Aquarium of the Pacific Reviews

Where to start? The entire experience at Aquarium of the Bay was hands-down the highlight of my San Fran trip. My husband and I arrived around 10am on a Friday. We started by looking at tanks filled with sea creatures ranging from eels, fishies, a baby shark, sand dabs, and a "Finding Nemo" tank that had all the fishes from the movie. There were also a lot of factoids about the Bay Area and a display of what our seas look like with trash. This particular exhibit had some hermit crabs, wandering amongst the glass bottles and whatnot.

Wonderful place to explore. Must visit if in long beach or surrounding area

Such a cute place with tons to see! I got to pet a jelly fish, feed sharks, and see some beautiful birds. Was not disappointed

The seals/sea lions exhibit is under construction. Although, the staff was friendly & we all enjoyed our visit. The kids had so much fun. We did expect a little more on our first visit since the admission was pricey but the shows were interesting and they had fun games for the children to participated in & learn from.

We got there around 6, half price tickets! Hardly anyone there, was great!

So many different tanks and has a nice flow to moving a long and making sure you see everything this aquarium has to offer!

Enjoyed my visit to The Aquarium of The Pacific! So much to see and experience! Facilities and staff were top notch!

Love this place. I have a 3 year old and it s definitely a place for a toddler. She is entertained for hours.

Wonderful aquarium. If you are a teacher, ask about free entry. The kids loved it! I like the sharks myself.

This is one place you should visit if the opportunity presents itself. They just added a new wing, Pacific Vision's, very interactive and a lot of information. I've been here multiple times, and it's only getting better.

Wonderful experience with a lot to take in. Very educational. Hands on learning center where you can touch sea creatures. Shops and food courts. Would adventure back. Great place to bring the kids. Easy parking.

It was way cool they had lots of different fish to look at. The coolest part was getting to touch the sharks and manta Ray's . It was also clean and everyone was polite.

The building and harbor area are beautiful. Taking in the shows is definitely worth your time.

Excellent experience visiting the outdoor exhibits. Family friendly. During COVID, try to reserve your entry time online in advance. Save some money parking in their structure, then have the first two hours validated as you leave the aquarium. Purchasing the nectar before you enter the enclosed bird exhibit is worth it, just be aware the birds might startle you (or small children) immediately upon entering the exhibit!

Really very good, except my favorite exhibit was closed.

It's a great place to learn a bit more of our surroundings

We LOVE this place. Perfect for the whole family. Looking forward to the new building opening.

Great exhibits here. There are a lot more touch tanks compared to other places. Aquarium is a bit small for the cost. I like that there is a stamp for each destination you reach that you can use in your map. Nice way to go around the exhibits and search for them (although they arent hard to find). Shark viewing area is very small so if you want to see the feeding, you'll have to get there early.

Great place for the kids to learn new things and experience the fishes

It was cool, I got too touch a ray and it was fun and also incredible

Honestly, this is a 4.5 star rating. This is a great aquarium. Very clean, and it's good for children. There are a variety of interactive exhibits that really bring the aquarium, and by extension the ocean, alive! My wife and I ended up spending close to 5 hours here, and we saw all of the exhibits. The only downside is that it is a little expensive. That being said, it is possible to make your money's worth going through all the exhibits.

This was a nice day w/ my 3 boys right now they're in the middle of construction so that kind of sucked bc its like a whole wing is missing. But bubbles the fish, the otters, sting rays & the smiles & laughs we shared made up for it.

A great place for the entire family to enjoy and explore.

It is a nice place to see animals, but it doesn't stand apart from other aquariums and zoos I have been to. It is very overpriced compared to similar aquariums and zoos. In fact, for less money, you could visit Henry Doorly Zoo that had a nicer aquarium plus the rest of the zoo (of course, it would be quite a drive from California). Also, it would probably be nicer if you were to go on a slower day as you could see things a little better.

Amazing place. Very clean and educational. You get to touch sharks, rays, jellyfish, starfish and more

Beautiful & Great place to enjoy with your little ones and of course family.

Not the largest aquarium but if you wait till 5 o'clock admission is half price.

Best aquarium I've been to. They let you touch jellyfish and sharks, surprisingly. Also, the tanks are large and numerous.

Great place for the kids to see the wonderful colorful fish

My family was looking for an unique outing experience with a few hours to spare. We have been talking about visiting another aquarium down south, but we didn't have a bunch of time to make the expense worthwhile... so we looked for an alternative and found Pier 39. What a great gem hidden in plain sight.

The Aquarium of the Pacific was awesome! Unlike other aquariums, everyone treated the animals with respect. The trainers didn't force the animals to do things they didn't like, which is something you don't see when you go to other aquariums. The aquarium was a little crowded (but isn't every place like that?). To me, if an area is crowded, it's a good sign. The people actually enjoyed their trip to the aquarium, proving that the aquarium didn't "rip you off". The children in the aquarium were not noisy at all, I actually got to talk to a few of the children and most were eager to learn about the marine life. Keep in mind that these children will someday change our world, and this aquarium is perfect for them to embrace their curiosity and learn facts that they normally wouldn't know, while having loads of fun! Everyone at the aquarium is friendly and eager to help you out. Every time I go to the aquarium, it creates a lasting memory for me and I get to learn something new all the time! So I would recommend this to all my friends, family members, coworkers, etc. You won't be disappointed! :)

Currently is under renovation but made no difference to our visit. Had a great time!

This place is amazing last time I was here was like 15 years ago it's been improved a lot nice place

Loved it my whole family enjoyed themselves from my mother on down to my newborn we all had fun

Very enjoyable day! We went on the homeschool day and the education staff was phenomenal, wonderful manner with the kids, very interactive and informative for the kids.

Almost as good as the world famous Singapore Aquarium on Sentosa Island, so there I said it, this is a great must-go aquarium for any family visiting southern California. Plan to spend 3 hours or so in it to comfortably visit all the exhibits and have an opportunity to watch a movie (extra). And don't forget to redeem a stamp for your parking ticket upon exiting to get free/reduced parking for the large lot structure across the street.

One of the best aquariums I've been to. Lots to see with a lot of information. It has a nice flow to it too so you don't miss anything.

My kids loved it. They were super excited to see all the animals

This is an awesome place to take kids and people who love animals.

A reasonable price place to go to see marine life. Very busy in the summer time, week days are the best rime to go. Parking is not to bad, get you ticket validated before you leave.

Wow. It was very educational. Park in the parking deck and the aquarium will give you a discount on your ticket. There is so much to see. I've been to many aquariums and this has to be my favorite. Cain, the sea lion, was a blast to watch. I highly recommend this aquarium. Bring a sack lunch and watch the harbor. Also, they offer a 3 hour whale watch. We didn't see any whales but we saw a sea lion and numerous dolphin pods. Very neat!!!

Always love coming here. I do wish the octopus aquarium wasn't next to the touch tank line so I could stare at him all day. A staff person told us to "keep it moving"

Beautiful place. Had a good time with my family. Was a mini adventure

It was fun to take 7 year old grandson for hours birthday. Lots to explore and know about sea life and our ocean inviorment.. must go again!

All of the employees were very friendly. The girl who did the face painting and drawings was the nicest young woman. Her name's Martha.

Nice place. Cant wait for the Sea Lion exibit to be back after renovation.
Dont hesitate to get the yearly pass, it is tax deductible...

This is a nice little aquarium. The lorakeets were my favorite part. Very crowded during spring break week. Lots of daycare field trips with screaming little ones.

Great place to spend an entire day all while learning about marine biology.

Drove from Palm Springs area. Kids really enjoyed it. Took us about 2 hours to see and enjoy everything. Really enjoyed the shops and over all scenery. Must see the light house at night.

They have so much to see. The best thing was touching some sharks and rays

The Aquarium of the Pacific is so amazing and fun. It is such a fun place where you can get to see a lot of cool animals.

I LOVE THE PUFFERS! I stalk the dogface puffers every time I come here. My company is a long time sponsor of this aquarium, so I get free admission once a year. I make sure I take advantage of that benefit :]

This place is small, but all the exhibits are perfectly curated.

It's easily accessible via the Downtown Long Beach station at the end of the Blue Line, so take that if you want to skip paying for parking!

Great place for kids, mine was 5. Lots to see and touch. More suited for little kids than adults. Not a lot of sharks. Parking was 8 bucks. Spent about 3 hours there.

It s nice that it s on the water but for the cost I would pass. There wasn t a ton of stuff to see.

We had so much fun there. It's right on the shore, they have diving demonstrations and so many wonderful exhibits including penguins, feeding birds by hand, touching stingrays, and even water areas to play in outside. The cafe was pretty good too.

Our family had such an incredible time here! We spent about three hours there and still didn't see every exhibit. Our favorite part was petting the stingrays and sharks. We were pleasantly surprised that all of the interactive experiences were included in the ticket price. I personally loved the lorikeet experience. The $4 for nectar to feed them is completely worth it. At one point I had four birds on me including one on my head. We came from out of town and if you are visiting Long Beach this should be a must do on your list!

While very small, the aquarium has many enjoyable exhibits. My favorite are the jelly fish, which float effortlessly in clouds of other jelly fish.

Really cool place to vi
sit especially if you got little kids. Can touch stingrays and mini sharks and see shows.

Good place to visit. Got there pretty late so we had to rush looking at the different exhibits. Will definitely be going back.

Weekends is really busy. Not a good idea to go with kids on weekends specially not with strollers it's so hard to walk and get through.

Great place to take the kids. It has a variety of sea animals and some birds.

Took the behind the scene tour..that was kinda neat. Got discount tickets before we went from groupon. Remember to have your parking validated

as always this aquarium is one of the best! so many great exhibits with lots of opportunities to learn about the wildlife!

Small altogether. Rowdy children. Beautiful creatures and the staff is always helpful.

We love this place. I have been taking my 9 year old daughter here since she was two and she still loves to go here

It's nice, it really is, but it's kind of smaller than I expected, still a fun experience though, worth going at least once or every once in a while.

Be sure to go around to the jellyfish touch tank they feel wierd!

Found this place on Yelp since my family and I were on vacation for my mother's birthday. They have a deal on Groupon for a day pass and it saves you a couple bucks if you're thinking about doing something fun and quick.

Great place to visit and learn about their breeding programs for marine life. Will go again.

The Aquarium of the Pacific is filled with wonderful sea critters, a host of knowledge docents, and great educational material for people of all ages. Children, adults and seniors can find a lot to do and learn from this wonderful place. Recommend a half day and you could spend more.

A better hold of the large crowd sizes is needed. It is terribly hard to enjoy this place with the size of the crowd.