My visit to the Downtown Aquarium - Denver, CO ~ It has tigers

I went to Denver for Game 3 of the Oklahoma City Thunder v Denver Nuggets game on Saturday.  I had never been to the Pepsi Center before and wanted to check the venue off my list.  As I went to get my rental car ($23 dollars for about 12 hours), the Hertz driver told me about the Downtown Aquarium - Denver, CO.  It was still early, and I had about 3 hours to kill until game time.  The driver mentioned that aquarium had tigers (i.e. yes, you read that correctly ~ TIGERS), so I decided to check it out.

It cost $7 to park in the aquarium parking lot and my ticket was $16 or $17.  ****  I'm too lazy to look for my receipt.

I'm a huge fan of aquariums.  Last December, I checked out the Dallas World Aquarium.  Here's a link to the post:  http://www.thewirk.com/2010/11/dallas-world-aquarium-easy-like-sunday.html. 

As I walked into the Downtown Aquarium - Denver, I was immediately surprised that the place didn't smell.  Some aquariums have that animal, musty smell and eventually visitors acclimate.  However, the Downtown Aquarium didn't smell like an aquarium.

I'll admit right now that I love fish.  It's one reason why I learned to scuba dive.  Incidentally, my dad hates the fact that I scuba dive and has asked me to stop.  Oh well, we all can't do everything our parents' ask of us.  This aquarium offers you the ability to snorkel/scuba with the fish.  The information is in the image below.

When I visit aquariums I tend to skip the area where there are birds.  I like birds, but I never understood the emphasis on them at aquariums.

Although not the largest aquarium it is very kid friendly.  There is an area where you can pan for "gold" and pet the stingrays, and feed the animals, etc.

My favorite part of the visit had to be the tiger, even though it was sleeping and not too active while I was there.  ****  I believe the aquarium has more than one tiger, but I only saw one during my visit.  Being that I have a cat, I wasn't too surprised that the tiger was taking it easy.  I did catch the tiger yawn and stretch.

I'll include some of my favorite pictures from my visit in this post. 



Potbelly seahorses

This shrimp gets to be 10-12 inches long

I enjoyed my visit to the Downtown Aquarium but didn't have a chance to eat at the restaurant. 

The aquarium is located near the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field, so if you're looking for something to do before a game, definitely check it out!


THE WIRK