Birch Aquarium at Scripps Review

Loved the decor for Halloween and how Birch outlined a path with 6ft distance markers, all related to sea creatures of course. Super cute, Birch! They also limited the amount of guests in the aquarium for safety. Went with my partner, her nephews and parents. the boys were definitely intrigued by the sea life. My favorite sections are the jelly fish, sea horses and getting to pet the baby leopard shark and sting rays!

Great little aquarium with a spectacular view and tide pool out back.

Staff is great, but in my personal opinion is overpriced , small and some areas like the outdoors learning and playing area need some maintenance , ok for one time visiting

Highly recommend, especially if you have little ones.

A really great experience! You feel immersed in the ocean, see wonderful sea creatures and get to know about the sea around California. Sitting in front of the big kelp wood aquarium enjoying the fish and the movement of the water alone was worth the visit, but there is so much more to be seen.

Always love this place. Always have, even when I was 5. Kids enjoy it, and they did so much we even bought a membership. Definitely worth it.

It was nice, not big. I think geared to little ones. Not the aquariums that you haven't visited before. If you want a couple hour distraction from the hustle and bustle. Good place to go. Not to pricy at all

These are amazing people! Buy the family membership!

Great natural habitats. Clean, beautiful, educational aquarium. We especially enjoyed the seahorse exhibits and learning about them. Their keeper Mike was very knowledgeable, informative and a great expert. You can tell he was dedicated and excited about his work with the seahorses!

The aquarium is perched on the cliffs, giving you a 20 million dollar view! Outdoor water play is paired with indoor science and learning. There is a gorgeous big tank focusing on a kelp forest.
I bought a membership.
Great little Cafe and a nice gift shop.

We enjoyed the aquarium very much. We visit it every time we come to San Diego. There is a very interesting and beautiful variety of sea life to look at and take photos of. We also really enjoyed holding the shark eggs in the tide pools outside. The docents give you many opportunities to participate and learn new things about the life in the tide pool.

I've been here a few times before but it's been at least 2 years since the last time. The new exhibits and everything are just amazing. This was my Fiance's first time and he loved it. And a beautiful place to stop and enjoy the beautiful view of the water outside.

I love visiting aquariums, but in this case I was incredibly disappointed... I see that most of the other reviews are very good, so perhaps I'm just spoiled by the Seattle aquarium (and got incredibly lucky with the other out of state aquariums that I visited)???

But for a regular entry fee of $17 (or even the student fee of $12) an attraction should have AT LEAST two hours worth of entertainment for anyone. However, if you're not with small children there is not much to do and see here (and even with children, there isn't a whole lot more). A good portion of the aquarium is just games/activities for little kids and the science facts on the walls are also very basic common knowledge (global warming, what is CO2, etc.). I finished with everything in about 40 minutes, and I was REALLY taking my time. Several of few attractions are very interesting (especially the sea horses and shark embryos), but there are just so few of them that it was really not worth it in my opinion (a 30 minute taxi ride each way for this). I think a few of the tanks repeat the same species as well (or they are at least very closely related species).

There are essentially 2 small wings and a back, outside area. One wing has several aquariums with interesting critters, but again, it's so short... The other wing is mostly children's games and the science facts, with a couple of other aquariums. The back area has a kind of murky shark tank and a very, very sad touch tide pool (not much in there and not very colorful). And that's it. I even asked the guy at the front desk if I was missing something. But yeah, no sea birds, no sea mammals, no unique displays that aren't found at other aquariums. I don't get it. There's no source of food that is a not a junk food stand either.

I feel a little bad for rating this place so harshly because I know they're doing what they can, but I wish I knew this before I wasted my time and money on this.

We paid $71 of admission for a 20 minute walk thru, not very interesting aquarium.. for the money they charge

Love this place. It's not huge, which makes it perfect for little kids. The tide pools are fun for the kids to get their hands wet. The have sea dragons too, which are amazing and beautiful animals.

Beautiful, kid friendly, food available. Children's park within with plenty of seating for parents and beautiful wildlife to see!

We did the outdoor activities available due to Covid. A little pricey for what you get. Still beautiful!

Smaller aquarium, but really great. Docents are very knowledgeable!

My wife and I brought our 2 year old grand daughter here on Sunday morning.Sadly for a tourist attraction which seems to be aimed mainly at young children the aquariums are nearly all mounted at adult height.Our grand daughter enjoyed seeing Nemo and Dory in the tanks but we were all very disappointed with the so called petting ponds outside....there were a few tiny little fish and nothing a little toddler could touch.We think the admittance prices are a bit steep for what is on show.

Awesome place to take the kids. Lots and lots of fun. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean life doesn't get any better than this

Beautiful place to visit. Nice exhibits, friendly and very knowledgeable staff.

Visited the Aquarium for the Greenflash series. It's a great location to watch the sunset while enjoying music.

Loved it wish they had the kelp forests presentation more than once a day

Very interesting and a wonderful experience of fish and education.

We LOVED our visit here. We spent over 2 hours here watching all of the animals! We walked through the aquarium twice...which was completely worth it because we were able to see some animals being active the 2nd time through that weren't active the 1st time...most notably the octopus and the sea turtle). The staff here was very friendly and knowledgeable. My only complaint was there was a party of 2 people that we got stuck behind our 2nd time through...they stopped at each tank for at least 5 minutes (which is not the aquarium's fault), which means we had to wait for them to move before we could see what they were looking at. We could have passed them but that would have meant we would have missed the tank that they were looking at. Due to COVID, you are only allowed to walk 1 way through the aquarium.

What a great value at $18 per adult! Strongly recommended!

I'm shocked after all these years they still have the shark exhibit that small. They took off the shark skeleton display where you take pictures. Honestly I just feel horrible for the animals. There are huge stingrays eels sharks and they are in small displays and that is not natural and they are not all rescued. Shame on la jolla I'm sure you can make a change yet sadly it's still the same!!!!

We had so much fun on Saturday and spent 3 hours experiencing all of the exhibits. A main parking lot was full but there were additional parking lots 10 mins by walk. Boa card holders can get a free ticket only for adult on 1st weekend of the month.

Overall experience is just ok. Enjoyed the local fish tanks, seahorses & sea dragons, and the jellyfish. Gains a star for the customer service and the facility management. Also, the views and the weather. We're not in Kansas anymore.

My wife and I had a great time. Great exhibits. We were visiting from Norman, OK. I would recommend Birch Aquarium for everyone to see.

It is a nice aquarium, with plenty of tanks and things to do. The views from the terraces are amazing and the fountains out front are great photo opportunities, but the shark tank is quite small and kind of odd.

Go see the sea dragons. There are 7 in this picture

Great Aquarium visit. I love the location, ocean views to amaze above-sea-creatures while your enjoying the undersea creatures. I also appreciate the clear focus on ocean studies visible throughout.

I loved the seahorses, they were AWESOME!!! Staff very friendly. I will come back.

Very knowledgable staff. Loved the seahorses and jellyfish.

My visit was wonderful my daughter loved it so much we bought the membership.

Great exhibits and tons of interesting.information.

It was so busy on our Saturday afternoon visit that I didn't get to see much. There are only a few benches inside if you need to wait for other people and avoid the sun.

It's a great place to visit, good for all ages, prices are very good here, nice and clean lots too see. Thanks!

Birch aquarium was a blast. Favorite part has to be seeing them feed the sharks and stingrays. They have so many little things going on. Even though it is a small collection of animals, compared to Aquarium of the Pacific, there are many things to keep you involved. I did not expect to spend 3 hours there, but we did. I had to pry the kids away. We would have a stayed longer, but mom was hungry. We opted to get the membership because for my family it just made sense. If you are going to spend close to $100 buying the individual tickets for everyone, get the membership! I love way they do the membership. You get one card and it's 2 adults and 4 children, you also get 4 guest passes. It is a really good deal!

Birch Aquarium is well worth the visit. It's not huge which makes it great for kids I think. A beautiful location with ocean views and interesting exhibits. The staff was very knowledgeable and friendly. These is also parking.

Absolute Absolutely amazing aquarium less then $20 bucks per person and military and senior discount

Small aquarium but very interesting. A great variety of sea animals. There's even a sea turtle. And a little area to pet some spea animals. There's also a play area for children.

The giant octopus was out this morning! She was gorgeous and out on a good show

Clean organized... no tour guide needed. Loved the experience! Enjoyed the learning!

One of the most fun places to go especially for kids and it's beautiful down there by the water

Family oriented. Great place to visit for aquarium life. Great view of ocean in back of building.

awesome experience for my daughter and me. numerous California aquatic species and very scientically oriented explanations. My daughter got to touch a Sea Hare, anenome and urchin!

Set up nicely, even with the restrictions in place.

This is a quick inexpensive visit. Fun Kids interactive section. Lots of great beach related items in the gift shop!

Super fun and informative. Semi interactive. Knowledgeable staff. Little on the expensive side

Staff was fantastic. Excellent with kids. The aquarium is fairly small for the price of admission.

Very cool place. It overlooks the ocean and there are both indoor and outdoor exhibits. The staff are friendly and the gift shop is great as well.

Interesting aquarium to spend time with, especially for kids!

Fun place to go as a family, great exhibits, can get very busy during vacation times.

For a one and done it's expensive food and fun. Thirty minutes on average to complete the small circle of marine life and to visit the touching pool.

Absolutely gorgeous view. Plenty of marine life and very educational. Everyone there is so friendly and informative. Be sure to see the huge tank they have, makes you feel as if you're in there too.

Great opportunity to learn, be it young or old about the ocean enviromentst

Not bad but expensive for what you get from it. Kids even griped it was too small. Views are great.

Great Aquarium! Its cute, clean and the staff is friendly. The gift shop is adorable. It's not a huge aquarium with large fish but it does have some very neat fish in it: sharks, rays, many species of tropical fish, several species of coral, sea dragons, puffer fish, seahorses...the touch tanks are a lot of fun as well! It's very educational and also a lot of fun. We went with a 7 and 4 yr old and they absolutely loved it. Didn't want to leave. The view from outside (touch tanks, etc.) is gorgeous too! I highly recommend! The proceeds from the aquarium fund a lot of research in our oceans and sea life, so your money is also going towards an awesome cause.

Maybe we shouldn't have chosen a scorching heat-wave Saturday afternoon, during Kids Free October, which also happened to be UCSD Free Week, to visit the Birch Aquarium, but despite the crowds and having to wait for a parking space to free, we did have a great time.

Our 3- and 4-year-old grandkids in tow, we headed right out to the tide pool exploration area. They weren't ready to touch a starfish yet, but they are still talking about them.

I loved seeing the local species up close - the garibaldi - San Diego's giant native goldfish, the Pacific sea horses, the leopard sharks. I never knew there were seahorses living in San Diego Bay. The kids enjoyed all the tanks, too, but loved the educational play area with a water course they could dam up, and float little rubber boats on.

Nice variety of marine life and educational and fun. With both indoor and outdoor exhibits, and helpful staff. Price is a good value.

Very fun place to visit. Weather you have children or not you will enjoy this place and it s amazing view of the pacific and the surrounding area. As well as some cool looking seahorses and ShArk feeding!

Good aquarium. Unfortunately it must have been grade school day when I went. It was very full of little kids.

Birch is my all time favorite aquarium. It's the perfect size for little ones. I really love the educational focus as well. Your admission fee always goes to a great cause-- research by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

Great , educational place to visit. The views are great too.

I can t believe that I ve never been here before. It is worth going to visit.

I love this place because it's more sensible than Seaworld. Serene, informative, lesser known with great view of the ocean

A really great and compact Aquarium. Unique displays. Parking is a little tight.

I had a nice time with my girlfriend. She really loves it here.

Love this place! Very educational and great view from the aquarium to the beach. Only complaint is how crazy full of unsupervised kids it was.

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Great little aquarium with some amazing displays. The touch pools are an absolute must. Plan on spending some time at the kelp forest watching fish roll by.

Look ahead to see when the special feedings or programs are happening each day to make sure you get the most bang for your buck.

Nice aquarium, the facility isn't very large but it has a surprising amount of displays so it's great for kids or people with mobility issues. It has educational videos throughout so it's great for people of all ages.
It has several interactive kids areas (touch pools, education table, a water play table) a big displays.
The video were very interesting, especially the turtle rehabilitation one.
Cafe had good muffins.
Parking spots were very narrow which made car seats and strollers a pain BUT parking was free!

Great place for kids and adults. Not a huge place but nicely done and great fish displays. Kids like it a lot because it's all very up close and lighted well. Not dirt cheap but you can buy year passes for your family and that makes it more affordable. Good snack bar. Beautiful location, another great place to visit in San Diego.

This is a great place to spend the day with your family or take your child for a few hours.. Quaint...easy access from free parking.

Small but really nice exhibits. Good place to spend a couple hours with little kids.

What is there really to say about the Birch Aquarium? Like all classics, it's a classic for a reason. This isn't an especially large, touristy Aquarium like the one in Long Beach, but it is high quality and easily accessible to those of us who live here in San Diego. The cafe and snack bar is a little outdoor set-up that is in front of the aquarium. You aren't going to get big, full restaurant style meals like you might at the zoo but it's good for what it is and they even have beer if you so desire

I took my wife and two young boys (ages 4 and 2 in August 2013) here and had a nice time. The aquarium turned out to be smaller than I expected it to be based on memories of the place a few years ago. Perhaps I have conflated it in my memory with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is MUCH larger.

My sons raced though most of the indoor exhibits: i.e. past the kelp, octopus, jellyfish, eel, seahorses, etc, but slowed down for the outdoor and interactive exhibits. They loved the tide pools, and I was very impressed with how helpful and friendly the volunteers were who staffed them. Touching sea stars and sea slugs was a lot of fun for all of us. The boys also loved the two water tables where you use plastic walls to control the flow of water down a slope. They also enjoyed the exhibit where you could make a fountain go by turning a crank, riding a bike, etc.

Then there was the shark feeding. I completely loved it, but for some reason my two boys didn't show a lot of interest in it. I would have put money on them going crazy with excitement for it, but no dice.

The worst part of the aquarium, in my opinion, was the global warming exhibit, which I thought was thinly argued (to the extent it was argued at all), and more propaganda than anything else.

Beautiful animals and enclosures.. Very educational and an awesome experience.

Very nice aquarium with lots to do for the kiddos. Our favorite part was the jellyfish. It was so calming to watch them float around. There also several interactive exhibits where you can touch different sea creatures, learn about solar power, a fountain that runs on stationary bikes and a see-saw which was my daughter's favorite. A cool gift shop and snack bar round out a good day trip.