Newport, KY: Newport Aquarium

After a morning of learning and eye-opening experiences at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center we decided to take the leisurely walk from downtown Cincinnati over the Purple People Bridge (written about here) to Newport, Kentucky and visit Newport on the Levee and the Newport Aquarium.


Welcome to Newport, Kentucky!

Newport is a town that has mixed a historic downtown area with a new lifestyle center called Newport on the Levee.  This upscale shopping and entertainment district loosely reminds me of downtown Branson, Missouri; although Newport also includes a large aquarium!  Our toddler has really enjoyed the many aquariums we have visited (such as the Kansas City SEA LIFE Aquarium written about here) so naturally the Newport Aquarium had to be on our list of stops while visiting the Cincinnati area.

The huge shark tunnel is one of the many highlights of the
Newport Aquarium

The aquarium is right on the Kentucky riverfront and very easy to spot as you walk across the river from Cincinnati.  After getting tickets and checking-out the gift shop (both on the ground level) we proceeded down the elevator to the lower level where the entire aquarium resides.  

Riding the Shark-evator

The first exhibit, World Rivers, focuses on river life and featured many tanks of river animals.


World Rivers

After World Rivers is the Shore Gallery, which contains a hands-on tank that allows kids to touch the various sea life on display, with narration and Q&A offered by a guide. 

A theatre full of sharks!

The largest crabs I've ever seen!

Adjacent to Shore Gallery is a large theatre, highlighted by a huge glass viewing area looking into the massive shark tank housed in the Newport Aquarium.  This was a nice theatre (they must do shows here) and it was well themed and had elaborate décor…but the highpoint is the large stage for kids to sit on as they watch the sharks and other fish life go by. 

Bizarre and Beautiful follows the theatre and emphasizes the odd and unusual life you find in various water habitats.  They had the largest crabs I have ever seen, and a really odd looking set of eels – they looked like something out of a horror movie with the heads sticking out of the sand floor.

Looks like a scene out of a horror movie

The next exhibit we viewed was the large (and new) Gator Alley which starred Mighty Mike, a massive gator that you can get quite close to.  Surrounding Mighty Mike were several other exhibits on lizards and fish…one even features a glass bottom floor so you can view the fish as the swim underneath.


Seeing eye-to-eye with the gator Mighty Mike

Up close with a reptile in Gator Alley

The best exhibit for our toddler was Frog Bog, a frog themed interactive play area perfect for young kids.  Frog Bog features the largest collection of exotic frogs in the Midwest, which are coupled with games (such as a two-person version of Frogger), interactive displays, and a large play pen for kids.  We probably spent more time in Frog Bog than any of the other exhibits, and our toddler never wanted to leave!


Playing in Frog Bog

We don't quite measure up to a shark

We eventually were able to convince him to move to the next exhibit, the Rainforest, and then on to a series of long tunnels covering various sea life creatures.  The first set of tunnels displayed amazon animals, and the next displayed those from the coral reefs. 

Following these two tunnels was a really nicely done Jelly Fish Gallery that featured plenty of seating and viewing areas with a vibrant ambiance.  Jelly Fish Gallery lead into a long shark tunnel offering amazing views of the sharks housed in the huge tank at Newport Aquarium, and Shark Central, where you could actually touch a live shark!

The final exhibit of our visit was Penguin Palooza, which featured a diverse array of cold-water penguins.  The primary viewing gallery offered plenty of seating to watch the very active penguins playing and swimming; there was music playing in the background, which was a nice touch creating a very soothing atmosphere for watching the penguins.  Behind the main viewing gallery was an interactive area for kids featuring many hands-on activities about penguins.  Of course our toddler became obsessed with the penguin statues on display…we ended up spending more time playing with the fake penguins than watching the real ones!

Penguin Palooza

I highly recommend that any visit to Cincinnati include a walk over the Purple People Bridge and a visit to Newport, Kentucky; and be sure to check-out the Newport Aquarium! 

Apparently fake penguin's are more fun

Disclosure: Our family's admission to the Newport Aquarium was provided courtesy of the Cincinnati USA Regional Tourism Network. As always, all of my thoughts are my own, unbiased, opinions based on my first-hand experiences.