Ripley's Aquarium of Canada
Walk through a living ocean tunnel beneath two million litres of water.
Ripley's Aquarium of Canada opened in 2013 right at the base of the CN Tower in downtown Toronto, and it quickly became one of the city's most popular attractions. It houses over 16,000 aquatic animals across more than 100 exhibits, making it one of the largest aquariums in the country. It's run by the Ripley Entertainment group, the same company behind similar aquariums in Chicago, Atlanta, and Myrtle Beach, but the Toronto location has its own distinct character — partly because of its sheer scale, partly because of how thoughtfully the exhibits are laid out.
The centrepiece is the Dangerous Lagoon, a 97-metre underwater viewing tunnel where you ride a slow-moving walkway through a tank filled with sand tiger sharks, sawfish, green sea turtles, and a staggering variety of rays. It's genuinely jaw-dropping, especially when a shark drifts directly overhead. Beyond that, you'll move through galleries dedicated to Pacific kelp forests, Canadian waters, tropical reefs, and a touch-pool area where kids can handle horseshoe crabs and stingrays. The jellyfish gallery — Planet Jellies — is mesmerising in its own quiet way, with tanks backlit in shifting colours.
The aquarium is open every day and doesn't close for holidays, which makes it a reliable option year-round. That said, it gets seriously crowded on weekends and during school holidays — the tunnel walkway can feel like a rush-hour subway car on a Saturday afternoon. Buying tickets online in advance saves you money and skips the queue. The gift shop is unavoidable on the way out, but the café food is pretty standard. If you can, aim for a weekday morning or the late evening hours when the crowds thin out considerably.