Ripley's Aquarium

When you visit Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina, be sure to stop in and visit the marvelous and
exciting Ripley's Aquarium, an 85,000 square foot aquarium that
is filled with outstanding exhibits and sights. There are many
wonderful exhibits and displays at the park, with the Rio Amazon
looking more like the jungle that grows along the Amazon River,
filled with stingrays, armored catfish, piranhas, silver
arawana, pacu, red tailed catfish and tiger shovelnose catfish,
as well as many other exotic and strange tropical fish. Another
is the dangerous reef that is full of fish, thousands of them,
in just about any shape or size, and the biggest, most popular
display here. You stand or ride the 340 foot glidepath as it
flows through an acrylic tunnel and you are inside a world of
unbelievable sights like tarpons, sawfish, green sea turtles,
snappers, squirrelfish, huge stingrays, grunts and enormous
sharks. It is as if you are underwater yourself, with all the
creatures of the deep, but you can breath normally and actually
get face to face with these wonders of the deep blue sea. There
are also sand tiger sharks, nurse sharks and sandbar sharks that
will make you think twice about getting too close to the
acrylic, even though it is very thick and you are protected. In
the living gallery, you'll be viewing the more unusual and
fragile creatures of the deep, like living corals, weedy sea
dragons, octopus, jellies and sea anemones. There are also the
bat star fish, regal blue tang fish that are part of the
sturgeon family and other awesome fish. The rainbow rock exhibit
is filled with the most beautiful and exotic fish of the
aquarium, found in the waters of the Indo-Pacific coral reefs
with very brilliantly colored fish as they swim and swarm around
and into the outstanding coral reefs. The reefs here are hand
crafted so that no real coral is destroyed or disturbed, and
divers hand feed the exotic fish that look as if every color in
the rainbow had just fallen down from the sky and wrapped them
up. Some of these fabulous beauties include the bluespine
unicornfish, the clown triggerfish, scrawled filefish, emperor
angelfish or raccoon butterflyfish. Another display, that is
rather unusual for visitors to view is the system control room
that shows you how all this is accomplished and the many
processes that are needed to keep every tank just right as well
as the water that is their main environments. You can even watch
the computers as they run their various tasks without human
interference, as if they were specially tuned into the fish and
their needs. The discovery center is so exciting that it might
be more crowded than the other exhibits since you touch and hold
many of the marine specimens in this sea-for-yourself
interactive multi-media playground that doubles as a wonderful
educational resource center. There are well trained staff
members located all around to answer any and every question that
you or your children might have, with classes and topics for
group discussions each day. Be sure to check out the horseshoe
crabs that aren't really crabs but belong to the spider family.
In the ray bay, you are going to be amazed as the stingrays
glide along so smoothly like the birds of the air, only these
creatures are gliding like rays as they swim around the pool and
get hand fed by their trainers. You are going to be able to
touch and feel these smooth skinned fish as they slide and glide
under your hands. In this display you will enjoy the spotted
eagle rays, bowmouth guitarfish, cownose rays, whitespotted
bamboo sharks and southern stingrays. It is a day of exceedingly
unique excitement for you and the entire family and one of a
king type of aquarium that exists just for your pleasure and
fun.
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Children's Museum of South Carolina
Isn't
it exciting the way many destinations throughout the United
States have found a way to make learning fun? Why can't they do
that with our school systems? Well, at the Children's Museum of
South Carolina in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, they are doing
that very thing, making fun while learning. This center is about
touching, playing, exploring and most importantly to you, and
unbeknownst to your children they are getting a world of
knowledge that will last with them forever. Here at the museum,
your children will learn more about the exciting world around
them using interactive displays and various programs that have
been designed to do just that, with a dedication and commitment
to education that is a joy to behold. They touch on the
sciences, humanities, culture and technology, welcoming
thousands of visitors from churches, camps, schools and
childcare centers around the area and beyond, offering them the
time of their young lives, while visiting here. Their programs
have become very popular with both the youngsters and the adults
that visit, as the museum takes part in many community affairs.
In fact, their main mission, besides making money to run, is to
promote, enhance and stimulate the self-discovery of every child
through interactive learning techniques that inspire children to
learn. With almost 10,000 square feet of space, the museum has
many visual and audio techniques that assure your children will
learn to learn and enjoy it, as much as they enjoy going out to
play and experience the marvelous world that we all share. They
have many links to other exciting and fun sites on the internet
that will endear learning to your children and even you. Their
splendid exhibits include; Magic school bus, It's electric, Kidz
medical center & Dr. Molar's dental clinic, Discover South
Carolina, Express yourself to Art, USS Kids-A-Float, Pizza
delivery truck and the Collin's Kids discovery lab classroom.