Gdynia Aquarium

The map of the Baltic seabed in the Baltic Hall dates back to the opening of this place in 1971, and some of the wall displays from that time are still up to date. Gdynia Aquarium — the official name since 2003 of what visitors often call the Gdynia oceanarium — occupies a modernist building of 1938 on the Southern Pier. Across five floors it holds 76 tanks with more than 600 tonnes of water, home to over 1,500 organisms of about 250 species. It is a zoological garden run by the National Marine Fisheries Research Institute.

History: from display cases in Hel to Gdynia

The aquarium's roots go back to 18 June 1921, when the Marine Fisheries Laboratory was founded in Hel. Its staff, including Kazimierz Demel, began collecting natural specimens, which from 1924 were shown in display cases and tanks, in 1929 at the General National Exhibition in Poznań and in the 1930s in Hel's "Baltic Museum". In 1938–1939 the Marine Station moved to a new building in Gdynia, but the war halted construction of the museum section. Work on the tanks only began in 1969, and in 1971, for the institute's 50th anniversary, the Oceanographic Museum and Marine Aquarium opened with 34 tanks. Visitors have been coming since 4 June 1972.

What you will see

• The Baltic Hall with the seabed map from the opening and specimens collected by the institute's staff since 1921 or donated by merchant and fishing-fleet sailors.
• A coral-reef exhibition in the glazed rotunda on the first floor, renovated in 2003.
• Green anacondas, which arrived in 2005.
• A room of aqua-terrariums with animals living where water meets land, including mudskippers — fish that leave the water.
• A seagrass tank showing the fauna of the inner Bay of Puck, a Natura 2000 protected area.

Opening hours

From October to March the aquarium is open 10:00–17:00 (ticket office and last entry 16:30); in April, May and September 9:00–19:00, in June 9:00–20:00, and in July and August 9:00–21:00. From early November to the end of February the exhibition is closed on Mondays, as well as on selected holidays (as of October 2026). Current prices are published on the aquarium's website.

Tripto tip

A visit takes about 80 minutes on average. It is busiest between 11:00 and 15:00, and in summer queues build up especially on rainy days — buy your ticket online (sales open two weeks in advance; the aquarium does not take reservations). If the online allocation runs out, the ticket office has a separate pool. There is no dedicated car park: a paid parking zone runs along Kościuszko Square, and from 1 September 2026 bus 119 goes to the "Przystań Żeglugi" stop opposite the entrance. Only assistance and guide dogs are admitted. The tall ships Dar Pomorza and Dar Młodzieży are moored nearby, so a walk along the Southern Pier easily fills half a day.