Acuario del Estado de Maine
📍 Localización y contacto
📷 Fotos del Acuario del Estado de Maine
ℹ️ Información
This aquarium is open seasonally & features a lobster display, touch tank & various sport fish.
¡Bienvenido al Acuario Estatal de Maine, un encantador destino ubicado en Boothbay Harbor que ofrece una visión única de la vida marina de las aguas costeras de Maine! Aunque puede ser pequeño en tamaño, los visitantes han compartido experiencias encantadoras, especialmente los niños pequeños que disfrutan de las exhibiciones interactivas.
Los aspectos más destacados incluyen:
- Un tanque de contacto donde los visitantes pueden interactuar con fascinantes criaturas marinas como tiburones, estrellas de mar y cangrejos caballito de mar.
- Inaugurado este año, el Laboratorio de Aprendizaje presenta exhibiciones que informan sobre la investigación marina local y ofrece oportunidades prácticas para la exploración científica.
- El acuario muestra una variedad de peces en tanques bien mantenidos, incluyendo exhibiciones especiales de langostas raras.
- Las áreas de picnic al aire libre ofrecen impresionantes vistas del puerto, lo que lo convierte en un lugar perfecto para relajarse después de su visita.
El personal amable y conocedor siempre está disponible para mejorar su experiencia, compartiendo conocimientos e información sobre las exhibiciones. Aunque el acuario tiene espacio limitado, muchos visitantes aprecian la dedicación a la educación y la conservación evidente en las exhibiciones y los programas atractivos que se ofrecen. ¡Es un lugar fantástico para una rápida salida familiar!
🕒 Horario de apertura
- DOMINGO: 10H-15H
- LUNES: (CLOSED)
- MARTES: (CLOSED)
- MIéRCOLES: 10H-15H
- JUEVES: 10H-15H
- VIERNES: 10H-15H
- SáBADO: 10H-15H
🎟️ Compra tu entrada
🗣️ Acuario del Estado de Maine: Opiniones
Experiencia fantástica: Really cool aquarium. I just wish it was bigger.
We do, too, but very glad you enjoyed your visit. Thanks for leaving a review.
Experiencia positiva: It's very small and not nearly as hands on or interactive as it used to be. The grandkids (2,4) enjoyed it! I remembered taking their mom and was disappointed. She was too. We were looking forward to the gift shop to take learning back home. It didn't exist. Thankfully there were other attractions in Boothbay that made the trip more memorable. Boothbay is beautiful.
The space has always been small, but you can still have a whale of a good time! After needing significant repairs to the building itself, our exhibits went through renovations as well. You probably noticed the changes to the shark and touch tanks, which also now reflect current animal husbandry standards in the aquarium industry. We added more interactive components such as the shark exhibit in the Learning Lab, microscopes, touch table, and climate wheel displaying 120 years worth of temperature data! Our small space means a small gift shop, where we focus on offering environmentally sustainable merchandise that reflects the conservation and stewardship mission of the Dept. of Marine Resources. We are fortunate to be located on the Harbor, with a stunning few. The grassy area adjacent to the parking lot is a perfect place to take in the scenery, and the picnic tables are a great place to enjoy a picnic. We hope you will continue to visit each year as we continue to grow and expand the exhibits and programs we offer.
Experiencia negativa: There was a lady outside the building requiring us to pay online on pur phone before entering the building. Cost $7.50 for seniors each . Wslked into a tiny room with a small fish tank with a dozen fisg and an even smaller tank with a few jelly fish. A very small touch tank a few star fish . Very small !!! That was it. A small turtle and a very small 12inch shark in another tank. Definitely not worth $22.00 fee to see.
We are sorry you didn't enjoy your visit. Our one-room Aquarium has nine tanks ranging from 20 gallons to 1400. We have a specially designed jelly tank that allows us to house local species. Our 300-gallon Discovery Tank (touch tank) allows visitors to interact with the animals you would find in tidepools. Interactive exhibits, such as microscopes, in the Aquarium and Learning Lab highlight the research that happens at the Dept. of Marine Resources. Staff is always available to guide visitors through the exhibits and provide live programs. Newly opened this year is our Learning Lab, an adjacent building with our Sharks of Maine Exhibit. It includes videos of DMR’s shark research, sharking tracking, and our 150-gallon chain catshark tank. Tide the turtle is also on display; she is our ambassador turtle for an exhibit about the sea turtles in the Gulf of Maine. Visitors can also make their own scientific art in this space. We charge admission to cover the year-round budget for DMR's Education Division, which includes the Aquarium and Learning Lab. The budget includes staff salaries, year-round programs, supplies, equipment, etc. We appreciate your support. We are a public facility managed by a state agency, the Department of Marine Resources. Most of the property is reserved for DMR’s research labs and offices. We can't increase the size of the space, so we provide as many interactive exhibits as possible, and have staff available for a more personal experience.
Experiencia positiva: Very small, disappointing. Nice staff.
We are sorry you didn't enjoy your visit. Our one-room Aquarium has nine tanks ranging from 20 gallons to 1400. We have a specially designed jelly tank that allows us to house local species. Our 300-gallon Discovery Tank (touch tank) allows visitors to interact with the animals you would find in tidepools. Interactive exhibits, such as microscopes, in the Aquarium and Learning Lab highlight the research that happens at the Dept. of Marine Resources. Staff is always available to guide visitors through the exhibits and provide live programs. Newly opened this year is our Learning Lab, an adjacent building with our Sharks of Maine Exhibit. It includes videos of DMR’s shark research, sharking tracking, and our 150-gallon chain catshark tank. Tide the turtle is also on display; she is our ambassador turtle for an exhibit about the sea turtles in the Gulf of Maine. Visitors can also make their own scientific art in this space. We charge admission to cover the year-round budget for DMR's Education Division, which includes the Aquarium and Learning Lab. The budget includes staff salaries, year-round programs, supplies, equipment, etc. We appreciate your support. We are a public facility managed by a state agency, the Department of Marine Resources. Most of the property is reserved for DMR’s research labs and offices. We can't increase the size of the space, so we provide as many interactive exhibits as possible, and have staff available for a more personal experience.
Experiencia negativa: I'm sorry but this was wholly disappointing. The entire facility is viewable in 15 minutes. It might be a nice attraction if it was free but almost $20 (2 ppl) was outrageous. It was quaint and staff were informative but in no way worth the special trip we made to come out here.
We are sorry you didn't enjoy your visit. Our one-room Aquarium has nine tanks ranging from 20 gallons to 1400. We have a specially designed jelly tank that allows us to house local species. Our 300-gallon Discovery Tank (touch tank) allows visitors to interact with the animals you would find in tidepools. Interactive exhibits, such as microscopes, in the Aquarium and Learning Lab highlight the research that happens at the Dept. of Marine Resources. Staff is always available to guide visitors through the exhibits and provide live programs. Newly opened this year is our Learning Lab, an adjacent building with our Sharks of Maine Exhibit. It includes videos of DMR’s shark research, sharking tracking, and our 150-gallon chain catshark tank. Tide the turtle is also on display; she is our ambassador turtle for an exhibit about the sea turtles in the Gulf of Maine. Visitors can also make their own scientific art in this space. We charge admission to cover the year-round budget for DMR's Education Division, which includes the Aquarium and Learning Lab. The budget includes staff salaries, year-round programs, supplies, equipment, etc. We appreciate your support. We are a public facility managed by a state agency, the Department of Marine Resources. Most of the property is reserved for DMR’s research labs and offices. We can't increase the size of the space, so we provide as many interactive exhibits as possible, and have staff available for a more personal experience.
Experiencia positiva: The pictures make it look more interesting (although not by much) we saw three main tanks with some fish in them. That was about it
We are sorry you didn't enjoy your visit. Our one-room Aquarium has nine tanks ranging from 20 gallons to 1400. We have a specially designed jelly tank that allows us to house local species. Our 300-gallon Discovery Tank (touch tank) allows visitors to interact with the animals you would find in tidepools. Interactive exhibits, such as microscopes, in the Aquarium and Learning Lab highlight the research that happens at the Dept. of Marine Resources. Staff is always available to guide visitors through the exhibits and provide live programs. Newly opened this year is our Learning Lab, an adjacent building with our Sharks of Maine Exhibit. It includes videos of DMR’s shark research, sharking tracking, and our 150-gallon chain catshark tank. Tide the turtle is also on display; she is our ambassador turtle for an exhibit about the sea turtles in the Gulf of Maine. Visitors can also make their own scientific art in this space. We charge admission to cover the year-round budget for DMR's Education Division, which includes the Aquarium and Learning Lab. The budget includes staff salaries, year-round programs, supplies, equipment, etc. We appreciate your support. We are a public facility managed by a state agency, the Department of Marine Resources. Most of the property is reserved for DMR’s research labs and offices. We can't increase the size of the space, so we provide as many interactive exhibits as possible, and have staff available for a more personal experience.
Experiencia negativa: Total waste of time! Don’t even bother!!
We are sorry you didn't enjoy your visit. We are a small facility, but you can still have a whale of fun! Our one-room Aquarium has nine tanks ranging from 20 gallons to 1400. We have a specially designed jelly tank that allows us to house local species. Our 300-gallon Discovery Tank (touch tank) allows visitors to interact with the animals you would find in tidepools. Interactive exhibits, such as microscopes, in the Aquarium and Learning Lab highlight the research that happens at the Dept. of Marine Resources. Staff is always available to guide visitors through the exhibits and provide live programs. Newly opened this year is our Learning Lab, an adjacent building with our Sharks of Maine Exhibit. It includes videos of DMR’s shark research, sharking tracking, and our 150-gallon chain catshark tank. Tide the turtle is also on display; she is our ambassador turtle for an exhibit about the sea turtles in the Gulf of Maine. Visitors can also make their own scientific art in this space. We are a public facility managed by a state agency, the Department of Marine Resources. Most of the property is reserved for DMR’s research labs and offices. We can't increase the size of the space, so we provide as many interactive exhibits as possible, and have staff available for a more personal experience. We offer parking, which is limited. If you need to park farther away, you can enjoy the breathtaking view of the Harbor as you walk. Picnic tables are available on the lawn. We charge admission to cover the year-round budget for DMR's Education Division, which includes the Aquarium and Learning Lab. The budget includes staff salaries, year-round programs, supplies, equipment, etc. We appreciate your support.
Experiencia positiva: Good for young children.
Glad you think so! Thanks for visiting.
Experiencia positiva: The staff is great, but after visiting a few years ago we were surprised by the facility updates. Our young son got bored quickly with the two tanks.
Our staff appreciate the shoutout! We’re sorry your son did not enjoy his visit. Our facility has nine tanks in the aquarium, including a special jelly tank, 2 1400 gallon tanks, and a 300 gallon tank. Our Learning Lab, newly opened this year, has 2 tanks, including a shark exhibit. Though we are a small facility, we offer a range of tanks, interactive exhibits, and live programs for our visitors.
Experiencia positiva: Few tanks to see small sea life use a search paper to find the sea life and earn your sticker, a touch tank for kids learn about lobsters, stern of boat to play with rubberlobsters to learnto band check out a lobstertrap & a, building to draw and color on paper and see the sea turtle
Thank you for your review.
Experiencia negativa: The entire exhibit consisted of about 15 fish, 3 12 inch sharks, and a turtle. Whooptie do. Very disappointing, and I had to pay for the experience.
We are a small facility, but you can still have a whale of fun! Our one-room Aquarium has nine tanks ranging from 20 gallons to 1400. We have a specially designed jelly tank that allows us to house local species. Our 300-gallon Discovery Tank (touch tank) allows visitors to interact with the animals you would find in tidepools. Interactive exhibits, such as microscopes, in the Aquarium and Learning Lab highlight the research that happens at the Dept. of Marine Resources. Staff is always available to guide visitors through the exhibits and provide live programs. Newly opened this year is our Learning Lab, an adjacent building with our Sharks of Maine Exhibit. It includes videos of DMR’s shark research, sharking tracking, and our 150-gallon chain catshark tank. Tide the turtle is also on display; she is our ambassador turtle for an exhibit about the sea turtles in the Gulf of Maine. Visitors can also make their own scientific art in this space. We charge admission to cover the year-round budget for DMR's Education Division, which includes the Aquarium and Learning Lab. The budget includes staff salaries, year-round programs, supplies, equipment, etc. We appreciate your support.
Experiencia fantástica: What a great aquarium!
We’re glad you enjoyed your visit!
Experiencia negativa: This was the biggest waste of money on our whole vacation! I would never recommend anyone going here.
We’re sorry you didn’t enjoy your visit. We are a small facility part of a state agency, so we are limited in the number and scope of exhibits we can house. That said, we strive to make up for this by the quality of the experience - our touch tank, interactive exhibits, direct access to Dept of Marine Resources research and researchers, and our Aquarium Aides providing guided talks.
Experiencia negativa: Update: our first back since the renovation. It was a disappointment. Ticket purchase was clunky and very few tanks of sea life to view. We want to support Maine aquarium but won't return.
We are a small facility, but you can still have a whale of fun! Our one-room Aquarium has nine tanks ranging from 20 gallons to 1400. We have a specially designed jelly tank that allows us to house local species. Our 300-gallon Discovery Tank (touch tank) allows visitors to interact with the animals you would find in tidepools. Interactive exhibits, such as microscopes, in the Aquarium and Learning Lab highlight the research that happens at the Dept. of Marine Resources. Staff is always available to guide visitors through the exhibits and provide live programs. Newly opened this year is our Learning Lab, an adjacent building with our Sharks of Maine Exhibit. It includes videos of DMR’s shark research, sharking tracking, and our 150-gallon chain catshark tank. Tide the turtle is also on display; she is our ambassador turtle for an exhibit about the sea turtles in the Gulf of Maine. Visitors can also make their own scientific art in this space. This is our first season with our new ticketing system, so we are sorry for any inconvenience. We charge admission to cover the year-round budget for DMR's Education Division, which includes the Aquarium and Learning Lab. The budget includes staff salaries, year-round programs, supplies, equipment, etc. We appreciate your support.
Experiencia fantástica: Small but delightful aquarium with very dedicated and helpful staff!
Thanks for your review! Glad you enjoyed your visit!
Experiencia fantástica: Very small but makes up for it in the rarity of petting starfish, seasponges and a large horseshoe crab! As well as other marine life to see and learn about.
Thanks for your review! Glad you enjoyed your visit!
Experiencia negativa: Only 4 tanks. Not much to see. Not worth the stop
We are a small facility, but you can still have a whale of fun! Our one-room Aquarium has nine tanks ranging from 20 gallons to 1400. We have a specially designed jelly tank that allows us to house local species. Our 300-gallon Discovery Tank (touch tank) allows visitors to interact with the animals you would find in tidepools. Interactive exhibits, such as microscopes, in the Aquarium and Learning Lab highlight the research that happens at the Dept. of Marine Resources. Staff is always available to guide visitors through the exhibits and provide live programs. Newly opened this year is our Learning Lab, an adjacent building with our Sharks of Maine Exhibit. It includes videos of DMR’s shark research, sharking tracking, and our 150-gallon chain catshark tank. Tide the turtle is also on display; she is our ambassador turtle for an exhibit about the sea turtles in the Gulf of Maine. Visitors can also make their own scientific art in this space.
Experiencia positiva: We expected more from Maine Aquarium. Beautiful view.
We are a small facility, but you can still have a whale of fun! Our one-room Aquarium has nine tanks ranging from 20 gallons to 1400. We have a specially designed jelly tank that allows us to house local species. Our 300-gallon Discovery Tank (touch tank) allows visitors to interact with the animals you would find in tidepools. Interactive exhibits, such as microscopes, in the Aquarium and Learning Lab highlight the research that happens at the Dept. of Marine Resources. Staff is always available to guide visitors through the exhibits and provide live programs. Newly opened this year is our Learning Lab, an adjacent building with our Sharks of Maine Exhibit. We are a public facility managed by a state agency, the Department of Marine Resources. Most of the property is reserved for DMR’s research labs and offices. We can't increase the size of the space, so we provide as many interactive exhibits as possible, and have staff available for a more personal experience.
Experiencia negativa: It’s not free. It contained a few small fish tanks— “aquarium” isn’t an accurate description.
We are sorry you didn't enjoy your visit. We have resumed charging admission this year. Admission fees cover the budget for DMR's Education Division, which includes the Aquarium and Learning Lab. Our budget includes staff salaries, year-round programs, supplies, equipment, etc. We appreciate your support. If there are sites that still indicate we are free, please let us know so we can update them. We have about 10 tanks, ranging from 20 gallons to 1400, including our 300 gallon Touch Tank. We have interactive exhibits in the Aquarium and Learning Lab to highlight the research that happens at the Dept. of Marine Resources. Staff is always available to guide visitors through the exhibits and provide live programs. We are a small facility as we indicate on our website, as most of the property are research labs for DMR. We can't increase the size of the space, so we provide as many interactive exhibits as possible, and have staff available for a guided experience.
Experiencia negativa: New exhibit on website was not ready 6/20/25. Full admission was charged and there's nothing to do and very little to see. Handicapped access between the two very small public spaces is horrible. Obviously no thought was given to this or the size and access to the restrooms. What a horrible experience!
We are sorry you did not enjoy your visit. We hope you visited our Research Corner with the interactive exhibits -- touch table, microscopes, and climate wheel. Our touch tank is open and staffed to help guide visitor experience. Every hour we have a live lobster presentation, and kids can learn how to band lobsters, steer a lobster boat, and view different color lobsters. New for this year is the Learning Lab, which is open when the Aquarium is. In there is our shark exhibit. Kids can also make a craft related to one of our exhibits. We take seriously visitor accommodations, and we will share your feedback about the bathrooms to Dept of Marine Resources management.
Experiencia fantástica: We had a great time everyone was very educated and everything they were talking about. My grandson and granddaughter bonded with a girl named Emma. She answered all their questions, which were a lot. It was a wonderful morning.
We are so glad you enjoyed your visit! Emma enjoyed meeting with you.
Experiencia fantástica: It’s a wonderful small aquarium. The staff is informative and excellent. The actual whale skeleton is cool.
We think so too! Thanks for visiting and taking the time to leave this review. We’re glad you enjoyed your visit.
Experiencia fantástica: What a fun and informative place. The staff were all super friendly and knowledgeable. Really a nice layout and display for a small location. We spent about an hour there and really enjoyed it.
We’re glad you enjoyed your visit!
Experiencia negativa: I'm sad to report, this is not the experience we were hoping for. Coming here as an adult who experienced this as a kid, it is not the same. You barely get to see any marine life and there were only two or three items in a very small touch tank. The shark discovery area is mostly a coloring space with readable walls/displays that kids under 10 probably can't enjoy. Please fix this, Maine. As a state with huge marine research and access, we should be able to wow visitors and kids. These are the experiences that are supposed to support marine research by inspiring children young.
Thank you for visiting, and we are sorry you didn’t enjoy your visit. The Aquarium and Learning Lab recently underwent a large renovation funded by a state appropriation. The age of the original building and exhibits meant we needed to redo the spaces, hence all the changes. We are limited by the size of our spaces without the ability to expand. The rest of the facility is lab and office space. Many of the changes reflect modern aquarium husbandry practices, to balance animal welfare and visitor experience. The touch tank and shark tank are examples of this. The touch tank is the same number of gallons, with similar species diversity, just displayed how we now know touch tank animals do best in.
Experiencia negativa: Update: I am a little confused about your response as you said you will also have a jellyfish touch tank even though you mentioned the stress from people touching them kills them on a regular basis. How does that instill an appreciation for Maine's ecosystems or make you any different than the other touch tanks you were criticizing when we were there? Extremely disappointed! We have been to aquariums all over the United States and I have always raved about how wonderful this one is to everyone. When we went 5 years ago, they had a shark touch tank, a huge additional touch tank with tons of different sea creatures, and enthusiastic, kind staff. When we went this time, they are under construction. They removed the shark touch tank and made the other touch tank area a fraction of the size it was before. They don't even let you touch the sea animals but a portion of each hour so if you show up during the times they aren't allowing people to touch, you can only look at them. All the reasons that I raved about this location before were essentially removed. When I inquired about what happened to the shark touch tanks with the 26 year old lobster, etc. the staff member who couldn't have been more than mid 20's went on a tangent about the culture changing and how it wasn't ethical to touch them because they don't like it. I then inquired about the fact that they are adding a moon jelly touch tank and why they would add that or allow the other sea animals to be touched, wouldn't they also not like being touched? She was extremely condescending and unfriendly once I inquired about that, almost as if I had made her angry for asking the question. Again, all the things that made me rave about how wonderful this place was before has completely changed for the worse. We drove 2 hours one way from where we are staying to end up leaving after less than 15 minutes. Really incredibly sad to see how bad things have gotten here. I truly wish we had not have come back as at least if I hadn't we would have still had the good memories of how great the location was before all these changes.
We are sorry this was your experience, and apologize you experienced the staff as unfriendly. We remember this conversation with you, and appreciated the concern you expressed for the animals in our collection. You are correct, we have changed our aproach to touch tanks based on recent industry standards and knowledge about how stressful they are for the animals, but we still want to provide one-on-one interactions for visitors. Our mission is to instill appreciation for Maine's ecosystems in visitors. We are sorry that was not the case for you on your visit.
Experiencia positiva: Cute. Small. Under renovation it said. But still a very nice place to sit and get a good view.
Experiencia positiva: I got in free I would not pay 25$ to go
Experiencia fantástica: It's a great place if you find yourself nearby. Probably not worth a trip otherwise, unless you love ocean views! Plus the touch tank was pretty cool. It would be super awesome if they opened the research-like areas to view.
Experiencia positiva: Very small! There's not much on display. Outdoors have plenty of space for little ones to roam.
Experiencia negativa: This is not an aquarium!! It's a single small building with barely any fish. 2 tanks is all. Will not be returning. It was a huge letdown for the kids
Experiencia positiva: Nice LITTLE display of Maine marine life. It is a single room and has a touch tank. It's very nicely done for what it is. Do NOT expect the usual aquariums of cities but it's nice for a quick stop when visiting the area.
Thanks for the review! We’re glad you enjoyed it.
Experiencia negativa: We went there about 5 years ago was looking forward to seeing the upgrades this morning, was disappointed it smaller than it was on our last visit, if your interested in seing a few starfish, 3 lobsters and a bunch of clam shells. Took less than 10 minutes to see everything, good thing it was free admission. What was the millions of dollars spent on?
We are sorry you were disappointed. The space is the exact same size, just configured differently. The building needed significant repairs after 35 years -- new floor, walls, electrical, and plumbing. That is where some of the money went, and the rest on new exhibits, interactives, tanks, and the like. We hope you will come back and spend some time exploring the interactives that showcase all the work the Dept of Marine Resources does, as well as stay for an interactive lobster presentation, make your own jelly, etc.
Experiencia negativa: the remodeling was more of a downgrade than before i would never come back again not worth even a 5 minute drive it is the worst place i’ve ever been too the best part was looking at the water the new remodeling sucks do not go it sucks it has probably a total of 25 fish and now and we can’t touch the shark this place is the worst in history
We are sorry you did not enjoy your visit and feel the Aquarium is the worst in history.
Experiencia fantástica: Lovely little aquarium with very knowledgeable staff. Good for a short outing with the kids. Also had picnic tables with stunning views but need to bring your own food.
We are glad you enjoyed your visit.
Experiencia positiva: I had read the reviews beforehand and I found them to be a bit harsh. Yes, parking lot was small but we made it work. Yes, the aquarium is small but seeing the different lobsters that are so incredibly rare was completely worth it. I would have been fine spending $10 each if they weren't waiving the fee currently. Learned things about lobsters I didn't know. Maybe not the best place for small children but definitely school age should enjoy it.
Thank you for your review! Love the photos
Experiencia positiva: Small but informative displays and enough kid friendly activities that my active 6.5 year old niece had fun. Price of $10/adult seems expensive to me, given the small size...but I guess making science accessible is a worthy cause.
Thanks for your review. That’s exactly our mission - making science accessible, particularly the science conducted by the Department of Marine Resources.
Experiencia negativa: Great if you have 5 minutes... 4 tanks and nothing too exciting. Pass on this place
We are sorry you did not enjoy your visit, with our tanks ranging from 100 to 1400 gallons, plus a touch tank.
Experiencia fantástica: Wonderful aquarium. Friendly and knowledgeable staff. Enjoyable learning experience for all.
We are glad you enjoyed your visit!
Experiencia negativa: It was free to enter, and I felt ripped off. My daughter said there were more fish in the Hannaford grocery store. Ok, it is under construction so only the first room is open. There is a couple of tanks and a touch tank that was really cool to be able to experience that. It's just a long out of the way drive that I expected to spend 2 to 3 hours at, and we were done in 15 minutes. Hopefully, once it is fully open, we can go back and I can update my review. The workers were friendly and helpful. We also went there early in the week when it was closed, so we drove all the way back for this short adventure. The views of the bay from there are very nice. I think we spent more time out there figuring our next adventure, the Rail Village Museum, than inside the aquarium.
We are sorry you didn't enjoy your visit. We are a small facility, the one room. Because we just opened in June we are slowly adding more animals, so they can acclimate safely. While we make enhancements to our one-room facility, we are not charging admission. We hope if you do return that you will spend time in our Research Spotlight with the microscopes and other interactives. They describe the research that happens here at the Dept. of Marine Resources (those are the other buildings onsite but that aren't open to the public).
Experiencia positiva: I really wanted to like the new renovations however I would not consider this place as an aquarium but more of an oceanarium. It is definitely a place of education and there are two touch/pet tanks but that's about it. I was hoping it would be like the one from what use to be home (Roundhouse Aquarium in Manhattan Beach, CA) even that aquarium I would still consider it an oceanarium however it had sooooo much more to offer. Despite how crowded this place can get, you can easily do it all in under five minutes. (That's how small it is) If you really want to make the trip I would suggest going on the free days. Also, those baby moon jelly's will soon need a bigger tank!
We are sorry you didn't enjoy your visit. We are a one room facility, and we tried to have a balance of tanks and interactives for families -- 6 tanks ranging from 100 to 1300 gallons, the touch tanks, and our Research Spotlight section with interactive microscopes and research table. The moon jellies are in a 150-gallon tank, and if they get bigger we will monitor the space they need.
Experiencia positiva: I'm glad this place reopened. It was free to come in, while they are fixing things up still. While it was cool, it was very very small. We probably won't visit when there is an entrance fee, which is tough, because I'd love to support small local businesses.
We're glad to be open again too!
Experiencia negativa: Very few exhibits. Tide pool and 2 tanks. It was free that day or it would have been a waste of money Maine should spend a little more money on educational institutions.
We're sorry you didn't enjoy your visit. We are a one room facility. We are slowly adding more animals to our 7 tanks ranging from 100 to 1300 gallons, so the animals can safely acclimate to their new environment.- We continue to update our Research Spotlight section to give visitors access to the research that happens behind the scenes at the Dept. of Marine Resources. While we can't do anything about the size of the space, we will add a gift shop in the future.
Experiencia fantástica: I have always loved this place. It is tiny but has some cool stuff. They were under renovation when we went there during the last week of August, so admission was free. The presentation on the cotton candy lobster was fascinating! It can be expensive, but it is all for research.
We are glad you enjoyed your visit!
Experiencia positiva: This is a VERY small place that is geared towards young children. Any child over 10 will find this boring. Young children will love it though.
Thanks for your review. We are a one room facility, approximately 1800 sq ft. We can't expand the room, but we will be adding a small gift shop next season.
Experiencia positiva: Nice place for kids. It was under construction when we went. I'm sure it will be great mince it's done.
Thanks for the review! We are still adding animals to the tanks (we are doing so slowly, to acclimate them safely), and will add a gift shop next season.
Experiencia positiva: Very small, but fun for the young ones and will take you about an hour to get through if you pace yourself.
Thanks for this review!
Experiencia fantástica: It's a great place to take kids for a quick outing. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable. Our kids enjoyed the touch tank!
Glad you enjoyed your visit!
Experiencia fantástica: Small but fun! Check out the blue lobsters!!
Elvis and Neptune thank you for the shout out!
Experiencia positiva: GO ON A FREE DAY. Don't pay for this place, it's not worth it as it's just a single room with 2 large tanks and a few smaller tanks. That said, if it's free it's definitely worth stopping by. The staff are friendly and very knowledgeable about the marine life there. It's nice to walk around the property too.
Thanks for the feedback; it will help us next season.
Experiencia negativa: Unless you are staying within ten minutes of the aquarium I wouldn’t recommend making the trip. Botanical garden was a much better experience
Boothbay has so much to offer visitors. We’re glad you found us.
Experiencia positiva: Drove almost 2 hours was not impressed don't waste your time
We are sorry you didn’t enjoy your visit. We’ve updated our website so visitors know what to expect.
Experiencia negativa: We have been eagerly waiting for the aquarium to open since moving to Maine in 2021 being that we live only 25 minutes away we thought it would be a great place to take our little one on rainy days to get out of the house. It's now 2024 and we went to the aquarium the weekend that it opened and it looked like myself, my husband, and every other family was very confused on the size of the place. Visitors including our family would walk outside onto the deck expecting it to lead to more exhibits to be met with nothing. It took us approximately 10 minutes to walk through the one room with very few tanks. If the touch tanks are closed, which apparently happens frequently, then there really isn't much to do besides look at the lobster and the 3 fish? I'm unsure if they are adding more to the aquarium or if this is it. If that's the case and they will be adding more, they should have made it clear when re opening that it was going to be a small one room exhibit until further notice. If this is going to be all that comes from this aquarium, it was 100% a waste of tax dollars for the amount that was spent on this project. We were overall disappointed that this isn't even worth another 25 minute drive. People in Maine need things to do especially on rainy days or in the winter months. Sadly, although beautiful and new, this wont be one of those things until if/when more is added.
We are sorry you and your family were disappointed. We are still a work in progress, hence no admission fee. The aquarium has always been one room, and will continue to be, but we are adding more experiences in the space.
Experiencia negativa: Truly not much to see and heavy handed control by staff, takes the joy out of seeing what few creatures they have available in the touch tank. After being closed for four years, it may as well have stayed closed, because it's not worth the effort of getting there.
We are sorry you did not enjoy your visit. While we transition to being open again, we are slowly stocking our tanks so as not to stress the animals. We staff the Touch Tank as in the past, to balance visitor experience and animal care. We continue to upgrade our exhibits this season and into next season. We decided not to charge admission for this reason.
Experiencia negativa: Recently visited the aquarium took us almost 2 hours to get there. It was nothing like the website makes it appear its only one relatively small circle room not really much to see or engage in. Overall not worth the 1hr 45min drive for only 10mins to see everything. One plus is it was free admission today vs the $40 it would of been also the staff was very friendly.
We are sorry you did not enjoy your experience at the Aquarium, and we are happy you found the staff friendly. They are UMaine students and graduates who care deeply about the environment.
Experiencia negativa: Small not impressed traveled 40miles and it was under construction with no heads-up only has 3 small fish exhibits and a few learning tables.
We are sorry you were disappointed. We aren’t charging admission while we build up our exhibits.
Experiencia negativa: I'm glad there was no charge last Wednesday when we went. The place is tiny with only a few tanks and a touch tank that was closed as soon as we tried to get in line. We took our time expecting another room to realize that was it. And it only took maybe 15 minutes. We allowed the kids to run around outside until the touch tank was opened again to see the line all around the building. We just left. The parking lot was smaller than the aquarium so people parked on both sides of an already small road making it only passable for one car at a time. Making a grid lock when a car was coming at you. It was honestly a nightmare. I didn't expect much but I expected more. If I ever return it will be in winter months when slow.
We are sorry you were disappointed. Yes, parking is a challenge when busy, which we are mornings and when the weather is rainy. We are one room on a larger campus that is office and research space for the Department or Marine Resources. We’ve updated our website so visitors know more what to expect when visiting.
Experiencia fantástica: Entry was free. Still under construction but still a fun little place to visit and maybe picnic by the water!
Experiencia positiva: It was cute but very very small. It's undergoing some upgrades. I'm very glad when we went it was free admission, because I would have been really upset to spend $10 per ticket on a very small aquarium
Experiencia negativa: To call this an aquarium is frankly misleading. It's a single room with four tanks with overlapping species, mostly striped bass, flounder, and a yellow and blue lobster that you have to lean over a barrier to see. There are some interactive screens, which are cool, but overall, it was incredibly underwhelming and hardly worth the trip. We were fortunate not to have to pay the day we went; otherwise, this review would be a lot more scathing, and I would caution against paying for a visit.
Experiencia fantástica: Recommended if you are in the area. This is a small, but very informative aquarium featuring marine life from the Gulf of Maine. The place is under-going some renovations and is quite small, but the aquarium staff is fun and friendly, and they readily shared a wealth of knowledge about the exhibits.
Experiencia negativa: This place was a waste of tax payers dollars. Everyone said it was horrible. They could do sooo much more with this place.
Experiencia positiva: Our first visit to Maine from Texas. The aquarium is small, but informative.
Experiencia fantástica: A wonderful stop for your family especially if you have children! This place didn’t cost us any money to get into. There is staff all over the place giving what would be over an hour of educational information that’s fun to listen to.
Experiencia negativa: If you’re from a small town you may like it better, but when people say it’s small they’re being generous—this is a one room aquarium that shows two types of fish and three (colorful) lobsters. That’s it. Oh, and a touch tank for kids. In spite of that, it was packed and no parking was available.
Experiencia negativa: I'm shocked that with the 4 year wait and amount of money spent on this project, it was super disappointing. No parking. Very small exhibits. One room.
Experiencia negativa: Not necessarily a bad experience but simply underwhelming. It's one room that I walked through in 5 minutes. I saw more families sitting and playing outside than were actually inside the aquarium (and it was a foggy day). It's currently free, so I hope they add more if they plan to charge for admission.
Experiencia negativa: So calling it an aquarium is a bit of a stretch. It has 3 tanks, a touch tank and very little parking, I’m glad they didn’t charge today because at $10 a head I would of been really upset, that being said it wasn’t a complete disaster it is utterly beautiful out there and the staff is both friendly and knowledgeable. I can’t say I recommend it but if they expand they could be great
Experiencia negativa: Not worth it. Little parking, one room, not very many exhibits. As a tax payer, the state just spent millions on this place, so I'm overly disappointed. A fish store has more exhibits.
Experiencia fantástica: This is a great little project for kids! Wish it was bigger, but if your down there take the kids to the touch tank and check out a few fish. Estimate only spending 15 minutes there because of the size, but it's got a fishing dock behind it. Friendly, kind staff!
Experiencia positiva: Very small but cute aquarium. It’s one room in size. Very friendly staff.
Experiencia positiva: In my opinion not worth my drive. The grandkids were very disappointed. Very small and crowded.
Experiencia positiva: The potential for this little aquarium is huge!The recent renovations look great in the one room aquarium. My 15 month old loved the touch tank and watching the fish swim around. The blue lobster was also very fun to see. The location of this aquarium is a big draw. I hope there are plans for future expansion, maybe boat tours with hands on experiences or a gift shop. Would love to see this little gem continue to grow.
Experiencia fantástica: We recently visited the Maine State Aquarium in West Boothbay Harbor and had a fantastic experience! Although the aquarium is relatively small (a single room), it is packed with fascinating exhibits and a variety of marine species. My kids were thrilled to see the rare blue lobsters, which we learned are a 1 in 2 million find! The highlight of our visit was definitely the touch tank, where my children enjoyed interacting with sea life from Maine's tidal pools. The aquarium has just reopened and is still working on some exhibits, but that didn't dampen our fun. We had a great time exploring and learning about marine life in Maine. We will definitely be back once the work is completed. Highly recommend for a fun and educational family outing!
We’re thrilled you enjoyed your visit!
Experiencia negativa: What a shame this aquarium is not opened. Why is that? Everything else is up and running. After 17 months (give our take) of Covid, I really think any state that is allowing their employees to basically get paid for hiding behind closed doors should be ashamed of themselves (I'm sure state employees are walking amongst us, side by side, in Home Depot and Hannaford). Time for doors on every state building, through the country, to be unlocked. As an employee of a school district, staff & students went to school for 10 months (only a handful did virtual learning). Guess what? We ALL survived and no one was hospitalized. A handful of students & 3 co-workers came down with very mild cases of Covid-19 in my school building. Let's face it, most of us are out there working and interacting with many people throughout the day. Why is it that state employees have the pleasure of avoiding their job responsibilities, while making state services that should be available to the public very difficult to get.. right down to the motor vehicle department?
Experiencia positiva: I have no opinion on the museum itself, but rather how an employee decided to let my party and I know the aquarium was closed… I may not have minded if the woman yelling out the window at us hadn’t decided to be selective in her yelling at patrons. My group and I were too far away to let them know what we had learned, this girl seemed to not care that a group of 8+ was needlessly walking up to the door. If you’re going to tell people the aquarium is closed all summer for renovations, maybe having someone yell out their car window is a bad way to do it anyway. Signs work, the sidewalk seemed to be big enough for one
Experiencia fantástica: The Father’s Day weekend when our family stopped by the lobster boat races were in full swing! The aquarium is smaller but at the time of our visit offered educational programs like a squid dissection which made this a must see on the list!
Experiencia positiva: There is a sign that they are closed due to COVID-19. However, if you are already in the area, it is beautiful, peaceful, and plenty of parking.
Experiencia fantástica: Went to fish off their pier just to try it out. Place looked nice, planning on visit...great parking, kids on pier really enjoyed the fishing and netting thing.
Experiencia fantástica: Love this place! Small as far as aquariums go. And was very crowded at the busy times. The touch tanks are AMAZING. We spent hours at them. The sharks were so much fun. I could have pet them for days. It was really cool, you could go fishing off the dock. They supplied everything. They had a craft section, and different presentations. Definitely can't wait to go back.
Experiencia negativa: Called before we went, no answer. They were closed during normal business hours. Try an answering machine that states that you are closed. We tried coming several days before Labor Day. No answer on your phone. I guess there’s no money in your budget for an answering machine?
The Maine State Aquarium is only open during the summer. We do not have any control over times listed on travel websites. Be sure to check the venue website instead. We closed for the season on September 30. Hope you can come again in the summer 2020.
Experiencia positiva: Great for younger kids! Not a whole lot of displays, but they offer a really cool touch tank, and a tank of sturgeons you can pet. They usually have a "lecture" where they teach you about different sea animals. Last time we went it was on Lobsters and Lobstering. You can also go to the peir and fish! We go every year! Also the price of admission is VERY reasonable!
Experiencia fantástica: The tiniest aquarium I have ever been to. Also one of the most fun. The main feature is two different touch tanks, one with sharks, skates, and lobsters. The other with starfish, sea cucumbers, lobsters, crabs, scallops, and more. My girlfriend and I really loved both of them and spent a good amount of time at them. The attendants at both tanks were super friendly, knowledgable, and fun to talk to. Would go back. It was very reasonably priced.
Thank you! The staff loves showing our animals to visitors like you!!
Experiencia fantástica: Super nice small aquarium, good for a few hours, amazing if you want to pet a shark!
Experiencia positiva: My 3 year old daughter loved the aquarium, especially the touch tank. This was a fun family experience for us all and the price seems fair.
Experiencia fantástica: Been going here every summer for 25 years. Always fun and educational. Great for kids!
Experiencia fantástica: Absolutely loved the Aquarium! We took our two boys ages 2 and 5. It was very reasonably priced at $17 to get in. They had alot more to look at than what was on their website. The boys absolutely loved the two dog sharks they had in the big touch tank. One of the staff members there was able to tell them just about everything there was to k ow about the sharks amd the egg sacks floating in the same tank. They had a huge 14lb Lobster my youngest absolutely loved. He was as big as my 2yo. Out side was many great places to have a picnic with amazing views of the ocean. A dock outside had various traps the kids could pull up with crabs inside. Highly recommend the Maine State Aquarium. I would ignor the website as there is much more to see once your there. Will definitely be returning next year.
Experiencia fantástica: It's a very small aquarium but my grandsons loved being able to learn about and touch the sea life on exhibit.
Experiencia fantástica: This was a very fun experience. I imagine it works be enjoyable for children also. There's a touch tank. The place is pretty small and focuses on aquatic life found in the coast of Maine. There was a very informative presentation on lobster fishing.
Experiencia positiva: Kids had fun. Pretty small place but lots to look at
Experiencia fantástica: This place keeps us entertained for hours. Really cool creatures and friendly sharks! I love this aquarium!
Experiencia positiva: Small place but loved that they had no problem with my service dog and my mother's service dog. Staff was very friendly.
Experiencia positiva: The aquarium is really fun if you're in the area! They have a lot of fun fish and a couple touch pools, as well as an area to fish and pull up lobster traps! You have to have time to find parking, though. There's almost no parking in their lot at any time.
Experiencia fantástica: Great area to have a sit outside a d take in the beauty of the coast. The aquarium was very good.
Experiencia negativa: Very small place, does have a couple touch tanks (sharks, sea stars, etc.) which were okay, but takes about 10 minutes to go through. Definitely wouldn't make a special trip. A bit shabby all around.
Trisha, i hope you were able to see all parts of the aquarium. There are 20 tanks of live animals donated by fishermen from the Gulf of Maine. Lobster presentations are given 3 times per day. At the fishing dock you can catch fish with rods and bait provided. There are lobster traps, crab traps, and equipment to measure the visibility of color of seawater, plus information about marine birds, tides. knot tying and fishing regulations in Maine. At the Discovery Center there are activities to do to learn about squid. Once a day visitors gather there to dissect squid and use the pen and ink to write on paper.Typically visitors spend 2-3 hours at the Maine State Aquarium.
Experiencia fantástica: Love this place. The sharks come up to you and want you to pet them. A very good place to learn about ocean creatures. Has lots of specimens and the people are very knowledgeable and happy to answer questions.
Experiencia positiva: There is a small room with all the tanks and touch tanks. There is a nice area to walk around near the shore with a couple picnic tables to eat lunch. There are some provided activities such as the fishing poles to try and catch some fish off the fishing dock. You could expect to spend about an hour seeing everything. The biggest issue was the very limited parking.
Experiencia positiva: Much smaller than expected, big building but only small portion for public. What was there, was very cool!
Experiencia positiva: Kids had a great time. Aquarium is small but the touch tanks, shark petting and salt water fishing make it worth it
Experiencia fantástica: Great place for kids, touch tanks were the most popular, but the lobster tour and pier fishing was good too!
Experiencia positiva: Very small with little parking. Plus side is the marine life is native to ME coatal waters with several unique fish and other organisms that you won't find at other aquariums. Spent maybe 30 min. at aquarium then ate our picnic lunch near the water.
Deja tu opinión sobre Acuario del Estado de Maine:
