Heal the Bay Aquarium, Santa Monica

Didn't really get any pics from here since we really just needed to rent a beach wheelchair. But then...BABY SHARKS🦈 The whole experience can be pretty quick-The aquarium itself is really small and there's a fee for adults. Absolutely worth it...did I mention baby sharks?? No idea they were so cute🦈 My favorite was seeing them swim INSIDE their weird little egg sacks. Seriously, so cool! They have some educational artwork and the staff were all ready to share their knowledge. And the wheelchairs are free (leave your ID) and are really easy to maneuver on the sand. It was so soooooo helpful for our daughter who was down there on crutches to take her senior grad pics. They're located in a tiny area right under the pier. Oh, and their gift shop is really cute, too. Definitely stop in for a visit when you're on the pier 👍

$10 per adult and kids free. Its not what we were expecting. Personally i was very disappointed because of limited species they had. The entire aquarium took me around 10 minutes to see however my daughter had a blast and that's what all matters.

We just had a birthday party for our 3 years old, and we had a such a great time! All the staff were amazing and incredibly friendly. We had Colleen as our coordinator and she was really great as well. 2 hours went by really quick with all the activities they offered. It is not a huge aquarium but it still had all the cool sea animals that small kids had fun looking at. The touch tank was great as well. A lot of other parents who attended the party said that it was really cool venue!

Nice, smaller aquarium with many hands-on displays where visitors can pet aquatic life such as sharks, sting rays, and sea stars. The aquarium is located under the Santa Monica pier—follow the ramp or stairs down to find it. Entrance is free for kids under 12 with an adult ticket, which makes it an entertaining and affordable family option. There is also a small lab, movie/craft room, and camp and volunteer activities offered at the museum. Everything is on one floor and easily walkable/reachable for small kids. Be sure to check the special events calendar on their website for activities such as shark feeding.

I took a quick trip to the Heal the Bay Aquarium, which sits right at the foot of the Santa Monica Pier. The aquarium is small but cute. There are several touch pools--with abalone, sea stars, sea urchins, and more--and a couple of pier-themed exhibits--which were quite cool and gave a good snapshot of the fish and other critters living nearby. The workers were friendly and knowledgeable and really seemed to enjoy walking people through the touch pools. Worth a visit!