California Aquariums are pretty cool. We haven’t been to that many but we love the Monterey Bay Aquarium and California Academy of Sciences out of the few we’ve seen. When my cousin said that the Aquarium of the Pacific reminds her of the one in Monterey, it went immediately to our must-see list. Vic’s a fish by nature and if we had aquariums like this close to home, he’d volunteer in the shark tank to feed the fish and give demonstrations.
Touch pools like these are good for someone like me (those afraid of the water). They make me think I have to relax and enjoy the outdoors more. Look at all these cool creatures I can see in person!
Aquarium of the Pacific features over 11,000 creatures and has over 500 species. There are three major exhibits which feature the Pacific Ocean. My favorite part was walking through the fish tank tunnel and the petting tanks. One guide had us touch sea urchins with our fingers so it could hug our finger, it was cool. When you go to the shark tank to pet the little guys, take your jacket off if you’re wearing one, it’d be a lot easier. The tank was a bit deep for my little arms and was as deep as my upper arm.
We went on Halloween day to the aquarium which was great because there was barely anybody there. No crowds to fight off and it felt really relaxing. Blogger ET from Sacramento met up with me in Long Beach and we enjoyed our time with the sea creatures together. Admission is $29.95, ET treated us to our tickets. They have behind the scenes tickets which cost a lot more, ours were General Admission.
So empty!
We did get to meet Sam, he named himself. One of the walked over and asked us if we saw Sam. We were like, “Sam, who?” Then he showed us. Sam is a cool small shark who really wanted to mark himself apart from the other little guys. Cute little fella, ain’t he?
We didn’t get to see all the shows since we didn’t have enough time so if you have a time crunch, don’t miss out on the otter show. It’s so adorable.
The otters are taught to touch a shape when they hear different sounds.
We saw the show in the giant tank, the volunteer diver was feeding the fish. This is what Vic wants to do if we had an awesome aquarium like this. We have one in Coney Island but it pales in comparison to our favorite California ones.
The penguin show was pretty great too but I realized we didn’t take any pics of it!
I could sit here and talk to this little guy all day. Doesn’t s/he look adorable?
It’s also located 1.1 miles from The Queen Mary Hotel & Attraction where we stayed so it is walkable but if you think it’s far, just take a car. The walk to the ship was safe, we didn’t encounter and homeless encampments along the way, just more hotels and a park. Along the water it’s fixed up but on the opposite side of the road it’s all industrial.
Jebus Mews & Andrea 
These are great pictures and it looks like you had a wonderful time!
Thanks! The trick is – go on Halloween and you won’t have to fight the crowd to see our sea creature friends 🙂
I’ve been to both the Monterey Bay and the California Academy of Sciences (Steinhart aquarium, I think the fishy bit is called), but it’s been many, many years. Both are excellent. The closest we have to that level is the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, about 2 1/2 hour drive from Portland. If it was closer I’d probably be in the tanks with the critters too, cleaning the glass and waving at tourists.
I know! Wish we had aquariums like the CA ones. Ours is in Coney Island and its annoying to get to and just ok. If I volunteered in one I think it would help with my fear of water.
Awesome photos! Love the post!