Birch Aquarium at Scripps Reviews

Pretty small but still fun every couple years to visit.

Beautiful location, nice little aquarium to take the family

Not the most exciting aquarium but our baby enjoys looking at the fish. Price is reasonable for what you get.

It's a small, but well placed aquarium. It has a fantastic view of the cove. It's really geared towards children, as you can easily see and read everything in a couple hours.

Beautifully located and quaint
I was expecting more animals but overall the aquarium was a refreshing experience based on the price and seaside atmosphere
My friends and I had a nice time observing creatures native to Southern California

Wonderful experience; great views of the Pacific coastline

Great stop in La Jolla. It's not a huge aquarium, so you can see everything in a couple hours. And admission is pretty cheap, so it's a great place to take the kids.

Great experience! Truly wonderful exhibits. Felt a bit bad for the octopus with the cramped living conditions but overall a terrific place to visit. Exceptional seahorse displays!

Very nice small local college aquarium.
Quick experience but definitely enjoyed every bit of it.

Tiny aquarium, we have an aquarium in Utah that is significantly larger and no where near the ocean. Very disappointing to be so close to the ocean and be so small. They didn't have a huge variety of anything either. For about $19 a person I could have done singeing else.

Awesome place, the kids had a lot of fun while learning about the sea creatures.

Great family friendly aquarium overlooking la Jolla shores. We have been members here for years and our son never gets tired of visiting. Excellent interactive exhibits and really nice aquariums, this pace is a mix of a children's museum and an aquarium. Don't miss it!

Smaller than I remember, you can cover the whole museum in a little over an hour. Still a fun educational experience.

Fabulous research institutes. Enjoy the sea dragons.

Beautiful view, but so much smaller and less hands-on than expected. This is not like Monterey, Baltimore, or Virginia Beach. Parking is treacherous, watch your kids.

Pretty nice spot to bring younger kids, plenty of different aquatic animals to see including local fish, sharks, turtles, stingrays etc. There is also an outdoor petting zoo type area where you can touch various tide pool creatures. The outdoor area has a great view of the surrounding beaches in the area. The shark tank is pretty interesting as well.

Unfortunately, being a former SeaWorld employee, I did find the aquarium to be a bit underwhelming, though for the price, there's really nothing much to complain about (less than $40 for my wife and I).

Its such a perfect place for a playdate with anyone. Learning about what's under the deep deep sea is pretty sweet. It makes you appreciate life a little bit more when you leave, without a doubt.

Beautiful exhibits and great staff! Little sister had the best time

Beautiful little aquarium. Exhibits are well thought out and well kept. Tons of species to see, and some really impressive and rare ones. I could stare at the leafy sea dragon for a long time. Plus the view from the tide pools is gorgeous.

The aquarium itself is nice; everything is clean, the staff is friendly, it's a very welcoming atmosphere and they DO have some pretty cool things. Here's my problem..it's insanely small. I spent 70$ for four people to get in and we were done with everything within 45 minutes. A little disappointed, I prefer aquarium of the Pacific

So with Covid now you have to preplan your trip and book your times, or at least they ask that you do that. Which is awesome. We visited just a few weeks ago and I feel like there was a handful of people there. They have some really cool exhibit outside and they talk about sting rays and sharks, you can actually see them super up close. Amazing views of the ocean and on a good day you can see the whales if they're moving in the area.

Wonderful! Very kid-friendly and manageable in a few hours. The aquarium has three sections: indoor tanks, a outdoor tide pools and a "museum" section with interesting exhibits. We'll definitely be back!

Amazing displays of ocean life. Great place to being your kids.

Beautiful aquarium. The smallest one I've to. It'll only take you an hour tops to see the whole thing.

Awesome place, I took the kids I nanny they loved it. Only thing is dont grt too excited when someone tells you theres a shark exhibit because it's only like 6 tiny tiger sharks in a blue tent out back.

Not very big but was nice for what you paid to get in

First, a delightfully educational place. Kids love to spend time here, having fun at the same time learning. Next the staff is very helpful and friendly.

Wonderful fish tanks and nice gift shop. Lovely leafy seadragon.

Not too big like under sea aquarium....but still great visit! Must while visiting UC San Diego.

Very much worth a visit. Loved especially the huge kelp tank with local fish. Beautiful views from the patio in the back.

Great place for a quick visit . The exhibits are informative, and it's not too crowded. A nice comfortable place to learn in a relaxed setting.

This place was okay I guess but beatiful views at the Scripps pier

Loved watching the big tank being cleaned and talking with the divers. Outdoor space has a beautiful view!

Wonderful well rounded aquarium for adults and kids. This is a research aquarium so there are some interesting science displays and interactive exhibits.

Loved all the different exhibition s in this place especially the seahorses.

This place is great and the view outside is beautiful.

Perfect small aquarium for younger kids. My toddler loved it. We were here for 2 hours.

A great small aquarium! I very much enjoyed the visit. Friday afternoon was a great time for having the place not be crowded

Some interesting sea life, especially sea horses and sea dragons. Monday afternoon it was packed with school students.

Very nice little aquarium. Price seems a little high for the quality and quantity of things to see. My son and I spent a couple hours here, would be hard to do much more than that. Fun interactive exhibits for little kids but not much for older kids.

Too cool! But not too cool for schools, as lots of youngsters were experiencing the wonders of the sea!

Nice little aquarium with a lot of I interesting things to do with kids. Nice view too.

Small but mighty! Lots to see here. I love all the different types of seahorses!

Very knowledgeable and friendly staff. Beautiful view. Kid friendly exhibits.

Still one of the best aquariums on the West Coast, it might need a facelift. But the academic backbone of the exhibits are informative and mind-expanding, especially for the kids.

Really cool aquarium with super friendly and knowledgeable staff.

Awesome place to spend a couple of hours. Small aquarium in a spectacular place.

Always love coming here on a day off! Just so nice to walk around and look at all the beautiful sea life. Truly a great aquarium and when we bring our young nephews/nieces they enjoy the kids area outside.

Quick to walk around. Lots of stuff for kids to do. Great affordability if your on a budget. Overall will go back again.

Beautiful aquariums! Free parking. Easy to find. Not crowded at all. Right now, you must pre purchase tickets for a specific time, but still no big deal. Lots of small aquariums, and several large aquariums. 2 massive aquariums. A couple of small touching aquariums, including baby sharks. Overall, a great experience. Spent a couple hours here. Basically 20 dollars per person for adults. Gift shop and good sized snack/ grill shop.

I have a soft spot for aquariums and fish, so I was glad to have found out about this particular aquarium! There is a beautiful scenic view of the ocean when you step out of the main entrance and into the tide pool area. There's lots of fish on display and I loved learning facts about each individual fish. The Giant Kelp Forest exhibit is probably my most favorite exhibit since you get a wide and large view of the fish! This aquarium is very kid-friendly, so there are tons of kids or classes on school field trips. I got through the aquarium in 2 hours, so it was well-worth it!

A bit disappointing. I had high expectations for a seaside aquarium associated with a University. This had some cool things (big turtle!, augmented reality sandbox!!) but overall, quite small. It only took about an hour to go through. Prices should be lower.

The place was not spacious. It was crowded at weekends. Just a average aquarium.

Very expensive for such a small aquarium. $15 for kids and $19.50 for adults. They do offer an ebt discount if you have a card. The place is super cute just disappointing for the cost. So much learning to be had.

Smaller aquarium, but lots of different types of sea creatures. First place I've seen to house Sea Dragons

The perfect size aquarium for a nice afternoon outing with the family! Very helpful staff!

Great place for young kids. Not too big which is a good thing as it is not overwhelming. Definitely got our money's worth when we brought our 15 month old and 4 and 6 year old nieces, plenty of hands on activities for the kids and fantastic views for mom and dad.

An Aquarium right by the beach. They have cool collection of sea creatures. They also have outdoor area for children to play. Nice view of the beach and La Jolla.

Great for families, the people that work there are very knowledgeable, Family friendly, beautiful view. Even great for a first date.

It was a good aquarium, however it is small. I think we were hoping for a bit more, however there were so many people that it was hard to see the exhibits and felt very cramped.

It was ok, a bit smaller than i was expecting. Had some cool species. Not much in the touch tidepools. I would not recommend paying full price, find a groupon or some other deal.

Most beautiful and relax place in front of the ocean

We love the aquarium! It's a smaller facility but filled with incredible diversity and several experiences. You can take your time and spend all day or move right along, either way you can see the entire aquarium easily. Very kid friendly and lovely views of La Jolla!

It's smaller than the Long Beach aquarium, but very good.

They have exhibits on science and global climate change.

It looks like they are putting in something new.

Very informative and interactive aquarium. They have very knowledgeable staff that are happy to share what they know to you. You'll definitely learn something new after your visit here. Definitely recommend a visit to this small, but amazing aquarium.

Educative place for children as well as adults. Recommended for those who like educational tourist spot.

They have a wonderful educational experience to their aquarium. It is wheelchair friendly. The people who work there have a vast amount of knowledge on every animal there, and they are happy to share their knowledge. This place is great for all ages and offers student, military, and senior discounts.

I just love this aquarium. Really nice exhibits and the outdoor setting is beautiful with nice views of the ocean. Great for the family well worth the visit.

$80 to get in after a 2 hour drive for an aquarium you can see in less than 1 hour

Amazing aquarium, the tanks are all really clean and well taken care of which is something I truly appreciate. The seahorses also have ample things to latch on to, and the tanks are fairly sized. When they're under construction too they are courteous enough to sign it so you aren't wondering why one tank looks a little misshapen. The staff is also very friendly. The food outside is good too. Great place to go!

That was really neat they had stuff for kids they had things in it I had never seen certain seahorses very pleasant place to go lot to do was great

Our family LOVED this little aquarium. So many interesting specimens and information about ocean life. My boys could have built dams all day in their interactive outdoor centre. They were also interested in the touch pools. Great job! The kinetic sand table with the sea floor elevations was a big hit too with kids and adults!

Reasonably priced at entrance and food court outside. Lot more to do now than 10 years ago.

Million Dollar View. Several hands-on exhibits for the little ones. Our two year old loves it! He threw a fit when we tried to leave. Sea horses, educational exhibits, a turtle, lots of jelly fish. Reasonable family membership plans and a great place for marine education.