Suzanne and Walter Scott Aquarium

Positive experience: The Suzanne and Walter Scott Aquarium at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo is the largest aquarium located within a zoo in the United States. First opened in 1995 and renovated in stages—most recently completing a major update in May 2020—the aquarium showcases a dazzling range of aquatic environments, from polar regions and Amazonian habitats to vibrant coral reefs and temperate oceans. The centerpiece is a massive 450,000‑gallon shark tank with a 70‑foot underwater tunnel, where visitors can walk beneath sharks, rays, and sea turtles. The exterior underwent a striking redesign, featuring a wave‑like stainless steel canopy, coral‑inspired metal panels, and eight rooftop steel wave sculptures enhanced by dynamic, color‑changing lighting that transforms the facade into an immersive, ocean‑themed spectacle after dark. Inside, the aquarium delights with displays of penguins, jellyfish, octopus, seahorses, and interactive touch tanks—offering guests an educational and awe‑inspiring dive into the wonders of marine life.

Fantastic experience: So much fun!!! The zoo here was giant and had animals of every category! From lions, snow leopards, cheetahs, and tigers, to elephants, zebras, monkeys, plus so many aquatic creatures like turtles, dolphins, puffins, and even sharks, there's so much to see here! My husband and I walked pretty quickly for the majority of it and made the whole thing in about 3 hours, but you could take your time and probably have at least a 4 hour trip.

Fantastic experience: Best Zoo in America. Amazing aquarium with awesome learning opportunities. Family loves every trip we make.

Fantastic experience: Beautiful,and well maintained. The sea life appears well cared for,staff are friendly and kind.

Fantastic experience: It was a fun trip for the entire family. Loved seeing some of the enrichment they do with the animals.

Fantastic experience: It's hard to believe this isn't a stand-alone attraction and just part of the Omaha zoo experience. It's first class from the touch experience to the penguin exhibit to the shark reef where you walk through a huge aquarium tank via a glass tunnel. No wonder the Omaha zoo was voted best in the country!

Fantastic experience: Very impressive set of animals! I love the tunnel that showed all the creatures! Highly recommended!

Fantastic experience: The Suzanne and Walter Scott Aquarium at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo is a breathtaking underwater experience. From vibrant coral reefs to the mesmerizing shark tunnel, it offers stunning views of marine life. The diverse exhibits, including jellyfish and sea turtles, make it both educational and immersive. A must-visit for ocean lovers! Excellent collection of water creatures.

Fantastic experience: One of the best aquariums. Do make a visit if in and around omaha

Fantastic experience: We have been to the Zoo and aquarium many times, and it is really 1 of the best in the country (we have visited many states and Aquariums/Zoo! Reasonably priced and close to the Interstate - well worth the stop

Fantastic experience: Not the biggest aquarium, but we'll maintained and lots to see. Jellyfish exhibit was awesome. Walk-thru ocean tunnel was great. If you're already at the Zoo, then this is an obvious addition to your trip.

Fantastic experience: The Aquarium is amazing -- not only can you pet jellyfish, watch penguins play and swim, learn all kinds of facts about underwater creatures, but you walk through a tunnel underwater while stingrays, fish, sharks and turtles swim above. The jellyfish are wonderful located inside the Omaha Henry Dorley Zoo, we never miss this exhibit!

Fantastic experience: Enjoy going there especially when it's not crowded.

Fantastic experience: The octopus was active! We went for a school field trip, end of April. The kids loved it and the aquarium is always a favorite.

Fantastic experience: I photographed a Memorial Weekend wedding at the Walter Scott Aquarium. It was such a unique experience to enjoy the Zoo for a wedding. It was very crowded and hard to find parking but once the evening started and the aquarium was open for cocktail hour it was such a lovely experience for all the guests!

Fantastic experience: We don't live far from the zoo so we visit quite often.

Fantastic experience: I can see why this is voted one of the best zoos and aquariums. This is such a lovely place to visit! They have so many animals and so many different exhibits. All of which looked clean and all of the animals looked healthy. The aquarium is a really beautiful place and there are so many different side exhibits within. The staff is also really helpful there and knowledgeable! Go check them out!

Fantastic experience: Absolutely enchanting experience! Beautiful displays and I loved the seasonal decorations. The little kid in me was so happy to get the set of pressed pennies.

Fantastic experience: Amazing! Could spend the whole day there!

Fantastic experience: Took my grandson, he loves the zoo.

Fantastic experience: Considered as a smaller size of the aquarium. They managed it well. Restrooms were clean. Walk way we’re well lit. The jellyfish section was mesmerizing. The penguins were very happy and active. I wish the tunnel section would have moving floor so people don’t just stay at one spot and clogging up the pathway. Kids would love this section the most of the zoo.

Positive experience: Fun exhibit with cool underwater tunnel. I always love seeing all the fish. I saw exotic fish, stingrays, sea turtles & sharks! They also have a fun gift shop that had mugs, sea life inspired jewelry, fun themed books and lots of stuffed animals.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely entertaining and wonderful! Loved it and even my 3 month old grandson loved it!! Something for every age here. Highly recommend to check it out. Could be the best part of the zoo in my opinion!

Fantastic experience: This aquarium is such a great place to beat the afternoon heat at the zoo!

Fantastic experience: This is an amazing aquarium. Lots of people, but worth the crowds.

Fantastic experience: There is a great covered eating area which has snacks and food, within there are loads of exhibits and if you time your visits hands on experiences too. We do have a video touching on the aquarium currently. "Two Ladies Midwest Adventures". Lots of love and enjoy the journey always!

Fantastic experience: One of our favorite stops. It's great being able to see ocean life in the Midwest

Fantastic experience: This aquarium is relatively small but had plenty of neat fish/animals inside. It is handicap accessible and easy to navigate. Right through the entrance there is an area where you can touch some starfish. Definitely recommend taking some time to go through here while you're at the zoo!

Fantastic experience: Love the Zoo!

Fantastic experience: Attended a "Shark"cuterie board pop up event/class with my wife. Themed drinks with dinner and even got a behind the scenes tour. Fantastic experience after hours at the zoo!

Fantastic experience: My favorite place at the zoo!!

Fantastic experience: What an incredible benefit to the Omaha community to see everything from penguins to sharks to the reef ecosystem.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely beautiful. I love the aquarium

Fantastic experience: I've always loved the aquarium but this time we were able to take our time going through and noticed some things we had missed before.

Fantastic experience: Great aquarium, loved the tunnel aquarium part a lot with big fishes, worth our time I will definitely take my kids again Awesome place for photos and videos with bog fishes it is located within omaha doorly and henry zoo

Fantastic experience: What can I say other than it really is one of the best places to visit

Fantastic experience: Taking a moment to just sit and watch the sea life is do calming

Fantastic experience: Awesome! This zoo and aquarium is one of the Must-do place.

Fantastic experience: kids had fun at the zoo, I think the special event prices are high for the Christmas specials and this spook tabular.Halloween event. Zoos always a fun place to be.and we always enjoy it !

Fantastic experience: Holy moly!! What an experience. We traveled from Oklahoma just for this zoo trip. And it is more than worth that trip and cost.

Positive experience: Been visiting here for almost 2 decades, and I have to say each year there seems to be fewer and fewer fish/sharks/creatures in the big aquarium. It was sort of disappointing this trip.

Fantastic experience: Our absolute favorite space at the zoo. Even after years of visiting, we never get tired of it. Highly recommend going during the penguin feeding time. The touch tank space is always fun for littles as well.

Positive experience: Good aquarium. I thought the New Orleans one was better, but don't know if it still exists, (due to Hurricane Katrina).

Fantastic experience: Fun to watch the penguins and puffins!

Fantastic experience: This aquarium is a site to see. You actually walk underneath the aquarium and get to view huge fish including sharks and stingrays from beneath. My family and I added this exhibit as one of our favorites to visit at the zoo.

Fantastic experience: This place is awesome!! Crowded because theirs sting rays to pet and feed.

Positive experience: aquarium was fair but not worth the $30 bucks they charge to get in this place

Fantastic experience: Loved all of the aquatic displays. Very nice..

Fantastic experience: This aquarium was well laid out and the exhibits were immersive.

Fantastic experience: An amazing aquarium, especially when you consider it’s location in landlocked Omaha! We would have enjoyed it more had there been a way to keep it from being so packed full of visitors but what can ya do, right? Awesome variety of sea life to learn about and enjoy!

Fantastic experience: Amazing. This seriously is just as good as most of Sea World. The set up, the variety of animals. Bonus is that this is included in your zoo admission. I highly recommend going. Super clean. So much to see.

Fantastic experience: Best aquarium in the states. Located in the best zoo.

Positive experience: We love it here, but the penguins seemed unimpressed with the selection of fish. If you're not interested in the penguin feeding or shark feeding, avoid the area 10:15-11:30 because of the crowds.

Fantastic experience: Henry Doorly is a world ranked zoo. Competing yearly with the likes of the San Diego zoo and aquarium. Season pass is ideal for locals to catch bits and pieces all year long. If you're a tourist stopping in, either plan one very long day from doors open til close or plan two days to take in all the marvelous exhibits.

Fantastic experience: The aquarium was awesome! I loved how interactive the entire site was. The fish tunnels, up close displays, penguins, etc. all felt like they were there with you. The building was very modern, clean, and best of all, cool. The only complain I have was the crowds were huge, it detracted from the experience somewhat. But that's just a sign of how popular this place is.

Fantastic experience: They did a great job on this aquarium. Love it

Fantastic experience: Very busy, super neat to see all sorts of jellyfish though

Fantastic experience: Great facility..too crowded. Strollers and wagons took lots of space. Maybe monitoring the numbers going in would help.

Fantastic experience: The aquarium was amazing!! The sea lions were some of my favorite animals, the gorillas were beautiful and the sloth bear was a beast. Best weekend trip idea ever.

Fantastic experience: Beautiful and super crowded on a Saturday.

Fantastic experience: Just one great aspect of the world's best zoo

Fantastic experience: A great place to see all manner of aquatic birds and sea animals. Plus it makes for a nice respite from the heat!

Fantastic experience: So great especially for kids! And a really good way to cool off on those hot days at the zoo!

Fantastic experience: The Aquarium was great!

Fantastic experience: My favorite place is the penguins. I could spend hours just watching them.

Fantastic experience: Amazing place for all ages! The train ride and ski lift are a great way to check out the zoo. Staff was friendly and helpful. The aquarium was my favorite part.

Fantastic experience: My son loves the jellyfish

Fantastic experience: This was a great aquarium. Handicap accessible. Lines move fairly slow when you hit the tunnel, but otherwise it's very informative. At the entrance there is usually a line to wash hands and touch the stingrays...if that's not your bag, keep it moving as the entrance gets crowded quick. It's very clean, and if you're lucky enough to be around for a feeding time..enjoy. Be considerate, don't tap on the glass, and enjoy!

Fantastic experience: A lot of people were there, but it was pretty.

Fantastic experience: Enjoyed it tremendously. LYTE School was there for water week

Fantastic experience: Husband had a broken rib so they had electric wheelchairs available! I love this zoo.

Fantastic experience: Some amazing displays. Just be prepared for the crowds. No matter what day you come on. We got there at 915 am and the parking lot was already full. The penguins, puffins, sharks, fish, jelly fish, and everything in between.

Fantastic experience: I enjoyed visiting the aquarium. It one of the high lights of my zoo trip

Fantastic experience: A beautiful aquarium. Features penguins, enormous fish and wonderful jellyfish section, turtles, sharks, some cute puffins and much more. The habitats are very large and contain many happy looking creatures. Watching the penguins zoom back and forth underwater was amazing. The glass tunnel puts you right underneath the tuna, sharks and turtles. You are so close you feel like you can reach out and touch them. An absolute must see

Fantastic experience: My favorite exhibit at the zoo

Fantastic experience: Great place to go, love it, and it is big too. I enjoyed my time there. Took about 5 hours to walk around it, but I think we missed a spot or two.

Fantastic experience: Parr of the zoo

Fantastic experience: The aquarium is pretty awesome! The Pavillion outside to eat is really nice too! The noise of all the people doesn't bounce around like it used too so you can really take a rest break.

Fantastic experience: I love sea life. My two year old son really enjoyed watching everything. Though we did interact with the sea stars. He wasn't a fan of the cold water. Of course we will visit again! ❤️

Fantastic experience: This place is so fun and beautiful. We had a blast.

Fantastic experience: The aquarium was beautiful and absolutely amazing!

Fantastic experience: My kids and I loved the aquarium. The shark tunnel is incredible. There's so much to see!

Fantastic experience: I loved this soo much it was so majestic and pretty will definitely be attending again..

Fantastic experience: Such an amazing aquarium. This is our family‘s favorite spot to go to. We like to walk in and just relax on hot days or cold winter days and just hang out with the fish. My son loves to interact with everyone and always has an amazing time there.

Fantastic experience: Love this place. Lots to see.

Fantastic experience: Love the aquarium.

Positive experience: Great aquarium at the zoo. Lots of different small tropical fish. Octopus was awesome. The tunnel through the sharks was the best part. Penguins got the zoomies for us so make sure to watch the for a bit and you might get lucky too!

Fantastic experience: Loved the aquarium!

Fantastic experience: Love the shark tunnel

Positive experience: Kids had a blast. Wish I took more photos

Fantastic experience: Word class and love the new exterior! Makes me proud it's in my town!

Fantastic experience: Very cool ! Loved going in & seeing all the fish swim above you! Awesome time!

Fantastic experience: Wonderful place for the entire family.

Fantastic experience: Visit was nice, enjoyed the weather and it was not crowded. Exhibits were awesome

Fantastic experience: The Henry Doorly Zoo is great. The aquarium + sea lion exhibits are my favorite parts.

Fantastic experience: I was there for a company party. The staff was amazing and the conference hall was beautiful

Fantastic experience: Excellent time during the "Snoozing Under the Sea Family Safari" The staff was great and having a private tour through the Kingdoms of the Night was wonderful.

Fantastic experience: Aquarium was the best exhibit at omaha zoo

Fantastic experience: In our travels we have visited several aquariums and the Omaha Zoo aquarium has been by far the best, and well worth the cost of admission to the zoo. I have a Grandparent/family membership, which I highly recommend if you plan to visit more then once a year.

Fantastic experience: We did the zoo overnight in the Aquarium. Our third time! Highly recommend!