Easily, my favorite thing about living in DFW is that there are so many family activities to do. I could spend all day talking about things to do in Dallas-Fort Worth. More than once, I talked a stranger’s ear off when they asked me what I recommended for a family trip. I’m happy to say that now I can add SEA LIFE Grapevine to the list. Read on for a walkthrough of the attraction and a peek at the new temporary exhibit: CLAWS.
My family and I were invited to a special preview event so I could get details and photos to share.
About SEA LIFE Grapevine
SEA LIFE Grapevine is an indoor aquarium in Grapevine, Texas that’s perfect for families with elementary-aged kids. The facility is home to thousands of sea creatures including fish, sharks, rays, sea horses, starfish, and several that you’ve never even heard of before. There are 30 display tanks, a walk-through tunnel, and plenty of kid-friendly features.
General admission {as of this post 04/26/2016} is $20; kids age 3-12 are $16
The aquarium is open daily. For the current hours, feeding times, a visitors map, and the option to preorder tickets for a discount, visit the SEA LIFE Grapevine website.
New CLAWS exhibit
There are some new guests at SEA LIFE that you’re definitely going to want to see. The CLAWS exhibit opened on Earth Day and will be open for a limited time. The exhibit features some really cool crustaceans from around the world, including the coconut crab, porcupine crabs, land crabs, lobsters and the largest arthropod in the world {and just a bit scary looking} Japanese spider crab.
My kids were thrilled to get a chance to see these amazing animals up close. I really appreciated the tablets next to each tank. They provided information on the creatures, including their names, homes, and some fun facts. My son (9) said his favorite creature was the porcupine crab and my daughter (12) really liked the spider crab.
The exhibit also has interactive touch displays with different shell textures, crawl-through tunnel displays to get underneath the tanks to observe, and a giant mechanical claw for testing your crabby skills picking up objects.
More to see
Here’s a peek at what else visitors to SEA LIFE Grapevine can expect to see on a visit.
There’s a big tank filled with rays and a few big fish. I took this photo from a balcony on the upper level, but you can get right up to the tank {just no touching} and watch them swim around.
There are a few tunnels in the tanks where kids can crawl “inside” the aquariums for a different view of the fish.
I could’ve sat all day watching the big wall of jellyfish swimming around. There were lots of jellies of all sizes, including some really teeny ones. This guy in the photo was only about 4-inches long.
Of course, there were plenty of familiar fishy faces, including clownfish, blue tangs, and yellow tangs.
After we walked through the aquarium, there were supervised touch tanks where kids {and adults} can get up close and pet the sea creatures. My son was a bit timid but pet a starfish and anemones.
The trip took us about an hour and a half to walk through the exhibits and aquarium. We spent a lot of time stopping just to watch, so if you have younger kids with shorter attention spans, you could easily do it in closer to an hour.
The aquarium is stroller-friendly and there is a play zone near the touch tanks for younger kids {under 4’9″ tall}.
If you’re looking for something to do with kids in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, I definitely recommend you check out SEA LIFE Grapevine and the new CLAWs exhibit.
Disclosure: SEA LIFE Grapevine provided tickets for my family of four to visit.
Leave a Reply