The Rio de Janeiro Marine Aquarium – AquaRio – opens its doors in an area of 26 thousand square-meters, with five floors and 28 tanks that together hold a total of 4,5 millions liters of saltwater. It will be the biggest aquarium in Brazil and South America.
As crianças armam o acampamento dentro do túnel do Tanque Oceânico. Foto: Eduardo Madeira
Observação dos tubarões. Foto: Eduardo Madeira
The biggest attraction is the Recinto Oceânico (Oceanic Enclosure), with 3,5 million liters of water and seven meters of depth, where the public can cross the tank through an undersea tunnel, as well as live the experience of swimming with fishes, rays and the feared sharks. The place will also be the stage of the activity “Dormindo no Aquario” (Sleeping in the Aquarium), aimed for children 6 years or older who want to spend the night in the depths of AquaRio. The touch tanks offer an unique opportunity to get even closer to the aquatic animals and touch the rays and sharks. The other enclosures house species such as the doctor fish, grouper, whiting, catshark, scorpion fish, bamboo shark, moray eels, whitetip reef shark, among others.
The Virtual Aquarium houses fishes that are created by the visitors through innovative technologies that allow personalization of the animal – species, color, size and name – and interacting with it through the digital screens that can be found all around, which even welcome you into the place. The Museum of Science has permanent and temporary exhibitions about subjects related to the marine and aquatic environment. Meanwhile, the Museum of Surf shows the history of surfing in Brazil and in the world through historic surfboards, with some being used since the 60s, and a collection of photographs. The visitors can also go in behind the scenes tour for those who want to go further and see the entire structure of the AquaRio and its operation.
About three thousand animals of 350 different species can be found in a variety of marine ecosystems. The biologist Marcelo Szpilman is in charge of the project’s conception, direction and technical responsibility.
Tickets: Regular fee – R$ 80 | Promotional fee (People who live or were born in the State of Rio de Janeiro) – R$ 60 | Reduced fee (Children and teenagers from 3 to 17, students from 18 to 24, people over 65 years old and disabled people) – R$ 40 | Free admission for children 2 years old or under.
Address: Avenida Rodrigues Alves, s/n Praça Muhammad Ali – Centro – Porto Maravilha, Rio de Janeiro/RJ
Working hours: Daily, 10am to 6pm
