| Monterey Bay Aquarium tips and photos posted by real travelers and Monterey locals.
886 Cannery Row,
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• 72 Reviews
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 Jellyfish by rsilva
It has a great variety of animals and makes for a very interesting day trip, although you need more than one to fully explore it.
I am not very good at identifying the species, but take a look at my travelogue to see what you can expect to see.
An adult ticket is $19.95, children (3 thru 12) pay $10.95. Other discounts apply, check website for more complete information. Leave a Comment
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 Jelly Fish by KimberlyAnnLeave a Comment Phone: (831) 648-4800Directions: This Aquarium is located in Monterey at the west end of historic Cannery Row.Website: http://www.mbayaq.org/
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Here I am looking at one of the large fish tanks 20 years ago. At that time the Aquarium was quite new and very impressive. It has the largest aquarium window in the world and it holds a million gallons of water.
UPDATE: The Monterey Bay Aquarium has expanded a lot since then and is even more impressive. The second picture is the Anchovy tank which is part of the new Outer Bay exhibit which we saw on an Aquarium visit in 2005.
Here is a website where you can view some of the Aquariums sea life via live web cams:
http://www.mbayaq.org/efc/cam_menu.asp Leave a Comment
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 A look from outside the
Aquarium by Luisanna
From the kelp forest, the sea otters, the jelly fish to the sharks. Just a little information on the aquarium Cannery Row was what people used to call Monterey Bay. The bay is 25 miles wide, and the aquarium is at the southern shore. Back about 1903 people started huge canning companies on the shores of Monterey Bay. Fisherman would catch huge schools of sardines in and around the bay. In 1945, Monterey Bay had become one of the biggest fishing ports in America. In about 1946, after 60 years of fishing for sardines, the catches were almost nothing, and the canneries started closing. In 1977, four biologists at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station wanted to have an aquarium built just for Monterey Bay. Seven years later money was donated, and the nonprofit Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation was created to get the aquarium built. They used an old sardine cannery, and redesigned it into an aquarium.
One particular thing my kids loved was the touch pools which encourage people to put there hands on the stars the bat rays.
I highly recommend a trip to the aquarium you'll enjoy every minute of it. Have fun...... Leave a Comment
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 by LuisannaLeave a Comment
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 Get there early for best
viewing of popular tanks by TheTravelSlut, 4 more photos
For only the third time since 2004, we have a young white shark in the Outer Bay exhibit. He arrived on August 28, and will remain in the million-gallon exhibit as long as he's in good health and hasn't grown too large for us to return safely to the wild.
The Monterey bay Aquarium has one of the best websites you will find and even has live webcasts. Exhibits change periodically so be sure to check the website 1st to determine is open and closed and what is available that you really want to see. Some of the exhibits include:
Giant Octopus
Jellies: Living Art
Kelp Forest
Life on the Bay
Mission to the Deep
Outer Bay
Rocky Shore
Sandy Shore & Aviary
Sea Otters
Splash Zone & Penguins
Wild About Otters
Regular Hours
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Daily
Closed Dec. 25
Holidays
9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
Admission prices (in USD) are as follows as of Sept. 2007
Adult $24.95
Child (3 thru 12) $15.95
Child (under 3) Free
Student
$22.95
Senior (65+) $22.95
Disabled $15.95
Military Discount
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This place is wonderful - my husband and I (no kids) are members and go at least once a month.
Advice:
1) If there is any flexibility in your plans, go on a weekday. It may still be crowded, but the line goes fast.
2) The event not-to-be-missed is the feeding in the kelp tank, the schedule is currently 11:30, 4:00.
If it is a crowded day, get a place to sit/stand early, and relax while watching the kelp sway in the waves...
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This excellent, well designed, Aquarium is located against the Pacific Ocean at Cannery Row. Fish and wildlife from both California and around the world are displayed. Popular exhibits include sea otters and penguins. You can even watch fish feedings as a diver enters the tank with handouts. A stingray petting area is included.
If you want to watch the sea otter feeding, press your nose against the glass early as a crowd develops long before the lunch bell rings.
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The Monterey Bay Aquarium is located at the far end of Cannery Row and houses aquatic species from the area. There are outside tidal pools, touch ponds and the typical aquarium fare. The highlight, however, are the new Otter and Jellyfish exhibits.
The otters are great, we saw the sea otters being fed and watched the river otters run around and play in the water. The jellyfish are an amazing sight, really quite beautiful. Aside from these sights, the giant squid and outer bay exhibits were really interesting. Throughout the whole aquarium are large tanks holding a wide variety of creatures.
The Aquarium's claims to fame include having temporarily housed the only great white shark to survive in captivity (it has since been tagged, re-released and reported living off the Baja Peninsula). This aquarium also housed a number of animals from the New Orleans Aquarium after Hurricane Katrina, including their entire population of penguins (which returned to NOLA via limousine).
Entrance fees are a bit pricey, we had a friend who gave us some free tickets she came across. At $25 a person, it's an expensive family excursion. But there was a lot for kids to do so you could probably spend the better part of a day there.
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The best aquarium on the west coast and Travel Channel's 8th "Best Shark Encounters Without Getting Wet"! Though the Monterey aquarium is the only place in the world that has been able to keep a great white shark for more than 16 days, they recently released the young male they had been taking care of. No great white sharks there now, but there are plenty of other species, plus they have a new otter exhibit that opened in March! The aquarium is the 9th most visited park in California with just under 2,000,000 visitors a year.
After eight months in town I finally got around to checking out the aquarium. Regular admission is about $25, but if you know someone who is a member or a donor, you can get in for free. While fish are interesting, our main reason for visiting was to see the otters. Besides the ever popular sea otter exhibit, they have a new river otter display with three or four species from around the world. We also enjoyed the kelp forest, the penguins, the glowing jellyfish, the massive giant octopus, and the huge tank with the butt-ugly sunfish. This is a great destination for young children as many of the displays are interactive and the kids can touch shells and even the live manta rays. We spent about 3 hours here, and that was plenty. With kids, I could see spending a little more time as there is plenty to keep them busy, but about a half day would be enough to drive me crazy. Summer crowds are massive, especially on the weekends, so try to visit in the off season and/or on weekdays.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium occupies the site of the former Hovden Cannery on Cannery Row. When the Hovden Food Products Corporation closed in 1972 the facility was vacant until the aquarium was opened in 1984. In the center of the aquarium buildings is a corridor called Hovden Way, which offers public access to a coastal overlook. This area looks into the Monterey Bay over an area of kelp, birds, sea lions, and otters. Leave a Comment
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