Scuba Santa Returns to Adventure Aquarium for Christmas Underwater Event

Adventure Aquarium will bring back its Christmas Underwater celebration from Friday, Nov. 21 through Dec. 24. Santa Claus dons scuba gear and swims with sharks, sea turtles, and stingrays. The Camden attraction kicks off this seasonal event with Santa's first plunge at 10:30 a.m. on opening day.

The event transforms the facility into what organizers call a "winter waterland." Scuba Santa performs daily dives in the Ocean Realm exhibit while visitors snap selfies as he glides through the tank.

Shriners Children's Philadelphia will present the event. The celebration includes indoor snow flurries in the "Snowtunda" area, plus what the aquarium bills as the world's tallest underwater Christmas tree.

Twinkling lights and holiday decorations fill the facility. A station lets children write letters to Scuba Santa during their visit.

Adventure Aquarium sits at 1 Riverside Drive in Camden. It houses aquatic species in 2 million gallons of water. The facility holds the largest collection of sharks in the Northeast and boasts the world's longest shark bridge.

A colony of endangered African penguins calls the aquarium home. Button and Genny, two Nile hippopotamuses, live at the facility — they're described as the only hippos on display at an aquarium worldwide.

The Christmas Underwater celebration has become one of South Jersey's most unusual holiday attractions, drawing families year after year. Admission to the event comes with regular aquarium entry.

Seasonal programming runs daily through Christmas Eve. Santa plunges into the massive tanks and interacts with marine life while visitors watch through the glass, creating memories that last long after the holidays end.