Road Trip! Monterey Bay Aquarium

One of our favorite relatively short road trips is to head down to the Monterey Peninsula. It's about a 2-1/2- to 3-hour drive from Marin, making it perfect for a day trip, overnight, or weekend. (What makes this easier for us is that we have good friends in Pacific Grove who are willing to put up with us every so often for a few days.) A favorite place to visit, especially with small children, is the Monterey Bay Aquarium

We paid a visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium and its Wild About Otters special exhibition last week. The aquarium is widely considered one of the best in the world, and I'm willing to bet that it is. The displays reflect the Monterey Bay Aquarium's mission to research the biodiversity of Monterey Bay and the California coast, and they're fascinating. Our favorites include the 28-foot-high Kelp Forest exhibit, with its leopard sharks, anchovies, and other fish; the sea otters; and the spectacular Outer Bay exhibit with its amazing 1.2 million-gallon tank, and featuring denizens of the deeper waters of outer Monterey Bay, including giant bluefin tuna, humongous ocean sunfish, sea turtles, hammerhead sharks, and the world's only great white shark in captivity!

The Outer Bay exhibit is one of those things that truly has to be seen to be believed. After viewing graceful and colorful jellyfish in beautifully lit tanks, you enter a cavernous dark room where these giant sea creatures swim by behind a 54-foot-long and 15-foot-high window. To see several 300+ pound bluefin tuna swim past at eye level is truly something. It's a place where you can sit for hours and observe, and there are seats and even a balcony where you can do just that. While the small great white is the star of the show, we're fans of the giant ocean sunfish (Mola mola), truly huge (up to 5,000 pounds!) prehistoric looking creatures that look kind of like a giant fish head without a body. Apparently the first ocean sunfish to be on view here grew in weight 14 times before it was released back to the wild.

There's also the Splash Zone that features interactive hands-on exhibits for children, but it's currently undergoing expansion and will open again in March, 2008. The Monterey Bay Aquarium's popular penguins will return then, too.

There's really a lot to do and see here. We eventually made it to the Wild About Otters exhibit after lunch, but didn't stay that long. It was interesting, but we had a 2-year-old and 4-year-old and both were getting a tired and cranky, so we didn't spend too much time there. The river otters were cute and quite active, though, so it's worth a visit if you're there.

Visiting Tips for Families

We've been there with the kids a few times so far, and it can get extremely crowded and busy, especially on weekends, holidays, and during the summer when the crowds from Cannery Row seem to just pour in. With admission at a whopping $24.95 for adults and $15.95 for children, it's not a cheap outing by any stretch of the imagination, and if at all possible you'll want to go when you can spend some quality time there. On Monday we got there shortly after the place opened at 10 am, and it was really pleasant. There were nice people on hand to show the children baby jellyfish and to greet them with a dolphin puppet and there was no line to get in whatsoever. Things start to change by about 11 when the crowds really start showing up. The aquarium notes that crowds tend to decrease after 2 pm.

There's a good restaurant, the Portola Cafe, onsite. Again, plan to visit early. We were all hungry by about 11:15 or so, and we're glad that we were. The cafe was busy, but not overwhelmingly so, and we were able to get our food quickly and easily. At noon when we left, there was a line stretching out the door. At the Portola Cafe you have the option of table service restaurant (with a bar!) or a self-service cafe. We opted for the self-service cafe, which offered ready-made sandwiches and salads and made-to-order hot food like hamburgers, pizzas, sandwiches, and pasta. The food was good, and used fresh, local ingredients where possible. Prices aren't bad, considering this is captive-audience museum dining, and it's certainly better and less expensive than touristy places on Cannery Row. The dining area is right on Monterey Bay, so you get a view, too.

Animal feedings are at 11:30 am in the Kelp Forest and 11 am in the Outer Bay. Get there early, especially at the Kelp Forest, where a diver feeds the fish by hand. If you don't like crowds, it's a good time to check out some of the other exhibits while everyone's watching the feeding.

There are gift shops located all around the aquarium, including a strategically placed children's shop located right near the restrooms and cafe. You can't avoid it, so you might as well resign yourself to buying something while you're there. It's inevitable.

Getting There

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is located at 886 Cannery Row in Monterey, which is about 130 miles or so sout of Marin County. We generally get to Monterey by taking I-280 to San Jose, then taking 101 south to Prunedale, where you cross over via Route 156 to Highway 1. Follow Highway 1 south to exit 402B for Del Monte Avenue. Follow Del Monte into Monterey, then through the tunnels onto Lighthouse Avenue. Take Lighthouse to David Avenue. Turn right on David and park in the paid lot located on David between Foam and Wave Streets. Parking is $1 for each 30 minutes or fraction thereof. Street parking in the area is difficult and the paid lots are conveniently close to the aquarium. There's another paid lot on Foam Street at Prescott Avenue, in case the David lot fills up, which it does.

Hours, Prices, and Information

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is open daily from 10 am to 6 pm, and from 9:30 am to 6 pm on holidays. It's closed on December 25. Admission is $24.95 for adults, $15.95 for children 3–12, and $22.95 for students 13–17, college students with ID, and seniors 65+. If you're planning to visit more than once a year, a membership at $120 is a pretty good deal, admitted 2 adults and 2 children an unlimited number of times. Bypass the lines and buy advance tickets online here, or become a member.

For more information visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium online at www.montereybayaquarium.org, or call (831) 648-4800. Check out our other article about the new kid's Splash Zone.