Such a cool facility, right on the coast. It's so amazingly unique and beautiful. Their exhibits are actually bring renovated soon, so I assume their exhibits will be getting an upgrade soon. That being said, they have a lot of interesting exhibits already, and if you're into sea life, I highly recommend visiting. Their whale statues are so unique and huge, it's truly awe inspiring to look at them. Also, I really recommend walking out back, sitting and watching the waves. It's like a secret part of the museum they don't tell you about. Free admission for UCSC students. Parking free with admission. My favorite animal were the moon jellies. : )
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My 7 year old LOVES this place. She spends most of her time at the touch tank, feeling all the different sea stars and holding hermit crabs. She finally worked up the courage to pet the sharks they have and she was so excited. The views are incredible and last time we were there we saw whales go by!
Absolutely loved this museum. If it is available, take the tour!! It's 45 minutes long & led by a docent but it's totally worth it. We are able to see the 3 Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins and the Hawaiian Monk Seal that are not available for the general public to view. The displays and exhibits are interesting and informative. The docent and volunteers are so knowledgeable about everything on display. There's a couple of touch tanks with sea stars, crabs and snails, etc. Plus they had a observation tank with a few breeding Swell(sp?)Sharks. Lots of little projects for the kids do and take home. The gift shop had tons of small items for sale to remember your visit. Well worth the $9/adult admission price.
Tour guide was very droll. Thank gawd it only lasted 30 mins. Inside had "touch" museum for the kids which was neat. A bit off the beaten path to only see dolphins & seals from 200 yes away & not be able to take pictures.
The Seymour Marine Discovery Center is a magical, educational, beautiful, fun hidden gem in the Santa Cruz area. It's totally worth the price of admission, and worth a membership if local. Please note it can't really be compared to our neighbor across the bay in terms of size and exhibits, but the Seymour Center is truly special in its own right. The center is at UCSC's Long Marine Lab, and the exhibits are intended to educate. Everything is science-based. The exhibits inside are small -- think a tank with hermit crabs, a small tank of baby jellies, a touch pool with sea stars and mermaid's purses -- no hammerheads or manta rays here. There's also activity based exhibits throughout and lots of activities around for the kids, like a self guided scanvenger hunt with a prize at the end. There's tours throughout the day and you can TOUCH a SHARK. I repeat, you can touch a shark! The staff and docents are polite and helpful and seem happy to be there, and there's a cute giftshop onsite. Outside, there are two complete and enormous whale skeletons, including Ms. Blue. They are magnificent. There are also sweeping ocean views and beautiful paths to walk. The view is spectacular. Oh, and this place is rarely busy, so you can enjoy everything without huge crowds. Lastly, the center hosts various special events all year long, and there's cool marine themed artwork that changes frequently on display. I truly love this place.
I'm so glad we finally decided to go to Seymour Marine Discovery Center. We have been living in Santa Cruz for over four years and for some reason never visited Seymour before. Well, our loss.
This place is great. The amount of things you will learn here is off the books. All of the volunteers were amazing and very attentive. You can totally see how they love what they are doing. They were so engaging that my four years old daughter was interested during our whole visit - which is impressive. From touching a swollen shark to learning about Seal sounds and their fur, from holding a hermit crab to touching a few different sea stars, and much more, we enjoyed every part of our visit. So thanks Bonnie, Lynn, Dale, Tais and all the other volunteers that made our visit to Seymour so pleasant. Some of the activities geared towards kids include a scavenger hunt, stamps, touch pool, puzzles and more.
Remember that they are part of a marine lab, so there are people researching and actually working on the background to learn even more about the marine life surrounding us.
We did the tour and I was once again amazed by how knowledgeable these people are. I learned so many things that I was as excited as my 4yo. The blue whale skeleton is certainly a highlight of the tour, especially when you get to stand "inside the whale's belly."
Take your time to read as many signs and details as you can. I can guarantee that you will learn something new. Remember that this is a small aquarium/marine center, so don't compare it to bigger aquariums. Think about Seymour as a research center. These guys are working daily to learn more and protect our amazing ocean. And they share their knowledge with us. So forget about size and enjoy your experience.
The docents are excellent! My two grandchildren 2 and 4 were able to touch tide pool animals and sharks and learn about them in a very uncrowded, positive atmosphere.
This place really focuses on making marine science accessible, especially for children. There's several interesting exhibits, and the tours are fun and informative. The blue whale skeleton is a landmark, and the touch pool is well maintained and the friendly staff are both happy to help and educate.
A great place to take young kids. Fairly small, but works out well if you don't want to deal with the kids in a busy aquarium. Don't forget to pet the shark.
Very nice facility with an excellent layout and a ton of knowledge to be had. Lots of helpful and cheery staff and many informative displays. A bargain not to be missed.
This is a fun little aquarium, and a good bang for your buck. The highlights are definitely the touch tanks including a shark touch tank and a sea star touch tank. There are some cool whale skeletons outside as well.
We absolutely loved working with the Seymour Center for our wedding reception in October 2019. Their staff was incredibly friendly, helpful, and responsive to work with. The wedding venue was also a perfect gem in the Santa Cruz area our guests were excited about the beautiful outdoor area right next to the ocean, the exhibits (especially for our younger guests!), and the touch tank during the reception was a total hit. Thank you so much, Seymour Center!
It's nice and small. Something different not too crowded and we went on a Sunday. Great for kids under 10 years old. Very educational. My kids loved it. They have a touch area where you can touch starfishes, shark eggs, urchins and a shark. When you touch the shark they give you a sticker. They have a scavenger hunt for the kids. My kids enjoyed it. We spent probably an hour in there and then went outside walked around to the whale Skelton.
Such a great place to walk, bike, wave watch. I talk about my love of biking and (temporarily) disabled hip- so I got an adult Trike this weekend!! And gave her a whirl on a few laps through the trails outside. I think I may have reviewed this place, possibly before- cause it's away from the crowds- and I pretty much dislike crowds . From every trail- you either get a breathtaking sparkly ocean view- or sweet fields of lush grass and garden. Park outside and walk or rider in to the Seymore center- are enormous whale skeleton, sit on a bench- bring a picnic.... But ssshhhhhhh! ! A lot of tourists haven't found this sweet spot yet. This is just between u and me**
Its nice for families because the Staff is Friendly and they have all the answers. They also let you touch the Sharks, jelly fish and its very educational. Thanks to their hard work and knowledge, children enjoy it.
Wow, great info panels and descriptive pictures for all ages. We touched multiple live underwater sea creatures and saw 2 male porpoises playing together. I think one was playing keep away from the other with a big ball. The staff tour guide, Judy, was super helpful to point out dofferent perspectives and an opportunity to touch a Swell shark. The sharks were asleep, thank you. If you like to get into the weeds, see the details under the top surface of the ocean, the Center can more than satisfy your needs.
If you are a student at UCSC, you already pay a measly quarter per quarter, so I would definitely give it a shot since you are already paying for it.
If you are not a UCSC student, I believe that the price of admission is justified with the amount of information the exhibits have. They are full of easy to understand posters that give you a deeper information on marine animals and the ocean in general. The live aquarium is very diverse despite the small size and every visitor is recommended to get the famous "I touched a pet shark" sticker by rubbing a leopard sharks that are always on display. The starfish and other marine animals are fun to touch. But they don't give you a sticker for it!
The volunteers are very informative and the volunteers were able to engage in explanations to little three year old girls and more advanced explanations to adults and children that asked.
Try to go a day where there is activities, but note that there may be traffic!
ATTENTION MOTORCYCLIST: The road right now is made of light gravel, but most motorcycles will have no problem getting through. Just remember to take it slow if you are not used to riding in the dirt.
Hidden gem in Santa Cruz inside UC campus where you can take kids to and touch a shark. It also has a nice outdoor area where you can get access to the Santa Cruz Beach. They have a "secret" tour where you're allowed to watch 3 dolphins in the research center. No pics allowed so you won't see them posted anywhere. It's worth the $8 of admission, $6 for kids.
Also handsome marine life learning here there are regular chores but you can also just explore for yourself not very big but a couple hours worth of interesting and fun experiences. Research hub as well.
Great hands on discovery center for kids. They have tanks where anyone can touch a swell shark, sea anenomes, sea urchins etc. Ask at the desk for a fun scavenger hunt that will take you to most of the exhibits and reward you with a prize. Walk along the cliffs is lovely.
Awesome place to learn more about the marine mammals and its beauty. This view is one of the best that I've taken while I was there. It was super stunning! If by any chance, you guys should check it out. Thumbs up!
Wonderful exhibits from notable greats in marine sciences! Beautiful views and a nice place to meditate. The kelp forest can be viewed from the back deck! Love this place! Great for kids of all ages.
Awesome place to visit you don't usually get to see them work with the dolphins but on that particular day we did unfortunately you're not allowed to film them lots of things discover
A nice sea life science center, primarily geared to kids. Well worth visiting, but I probably wouldn't get a membership. Inside they have a dozen large aquariums with local sea life, a couple of touch pools, and several interactive exhibits.
The highlight of the trip were a couple of whale skeletons outside. The blue whale was absolutely enormous!
It was raining when I visited, but it looked like there was a nice coastal trail that would be fun on a sunny day.
Absolutely awesome!! The complete real blue whale skeleton is jaw dropping, gives a real perspective of their size!! The kids touched their first shark, a swell shark!!
I love this place. They have amazing views and a awesome petting zoo for the kids to touch small sharks and etc.. They have cool exhibits and a gift shop kids will love.This place is a must visit with the kiddies. Don't miss the photo ops with the whale reconstruction-ed out front.
The knowledgeable volunteers here as well as the hands on tide pool creature touching experience made this worth the trip. It's small but full of information.
Small hidden gem in Santa Cruz located on the UC Santa Cruz Campus is a quaint educational and research facility for marine mammals and the entire coastal eco system. Plenty of parking for a small fee and the entrance fee is affordable for large families. Qucik half hour tours of the grounds includes the research areas where you can see dolphins. Nice gift shop proceeds fund research. Hands on activitives include interactive displays, petting sea life.
seymourcenter.ucsc.edu
