Updated for September 2026
The Best Aquariums in Australia
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 Australia that qualifies for the list, fullest entry first.
Listed alphabetically
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Animal encounterParkingKeeper talk or show
Sydney Aquarium & Sydney Wildlife World
Zoo & Aquarium in Sydney
It opened in September 2006 beside a leisure and retail precinct that also holds the Sea Life aquarium and Madame Tussauds, and is laid out in ten themed zones.
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Animal encounterBehind-the-scenes tourOn-site dining
Aquarium of Western Australia
Aquarium in Perth
The aquarium holds over 4 million litres of water and roughly 400 species, laid out as zones that follow the state's 12,000 km coastline and the animals found along it. It stands about 20 km north-west of the city at Hillarys Boat Harbour. More than 9.6 million people had visited by July 2026.
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Animal encounterEducation programNight and evening opening
National Zoo & Aquarium
Zoo & Aquarium in Canberra
It sits in Yarralumla at the west end of Lake Burley Griffin, beside Scrivener Dam.
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Guided tourOn-site dining
Ocean Park Aquarium
Aquarium in Francois Peron National Park
Indoor tanks display coralfish, butterflyfish, clownfish, lionfish, stonefish, moray, stingrays, sea snakes, octopus and crustaceans. The centrepiece is the Shark Lagoon, holding 3.5 megalitres, where kingfish, trevally and estuary cod share the water with sandbar, sicklefin lemon and tiger sharks. The sharks are fed in front of visitors six times a day.
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Animal encounterGuided tourOn-site dining
Sea Life Sydney Aquarium
Aquarium in Sydney
The aquarium shows over 700 species and more than 13,000 individual animals, drawn from most Australian water habitats. Its displays trace the continent's rivers and oceans, covering southern and northern habitats alike.
Aquariums nearby
Our ranking methodology
This is not a ranking. The 5 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.