentar qual documento?
Written 2 January 2022
Carteira de identidade. No site tem todos os critérios, inclusive um combo com o Corcovado.
Written 3 January 2022
…
Showing results 1-10 of 144
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing