Is Monterey Bay Aquarium Worth a Visit?

Monterey Bay Aquarium in California is definitely worth a visit! While in Monterey or driving Pacific Coast Highway make sure not to miss it.

During our spring break, we decided to drive over to Monterey and stay there for a couple days again. Since we live close by, we have been there several times now and have taken many of our foreign guests there as well.

In the past Monterey was known as a fishing town and they had several sardine canning factories. Today it is busy serving tourists and its most popular attraction is the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The aquarium is located on Cannery Row, an historic street full of former canneries. Even the aquarium is built on the site of an old canning factory. All these old cannery buildings now have seafood restaurants, souvenir shops and boutiques.

Monterey is in central California by the Monterey Bay. It is about two hours drive from San Francisco and five from Los Angeles.

If you are driving on Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) you will drive right by it. You should definitely consider stopping there since there is so much to see there, aside from the aquarium. You can for example jump on to the scenic 17 Mile Drive and see one of the most beautiful coastal areas in California.

We have taken most of our guests there, and they all loved it!

WHAT IS MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM?

The idea of establishing an aquarium in Monterey was first introduced by Stanford University scientists in the 1960’s. At first it was not something that the city of Monterey was interested in. It actually took several official proposals and the right kind of funding before the city was on board.

The aquarium was finally opened in 1984, and ever since some of the country’s top marine biologists have been working there.

Even though the aquarium does a lot of research and education work, it does have multiple other purposes too. One of its main goals is protecting the oceans.

In 1999 the aquarium also started to speak on behalf of sustainable seafood. And that really hits them close, because in the 1940’s the overfishing of sardines at Monterey Bay caused the whole Monterey fishing industry to collapse.

The visitors will learn to make environmental choices and what kind of questions to ask in order to protect endangered species. They also have a big exhibit about plastic and its impact on our oceans.

It has been said that some scenes in the Pixar film Finding Dory were inspired by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. In 1986 the aquarium served as a filming location for some of the scenes for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and later it was also seen in a popular HBO series Big, Little Lies.

If you want to get into a traveling mood and see what the Monterey area looks like, then Big, Little Lies is actually a great show for that.

WHAT CAN YOU SEE AT THE AQUARIUM?

We have visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium several times and it has always been fun. There are multiple different exhibit rooms and between them they have numerous play areas and rest areas.

Right after the entrance you will find the mascots of the aquarium; the sea otters. Monterey Bay is their natural habitat so you might see them also just by going down to the aquarium balcony.

One of the main exhibits at the aquarium is Kelp Forest. It is a permanent exhibit and the tank is so big that you can see it in both floors of the building. Some of the kelp is really that tall!

There are all kinds of Monterey Bay fish swimming around them, for example sharks, sardines, wolf-eels and rockfish. The tank is filled with natural sea water so that the living environment would be as authentic as it can be.

Another permanent exhibit is called Open Sea. This wing has the biggest tank in the aquarium containing sardines, sting rays, a green sea turtle, a hammer head shark and many more. We ran into some green sea turtles in Hawaii which was amazing as they are an endangered species.

There are also several smaller exhibitions in the aquarium. We have always loved the Jellies and Tentacles rooms and spent most of our time over there. It is so rare to be able to see these beautiful and colourful creatures.

Also the Giant Pacific Octopus is a hit every time we go! They are just magnificent! They are also local, being found here in California waters.

This time they also have a new exhibit; In to the Deep. It had a lot of deep sea creatures and many of them we had never even heard of before. It was very interesting and we were amazed of how both beautiful and ugly some of them can be.

We really liked seeing especially the Bloody-belly comb jelly and the Japanese spider crab. I have never seen such a big crab in my life! Unfortunately it was very difficult to get a picture of them since their tank was very dark, just like it is in the deep ocean, and they liked hiding behind rocks.

There are also different kinds of sea birds in the the aquarium. We saw many local birds but also some penguins and puffins.

One year we were able to follow an introduction of an albatross that came to the aquarium after being injured. Unfortunately the bird never healed well enough to be released back to nature and so it stayed.

The aquarium does a lot of work with injured animals and their aim is always to get them released back into nature.

Among the exhibitions there is also a large well functioning cafe. You can get all kinds of warm foods, sandwiches or just coffee with pastries from there.

Many people leave the aquarium to go have lunch at one of the Cannery Row restaurants. They are all very close. If you choose to exit, make sure you get a stamp at the door and that way you can return later without having to get a new ticket.

Things at Monterey Bay Aquarium for kids

The aquarium is a perfect place for kids. I have always been amazed how well it is done.

Even in the areas that might have something that appeals more to grown ups, they have little buttons, pictures, flaps and interactive screens for kids. In front of many of the tanks, they have steps for kids or the tanks are set lower so everyone is able to see into them.

They also have two play areas in the aquarium. The other one is called the Splash Zone, and it is our favourite. Kids can play with water in a long water table, jump in the jump area or play in the ocean themed playground.

And of course they have more fish tanks and kids will have to crawl into tunnels to see the fish in them. This area has very colorful salt water fish, so make sure to stop by even if you are visiting without kids.

The other play area is Soaring with Seabirds. Kids can move the sea bird characters around with little switches or pretend to be a bird in a video animation. From this area you can also go out to the balcony and see if you can spot some sea otters or even whales.

There are also a few Touch Pools in the aquarium where kids can touch sea weed, sea stars, crabs, clams and even sting rays. The staff is there to guide them and tell them about the animals. These are by far the favorite areas of the whole aquarium for our kids.

If you have small kids you can bring a stroller to the aquarium, but most exhibit areas do not allow them in. They will have to be parked outside while you go in to exhibits.

Where to Stay at Monterey

There are many places to choose from when looking for a hotel in Monterey. However, they often sell out early especially for the weekends.

Monterey is known for its adorable Inns and most of them are in a walking distance from the Cannery Row. If they are in your budget then I definitely recommend them. For example Victorian Inn and The Jabberwock Bed & Breakfast are great!

There are also some nice hotels that offer ocean views such as Monterey Bay Inn and Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa which even has a private beach.

Last time we booked our stay at last minute and ended up staying in Holiday Inn Express at Monterey Bay because everything in downtown Monterey was taken. Even though we got a great price for it and we were close to a beach, we struggled finding parking when we wanted to go to downtown.

IS MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM WORTH A VISIT?

Absolutely yes! We find the Monterey Bay Aquarium an exciting and interesting place for both kids and adults. There is so much to do there that after walking through the whole building, we are always totally exhausted.

Even though the tickets are not cheap, it is definitely worth a visit. Every time we have been there they have had something new on exhibit and we always end up spending several hours there.

If you are from San Francisco Bay Area then check your local library for a Discover & Go programme that can give you an access to free tickets.

If possible, I recommend going there during the week or outside of holidays. On weekends and special days, it gets very crowded and also the traffic is horrible. I also recommend staying over night since there is a lot of fun things to do in Monterey.

This time we ended up having lunch before going in which worked out great. At the beginning of lunch time the restaurants at Cannery Row were still empty, and we still had several hours to spend in the aquarium.

We typically stay there about 3 to 4 hours. Many families with small kids leave before the afternoon for nap time, so it might actually have been less crowded than in the morning.

If you end up staying longer you can visit places like Point Pinos Lighthouse, 17-Mile Drive and Carmel-by-the Sea. Or you can just continue along the Pacific Coast Highway to Big Sur or even further.

We have always had fun in Monterey Bay Aquarium and our kids absolutely love seeing the sea creatures. They learn so much during these visits and also get to play there. This is one of the rare places we keep coming back to again and again!

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Have you been to an aquarium? How was your experience?