BATON ROUGE - If you're looking for an educational adventure featuring creatures of the land and sea, the Blue Zoo has everything you need. 

Located inside the Mall of Louisiana, the Blue Zoo first opened in 2021. As the only aquarium in Baton Rouge, operations manager Nami Hawz says their team focuses on interactive experiences for people of all ages. 

"The thing that I love about Blue Zoo is how hands-on we are and how educational we are about our animals," Hawz said. 

With careful guidance, the handlers at the Blue Zoo will show you how to pet stingrays, hold starfish, play with snakes and bearded dragons, and feed the birds! If you're afraid of reptiles, this is a great place to conquer your phobia.

“My favorite thing about it is when people are like super scared of an animal and they come to Blue Zoo… and before they leave, they want to hold a snake… if you don’t know something, you become fearful about it, but we take that fear away for younger and older people," Hawz said.