Last week, OdySea Aquarium in Scottsdale landed on USA Today’s list of the 10 best aquariums in the U.S. The 200,000-square-foot tourist attraction located near Via de Ventura and the Loop 101 Freeway was ranked ninth overall.
The ranking, which was released on May 21, was a part of the newspaper’s 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards. Nominees for the list were curated by a panel of industry experts with a nationwide public vote determining the final results, according to USA Today.
Other entries in the top 10 included the St. Louis Aquarium, Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium and New Jersey’s Adventure Aquarium. Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri, topped the list.
OdySea Aquarium’s entry on the list highlighted many of its amenities, including its 65 exhibits and the fact it hosts more than 6,000 undersea animals from 370 species. Its unique restrooms, which boast windows over the sinks with views of its busy shark tank, were also mentioned by the publication.
It’s not the only honor OdySea Aquarium, which first opened in 2016, has earned this year. Back in January, the Scottsdale attraction was ranked among the top 16 aquariums in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
Here’s the complete ranking of USA Today’s 10 best aquariums:
- Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium, Springfield, Mo.
- Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies, Gatlinburg, Tenn.
- Texas State Aquarium, Corpus Christi, Texas
- St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station, St. Louis
- Mystic Aquarium, Mystic, Conn.
- Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga, Tenn.
- Adventure Aquarium, Camden, N.J.
- The Florida Aquarium, Tampa, Fla.
- OdySea Aquarium, Scottsdale
- The Maritime Aquarium, Norwalk, Conn.
