Adventure Aquarium: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Scuba Santa {review}

Last week we were invited to the Adventure Aquarium to visit Scuba Santa and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

This has always been one of our favorite family outings in December.

It’s pretty magical for the kids to see Santa and one of his elves swimming around with the fish and sting rays.

This is the fourth year we’ve visited Scuba Santa (we’ve been going since my son was a baby), but this year they’ve made some changes.

This year there was a little more story behind Scuba Santa and his visit. Everyone gathered in the Winter Wonderland Theater and listened as one of his elves shared a story with the kids about holiday spirit.

And then came the very best part.

She asked everyone to close their eyes. Tight. No peeking!

And wait until the big reveal…

When Scuba Santa and another one of his elves appeared in the water.

Best addition to an already fun experience! I just love the looks on the kids’ faces when they saw Santa swimming around!

After the excitement of Scuba Santa, we moved on to some of our old favorite exhibits (the hippos, naturally):

And explored some of the newer exhibits (like Mighty Mike, the 14-foot, 800-pound alligator)

And a stop at the Stingray Beach Club, where we were able to (gently) pet a sting ray ourselves. Psst… you can even take a virtual tour of the Stingray Beach Club yourself online. So cool!

Then we headed back for some more festive fun with a stop to see Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer:

This is the first year my daughter was able to interact with Rudolph. She was SOO excited to see his nose light up!

And we can’t forget Bumble the Abominable Snowmonster. While we didn’t get a great photo of him this year, I do have to share this one we took two years ago. My son unwittingly made the same face as the Bumble just as we snapped the pic. Nope. I couldn’t have planned that if I tried.

If you go:

When:
Open 9:30 to 5 p.m. daily.

Where:
Camden, NJ (just across the Delaware River from Philly)

Cost:
- Adults, $22.95
- Children (2-12), $17.95
- Children under 2 are free.

Special Events:
- Breakfast with Scuba Santa (Dec. 3 & 4 and Dec. 10 & 11)
- Little People Live Show (Sun. Dec. 18) – free with paid admission to Aquarium