Before our Nantucket trip, I had never heard of the Maria Mitchell Association Aquarium.

But one rainy June morning, we spent a couple hours there, my three-year-old got to meet Clementine, the aquarium’s ambassador (a one-in-30-million orange lobster!), and our visit became one of the unexpected highlights of our trip.

The Maria Mitchell Association Aquarium, also known as the Nantucket Aquarium, is small but very educational and engaging.

It’s located just south of Town and is home to local fish and critters that are sourced right from Nantucket’s waters.

We visited on the season opening day, and our family loved getting such a close up view of the marine life, interacting with critters in the touch tank, and admiring Clementine.

In this post I’m sharing what’s inside, why it’s one of the best Nantucket activities for little kids specifically, what to know before you go, and how it fits into a rainy day itinerary alongside the Nantucket Whaling Museum.

Gray shingle exterior of building at Maria Mitchell Aquarium in Nantucket — The building fits right in on Nantucket!

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Table of Contents

Guide to Visiting the Maria Mitchell Association Aquarium in Nantucket

Logistics & Where to Buy Tickets

The Nantucket Aquarium opens in mid-June and stays open throughout the season Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

We purchased our tickets when we arrived. The Nantucket Aquarium is located at 32 Washington Street, just south of Town. There’s no need to purchase tickets in advance.

The Maria Mitchell Association has several other properties in addition to the aquarium, including a natural science museum and stargazing observatory.

A pass to all properties is $42 for adults, kids over 2 are $24 and under 2 are free.

We only visited the aquarium on our trip to Nantucket, but I wish we had made time for the other properties! The natural science museum looks like it would be particularly good for kids.

Marine tank with Northern Pipefish at Maria Mitchell Association Aquarium in Nantucket Massachusetts

How to Get to the Maria Mitchell Association Aquarium

The Nantucket Aquarium is located just south of Town on Washington Street.

If you’re staying in Town, it would be easy to walk there from your hotel.

Because we were staying at The Nantucket Inn, we took an Uber.

We could have also taken The Nantucket Inn’s complimentary shuttle into Town, but we wanted to be dropped off right at the aquarium.

Young boy walking into Maria Mitchell Association Aquarium in Nantucket Massachusetts — A small but mighty aquarium!

The Experience Inside the Aquarium

Since we visited Nantucket in mid-June, peak season hadn’t begun and the aquarium wasn’t crowded for our visit.

That was great because it meant we got a lot of one-on-one attention from the aquarium’s very knowledgeable staff! They knew so much about Nantucket marine life and answered any question we had.

The aquarium room is filled with about 50 different species of critters and fish, all local to Nantucket. Each time you visit, the displays will be a bit different.

Container with sand and shells at Nantucket Aquarium — My 3-year-old loved digging through this exhibit and admiring all the different types of shells

The aquarium is mostly catch and release and is cognizant of critters that don’t thrive in captivity. Those ones have a shorter stay at the aquarium before being released.

For example, when we visited, they had squid which get released every two days.

Tank with bay scallops at Nantucket Aquarium — We loved watching these bay scallops open and close!

While mostly catch and release, two of the tanks had resident creatures.

One was Clementine the lobster. She’s orange, which is an extremely rare color for lobsters (about 1 in 30 million!). On our visit she was shedding one of her claws, which was very cool to see!

The other residents are tropical fish that arrive to Nantucket’s waters via a gulf stream. They wouldn’t be able to survive in the cold water at the end of the season, so the aquarium keeps them safe and warm.

One of our favorite tanks was the touch tank where we saw the underside of a horseshoe crab, and learned about how they eat and move.

Tank filled with water and horseshoe crabs at Nantucket Aquarium — The underside of the horseshoe crabs was so cool!

Activities to Pair with a Trip to the Nantucket Aquarium

I’d plan for about an hour at the Maria Mitchell Association Aquarium. Since it’s small, you can see everything pretty quickly.

Because it’s on the outskirts of Town, there are plenty of other great family-friendly Nantucket activities to add to your itinerary for the day you visit.

The Critter Cruise departs from Straight Wharf and is about a 5-minute walk from the aquarium.

Some of the critters and fish in the aquarium are caught during the Critter Cruise, so it’s very cool to get to see exactly where they’re from!

Critter Cruise Nantucket crabs lobsters fish onboard — The crew told us of the critters on our Critter Cruise were headed to the aquarium!

The Nantucket Whaling Museum is another good indoor activity, so would make for a good pairing if it’s an unexpected rainy day.

It’s also about a 5-minute walk from the aquarium, and home to a 46-foot whale skeleton and Discovery Center with tons of Nantucket-themed toys and activities.

Boy standing in front of whale skeleton at Nantucket Whaling Museum — The massive whale skeleton!

Between activities I’d recommend taking a lunch break, and some of our favorite restaurants are located just a few minutes away from the Nantucket Aquarium!

A few of our favorites are: Provisions (quick and DELICIOUS) sandwiches; Brotherhood of Thieves, which is set in a historic 1840s whaling bar; and Nantucket Tavern which has a great kids menu and delicious cocktails for parents.