Shark Reef Aquarium is back! The interactive exhibit at Mandalay Bay celebrates its 20th anniversary this year by reopening with multiple levels of safety measures in place. You can still visit sharks, Komodo dragons, piranhas and so much more, but with the knowledge that you are doing so in a safe, socially distanced manner.
Tickets are now available at set times daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with bookings every half hour. While guests must arrive within the selected 30-minute time block, there is no required exit time, so continue to take your time soaking in the experience. (Tickets can be booked online or in person at the Shark Reef box office, but it is highly encouraged that visitors book online). To encourage a contactless experience, you’ll receive an e-ticket on your phone that will be scanned.
There is now a limited capacity within the Shark Reef Aquarium, so all entrances will be timed. Spacing markers are now visible on the floor, and masks are required (they are available upon request). Hand sanitizer will be available throughout the exhibit, and there will be two public restrooms within the attraction for hand washing. All handrails and window acrylic will be cleaned and disinfected frequently.
Due to MGM Resorts International’s commitment to contactless experiences, two of Shark Reef’s popular features—the touch pool and Diving with the Sharks—will not be offered at this time.
However, there’s more than enough here to justify the price of admission. Shark Reef Aquarium has long been not just a sensational attraction, but an educational gold mine. If you’ve got youngsters who just saw Jaws for the first time and really want to see sharks in action, there’s no better introduction. (Sorry, there’s no “Bruce” here, but the sharks you will find feel plenty menacing in their own right.)
When you enter, you’ll feel it getting more humid. That’s the exhibit’s “jungle,” which keeps the temperature climate-controlled for the Johnston’s Crocodiles and Komodo dragons. There’s also a Burmese python and piranha section, after which you’ll encounter aquarium views of such South American species as pacu, arapaima, razorback catfish and motoro stingrays.
There’s colorful butterfly fish, parrot fish and giant pacific octopus. Don’t worry, more sharks are soon to come. You’ll have quite a time telling all the different types of sharks apart—blacktip reef and grey reef sharks, Galapagos and Port Jackson sharks, sandbar and sand tiger sharks, blacktip reef and whitetip reef sharks, and bonnet head sharks and nurse sharks are all here, mingling in an aquarium area designed to resemble a shipwreck. Stop awhile and just take in the sights as fish of all types swim around, above and under you.
Mandalay Bay, 702.632.4555
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