Birch Aquarium at Scripps Reviews

Rather pricey for what you get. Very nice and informative but too expensive.

Has an awesome park / activity area that I swear was designed to drain energy from kids. Stuff they need to ride or spin.

Awesome had a great time there with my daughter and granddaughter .I saw a lot of different varieties of fish and sea life

Every interesting place. A lot of fish I have not seen before. If u love nature, u will have a great time

Had an amazing time with out of town family visiting!!

It was bit pricey for exhibits that you could go through in less than an hour. And no AZA reciprocity with our home zoo membership that was very disappointing. View of La Jolla was breathtaking, and probably the best part of our visit. Our child loved seeing the exhibits, but only one portion the largest tank they have met my expectation based on other aquariums. Good place to spend a little bit of time... but can get expensive for a large group. Visited late May 2018.

Really awesome information on the sea critter's, for adults and children alike! The view from the back patio is spectacular, and the tide pools are fun to swim in!

Very cool sea dragon and seahorse collection, there's also an outdoor section where one can see typical inhabitants of tide pools up close. As a whole the aquarium is pretty small, takes maybe 1-2 hours to see everything.

Beautiful and fun though it feels overpriced for the size and amount of exhibits...

short but sweet! cute little aquarium. boyfriend and I did the whole thing in about an hour, but there's a ton of activities for little ones. lots of great information, pleasant staff, and well priced gift shop

Ever since I was a kid, I've always loved going to the aquarium, before it was the Birch Aquarium. The tide pools and the aquarium half of the Birch Aquarium are great. Its lots of fun watching the diver feed the fish in the large tank. However, the education half of the aquarium is outdated. It's really sad to see the aquarium using old data, especially on global warming. The global warming info was from the 1990s. A lot has happened since then like the fact that the scientists who came up with the global warming theory have admitted to forging their data.

After reading the review about this being 10 minutes to walk through I was a little hesitant. I definitely recommend visiting this aquarium! They have a lot of sea life native to the area and then a lot of aquariums from other areas as well. They have an educational section for kids to learn about sea life as well as human impact on the environment. Beautiful aquariums and educational. It was neat to see the different animals eat, as we were fortunate enough to visit at feeding time.

Great little aquarium on Torrey pines. Not too big but they make it up with really interesting exhibits. Last time I was here I got to s e an Australian dragon seahorse. Very cool. Lots of kids so watch your mouth.

Not huge, but a nice place to visit. The sealife is presented in a nice clean environment. It is relaxing and calm place with a focus on education. They have a heavy environmental message, but not so much that it detracts from kids seeing pretty fish.

Not a whole lot to look at. No seals or other mammals. Just fish. Cost $15.50 for seniors.

Excellent small aquarium. Good for families and a great way to see local marine life.

Small aquarium, okay place to go to. Their kelp forest is nice.

By far one of my favorite places in San Diego area. i have been here more than 25 times and still enjoy it every time i go. the views are incredible from the patio.

Cool place for the family. Been here a few times. You will likely be able to see everything in about an hour but if you spend time to read the details of what you are seeing, you could easily do 3 hours and learn some cool stuff. I'll be back for another visit in a year or two. Decent price and you will have fun.

Lovely and entertaining, not so big but contains many varieties and sea creatures and couple of interactive games for kids which we -adults- really enjoyed too.
You better visit during work days cause the less ppl there, the more fun you get.

*kinetic sand
*interactive tablets to show whale types
*electricity induced by a wheel
*water game with plastic boats

Cool place with a beautiful view of the ocean to explore with the family

Nice place to take visitors and the kids. The Tode Hall of Fishes has some excellent exhibits and the Giant Kelp Forest exhibit has an area where you can sit for a spell and take in the serenity of it. There is also a small cafe there.

Come here early to avoid the crowd in the afternoon (meaning kids!). I came here early on a Saturday morning for a class project. I was in there for about 3 hours and by the afternoon, the place got crowded. It's a small aquarium to start with so if you want to enjoy your time and admire each sea creature in all the tanks (like I do), then it's best to come in the morning. My favorite areas are by the jellies.

My kids had a blast here. So many exhibits to learn and explore. Well with the money. Lots of hands on stuff they loved and the view outside is amazing! The seahorse exhibit was my absolute favorite! We would come here again.

Wonderful faulty to visit. The staff is very friendly and always happy to answer any questions about marine life. They give back to the study of marine biology in the area.

This place is a great place to spend a couple of hours. Amazing and interesting wild life to look at. It is great for kids of all ages.
The tide pools outside are interactive and great way for kids to learn about San Diego.
The view is amazing as well.

A beautiful facility that allows all people to see the vast variety of amazing creatures the oceans hold. Perfect for a day out and about with the family!

I loved it as a little kid. Many exhibits to look at.

Quality! One of the best aquariums in the world. It's a challenge to stay stupid once educated here.

Great place! Definitely worth the price of admission. Dont miss the shark feeding!

Small exhibits but nice views and touch/tide pools exhibit. Good for a half day with families.

This was so much fun for my family. We have older kids and still spent 4-5 hours experiencing all of the exhibits. It was a wonderful up close experience. The facility is clean and child friendly. There is also a reasonably priced eatery right outside. I recommend the pesto flat bread. It was delicious! Oh, and I forgot to mention that admission is extremely reasonable! I would come here again.

Lots of fun, a really relaxing atmosphere. Their staff was always on hand to add a little bit of education. Plus the weather was perfect!!

I was hoping you guys had more activites for the price you charge!

Great experience, awesome sightings and variety of species @ great price. Like it.

We had a great time! Beautifully maintained facility!

Definitely the smallest aquarium I've visited and left a bit disappointed. Not much to see considering that it is ON the ocean. I was expecting to really be wowed. I thouroughly enjoyed the outdoor energy exhibits and my kids had a blast playing on the water tables. We will be back for sure. Hopefully there are plans to expand. I know it's costly but it's such an asset to the community to have a good aquarium.

Great aquarium. The site is tiny and can be visited quickly.

Great experience. Loved the sea turtle and the sea horses. Very children friendly.

This is a neat little aquarium. We went on a field trip with my daughter's school, she learned so many cool facts, Very educational. Staff is super friendly there to tell you exactly what they are doing or why the fish are doing something. Will be returning to this aquarium.

Green Flash Concert. Best venue in town. Intimate, and the view is priceless!

Love this aquarium, loved it so much I upgraded my ticket to a year membership.

Excellent learning experience for children. My 4 y/o loves the tide pool. You can buy dry clothes in the gift shop.

This is an awesome date idea. The staff is very friendly, and the animals on display are beautiful. We missed the show ( I only saw 1 per day) so make sure you check the show time if you want to go. Parking is free, but 3 hour limit.

Was ok small maybe you can spend 2 hours there if you go slow. Glad it was fairly cheap.

The aquarium is clean and very nice. The exhibits are good and they have very cool creatures.

Very informative from a get involved with the planet perspective. Kids are free in October, so that's a plus too.

My grandson s birthday party was there. It was fantastic and Rock was super! Thanks

Fun and beautiful setting. Touch pools were cool. Just enough aquariums to look at for a day.

Always love this place. My kids have so much fun. We have a membership so don't feel pressure to squeeze all our learning in one visit. Love how they keep improving the exhibits and adding new animals. The outdoor activities are great for tiring out the kids.

Great spot to bring the kids. I like that there is so much going on but it not as overwhelming as Sea World. Perfect for the attention span of kids . Lots of educational components and cool fish. Worth coming multiple times.

Perfect experience for young kids. Great as a short visit for adults too.

Beautiful creatures from all over, highly recommend going.

Last time we were my children were little, so it just us two, some 30 years later. Love this place. Great hands on without the Sea World hype. After you can go down and hang out at La Jolla beach, beautiful beach and very clean

Great aquarium life for small kids. I bought my 4yr old and 2yr old and it was the best memories ever made.

Great experience for the whole family. Location cannot be beat. Fun for little kids. Could use more parking and restrooms. Nice, little gift shop.

Saw Steve Poltz. Great sound.. Can't beat the view..oh yeah.. The fish were cool too!

Small but festive for Christmas. Odd seeing so many decorations inside tanks

Great place to take the kids for a few hours buy tickets online is a little cheaper

Great place to bring the children. Membership is worth it...you get 4 free guest passes!

Really nice aquarium, but the outside area didn't really have much on display.

Not quite as impressive as the Newport Aquarium in Oregon, but very informational and fun with family. Nice gift shop, kind employees, and plenty of child-accessible, small exhibits to view! Good safety and compliance with COVID-19 restrictions as well.

They have a sea turtle with a prosthetic piece built into the butt of it's shell. Very cool.

It was a little too small but I had so much fun ,the fish were exotic and cool. I loved it. SeaWorld doesn't have some of the things this Aquarium has.

Liked it a lot not to big and you get information about sea life. Good place to take the family.

Small place. Takes less than an hour. Great for kids not so much for adults.

It was pretty fun! It has a lot of great exhibits, and some cool interactive stuff.

Cool place, very kid centered. Location is great. With no crowds we did the whole thing in an hour and a half. They have a cool seahorse breeding program.

Came here on a school trip, learned alot of stuff that I didn't know. Really fun thinking of bringing my 5 year old

Not worth the money I've was born here and u haven't and anything in a lot of years

Great place for kids. Lots of educational things for kids to experience.

A relaxing opportunity to witness the ocean's most amazing treasures. Includes an AWESOME collection of seahorses and also a number of realistically constructed displays of California tidal and ocean life. This is a great place to bring kids for hands on...and you can't beat the ocean views and aroma! Accessible displays, restrooms, and dining options.

Pretty nice educational aquarium. Not as big as Monterey Aquarium, but still just as fun. Parking can be tough on the weekends, but they provide additional parking in staff lots. If you need to park in additional parking areas, make sure you are able to walk up and down hills. Family and group memberships are cheaper if you have more than 4 or 5 adults with kids.

Really great aquarium. All the tanks were beautiful. We has no idea there were so many different kinds of seahorses. The jellyfish tanks were really cool.
The tanks are have different lighting schemes, so the fish are easily identifiable, even if they were hiding behind a rock.
The gift shop was great with cool models of different scientific things. I wanted a wind turbine model for $25.95, but I got it on Amazon for $12.