Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
add photosEducational pre-visit guide provided by the aquarium staff is found at http://www.cabrilloaq.org/previsit.html
7 Reviews for Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
54
44
'10, '11
1 family found this helpful
"Quaint Place to See the Fishes"
If you’ve been to the nearby Aquarium of the Pacific, this place is a refreshing change. What it lacks in size and newness it more than makes up for in its price and much smaller crowds.
The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium is packed full of creatures that call the Southern California coastal waters home. The grounds are made up of an Exhibit Hall, Exploration Center, Aquatic Nursery and a Marine Research Library. There is a hands-on tide pool touch tank, numerous traditional viewing tanks, museum collections and other interpretive displays.
Our visit started at the Aquarium’s most popular attraction, the Tidepool Touch Tank, which contains rocky shore marine life such as sea stars, anemones and sea urchins. A touch tank expert was on hand to answer any questions and enforce the rules (proper touching technique and such).
The kids loved this spot, but I hated it and here’s why: The tank is only open for 20-minute intervals and gets very crowded with pushy kids and pushier parents trying to capture the perfect picture. So if you choose to go, bring along your patience!
After our touch tank exploration, we wondered through the Aquarium’s Exhibit Hall. One of the nice perks of this place is that it’s small and allows for easy strolling without worry of losing sight of your little one or missing a great attraction.
It’s worth noting that the information plaques for each of the creatures within the Aquarium’s exhibits aren’t placed where little eyes can see them. Most are high above the accompanying exhibits, making them nearly inaccessible to curious new readers.
The Aquarium operates on a suggested donation of $5 for adults and $1 for kids; parking is $1 per hour (maximum of $9 per day). There is one vending machine outside the Aquarium, but there is no restaurant or other food concession area.
I highly recommend that you take advantage of the outdoor surroundings during your visit. The Aquarium is located within Cabrillo Beach Coastal Park, which offers plenty of places to explore, like Point Fermin State Marine Park, kelp beds, a coastal native plant garden and a salt marsh. Or have a picnic at the beach and enjoy the view.
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0 families found this helpful
"Dangerous- Volunteers not trained properly"
PARENTS WARNING!
-My five year old daughter and I went with her kindergarten class to this aquarium yesterday, and we definitely will not be going back.
-We toured the inside of the museum, and it was fine, other than the restrooms, which were filthy, with dirty water all over the floors. Then her class went out to the "touch tanks" to directly interact with the animals. Up on the stage was a teenage volunteer named Scott who told the kids that they could touch the fish in the front tank, but those in the back tank were sharks and eels, not to be touched.
-As the kids were touching the sea stars, my daughter poked one of them. I heard Scott yell, "Hey! What are you doing?" at the top of his lungs, as if he were yelling at a grown man, not a five year old girl. My daughter started crying and quickly said, "I'm sorry, I won't do that again!" This man then yelled, "Your'e right because you are out of here!" and then proceeded to poke his three foot long stick about three inches from her face. I picked her up to find out what had happened, and he yelled again for her to get out. I told him to stop yelling, and he yells out, "she was KILLING that animal!" At this point the whole crowd was silent and staring at him in fear. He continued screaming, until I told him to stop, and then he stared yelling, "You can't talk to me like that!" I grabbed my daughter up, and the whole class left the building quickly, as he yelled after us, "Good bye! Good bye!" Nothing negative had been done to him or said to him, but I truly feel that if he could have hit her, her would have. I have never seen an "adult" react this way in my life.
-I do not have an issue with someone correcting my child, but I honestly feel that this guy had mental health issues. It was as if he had a mental breakdown right in front of 20 five year olds, and they were in danger. I wouldn't be surprised to see his face in the newspaper some day for a violent crime, it was that bad.
-I called the supervisor today to let him know my concerns, and he let me know that this guy was a high school senior, and it was his last day yesterday. I asked about mental health screenings for their volunteers, as they deal with children all day, and he said that they do fingerprint them, but that is all. He honestly did not seem very concerned.
This really bothered me. If this guy had had a weapon, we would have been in real trouble. My five year old was shaking the whole way home, and the only thing I could tell her was that, although it is not OK to poke a sea star, it is NEVER OK for an adult to freak out like that.
-So....... I think we will head to a more professional aquarium, such as Long Beach next time, it's cleaner, and is a quality, SAFE learning experience for little ones.
1 family found this helpful
"Big little aquarium"
I was surprised at how large and well stocked this "little" aquarium was! I thought I might pop in and out with my 4 kids (2-10) in about an hour but we were captivated right from the start and stayed for a couple of hours. The tanks weren't huge like many other large aquariums are but they were well stocked with a great variety of sea life. My 8 year old spent a lot of time finding each fish, slug or anemone that was listed on the diagrams and he found each one. We were surprised by the massive lobster, the fish eating snails and the moon jellies. Several tanks were about 1 foot from the floor which made it easy for my 2 year old to see into, but most tanks were above her head. She needed lifting up for most of them.
My little ones enjoyed the hand's on activities (turning a wheel to simulate waves, lifting levers of weights, but especially the touch tank. The touch tank is open for 20 minutes at a time at various times during the day. Check the entry board for details. All my kids loved touching the sea stars, anemones, sea urchins and more. Everything was safe to touch and in the next stone enclosure there were swimming sharks and eels. My son got "yelled" at to get down from the ledge over the shark tank, which sprang me (appropriately!) into action. According to the kind man who yelled, my son was in danger of scaring his sharks.
Several school groups were present during our visit, including high schoolers. It made the aquarium a bit crowded but there was still plenty of room. It cleared out around 1:30 pm, which made it much nicer for us.
Strollers seem welcome in this aquarium although most tanks will not be visible to a child in a stroller.
Free entry. Donations encouraged.
1 family found this helpful
"Great Little Aquarium!!"
This is a place that my mom used to take us as kids. It is a fun little aquarium and they have a little theater for shows, a touch pool, a working laboratory where they keep animals that they're trying to save and sea horses that they're breeding. The beach is close and the tide pools are wonderful as well.
1 family found this helpful
"Fun with the Family"
Featuring thirty-eight aquaria, these innovative exhibits will teach kids about the plant and animal life of Southern California. The simulated “tide pool touch tank” is a good place to start this aquatic journey. In addition, there are whale trips organized from December through March focusing on the Pacific gray whale. This museum predated the Long Beach Aquarium by sixty-five years. Here’s where it all started, and
that’s no fish story.
1 family found this helpful
"Small and intimate"
We joined our homeschool co-op on a fieldtrip here and had a really great time! We loved the little seahorses, the whale room, and the glowing jellyfish. But the absolute highlight for all of us was our time in the simulated tidepool. The kids love feeling the starfish, anemones, fish, etc. This made them so much more aware and informed when we visited the tidepools in Carpinteria State Beach.
6 families found this helpful
"a great little aquarium"
Have you ever seen a sea snail eat? It sticks it's long proboscis (tongue) out about a foot to get its food. We learned this and much more at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. There is a great hands-on tide pool and several rooms full of beautiful aquariums. Check it out if you're ever in the area.
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