The ticket-taker greeted us with a friendly smile and noticed we were from Chattanooga.

''Did ya'll come down here from Chattanooga to spy on our aquarium,'' she asked with a grin. ''I think we've got you beat,'' she added.

I suspect it is impossible for anybody from Chattanooga or Atlanta to resist a friendly little ''comparative challenge'' when visiting the other city's aquarium. My daughter Tiffany and I were no different.

Photo Gallery below

Once inside the initial difference was dramatic. Where the Tennessee Aquarium is laid out as “a trail,'' leading visitors on a circuitous route from the upper elevations of the Smoky Mountains, down to the Gulf of Mexico… the Georgia Aquarium is focused on a single main lobby, with various displays reaching out like fingers from the central location.

I suppose there are pros and cons to each. The Tennessee Aquarium seems to “make more sense'' with a bit more of a theme. The downside is that is seems inconvenient to revisit an area if you want to go back for a second look. That's easy in the Georgia Aquarium, even though the displays don't feel to flow quite as smoothly.

I quickly felt deceived in the Georgia Aquarium when I learned that a couple of well-advertised special displays and shows required an additional admission fee above and beyond the $35 (Adult) price of admission to the Georgia Aquarium. The admission to the main Tennessee Aquarium is $21.95. Of course there is a separate charge for the Tennessee Aquarium's IMAX Theatre and the River Gorge Explorer boat ride .… but the separate charges are made very clear upfront.

The highlight of the Georgia Aquarium for me was the Ocean Voyager tank, billed as the largest single aquarium tank in the world. We could have stayed much longer than we did ogling the huge whale sharks, sawfish, manta rays, 200 lb. grouper, and dozens of other saltwater species.

The lowlight was the Georgia Aquarium's “River Scout'' exhibit. It gave me the impression you were entering the Amazon River Basin, but quickly turned into the Tennessee (or Mississippi) River with no explanation or transition whatsoever. Of course I figured it out pretty quickly, but I fear some Georgia Aquarium visitors now believe the Amazon River is filled with big blue catfish, long-nosed gar and striped bass.

Sadly the heavily marketed Beluga Whale exhibit was closed when we visited. They're adding new stuff to the Georgia Aquarium and said the Beluga's didn't like the noise so they got shipped off to a Texas aquarium for “a vacation.''

Of course all such facilities know that if they're not expanding and adding new stuff regularly, they are doomed to die a slow death.
Finding easy parking to visit the Georgia Aquarium was not nearly as convenient as Chattanooga, and likely more expensive when you do find it.

So which aquarium is better (in my humble opinion)?

For the economical cost, ease of access, and what you get for your money… I have to choose the hometown favorite… the Tennessee Aquarium.

But if it's true that “size matters,'' the Georgia Aquarium's huge whale sharks and manta rays have got us beat by several tons.

Learn more at:
www.georgiaaquarium.org

www.tnaqua.org