OBX.com

Ready to get up close and personal with the Outer Banks? The North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island gives you a first-hand look at what’s happening beneath the water’s surface. From tiny seahorses and hermit crabs, to eels, alligators, river otters, turtles and more, this fascinating museum teaches you more about the coastal marine environment.

The aquarium is newly renovated, and the exhibits illuminate the ‘Waters of the Outer Banks.’ It features several different ecosystems; visitors can travel through coastal freshwaters, estuaries and wetlands, as well as Gulf Stream marine communities. There’s even a 285,000-gallon ‘Graveyard of the Atlantic’ tank, complete with a 1/3-scale model of the USS Monitor (a navy ironclad that sunk off the coast in 1862). And did we mention the sand tiger shark?

Kids will love the aquarium’s touch tanks, where they can pet a stingray or pick up a horseshoe crab. There are lots of fun educational talks, films and animal presentations to see. Plus, exhibits change frequently, so there’s always something new to see at the North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island.

The Albemarle Sound is the northernmost territory of the American Alligator, and biologists think there are several thousand of them living in the coastal waters of North Carolina. Chances are, you won’t see one—unless you’re at the North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island. But if you do, just keep a safe distance from this wetland-loving reptile.