{"id":231800,"date":"2026-04-14T21:15:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/231800\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T21:15:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:15:12","slug":"florida-aquarium-competes-for-top-10-spot-in-usa-todays-10best-readers-choice-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/231800\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Aquarium Competes for Top 10 Spot in USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Florida Aquarium in Tampa is vying for recognition on USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. It wants to claim one of the 10 best aquariums in the nation. Voting runs until 11:59 a.m. Monday, May 11. People can cast one vote per day.<\/p>\n

The Tampa facility has occupied the No. 8 position in this competition for three consecutive years. Travel experts reviewed aquariums from coast to coast, then picked 20 finalists. Public votes will determine the top ten winners, which will be revealed in May 2026.<\/p>\n

Each year, the aquarium draws over a million visitors through its doors. Exhibits feature nearly 20,000 creatures \u2014 sharks, lemurs, sloths, African penguins, and stingrays among them. Guests can interact with many species.<\/p>\n

Officials tout the facility’s work in animal care and scientific research. It plays a crucial role in restoring Florida’s coral reefs and helping sea turtle populations recover. USA Today points to the Tampa attraction’s animal variety and pioneering conservation work as standout qualities.<\/p>\n

“With the community’s support, the Aquarium has the chance to once again secure a spot in the prestigious Top 10 \u2014 shining a spotlight on both the Aquarium and the entire Tampa Bay region,” a news release reads, according to WTSP<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since opening in 1995, the facility has sat in the heart of downtown Tampa. It has helped transform the area into a premier global destination. USA Today ranked its Tide Pool the 5th best new attraction earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Landing a spot among the nation’s top 10 aquariums would mark a significant accomplishment. More tourists might flock to Tampa Bay if that happens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Florida Aquarium in Tampa is vying for recognition on USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. It wants…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1351,135,137,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-231800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-florida-aquarium","9":"tag-tampa","10":"tag-tampa-headlines","11":"tag-tampa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}