What a great place to spend time. Excellent displays of sea creatures From fish to eels to historical information. Parking lot fills up fast, so come early. Do bring a snack and drink, you'll thank me for the heads up.
We had an amazing time at the aquarium! I was a bit worried upon reading the reviews saying it s small, but there s so much to see that it didn t feel small! You can really feel the loving care towards these creatures and sea life here. Many amazing things to learn and see, for adults too! Wishing the octopus wasn t quite so sleepy but still an amazing experience today. Beautiful creatures and the aquarium is in a beautiful area. The gift shop had many cute and creative things.
Great over to spend a morning or afternoon. Absolutely stunning seahorse exhibit
It was a nice place the children had a good time lots to see and lots of beautiful colors of fish!
I, and my 2 toddlers, couldn't get enough of this place!
Loved it.
The only down part was that it cost 50.00 for me and my 2 tots.
It was fun, but they don't have underwater tunnel, Groupon lied . Disappointed
Tour guides and workers are all very well informed and welcoming!
First time here at Birch Aquarium & we had fun & learned new things.
Smaller aquarium but I liked that there was no line. I liked the exhibits, especially the sea horses.
Love it! The aquarium isn't huge but is great for kids. They have a big area for kids to play. The views are also amazing.
I love this aquarium, so much time ahs been put into animal care and research. Beautiful views of La Jolla. Amazing seahorses.
Really small, definitely not what i thought it was going to be.
Happy Easter! Got to learn about the eggs of ocean animals.
I was disappointed by the aquarium here. San Diego should have an amazing aquarium. If you're ever in Dallas check out the aquarium there and you'll understand why this place isn't that great.
Very expensive for one-time visitors and limited exciting exhibits. Great view, but can be had for free from somewhere else.
Small aquarium, but an extensive collection with many unique fish/ocean creatures. Look closely to get the full experience!
Really great place for kids! My daughter loved the live exhibits and interactive stations. Not a huge aquarium, but was still really nice, and the back balcony was totally worth it!
Love this place. Get an Annual pass if you are a local
Fun little aquarium. Lots of information on the local fish and tide pools.
Its a good place for Kids the best its the ocean view
Great displays and exhibits. The seahorses are stunning.
It is a pretty nice place, it is a great family adventure. Prices are ok for what is served.
This was a great place to learn academically. You can differently tell this apart of the oceanography at scrolls ranch due to the reason that as much as they try and awe you they have many different informing billboards to teach about the certain tides and current unique to California. A great place to take the kids with hands on exhibits like creating waves and managing currents via toy boats. Great for the price but a little short but if your looking to stop and read everything it would prove to be a great experience.
We love to come here with our baby son! He loves to see all the colorful fish
Great experience for kids and adults alike. I love the kelp tank...Birch Aquarium is a San Diego treasure!!!
Smaller than anticipated but they have a wide variety of aquatic species. Very informative and several hands on activities with knowledgeable docents. Plus, the dining patio is beautiful and scenic!
It's a super nice smaller aquarium! I love that it's right by the ocean! The tide pools outside are so awesome and the view of the pier and Pacific is just beautiful. Love the gift shop too!
What an amazing place to visit. Had a blast with my brother and his 2 yr old. So much to see, touch, and learn. Offers military discount.
Huge variety of sea life (mostly fish) from the west coast. One of the highlights is definitely the outdoor tidal pool where you can touch creatures like sea cucumbers and anemones. The Seahorse and Seadragon tanks were very neat as well. Definitely worth taking three hours to visit!
Was very small and crowded (we went on a Sunday). Exhibits were nice, but not spectacular. Got through the whole thing in less than an hour. Beautiful view of the ocean. Fun and interesting for kids.
At first my 4 year old son was concerned this place was "boring" (after having only walked through the initial aquarium part). It was very very crowded with kids on fild trips, so that was less than ideal because it was very loud and harder for my 2 year old to walk around independently...plus the bathrooms were packed. We went on a Friday, not sure if that makes a difference. Once my son saw the outside area where you can reach in the water, he started enjoying it more. He loved the inside discoveries section then the outdoor part with activities like boats. Overall a great place for kids and adults alike, but I wish there had been no field trips there.
Is small but REALLY nice friendly staff and kids love the activities
Great place. Was disappointed to see that the swing just by the parking was broken.
Had a blast and the view of the beach was gorgeous..
Great place to go and walk around, as well as enjoy a quiet time by yourself, or with a friend or friends. It also has a very fun outdoor area for kids, that teaches them a lot about oceanography. Enjoyable experience, for sure
Nice place not to big they have a decent variety of fish
There is a huge variety of small fishes, but big fishes are rare. Then again, totally worth the price as you'd be paying 1/5th of what you'd be paying to visit Sea World.
Very nice aquarium. The staff was so friendly & helpful, very willing to educate the visitors. Also loved the outside area where you could touch certain ocean life.
We love taking our son to the aquarium lots of cool displays and aquatic sea life.
Small aquarium. Large crowds. Nice exhibits. Parking can be a problem.
Always educational, family friendly wheelchairs accessible, Groups are welcome, please ahead for reservations. ATM on site. Beer and wine and food service. Enjoy.
Concert with Venice Central and Pine Mountain Lodge was totally awesome. We have followed them for some time now, and they are great.
Loved this! Not too expensive for kids, and kept my five year old entertained for hours. What a great place to get away from the unexpected cold too.
My grandchildren had so much fun here. Lots of fun activities as well as a great variety of sea life. I highly recommend Birch Aquarium as a fun, educational place for the whole family.
Small aquarium. Educational. Friendly and knowledgable staffs.
Fun, informative, small enough to walk with kids of any age.
A must-see if you're a local or visitor. The view on the deck is incredibly beautiful & there's so much more interesting science-based material than just the impressive aquariums.
We visited Birch Aquarium last week, I love the aquariums. I loved seeing so many unique jellyfish. My kids enjoyed a lot. Great displays and fascinating sea animals.
The most interesting find on REAL live sea horses giving birth! They have SEA DRAGONS wow!!!
Just came back from this great place two days ago. Last time I was there 10 years ago they were great and now there just getting greater
Awesome aquarium. 2 interesting hours and my daughter's very much enjoyed and learned about ocean creatures. They had fun looking and identifying different fish/crab/eel etc...
Whenever we come to San Diego, we always enjoy a trip to this Aquarium, while it is not the largest it certainly has enough for our kids to enjoy themselves and stay entertained. The outdoor interactive sets are always there favorite features, being able to touch live sealife will always get there attention. I would enjoy a larger variety of the sealife available to interact with, but the selection is good still. When we went we were pleasantly surprised with the discounts and coupons available. We look forward to coming back and making more memories.
Finally visited Birch aquarium today and really happy that we did! It's nice and easy to get to.
The aquarium isn't too big but worth it, has an amazing seahorse and sea dragon exhibition! Absolutely loved it. A lot of interactive things for kids, which I thought was really cool. They also do feeding times outside in the touchy pools!
There's a French bistro cafe right outside of the aquarium, with great food ( the food is actually cooked to order). There are breakfast/brunch and lunch options. We had carne asada fries and Chinese Chicken wrap, coffee with chocolate chip cookie and brownie for dessert. Also tried their danishes, which were delicious! Great people working there , super nice and helpful.
Fun and entertaining for kids. Bring alcohal for adults.
The exhibits were very well done in terms of the biology, content, interesting facts, interactive displays, visuals and, of course, the fish. The fish were amazing! The aquarium is very kid friendly for all ages and adults alike. You can spend anywhere from an hour to 5 hours for a visit. It is very reasonably priced; slightly more than a movie. The view of the ocean alone worth the visit, truly breathtaking.
Visited on a Friday and the place was packed with kids on field trips
Other from that it was pretty basic. Fish in tanks.
It is small, but very well maintained and organized. Likes it a lot.
Had a good time, a little spendy but hey that's California for you
Small and disappointed, good for the price. This place advertises interactive activities, but it's just small toys for kids.
I REALLY FEEL BAD FOR THE WHALES
I do not think the memory of those whales in the fountains in front of this place has slipped my mind even though I have not been here in decades. You really can't help but feel bad for them. I know that they are just statues and not living things but their living quarters are just so small. They probably get confused for wishing wells too and get hit by a quarter from time to time. I really think they should relocate these statues to a larger pond.
Great aquarium and outdoor tidal basin for the kids. I just wish it was bigger!
A small place with beautiful colorful fishes! Sea horse exhibit and Dive show was my favorite.
This is a nice little aquarium. We got a membership because it made sense money wise. I'm sure we will come back again. It's fun for the little kids, but there aren't super huge attractions. Great views of the ocean from tide pools areas. Kids bad fun touching anemones. The cotoous was moving about which is rare and probably was the coolest part of the visit!
Great place for the family to experience the Pacific coast and the animals which live in it.
Nice aquarium with a view of the pacific ocean from rear. Small in size, roughly 30 min or so and you'll be virtually done. They do have outside exhibits that you can get hands on and touch certain animal's. Price is very good even cheaper for local resident's and Californian alike. Great simply in expensive place to relax with the family
Was bummed that the turtle was off display but it was awesome and well worth the visit.
We like to visit here whenever we're in San Diego. It's small but has a lot of really cool sea life exhibits.
It's a cool spot, but a tad pricey for what you get to see. Normally really crowded with the mom and kid crowd. They do have fun after hours events for 21+ during the year and those are always fun.
Great little aquarium with an amazing view of the ocean. Seadragons!
Just took my daughter here for her first time. She absolutely loved it!! The loggerhead sea turtle was absolutely amazing. He loved looking at my daughter but she wasn't having it Haha.
Excellent explanations, polite and articulate junior docents.
Fun place! Quite a bit smaller than I thought for the price. We really enjoyed the seahorse exhibit and Sue out by the tide pools was really friendly and informative! Keep it up Sue!
To small, you can finish the whole place in less than 30 min
Awesome diversity of marine life on display. Enjoyed viewing sea horses and sea dragons in particular!
Great place to take the family, kids have a blast outside getting there hands in the water. Great views of the ocean
aquarium.ucsd.edu