Updated for September 2026
The Best Aquariums in Washington
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 Washington that qualifies for the list, fullest entry first.
Listed alphabetically
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Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma
The site occupies 29 acres and holds over 9,000 specimens of 367 species. It draws upwards of 600,000 visits a year.
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Behind-the-scenes tourOn-site diningParking
Seattle Aquarium
Aquarium in Seattle
The aquarium consists of three buildings. The Ocean Pavilion, which opened in August 2024, is given over to the Coral Triangle ecosystem, while the older buildings on Pier 59 and Pier 60 hold six major exhibits between them.
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.