Shark Summer at Camden Aquarium brings all the fun—and the fins

This time of year really bites—especially when you head to Shark Summer at the Camden Adventure Aquarium.

The annual festival at the CAA kicked off this week and will be full of various events and activations surrounding the apex predators until Aug. 18.

One themed event has been brought back by popular demand—and it involves a scuba fairy. As the release states, on average, sharks lose about 35,000 teeth in their lifetime, and as “the proud home to the largest collection of sharks in the Northeast,” the Adventure Aquarium’s Scuba Tooth Fairy will be searching for some of those gems in the venue’s 550,000-gallon Ocean Realm exhibit daily at 11:45 a.m., 12:45 and 2:45 p.m. (included with admission.)

Guests who head to Shark Summer can also join in on the Shark & Ray encounter. Through this event, swimmers are led by guides into the shark exhibit with wetsuits and masks to a 6-foot wall acting as a barrier between them and the many species of sharks that live in the CAA. 

After hanging with the sharks for about 15 minutes, guests then have the opportunity to hang out with stingrays in an adjacent exhibit where they can swim and feed the rays. This particular paid activation is available to book online for anyone 12 years old+, and is limited to Fridays at 1 p.m. and Saturdays/Sundays at 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. 

Another extra paid experience is the Top of the Shark Realm Tour. While on the tour, visitors can get a behind-the-scenes aerial view of Adventure Aquarium’s Shark Realm exhibit and its dozens of aquatic creatures (including the sandbar and sand tiger sharks.) Tours are available to purchase online only, and it includes a commemorative photo to keep.

The Aquarium in general also offers different and one-of-a-kind views of the apex predators through its shark tunnel underneath the 21-foot exhibit or across its shark bridge—which happens to be the largest of its kind in the country.

Other activities for Shark Summer include a Shark Talk with an expert,  a shark-themed light show in the Rotunda at the top of every hour, a chance to catch a shark-centric 3D movie, plus a chance test your shark knowledge during the Walk the Plank: Shark Edition trivia game show.

To find out more information on Shark Summer at the Camden Adventure Aquarium (1 Riverside Drive, Camden, New Jersey), visit adventureaquarium.com