Take a Trip Under The Sea at Monterey Bay Aquarium

A majestic must see when visiting the Central Coast or Monterey Peninsula area. I will start with the parking situation, if you are arriving on a weekend expect to park in the paid parking structure if you're lucky you'll find free parking on the streets nearby wave Street Prescott and David Street are close by if you can find free parking. We pay $20 for all day parking and it was worth it not having to circle around the busy streets. It was a bit of a walk to the aquarium from our parking structure but it wasn't terrible. We bought our tickets Advance which I highly recommend because we did not have to wait in line even on a busy sunday. The staff was so kind and helpful. The facilities are clean well organized and well maintained. There's so much to explore from different exhibits Hands-On experiences and beautiful floor to ceiling aquariums where you get to gaze into what looks like the depths of the ocean. A great place to bring children very educational they have so many exhibits and activities for the kids. I will say it was a little overcrowded for my liking so it was difficult to take a moment to enjoy the beautiful aquariums because so many people were rushing in and out. I will definitely recommend coming during a weekday where you can sit take some time to really appreciate the Beautiful views. There are so many observation decks overlooking the Pacific Ocean where you can escape out to for some alone time. You get beautiful views of the Bay and the sea otters on the nearby rocks. The cafe was overpriced. So I would highly recommend grabbing a meal before coming in. We paid almost $8 for a basic coffee. Expect to spend between 3 and 4 hours if you really want to get the most out of your experience. I would recommend getting there after 3:00 p.m. where the crowds start to die down.

Awesome aquarium, the deep sea exhibit is really cool because they had to develop new tech to do it--first of its kind in the world. Open sea I've never seen anything like it. Awesome to have Otters. Consistently pushing the boundaries and the bar of what aquariums can be while partnering with great scientists & helping spread the word about our Oceans. Even have great interactive exhibits/microscopy/touch tanks with people to answer questions so you can learn more. Just a great place. Leave more time here than you think!

We got there before they opened on a Saturday and it was BUSY! We had guess passes so we were able to skip the line. Not sure if it’s worth paying $60 to see. The jelly fish were AMAZING. They do amazing things for the community and we had fun. Very interactive for kids as well b

Pricey but lots to do and see. We all enjoyed our time at the aquarium, all ages. I like how tranquil it was, the music is a great touch. Exhibits were clean and well taken care of. Could definitely spend all day there. If you have little ones, the splash zone is a great place for them.

We had the best time here! The exhibits were huge and had lots to offer. We loved seeing the otters and giant fish being fed by divers, very cool. Would love to come back. Also lost our phone and the staff was excellent in helping us find out. Overall 10/10 experience.