First of all I have given it four stars just because I'm intrigued by the fact that they even have an aquarium in the middle of a desert....and it's inside a mall! Come on you gotta admit that's pretty cool!
Secondly, the place itself was set up wonderfully and had a impressive arrangement of aquariums and sea-life ornaments. Sure it was a bit small but it provided my bf and I a good 30 minutes of entertainment and beside Arizona is a desert...to have an aquarium with that wide range of fishes, rays and ocean creatures is impressive already. It's really for those that live here and have never been to the seaside and it's the best and closest that they can get feel and see marine life without having to go to California or any coastal states.
I wouldn't have guessed I would have thoroughly enjoyed my 30 minutes here since I've been to much bigger aquariums like the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, Ca but since my bf bought a Groupon for this place (20 bucks for two, originally $18 for one) I thought it was well worth it and I had fun.
It was not every crowded either even though it was a Saturday...definitely a lot of parents bring their kids but it wasn't like you couldn't see any of the exhibits because there was a crowd of people around it.
Overall I thought this was a nice place to go on the scorching hot weekends in Arizona...the bonuses of this place is that it's INSIDE the shopping mall...so right after visiting it you can go shop OR watch a movie because they also have a 3D Harkin Theater. How convenient!