Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery and Aquarium Reviews

This place is a freakin scam. First they hit ya with a 5 dollar charge just to walk in there, then an extra fee for bait, then they make you sign some stupid friggin contract. And on top of that its an extra 4 bucks for every fish you catch. Well my friend and I both experienced fisherman were there for 2 hours with the best equipment and the "bait" we paid for and not 1 of the like 80 fish in there bit it the whole time. And they apparently kick you out at 3 which makes absolutly no sense. So caught no fish and wasted time and momey. And by the way the employees (some) are frigin douche bags!

Very good fun for kids event days are great limited other activities

I've only every visited here during their fall festival weekend, which is a lot of fun for the kids. Overall, it's small and a little old but worth a brief visit - an hour would be perfect, I think, as I could see us running out of things to do on a normal, non-festival day.

Definitely get the fun-tainer of fish food. The fish really jump!

Fall festival! Flier advertised many things but didn't mention that each thing had a cost. Pumpkins were gone hours before event was to finish and reptile show and petting zoo were not what i expected it to be.

Lovely location for a morning's outing. Good for kids but not exclusively so.

Friendly staff, reasonably priced, my 4 year old loved it here. We bought the bag of food to feed the fish...well worth it. We will be back!

Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery is a cute little place to bring children or others curious about Long Island fish and amphibians. You can feed the fish, learn about local animals and kids can fish for trout in the adjacent stream.
Prices are low- $7 for adults, less for kids and seniors. A large bucket of fish food is $4. There are picnic tables if you bring lunch or a snack, a tiny gift shop with fish-y kid stuff for sale, and a walking path behind the hatchery around a pretty pond next to St John's church.

So small, but very attractive to little kids. Price is very good

I have been coming here since I was a kid. Great memories of watching the fish and spending family time with my parents and cousins. Great place for s day out!!

Nice, quick entertaining for kids, the museum had some interesting information. Kids enjoyed feeding the fish.

Excellent little gem. Great for families. Small indoor aquarium and outdoor ponds where you can feed the fish. Went in a rainy day and it was still fun.

Very limited no help from staff...young kids in their phones...nothing really to.do but look at the trout no activities available on Sunday.

Cool place with tons of fish and turtles. A bit small but on certain days kids can fish and take home the trout that they caught.

Nice Hatchery considerable amount of fish and turtles to see. You can also fish they Supply everything. So then she goes to a good cause for your admission fees

If I could give this place zero stars I would. They do the bare minimum to maintain most of their tanks inside both of the aquarium buildings. The tanks covered in algae. This place has not been updated in years, so if you go back a few years later you won't see much has changed except for some of the animals.
Which is even worse is the staff, some of them a pretty pleasant most of the time, but the head educator does not have the patience to explain things to paying CUSTOMERS. When I asked her a question about camps she give me an attitude pretty quickly because I was asking her a bunch of questions.

Expensive for a guest pass. For the price they could offer a fancier experience.

Really an enjoyable place to take kids. There is a church in the back with a gorgeous pond right there, and some hiking trails. One even leads way up the hill to a historic cemetery! That was a really cool surprise for the kids. Staff was great. Will definitely come back!

Always a great time when we go, it's a little hidden gem for anyone who's kids cant take a whole day at the aquarium or zoo. Very educational also. Should offer some more interaction for kids and families that come and vist.

Lots of fish. I feel in when I was young child. It hasn't left a grand impression on me since then. Bit all the kids seem to be happy there now. Can spend up to 3 hours here

It was very beautiful. You can get one bucket of fish food for 4 dollars. It is a very kid friendly environment

Not bad for taking kids for 2 couple's hours and for the price

Fun place to go spend a couple hours with a friend. Very cheap and a big bucket of fish food is very cheap. Its a lot of fun to watch the fish swarm a handful of the food you throw in. Also, the exhibits are really cool and nicely presented, especially since they are all NY native species.

My children had a lot of fun.Feeding fish and catching fish.

I came here a few weeks ago with a museum pass and the unfriendly girls at the front desk were very displeasing, giving me an extremely hard time with my digital pass. Christina was very rude and unhelpful, refusing to allow me and a friend in without a printed pass. The girls could not offer any convenient suggestions to allow my entrance (on-site printing, e-mail, text, etc). Instead they turned me away despite my long drive to get there. I ended up driving all the way to the local library just to print a physical pass in order to be allowed in to see this rinky-dink hatchery.

Other than the attitude I was serviced, they have small little ponds around the facility, the aquarium is indoors and consists of quite dark fish tanks. Perhaps if the customer service were better, I would have enjoyed my experience better and would even recommend it.

A gem of an educational opportunity. A bit on the rustic side, but the exhibits are worth a visit.

Kids love it. Contemplative pond at adjacent St John's Church

A hidden gem on The Island! A great trip for the kids. They will love feeding the fish, playing and enjoying the lawn area. Pack a lunch!

Place is very small. It's a really cheap place to bring the kids though, and they always have fun. Gift shop has great stuff for cheap as well.

Great place to visit for young kids with parents. Restrooms are available on site. Entertainment up to 2 hrs max.

The fish hatchery has long been a stop on my travels through Nassau County. Despite covid, the hatchery is running, as always, with all the usual care for the marine life there. During my very recent visit, I had the pleasure to interact with two very professional, kind, accommodating staff members.

Great place to spend a couple of entertaining, educational, and enriching hours.

Stop at the sanctuary at St, John's just behind to round out your visit.

Wonderful place to visit with family, especially younger children!

I enjoy coming to this place and the selection of fish and things to do and see are overwhelming (in a good way!). I wished that there was some sort of tarp or covering in the summer because the sun is extreme. Great staff, lots of helpful folks, and the surrounding water is gorgeous.

Took my daughters here 4/3/19. It was so cute and tiny. Perfect for smaller kids. My only issue were the people that were visiting, not at of the employees. There were actually mothers almost following myself and my children trying to use our bucket of fish food. Keep in mind that it only cost 4$ for a large bucket and it was only 7$ for the entrance, so not a lot of money at all. One women was so extremely rude it was mind blowing. She was walking out of one of the buildings and my daughters were trying to walk in, and she almost stands in our way of entering and asks me repeatedly if I'm done with my HALF FULL bucket. After I said no, she walks past me huffing and puffing. I honestly cant believe people have no shame even with their children with them. Its disgusting. Anyway, this place was extremely nice and I will 100% come back with my girls. Just be warned about some of the people near you!

Great place for some easy trout fishing. It's very easy to catch the fish in the stocked pond, so it's a wonderful place to teach young kids. They have rental rods and live bait. It's a catch and keep Hatchery, so be prepared to bring some fish home specially during the colder months. Last time we went we brought home18 trouts. They also have 2 aquariums for the kids and you can purchase food for the fish in the hatchery.

The environment is quiet and there are few varieties, probably because of winter!

Such a beautiful area so many things to see. The little ones loved feeding the fish!

Fun attraction for kids, outside and inside, it was lightly raining the day we went, but it was ok. Very much enjoyed seeing the snakes get fed...and I'm 50! 1-2 hours all in.

Cute little hatchery for families with young children. My kids had a blast!

Another piece of long island history, we locals need to appreciate more of our home and explore all that we can on long Island.

My kids loved it. Nice lake behind the parking lot.

take my children to this place and they love it, it's more an aquarium for the fish

Came with my sister for some bonding time and we both had a blast. Especially when we got to celebrate the trout s birthday

nice small aquarium to spend an hour or two. you get fish food upon entrance to feed the fish and turtles.

Was very nice. Not crowded. Kids caught some fish and had a blast doing so

Great place to take the little ones! Big tub of fish food for $4. Check your local library to get free passes. I would highly recommend it.

Pretty cool place..needs updated. Other than that was ok

Great place to bring my grandsons ages 4 & 7. Kids loved feeding the fish and viewing the aquariums in the two biildings. Admission are very reasonable. Afterwards, walk up the steps in the back of the parking lot to see a historic church and pond not related to the hatchery.

Great experience for young children. Learn to appreciate wild life and nature. Feed pellets to young trout. Also check out the small lake or pond out back by the church.

Cute little place. Great for little kids, say 2-5. Our 8 year old enjoyed the fishing, but got bored quickly.

Kids loved it. It was about $24 and we got to feed the fish, see birds flying around like egrets and herons, read about and see reptiles. There is also fishing available for the kids.

Its small but its a gem to take little kiddos. Would definitely recommend!

Great place, fun and educational for little kids and activities for older kids as well

Family and kids friendly enviroment.
There is a $7 entrance fee for adults and kids 5 and up $5, kids under 2 its free.
Have to make reservations online for fishing in the pool. $16 per person, kids up to 5years old pay like adult. $4 every fish you catch and you have to take home every fish you catch. You can also buy trouts to take home for $7 each. ALL fishies in the pool and in the farm are small size. The aquarium is very nice and clean. The bathrooms are inside the aquarium. No parking lot fee. There are different types and sizes of trouts in the farm. The gift shop is very nice organized and good prizes for tshirts (youth and toddler sizes 2 for $21)and water bottles $6 each. My kiddos had a nice afternoon there. I recommend it.

Always a great time with kids for a quick and easy fishing trip. They do add on all sorts of small fees to fish and you have to pay $4 per caught fish so prepare for that. But it is a cute little place to walk around and learn about fish and fish farming.

I would ve given it more stars but they kept bothering me about my mask not being over my nose OUTSIDE WITH NO ONE ELSE AROUND ME! We were literally the only ones in the outside area for over an hour. I feel like this place is being a bit overboard considering we were outside and no one else was there! Beware for the kid s and your time here. They will make you feel extremely uncomfortable and unwelcome!!!!
I had 3 kids with me under 5, one of them had to go to the bathroom so of course my five year old tales mask off and I didn t notice right away cause I was changing my one year old. The same staff member comes and again reminds me about my son not wearing one and I get we need masks but at this point again no one else was there and I was right in middle of changing my baby. She then tells me it s not over my nose(it kept falling down as I was talking). At this point I felt like I was being harrassed. I was doing my best and told her that and yet she continued and drilled me about how I need to be respectful. It was too much and I was so embarrassed and humiliated in front of my children. The staff there need a serious one on one talking to about manners and understanding children and life. There was no mercy being applied in a time when I was changing my baby and didn t see my sons mask was off again. Like I said this place is EXTREMELY STRICT AND WILL MAKE YOU FEEL UNWELCOME AND UNCOMFORTABLE. They are clearly on a power trip!

I absolutely love this place. I have been going here since I was a kid.In the 90's I was fortunate to be able to bring my 2 children here. Recently I was even more fortunate to come back again with my 4 year old grandson. The expression on his face as he got to feed the fish was heartwarming to say the least. It was nice to look back on the memories my family has made over the years. Like when I came with my kids and they had the birds of prey. My daughter at 28 years old still can recall the entire experience!! And how much fun she had with her sister, feeding the fish and catching fish for the first time. I will always treasure the time spent here. There is no other hatchery I have been to that is as unique as this one. I have been to several over the years, throughout Texas and New York. hoping to find another as wonderful as this one. Yet I have not. They now let you purchase a bucket of feed for the fish, yet they still have the crank machines if you do not want to buy a bucket. They also have refills on the bucket for a cheaper price then the original purchase. Along with feeding the fish there are tons of turtles outside too! Inside you can see many different frogs , turtles, lizards, spiders. And in the other building there is an aquarium. To get up close with the fish. I have to mention it is sad that the resident snapping turtle was stolen and died shortly after he was recovered. But you can still see him and read story as he has been taxidermied and is in a display now. Thank you for all the fond memories.

Fun location to bring a little kid. My toddler enjoyed feeding the turtles.

Fishing is too expensive since you also have to pay per fish, but it was easy and the kids loved it. There's not much else to see and do other than look at 10 or so turtle and fish aquariums

Had our first fishing experience and my wife caught two trout fish. Was told fall is a better season for fishing than summer. Have to say the fish when cooked was a good tasty meal.