My husband and I took the kids to the New England Aquarium in Boston MA for a family day out. We arrived in Boston just around lunch time and stopped for lunch before heading over to the Aquarium. We generally bring packed lunches and buy our drinks to keep our costs down.

The New England Aquarium is located right off the Aquarium T stop (that's what the locals call the subway) on the blue line. there are four lines the the Boston subway system - green, red, orange, and blue. The purple line is the commuter line. For a map of the subway system you can go here. Tokens for the subway are currently $1.00 each.

There is a lot to do and see at the Aquarium. There is the giant ocean tank which is over 24 feet deep and features more than 3,000 corals and sponges, representing the 35 major species found in the Caribbean. We were able to watch the Aquarium divers scrub the tank while we were visiting.

Giant Ocean Tank Web Cam

My daughter had fun playing in the tidal pool exhibit. They allow the kids to pick up the star fish, shells, and other animals in the tidal pool. This area tends to be very crowded. I practically had to push my daughter into an open spot.

On the ground floor is the penguin exhibit. There are currently three species of penguin. We had a good time watching them - especially when the sprinklers turned on the the penguins jumped off the rocks into the water.

Penguin Cam

There are countless smaller aquariums with various various of fish, eels, frogs and other marine life. One of my favorites were the poisonous frogs from South America. It took us a long time to find the frogs.

We had a good time at the Aquarium, however I know the kids got tired of looking at the smaller tanks - it tends to blur together after a while since there are so many of them.

Admission rates for the New England Aquarium are $13 for ages 12+, $7 for children ages 3 to 11, and seniors are $11.

There is also a gift shop and they will hold little talks and demonstrations in the gift shop.

The New England Aquarium also offers whale watch cruises and harbor (Science at Sea) cruises. There is a discounted price if you purchase tickets for these and a general admission ticket.