Aquarium of the Bay
I love family vacations and the last week of Winter Break we decided to head up North for a week away in the Central Coast and San Francisco. We love the Central Coast and the Bay Area and it was the perfect place to visit with the family. We couldn’t ask for better weather, it was in the 60’s and 70’s most of the week we were there.
While we were in San Francisco we decided to take the family to visit The Aquarium of the Bay. The Aquarium is located in the heart of San Francisco’s history and culture. They are nestled in the shadow of Coit Tower and Telegraph Hill on Fisherman’s Wharf at PIER 39, along the City’s “Walkable Waterfront.”
San Francisco Bay's Aquarium
The Aquarium of the Bay partners with The Bay Institute to protect, restore and inspire the conservation of San Francisco Bay, from the Sierra to the Sea. The Aquarium features marine life found in the Bay of San Francisco. There are about 20,000 animals including Sevengill Sharks that my kiddos were absolutely enthralled with.
- Credit: Aquarium of the Bay
The Aquarium is home to a 700,000 gallon Aquarium Tunnels. We loved being able to step on a walkway and be surrounded by beautiful sharks and stingrays swimming above us.
I snapped this photo and I can't get over the beauty of the Jellfish
The Aquarium features walls of jellies which I could have watched for hours! They are incredibly beautiful creatures.
I could watch for hours!
We had the opportunity to take a behind the scenes tour of the aquarium. I can’t rave about this experience enough! It’s only $10 more per ticket and worth every single penny. We went on the 4pm tour and it turned out to be a tour for just five of us. Our family and an additional patron and it felt like a personal and very exclusive behind the magic tour.
We walked not the catwalk above the tunnel aquariums and I can’t even begin to describe how cool it was. We also learned how the animals are fed and how they are cared for. The kids loved being able to ask questions and it made for a memorable experience. You really have to experience it for yourself.
The Aquarium is open every day of the year except for Christmas. For additional information head here.
Disclosure: This is not a compensated post. Complimentary tickets were provided to facilitate the review, however all opinions are my own.
I love your site & pictures! Thanks for all you do to keep us informed.
This is a great aquarium…however during our summer vacation to San Francisco we visited The California Academy of the Sciences the day after our aquarium trip at were blown away. I wish we had skipped the aquarium and gone to The California Academy of the Sciences both days. It has a little bit of everything. My girls (6&10) loved it.(plus our own Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific is very similar to the SF one). The Academy is located in Golden Gate park. Also the Exploratorium was great fun (even better than the Discovery Science Center).
http://www.calacademy.org/
Kimberly I can’t wait to go to the California Academy of the Sciences. We are heading up there for Spring break and I can’t wait to see it for myself. Love love the Exploratorium! We were there a year ago and we love that place. It is amazing and my kiddos stayed for hours there! Did you know they are moving it to Pier 35? Thanks for reading!
how exciting that the Exploratorium is moving to Pier 35, so many more people will be able to experience it! I’m WAY jealous that you get to go back. 😉 We’ve only been to SF the one time, but love it! I hope you and your family enjoy the Cal Academy and hope to read about.(their food is AMAZING too-random, I know)
Thanks for the tip! If it’s anything like our time at the Exploritorium it’s good to know we can eat there because the kids wanted to stay for hours! I love that it’s moving to Pier 35 too because now more people will be able to experience it and it is really amazing! I love SF. I wouldn’t mind living there at all. There is so many fun things to try out. We went out to Alcatraz on this trip and the kids loved it. I’m going to be blogging about it later this week so come back and thanks for reading! Love your comments and tips!
We were JUST there! The kids LOVED that aquarium….. : )
Love it! Miss being able to go there all the time! 🙂