Today’s aquarium is no longer strange to young people who are passionate about travel. In addition to learning more about the ocean and marine species, young people can also “work” to bring back cool and cool photos. Let’s explore and admire the best aquariums in California!
Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is located on Cannery Row in Monterey, California and was founded in 1984, home to over 600 species of plants and animals, the marine life hub of the California coast. It has two giant fish tanks. The central bank is 10m high, displaying creatures living on the California coast. The other tank allows visitors to see unique sea species such as stingrays, jellyfish, sea otters,…
It is open to the public daily from 9:30 am to 6:30 pm. Visitors can enjoy tours of the facilities and creatures here led by aquarium staff.
- Address: 886 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA, 93940
- Website: https://www.mbari.org/
Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach
Aquarium of the Pacific is located on Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach, California, USA. The aquarium welcomes 1.5 million visitors a year and has a total staff of about 1,875 people, including more than 1,500 volunteers and about 375 workers.
Here there are more than 11,000 animals representing more than 500 different species. Exhibits showcase the inhabitants and landscape of the Pacific Ocean and focus on specific conservation messages associated with each area. Home to three major permanent galleries, sunny Southern California and Baja, the icy waters of the North Pacific, and the colorful coral reefs of the Tropical Pacific.
- Address: 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach, CA 90802
- Time: 9 a.m – 4.30 p.m
- Website: https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/
Birch Aquarium, Scripps San Diego
The Birch Aquarium is a place where you can get up close to the animals and take the time to enjoy them. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography has worked here for over 100 years, founded in 1992, funded by the Stephen and Mary Birch Foundation. Accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, it is attended by more than 439,000 people annually, including more than 40,000 school children, and features more than 3,000 animals representing 380 species.
- Ticket price: $20-25 USD
- Website: https://aquarium.ucsd.edu/about/
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Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, San Pedro
The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium is located in Los Angeles in San Pedro, California and was founded in 1935 as a collection of marine specimens housed in the Cabrillo Beach Baths. The building was originally a small welcoming structure until it was moved to a much larger structure designed by Frank Gehry in 1981. The 2004 expansion was designed by Barton Phelps & Associates. Here visitors can admire the species of starfish sea birds on display and learn the process of raising red abalone.
- Address: 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro, CA 90731
- Website: https://www.cabrillomarineaquarium.org/
Heal the Bay Aquarium (Santa Monica Pier Aquarium), Santa Monica
Heal the Bay Aquarium, formerly named Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, is an aquarium in California State Beach Park managed by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors, located beneath the Santa Monica Pier, adjacent to the Santa Monica Pier, Pacific.
As Heal the Bay’s marine education, advocacy and science community, it is open to the public and attracts more than 100,000 visitors from around the world each year (about 15,000 are students). The facility offers special educational programs, activities and events dedicated to marine conservation, pollution prevention, and environmental education.
In February 2009, a two-spotted octopus managed to connect a pipe to drain water in a water tank. Two hundred gallons of water from the valve flooded the visitor’s space. This event received considerable media attention.
- Ticket price: $10 USD
- Address: 1600 Ocean Front Walk Santa Monica, CA 90401
- Website: https://healthebay.org/aquarium/
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center, Santa Barbara
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum in Santa Barbara, California. Here visitors will observe the two-spotted octopus, moon jelly, giant Pacific seahorse,… Learn about the canal’s unique habitat, from rock reefs to kelp forests and sea animals that live there.
Explore the wonders of ocean life at the Santa Barbara Natural History Marine Center. Located on the historic Stearns Pier, this interactive aquarium in the area offers up-close encounters with marine animals from the Santa Barbara Canal. In addition to exhibitions, Sea Center also organizes unique events and special educational programs.
- Ticket price: $18 USD
- Website: https://www.mysbnature.org/
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Aquarium of the Bay, San Francisco
Aquarium of the Bay is a public aquarium located at The Embarcadero and Beach Street, on the edge of Pier 39 in San Francisco, California. The aquarium focuses on local aquatic animals from the San Francisco Bay and nearby rivers and watersheds as far away as the Sierra Mountains. Since 2005, the aquarium has focused its mission on supporting ocean and climate conservation both locally and globally. It is one of seven organizations under the parent company Bay Ecotarium, the largest watershed conservation organization in the Bay Area.
The aquarium’s signature attraction is its two long underwater acrylic tunnels with a total of about 770,000 gallons of San Francisco Bay saltwater. Sharks, rays, fighting fish and two giant sea bass are always waiting for guests on their adventure under the bay.
- Address: PIER 39 Embarcadero & Beach St. San Francisco, CA 94133
- Website: https://www.aquariumofthebay.org/
Ocean World, Crescent City
Come to Ocean World and join a fully guided tour by highly trained staff to show you and tell you a lot about marine species. The tour is educational and entertaining, has a lot of unique features and is one of the most memorable experiences you should try. Here you will also have the opportunity to see and touch the many strange and interesting creatures that live in the rocks near the Pacific Northwest coast and learn about the marine life that lives just off the shore sea of California.
- Ticket price: $10 USD – $14 USD
- Address: 304 Highway 101 South Crescent City, CA 95531
- Website: https://oceanworldonline.com/
Roundhouse Aquarium on the Manhattan Beach Pier, Manhattan Beach
The Roundhouse Aquarium offers ocean science education for everyone. The aquarium has a long history of offering marine science classes. These marine science classes teach children about the marine animals that live off the coast and educate the importance of protecting the environment from pollution.
- Ticket price: $2 USD
- Address: Manhattan Beach Pier P.O. Box 1 Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
- Website: https://roundhouseaquarium.org/
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SEA LIFE Aquarium, Carlsbad
SEA LIFE Aquarium is an aquatic and marine park. The aquarium is home to over 5,000 marine life and features interactive and hands-on learning activities, adventure, up-close encounters with various animals, and plenty of engaging educational talks.
SEA LIFE Aquarium features exhibits, displays and marine habitats where visitors can learn about and interact with a wide range of different marine species. Home to many creatures, including rays, sharks, octopuses, seahorses, and countless species of tropical fish, including clownfish (Nemo). Exhibits include the Freshwater Show, the Harbor Show, the Interactive Touch Pool Show, the Fishing Show, the Seahorse Kingdom Show, the Jellyfish Discovery, and the Shark and Ray Lagoon. Other exhibits include the Tropical Ocean Exhibition and the Shipwreck Exhibition.
- Address: 1 Legoland Dr, Carlsbad, CA 92008-4610
- Website: https://www.visitsealife.com/
Above are the top 10 best aquariums in California. If you’re into animals or marine life, why not take the opportunity to visit some of these amazing aquariums while on vacation in California.
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