Monterey Bay Aquarium Reviews

I love aquariums and have been to a lot of different ones. This is one of the most limited and smallest aquariums I've ever been to. The size of the buildings and main tanks definitely fool you if you're a first time visitor. I was disappointed at the amount of attractions there was for children vs the adults and adolescents. This is definitely a place to bring a 5-8 year old and I do not recommend this aquarium for those number 1 aquarium lovers out there. It had a very wide variety of jelly fish and that was about it. It's overpriced for the amount that I saw and experienced.

I loved coming here. I used to go with my grandmother before she passed away when I was young. I decided to go back and some of it I believe changed, but it is still worth going because kids will enjoy being able to touch starfish and such. I also got to see a baby sea otter with its mother on the balcony near the food area and seals.

Wonderful experience!! Well worth the price. The view outside is just as amazing.

Educational, fun, and interactive way to learn about the ocean, the creatures that live within the ocean, and much more!

It's a great experience with much to do so be sure to budget plenty of time (at least a few hours) to see the exhibits, feedings, etc.

This is the best place ever! I am a long time contributor because of what the Aquarium does - for the environment, for the ocean, for ocean life and education. The member dinners and other functions cannot be beat. I recommend all friends to visit, and if they enjoy themselves, to become contributing members!

It was very good, exelent place to bring your friends and family

Best aquarium in the game. It doesn t get any better, the views that they have each exhibit, the amount of fish and marine life there, the interactive Ness of the stations that they have there, everything is great here. Waiting for all this Covid stuff to end so I can take a trip back.

Best aquarium we have been too. The staff is great with kids. They do a great job updating with new exhibits and the back deck is amazing for wildlife watching. We have seen 2 whales and countless sea lions and sea otters. Tip, if you get there right when they open head to the open sea to get a few minutes of calm with this amazing exhibit.

Fun place, lots of fish and sea life. Lots of shops around place and choices of restaurants. Choices of hotels near by, kind of pricey. Limited parking.

It was a bit crowded but it was amazing! Jellyfish and the turtles were my favorite

There's always great Thins in the aquarium it's good for the kids spend a good time so they can learn something new everyday I totally recommend it

Great place loads of amazing sea creatures and experiences such as touch the rays, scuba diving (although rather expensive) and kid play areas

Amazing place to take your kids. They had a blast and enjoyed the hands on experience. Get there early to avoid the crowds and eat off-site to save time waiting for a table.

Awesome aquarium. So many diverse animals. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. It's a great place to take the family. If your in the Monterey area it's must see.

A bit expensive but really nice. Lots of sea creatures. Fun for kids.

Friendly staff. Exhibits were nice but it felt a bit overpriced and overcrowded.

Huge aquarium was great fun, but super-crowded on a holiday weekend. There were lots of helpful staff around to answer questions. The exhibits had a good combination of things you can look at and things you can do. The cafe served food fairly quickly, but it was hard to find seats to eat.

Nice aquarium for kids. Interesting shows. Friendly staff. Bit expensive

I absolutely love it here! It is definitely worth the price! The cafe is amazing! I could honestly spend my entire day watching the cute sea otters!! If you have watched Finding Dory, the sequel to Finding Nemo, when they go to "The Jewel of Morro Bay" you may not have know before that it was actually inspired by Monterey Bay! This place is legendary!

Great for bringing the kids. They will learn a lot about natural science and marine biology.

Been to a lot of aquariums and this one is among the nicest. Parking is ridecules at $18 but it has really nice shopping along the water, good vegen snack place there

Great aquarium experience! The jellyfish were mesmerizing. Buy Tix in advance and get there before opening. We went on a Saturday and there were a lot of families as you might expect, but being there early we missed most of the crowd.

Great place to bring your kids and see some sea creatures. There deep blue space where the jellyfishes are awesome!

Overrated and quite expensive for what you get to see

Best place on earth, especially to bring the young ones

Aquarium is the best I have ever seen. Well orgonise, takes time to see all because it's huge. Really imazin love it. Easy to find a parking.

I enjoyed myself so much that in 2020 we will purchase the yearly pass

For the amount of money we paid it was just okay for me. Way to dark, and not enough exhibits! Price is way to high!

Still one of my favorite aquariums in the world. Many pristine and gorgeous aquarium exhibits, with the magnificent Monterey Bay in the background as a backdrop. A great place for your family to spend the day!

Lovely aquarium. Getting crowded these days even in the morning. But perfect for all ages.

Great exhibitions that are in good condition. Very friendly staff. Gets very crowded and the place is quite disorganized.

Will Forever Love This Place, This City Is Where I Got Engaged!

Loved the aquarium and all the sea life.
It s a must see and don t miss if you re in Monterey. Worth my 50bucks for the admission. Take your time to enjoy them. Best place for kids to have a good time for a whole day with lots of activities.

My boyfriend and loved the Monterey Aquarium before we had a kid, and we decided to go back after we had a kid as well.
We've been to the aquarium in San Fran and the one in Oregon, and still felt this was the best experience.
Now that we have a kid we appreciate it even more.
There was a play area for young kids, and older kids. Our son, Mason loved it all.

The Open Sea tank during feeding time is the best feature as well. You get a close up to the Pacific Sardines, Scalloped Hammerhead Shark, Ocean Sunfish , Pelagic Stingray, Dolphinfish , and more.
Well worth the money, and if you're a AAA membership, you get a discount as well

Amazing asset for Monterey. Stay away on their free days. Unless you like lots of people.

Always a family favorite. Reasonable parking nearby. Pricey admission, but always a great time. Good food options, though expensive.

My hubby and I haven t seen it yet, but we wanted to write the 25,000th review, so here we are. Looking forward to seeing it tomorrow!

It's bit expensive but worth to visit. Great exhibit colourful fishes. We visited the splash center and touched decorater crabs seashells kelp. We saw many more water creatures and land creatures too like turtles lizards. kids love the PENGUINS

Helpful and competent staff, clean, healthy appearing sealife

Absolutely amazing time! Saw the hammerhead, pet the rays. Very, very busy place, but worth braving the crowds. If you come at the right times, get an early seat for feeding - it gets so crowded that you can barely see. Jellyfish and others More

Super nice staff, and beautifully displays of ocean life. Will be back again soon.

This is my favorite place in America. I come here every year for my birthday, and it often makes me cry to see the beautiful sea creatures and to know how many people are devoting their lives to preserving the ocean and its animal and plant life.

Came here again after a while and things have improved a lot for the food side. The place itself is still as good as before. Parking is a pain as always. If you want to use AAA discount you need to buy the tickets from AAA office before hand.

Dont go in its expencive just do the shops and look at the sea otters floating behind

Good things to see but over priced as compared to so many better aquariums in the country.

Wonderful place to have a family outing. Never disappoints!!

This used to be a 5 star experience. Now with all of the people, there is barely room to see the exhibits. Plus it felt like there were more shops and restaurants than exhibits. This is no longer the best aquarium on the coast.

An absolute delight for children and people with children however for a 37 year old that has spent years on the ocean it was a little lost on me. With all the good that the aquarium does for marine life in California and around the world it was definitely well worth every penny.

This place is a good place to get an idea of what the oceans have to offer and how much they can do to help you find out what the oceans problems are.

Have been a member of the Aquarium for about 14 years. Great place to take out of town guests or your kids. Always educational. Good food if you can escape the rush hour periods.

This place is simply magical and inspiring - easily the best aquarium I've ever been to. The exhibits are well crafted, engaging and superbly explained. The fish and other sea creatures they have are magnificent. The exhibits in the "open sea" section are particularly mesmerizing. Make sure to attend the feeding in both the open sea and the kelp forest aquariums, which have set times every day. Both were incredible and unforgettable, especially the former. I love how the whole Aquarium also opens onto the Monterey Bay. On one terrace, they have various telescopes trained on the wildlife that's out in the Bay and someone on hand to give explanations. In fact, there are volunteers throughout the Aquarium ready to tell you cool stories and enchant the kids. The theater also hosts great and engaging presentations regularly. And the cafe is brilliant. Basically, this place is must-visit and totally world class. It is inspiring and carrying a vital mission of raising awareness of the need to care for our oceans.

Awesome live sealife exhibits! Incredible short length educational & informative movie shorts, narrated by passionate, talented speakers. A one time must visit experience! Give yourself at least 3-4 hours!

Monterey Bay Aquarium has always been a favorite of mine, and after revisiting it many years later, I still find myself absolutely taken away. Coming here supports and keeps the nonprofit going. The best bits, in my opinion, are the giant tanks that contain many varieties of sea life sharing the same tank. Sharks, mantas, a sea turtle! It all can make you sad as well... #climatechange

Our family homeschools and the aquarium had a homeschooling day. Exhibits were interesting and fun. Kids loved seeing and touching live animals. We learned a lot. Homeschooling day admission was FREE!!! We could not afford to come if we had to pay regular admission.

Great place to go, see and walk around. Exciting place to visit

I'm so happy I got to experience seeing the beautiful jellyfish even though the aquarium was about to close and we were in a huge rush. I wish I could have stayed and looked at them longer, so so amazing. thank you for this experience, it won't be something I'll ever be forgetting!

Buy your tickets ahead of time to bypass the lines, AAA and Costco have deals. You will need to get there early and find parking, there is no actual lot at the site.

Amazing! Worth every penny and great place to have lunch.

Very Interesting! Everything was clean and there was a place for everone. Children's touch pool, information, etc. Amazing!

Great as usual. Nothing less to expect at monterey bay aqurium

An absolute beauty in this quaint little town. Wonderful and energetic staff and easy to follow maps to learn about whatever marine life your heart desires~

Lots to see and very friendly staff. Always willing to help.

This Aquarium has some of the best exhibits that I've ever seen before. It also has the State of the arts exhibit called the deep sea. I mean really OMG that's how good it is

Well done exhibits. A little pricey. Worth the trip.

Amazing visit. A MUST is the "Behind the scenes" tour!!

One of the best aquariums in the world. Super educational, beautiful and diverse.
EVERYONE should visit this place!

Love this Aquarium. Jelly Fish exhibit is the best.

AMAZING PLACE. I love aquariums, so I try to find one on any place that I'm currently visiting. While it was pricey, $50 per person, the open ocean exhibit was worth $50 ALL BY ITSELF. We literally stood in that particular exhibit for about 45 minutes. Just watching the sea creatures move and the extremely large viewing glass made time pass by so quickly.

There was also an open deck area outside for families and individuals to sit down and enjoy the sun and the ocean waves crashing against the pier.

Fun place to visit!!

Great place for family and kids! Educational and exciting

The Monterey Bay aquarium is definitely a good place to bring your kids. Best when it's on the empty side just so you don't get the back pain from walking slow, which might be an common issue for some people. Everything is well kepy and clean. A very fun visit!

I love this place. We always try to visit when we are in the area.

Amazing aquarium, so many exhibits, really well laid out. Quite expensive to enter but we'll worth it

Nice for public marine education. Must come if you are in Monterey

You have to take your family! Exciting! Everyone is really accommodating and nice. The ultimate goal for MBA is to educate the public, so they'll be more likely to consider all things on earth that are living, and that it all affects our very existence on the planet! They are pationate, and not pushy or preachy. They just throw knowledge out there like...i bought a small blue stuffed octopus from one of the shops, and one of the kids that was working walked by me on the way to do something else and said,"Good choice! That is a blue-ringed octopus! Even though they only get to be the size of your hand, they are considered the most venomous in the world." Stuff like that. You will love, love it there. Please don't go to Monterey without going to the aquarium!

A worthy experience for everyone of all ages with exhibits tailored for all ages. The aquarium is located with a great view of the ocean. It has a cafe and coffee shop to make it easier to spend your whole day there. Off site parking can be found at a price, so plan for time to look and to pay well for it.

Awesome! I never can get enough. My kids have love this place since they were toddlers until now as teens.

Great aquarium, one of the most beautiful one I've seen in the U.S

I absolutely adore the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is amazingly well curated, the staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and overall a really great museum for kids and adults alike.

Amazing time at MBA!!!
We recently hosted a company event (dinner & drinks) at Monterey Bay Aquarium and had an amazing time! This is not your tipycal aquarium, this is state of the arts facility with great exhibits and interactive experiences. Service was amazing and I strongly recommend visiting when in town. The Catering was great!! Highly recommend for all types of events, a day visit with kids or a fancy company event.