To stimulate interest, increase knowledge and promote stewardship of the oceans through exhibits, education and research.
All the wonders of a hidden world come to light at the internationally acclaimed Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Nearly a hundred innovative habitat galleries and exhibits plunge you into Monterey Bay - the heart of the nation's largest marine sanctuary - on a journey to its deep reefs, rocky shores, turbulent tide pools, shale reefs, sloughs, sandy seafloors
and even its wharves.
And we put you in touch with them, too - you can stroke the rough skin of an ochre star at the Touch Tide Pool, or the velvety back of a bat ray at the Bat Ray Pool. Turn a telescope toward a sea otter in the kelp beds offshore, or a microscope on a
brittlestar in the Kelp Lab. All the exhibits bring the entire family closer to sea life than ever before.
Discover a new world at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The Kelp Forest exhibit towers three stories overhead, the tallest aquarium exhibit in the world. It's an overwhelming, diver's-eye view of a living kelp forest community, where schools of fishes weave among swaying kelp fronds.
The Monterey Bay Habitats exhibit takes you through an array of bay habitats, from deep granite reefs to encrusted wharf pilings. Sharks, bat rays, and many open-ocean fishes roam this 90-foot-long exhibit.
Octopus and Kin Features creatures that relate to each other in fascinating ways; giant octopus, chambered nautilus and others.
Sea Otters greet you nose-to-nose, diving and tumbling while you watch them frolic above, below and out of water in their newly renovated two-story exhibit.
Feeding Shows occur daily at the Sea Otter and Kelp Forest exhibits. Ask about times when you arrive.
Great Whales of the bay parade over your head, depicted in life-size models. A 43-foot gray whale, her calf and a pod of orcas are accurate in remarkable detail.
Touch Pools invite young and old alike to pet a bat ray, stroke a decorator crab or touch a sea star; microscopes, magnifiers, telescopes and even video cameras at other exhibits make for larger-than-life encounters with a host of creatures.
The Sandy Shore exhibit
takes you on a stroll through an open-air aviary filled with shorebirds; an
artfully created slice of shoreline complete with slough, dunes and
beach.
Exhibits:
100 galleries of Monterey Bay marine life.
What's new:
"Deadly Beauties" feautures the oceans's most colorful and poisonous
creatures, including sea snakes, stonefish and bearded ghouls.
Outer Bay exhibits.
They're the largest exhibits ever devoted to one of Earth's largest habitats.
Tuna, jellies, barracuda, sharks, sea turtles, giant
ocean sunfish, and more.
Monterey "Time to Coast" getaway package: For a value package featuring lodging, aquarium tickets and special offers at restaurants, shops and attractions citywide, call 1-800-555-9283.
Hours:
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily;
closed Christmas.
Open 9:30 a.m. during holiday periods and summer
months.
Admission:
Tickets: Available at the aquarium. Advance tickets are available at most local hotels and motels or by phone from the aquarium. In California call 1-800-756-3737. There is a service charge for advance tickets purchased by phone.
Memberships: Enjoy a full year
of unlimited free admission, express entry, marine science programs and cruises,
10% discount in the gift and bookstores, and a colorful newsletter. Join when
you visit and apply the cost of admission to your membership
