Daytripper

Dive in

By MICHELLE JONES, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 14, 2003

Expect to get wet if you visit the Florida Aquarium.

Beginning in March adults and children 6 and older will have an opportunity to swim with the fishes at the Florida Aquarium.

Swim in the Coral Reefs exhibit at 11:30 a.m., 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. on weekends. Guests don a small tank, regulator and floatation device to hover on the surface and view the many fish in the water below. No diving experience is required; a dive master accompanies participants at all times. Cost is $50, which includes aquarium admission for two adults.

The aquarium also offers a 30-minute dive with the sharks for certified scuba divers.

The interactive tour costs $150 per diver and includes a behind-the-scenes tour, a T-shirt and photograph.

Other, more tame exhibits tell Florida's water story. Visitors can view more than 10,000 aquatic plants and animals, both native to Florida and from all over the globe, in the four galleries: the wetlands, bays and beaches, coral reefs and sea hunt.

Explore Florida's freshwater environments -- springs, streams marshes, rivers and mangrove forests. Observe otters, spoonbills, gators and snakes in their natural habitat.

Two tanks give visitors a chance to gently touch stingrays and sharks, and there's even an outdoor play area for children.

If you go:

The Florida Aquarium

• Where: 701 Channelside Drive, Tampa, 273-4000.
• Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas.
• Cost: Adults $15, seniors 60 and over $12, $10 for children 3-13, free for ages 2 and younger. Parking is $4.

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