Updated for September 2026
The Best Aquariums in Arizona
How this list is ordered: by how complete our listing is — how much we hold on opening hours, ticket prices, accreditation, photographs, animals and facilities. It is a measure of our own coverage, not a judgement of the venue. We hold no visitor scores or conservation assessments, so “best” here means every aquarium in Arizona that qualifies for the list, fullest entry first.
Listed alphabetically
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Behind-the-scenes tourImmersive media attractionGuided tour
SEA LIFE Arizona Aquarium
Aquarium in Tempe
It holds thousands of animals, with touch pools and a 360-degree tunnel. Its operator, Merlin Entertainments, runs over forty other aquariums across eleven countries on four continents, eight of them American.
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OdySea Aquarium
Aquarium in Scottsdale
It opened on 3 September 2016. Over two million US gallons of water are spread across more than 200,000 sq ft, holding more than 6,000 animals of 370 species in over 65 displays.
Our ranking methodology
This is not a ranking. The 2 venues above are listed alphabetically by name, the same order used throughout this site. We do not collect visitor reviews, star ratings, ticket-sales figures or a conservation-impact score, so none of those exist here to rank by — “best” in this page’s title means every venue that qualifies for this list, not first-to-last by quality. If we ever add a data source robust enough to support an honest ranking, this note and the order above will change together.