The World’s 100 Best Zoos & Aquariums · 2026

The Best Aquariums in the World

12 of the 100 zoos and aquariums in The World’s 100 Best Zoos & Aquariums 2026 are aquariums, in 6 countries. The highest placed is Poema del Mar Aquarium in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, at number 15 in the world. Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, United States (number 20) and Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, United States (number 25) follow.

N° 15 · Poema del Mar Aquarium, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Central tanks

Several of these aquariums are built around one large tank. Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan leads its visitors down a spiral around a Pacific tank with whale sharks and manta rays. The Oceanário de Lisboa runs one path past a central tank that fills two floors, and the National Aquarium in Baltimore winds a walkway around its shark tank. Georgia Aquarium keeps a whale shark in its Ocean Voyager tank, with a tunnel underneath.

Tunnels and glass walls

Poema del Mar in Las Palmas has a curved glass wall onto its shark tank and a tunnel past rays and turtles. Oceanogràfic in Valencia and the Singapore Oceanarium on Sentosa also take visitors through tunnels below their shark tanks. OdySea in Scottsdale moves its audience past the tanks in a rotating theatre.

Local waters

Cairns Aquarium follows the rivers of Tropical North Queensland down to the Great Barrier Reef and runs a turtle hospital. Monterey Bay Aquarium shows the kelp forest and the open water of the bay outside, with its sea otters. The Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga splits river and ocean life between two buildings.