Birch Aquarium at Scripps Reviews

A great place to visit and learn about the natural world.

This is a nice little aquarium. It has quite a bit to offer, and is a lot of fun. I doubt we spend more than 1hr there when we go, but the kids touch and feel zone is like the one from Dory, and the kids love it (no octopus tho). I knocked off one star because it's a lot smaller than you might expect coming to such a great city. The staff their are very knowledgeable and they have one very large, impressive tank with huge fish in it that makes the price worth it.

Smaller then I thought it would be. BUT, really cool!
I'm really glad that they had to monitor how many people were able to go in at a time. If it was able to have 100 percent capacity this place would have felt WAT too crowded. My dad and I only spent an hour here and saw everything at a leisurely pace. I had a great time getting to feel the aquatic creatures in the tide pool area out back!

A good place to visit with family and friends at reasonable price. Kids can sure have good fun around. It was so exciting to see lots and lots variety of fishes. Very peaceful too..

While not showy with huge thanks it makes up with information. Don't miss the tide pool experience.

Very nice place with a wonderful touch tank for the young ones.

Nice to see Sea life up close, very educational and children friendly. Guard your food for the seagulls are bold.

This is a nicely paced aquarium experience in a World Class educational setting.

Octopus! And Jelly fishes! Very fun aquarium, I'd happily go again.

Great aquarium! Very well maintained, and great variety of species.

Sad, disappointing trip. This aquarium is a collection of small to medium sized tanks with only a few large tanks. We went on a rainy day with hope of spending time enjoying the aquarium, we we're done in 1 hour. We won't be back.

The aquarium is a bit small but it is definitely worth it. It is perfect for an educational school outing. The views of the shoreline is absolutely amazing as well.

Went here for a wedding, and the area is beautiful along with the giant statues and aquariums. Going outside you will be presented with a spectacular panoramic view.

Wasn't real impressed with the place. Some old woman told me I couldn't take my Starbucks with a spill proof lid inside, was afraid I would Spill it in the Artificial Tide pool and kill a few sea cucumbers and maybe an urchin. How ridiculous, but petty tyrants exist. The Star Bucks Patrol is on the prowel! Roughly one-half of the exhibits (an entire WING) were about the Effects of Global Warming. Haha. They still believe in Al Gore's Hocky Stick -- fabricated 'evidence'. They probably got some big grant so long as they published the propaganda. HELLO, I think Fukashima Sea Radiation that's killing everything out there is a much bigger concern. There's some island in CA last weekend that had thousands of dead sea lions on it. Fisherman are coming back with nothing. While on San Diego Beaches, I didn't see a single fish in the water. And this Aquarium is worried about global warming!!! They had a bunch of hand crank exhibits that did nothing but generate some power to pump some water and light a lightbulb here and there. Just looked like the default dumping ground of science fair projects. There were a few nice aquariums inside that I liked, but I was hard to get around inside because of people leaving their strollers in the middle of the walkway while they walked up to the exhibits.

Knowledgeable and helpful docents and volunteers. Amazing getting to see the sea turtle fed by diver.

Awesome place, helps you learn alot about our Oceans. Highly recommend bringing the whole family.

Nice small but intimate setting great for family with little ones

We attended a birthday party for our 4 year old grand daughter on the afternoon of 3/15. Two Birch Aquarium people led the group of small children in a private party room, then into the aquarium, then to the tide pool outside. All of the time they patiently entertained and worked with the little children in the group. The children had a great time, mostly because of the two Birch party people. Birthday cake was served at the end of the party outside in a really nice setting.

This birthday party event was a huge pleasant surprise. On a scale of 1 to 10 this was a full 10! This might be one of San Diego's most pleasant secrets.

Worth it. Takes 2 to 3 hours. Nice afternoon site seeing, outside beautiful La Jolla!

We went to see the new Seahorse and Sea dragon exhibit. Nice habitat builds!

There is not a lot you can do or see here, but everything is awesome. Definitely not a day trip, but it will probably take a couple hours off your hands and you will enjoy every minute. Spend the morning at Birch, then eat lunch down the hill by the Cove, and finish off the afternoon soaking in the sunshine at the Shores or Windansea. Such a lovely day!

Excellent assortment of amazing fishes and other sea creatures. Lots of great info and plenty of interactive displays for the kids or the kid at heart. Highly recommend.

Small, but interesting aquarium. Great look into Southern California sea life.

Perfect size aquarium for the kiddos
Not too short or long
Amazing view outside

Always check the promos... They usually have good ones

Definitely not the largest aquarium ever but it certainly had enough to keep me entertained for a while.

Excellent displays of various sea life, educational too.

It was a great place to see lots of different sea life. There was lots of info about local sea life and how they live. You can even pet some tide pool creatures

Birch aquarium is great! Obviously a good choice for families with little kids, but I enjoy it just as much as my wee ones. Touch tanks are super fun, and so many sea horses! The awesome views of La Jolla are the icing on top.

Nice seaside aquarium with awesome seaside views and lots of exhibits...would have liked to have seen some bigger exhibits and a bigger shark exhibit, but all in all it was a cool place to visit.

An absolutely amazing place that brings back years of memories. A must visit for anyone in the San Diego region. Lovely sea animals and the staff are amazing. A nice place for kids and adults

Not a large space, but nice to visit and a beautiful view of the Pacific from the terrace. A good stop for a date, but you won't be here much more than an hour.

Very Interesting! Amazing to see the what sea life was in the San Diego area.

A very nice little aquarium that also introduces you to the fish and the geological oceanography in the area!

Great little aquarium. It was perfect for our small children. We decided to do this instead of Sea World and we did not regret it.

Such a fun place to see lots of marine life! There's tons of seahorses! Good for a family who doesn't want to dive into a big aquarium, as this is on the small side. The first 3 hours of parking is free, which is great!

The tide pools are nice but the aquarium is fairly small. My kids were disappointed in the shark/stingray exhibit. We barely spent an hour here.

Great place to take the kids! If your a bank of america member, you get in free with your debit card the first weekend of each month. Can't beat free!

It is a nice place to go with toddlers to look at the fish. Exhibits are nice, but i wasn't super impressed. The 15 month old we had with us seemed to be enjoying himself so mission accomplished. But i would probably never visit this place without a kid. It 's quite small and charges $20 admission for a max needed time of 15-20min.

It's aight. Kind of a small aquarium so on weekends its just slammed with families and students. At that point, it's not really worth the trouble of finding parking. But it's cool to check out once if you're trying to burn an hour.

Wonderful little aquarium. A fun couple hours time killer with some great exhibits.

Cool little aquarium to see. Tons of tanks to appreciate with a nice view of the ocean. Great pricing for UCSD students.

It's small but it's worth it. I had a blast
Went with my fiancee and daughter and I dont know who had more fun.

Amazing place to see aquatic life in a family friendly environment created for learning. Kids have tons of fun exploring various exhibits and especially like the opportunity to touch amoebae and play.

Very small museum but has a lot of view ports to get good views of many different animals. Can get very crowded on the weekends though. Loved the sea horse exhibit along with the interactive kinetic sand.

This was a fun and interesting establishment. The exibits were astounding. Kid and adult friendly. I highly recommend.

First of all, the ticket is a reasonable price and there is staff waiting to hand you a map of the aquarium when you just get in. But I m kind of disappointed about how small the aquarium actually is and the collection is relative to other aquariums.

Also, if you don t enjoy kids running around everywhere, this aquarium might not be the right price for you. There are many kid s activities and games which adults need to pass by. But there are very gorgeous view of the beach you can enjoy there as well.

Parking was horrendous. I think half of SD decided this was the ideal rainy-day activity today. Tried in the morning and had to come back in the afternoon. Some nice exhibits, but some creatures seemed awfully cramped in small tanks. As with most things, it would be nicer on a warm, sunny day. However, a pleasant afternoon - apart from hordes of screaming kids

Nice aquarium! Interactive areas, indoors and outdoors. Programs throughout the day.

Smaller than I had anticipated. The out door tanks where you can touch sea creatures would be lots of fun for younger kids.

I love nature's living things so I loved this place! Being able to see some of our oceans creatures up close was cool. Affordable admission. If your visiting and staying at a hotel, most have brochures in the lobby with a $3 off coupon. Educational area as well.

It was a little smaller than I was expecting for $20. However the exhibits were interesting and clearly labeled

Incredible aquarium. A little small but excellent nonetheless.

They have such cool exhibits, it's a large enough size to be a full day event if you pace yourself and eat at the cafe time will roll by quickly, but still small enough that you could be through it all in 3 hrs if you have additional plans for the day and just want a fun morning activity. There are also boat loads (nautical pun intended) of interactive activities for kids and adults alike. Very educational but still fun for a mini-field trip, and there are tank feedings 4 days a week that you can watch, we had a blast! Extremely affordable pricing for the experience took get in return. If you travel via public transportation it is quite a hike uphill from the bus stop. Definitely recommend going here for a visit. Plus they have jelly fish. Really awesome beautiful jellyfish...for those with a particular preference for certain aquatic animals.

Seahorses are amazing, of course the entire walk through the exhibit is full of so much variety of species, fun for all!

I really like it, because It was full of ocean and sometimes animals too though.

Beautiful exhibit, we got to watch the Kelp Forest Dive show where two divers cleaned the huge tank and fed the fish. Kid-friendly too, has a playground that creatively features different renewable sources of energy. Recommend to come by if you are in the San Diego area.

Really wonderful place to discover about the undersea world with various kind of species, good staff and useful information about species exhibited here. I highly recommend you guys to come here to enjoy!

Small aquarium perfect for children 5 and under. Lots to do for older kids as well but likely wont need more than 2 hours to tour.

Aquarium is not the biggest, but it's great for the price. Unlike the exorbitant prices being charged at aquarium of the pacific. Weather and scenery is perfect and Since it's in San Diego don't forget to stop by Shake Shack. Perfect end to a perfect outing

Clean space with great views! A bit limited on things to do - but great if you have kids.

I love this aquarium. It is on the small side, but what they have is so well done. It is good to know, for planning, that an hour or two is enough time to see it.

This is one of my favorite aquariums in the country. It is low-key and packed full of unique sea creatures, like Sunflower Sea Stars, Pacific Spiny Lumpsuckers, tons of jellyfish and anemones...And they take such good care of it.

I am always inspired and look forward to coming back again. I highly recommend taking time to visit if you are in the area!

Great learning experience for the family. Not too crowded and alot to see.

It could have more exhibits. It was fun while it lasted.

We took a chance as we love visiting aquariums but didn't know about this one. We had such a great time and the exhibits are very nice. Enjoyed our visit a lot.

The Ring of Fire was awake and moving when I was there. It was awesome

Awesome there is a bunch of little touch pools and ALOT of fish(because it is an aquarium!)It is so cool!

Great place to take kids who are interested in the ocean. Tide pools were interesting. They had a special sea horses exhibit.

Great place to learn how fortunate we are living near the ocean.

Very interesting place, small but friendly. Well worth a visit

Cool place to see but very small not worth a mission price

A budget friendly excursion that has many species on display, a touch pool and several kid friendly activities

I haven't been there since I was a child and just visited yesterday. Everyone was so nice and inviting. I loved my visit and took a lot of pictures.