Aquarium of the Bay Review

Way overpriced. Barely took an hour to see it all.

This is a small, easy to navigate and hands--on aquarium. Love the tunnel and the giant sea bass were especially delightful! Don't forget to walk to the end of 39 to hear the sea lions barking!

The aquarium was cool. It is really neat walking under all the glass walk ways. We also got to watch them feed the 7 Gill sharks. It was a spectacular treat. The aquarium itself was kind of small but it had nice displays that seemed to be well kept.

I went there because I had the city pass of San Francisco. I do not think I would have paid to go there otherwise. There is interesting content but low in quantity.

Its a nice aquarium, albeit a bit truncated for covid reasons.

This is a good place to bring your kids. And you have an opportunity to touch small stingray and starfish. That's funny.

I visit aquariums all over the US. This was just sad. I was so hopeful about it, but the octopus they advertised was no where to be found, the exhibits were few, the tunnels were ok, but all else was poor. Especially for the price!!! Skip it! Go do the zoo or just watch the sea lions!

Too small otters need bigger space and larger cohort...they are social animals.

Entry is expensive considering the aquarium is quite small. That said, the exhibits are very well maintained, clean and the animals look healthy.

Very nice place to take the family, they have a great underwater tunnel with fish, sharks, and stingrays swimming around you.

The jellyfish were really neat, and once you get upstairs there are some reptiles and a few otters. The otter exhibit is actually quite large and they were playing while we were there!

There are 2 places where you can touch... Stingrays and starfish, great for kids and adults both.

I found it dissapointing. Yes, the overhead tunnel aquariums are cool, but it's just small. We were waiting for ages for the elevator to take us down and then back up. The staff was nice and friendly.

I loved it! The giant bass was cool and scary! Couldn't see the sea otters much because they were sleeping. Overall it was great.

It's for kids. A little boring for adults but that's my opinion. Careful if you're closterphobic.

Smaller but very nice San Francisco Aquarium, lots of fish and aquatic animals, beautiful jellyfish.

It was smaller than what I was use to, but the tube was cool.

I would not recommend going to this aquarium. It is tiny, especially for the price! And they don't treat their animals very well. If you've ever been to the Vancouver Aquarium you'd know that the way they let people pet their rays and the tiny otter enclosure is terrible. Same with the tiny turtle and chinchilla enclosures. It's disgusting that they charge so much just to see a few fish tanks and some sad animals.

Nice arrangement and a wide variety of aquatic life

Not as I expected. There was not much fish in the hallway and it is a very small place. I thought it was larger than that. Some fish were beautiful and colorful and they weren't too many. I would say that $28 is a lot for the place's size and content. Expected a lot more.

For $ 26 I would have expected more. Too expensive in my opinion.
After 20 minutes we were through.

Better to look at the pictures online.

Was decent but only worth 5-10. Last time we will go.

The people who work there are some of the friendliest and most knowledgeable people about the animals, habitat, and history of the bay. Truly a must see.

Nice small local aquarium to take the kiddos to. Staff was friendly and very helpful!

The tunes under water is spectacular. Outside of that, there is not much to see.

The aquarium was very organized and seemed to stick to a certain path which was nice. The staff was very knowledgeable and polite. Would definitely visit again.

The interpreters were very helpful in pointing the way and talking about the animals. Nice gift shop, photos were very expensive though. The best exhibits were the otters and the octopus.

Nice place to take the kids to, everyone in my group enjoyed

Absolutely one of my favorite places in San Francisco. I took my 4 year old son and he was amazed at all of the sea creatures, especially a sea bass that was bigger than he was. 10/10

Great experience, well laid out displays, knowledgeable staff.

The experience did not reflect the price of admission:(

Excellent to learn more about marine and aquatic species since they not only have fish but also reptiles, turtles, among others.
They have recreational spaces such as a microscope to observe organisms even more thoroughly.
Baby sharks and stingrays can be touched with guidance and supervision from security.
Ideal place to get out of the routine for both children and adults.

A little small... Kind of pricey but very nice place

Friendly staff and a nice variety of exhibits. All with educational elements. Their audio tour was easy to access and they provide free Wi-Fi to be able to access it regardless if you device has a data plan.

Was very much disappointed. Its good just for one time visit though.

It is always amazing to come back with the family. The children love it.

Great for its aquarium tunnels, the C Academy of Sciences have more variety

You should go to this place it is amazing there are jellyfish stingrays River ottters sharks and more! It is a lovely place

Not as big as I thought it was going to be, but it was still pretty cool!

A nice aquarium without being impressive (friendly for children). The shark tunnel is to be seen.

Really cool aquarium - loved being able to walk through the tunnels with the fish swimming around you on all sides. However the aquarium loses a star since it is so small - takes only 20 minutes to see everything

Although rather small, the aquarium is definitely worth it, if only for the walkthrough tubes where i've been closer to a shark than at anytime in my life.

Loved this place, looking at different types and sizes of fish. Some were colorful,others with stripes and also sharks, jellyfish,sting ray, turtles. There were also otters,lizards, snakes and frogs. The area for the fish was like wall to wall glass and ceiling like big aquarium. You could see fish, sharks and stingrays, etc swimming all around and overhead. It was awesome! They have a gift shop too. Outside you can see the harbor and lots of boats, awesome views all around.

Small aquarium. A little to expensive for what is there. Make sure to let the Ray's, shark, sea stars and anemones.

The aquarium is small, but I'm giving it 5 because of the behind the scenes tour. That's definitely a good value and you get to see some really cool things and learn a lot about how the aquarium works. When I went, tickets were much cheaper if you go before 11am. You can also just do the tour without paying for admission, which may appeal to some.

The tunnel is fun with fish swimming all around you. The jellyfish tanks are mesmerizing.

The tunnel part is the best and the otters are so cute!!

Eh, it's a good place to take liiitle kids but it was not inspiring and in fact was a little depressing to see the animals in such small quarters. Go to Monterey Bay Aquarium for that.

A good aquarium that can get crowded on the weekend.

The tunnel with all the fish swimming above and beside you is wonderful, but that's about all there is. I did get to see the two otters being fed, but I would have missed it if the lady in the gift shop hadn't told me about it - it wasn't announced or posted anywhere. If you walk really slowly and stay for the otters being fed, your visit can last an hour, but I can't imagine it taking any longer than that to see the few things they have here. If you've ever been to the Chicago or Atlanta aquariums, you will be incredibly disappointed in this aquarium. The only thing comparable is the price. There are no aquatic shows, no 4D theaters, no places to eat, and no giant tanks where guys in dive suits come in and feed the fish. But they do have a few snakes and turtles, in case they don't have those where you are from.

It feels amazing seeing those beautiful aquatic animals. I was able to witness their movements and habitats.

Go at 1pm, see the otters being fed. You won't regret it!

This place is mesmerizing specially if you have kids who'd enjoy it. The collection of fish here is over 20000 I believe. Beautiful place to spend some time.

This place is horrible we paid $101 dollars and what we got was very disappointing we didn t get to see much there was hardly anything to look at, coming from Seattle and having gone to the Seattle aquarium my expectations where high for this aquarium but it was really basic and rather boring not much to see I wouldn t really recommend it I literally paid to see sardines...

Was able to fit this aquarium in on this trip due to the size. It was great. We probably finished the whole thing in about an 1 hr and half . It has a place to pet sea life and other creatures. The highlight of the Aquarium was the river otters habitat and the lady that let us pet river otter fur and educated us about the differences in sea and river otters skulls.

What they have is very nice but limited. I love aquariums and try to visit them on vacations in different cities. This is for sure one of the smaller ones. The two tunnels are the highlight. The otters were great. Touch tanks were okay. Quality over quantity. Look for discounts and sales on tickets before you buy, they were everywhere.

Small aquarium compared to some but had a lovely variety of sea life to see

We loved visiting the Aquarium! It was really fun and educational! It was a great way to a cold afternoon.

Very cute aquarium. It's a little pricey for the amount of fish they have but we did enjoy visiting. The jelly fish blew our minds away.