The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago offers you an amazing inside view of life under the oceans, featuring one of the world’s largest indoor aquarium’s with over 8,000 different animals swimming the depths. When you visit the aquarium, you will want to make sure that you check out the Caribbean Reef. This spectacular exhibit houses brightly colored live coral and 60 different species of undersea animals. Some of these include Southern stingrays, sea turtles, angelfish and bonnet head sharks. Your family will love to watch divers going under the waters to hand feed sea turtles and sharks during preset times of the day.

Aquarium staff also will entertain you during the Marine Mammal Presentation, where they will interact with whales and dolphins, doing spectacular feats and diving. Your family can learn even more in-depth about a certain animal by attending a Habitat Chat, where a staff member will teach you about a particular animal’s home, what it eats on a daily basis and how it survives. You even get to touch some of the animals, such as a king snake, red tailed boa or a Chilean rose tarantula. They even offer programs that are specially geared for preschool aged children.

When you and your family get hungry, you can head over to the Bubble Net Food Court. Here, you can choose from sandwiches, burgers, a full service restaurant or pizza. You can even pick up a sweet snack and find souvenirs to take home in the aquarium gift shop.

The Shedd Aquarium provides visitors with a free guide at the main entrance. This will tell you the times of various shows and activities along with a map so that you can find your way around. There is a fee to enter the facility. This is the perfect way to spend a day with your family in Chicago.