Very small aquarium but worth the visit just to see the dolphins being studied (must take the tour to see them. ) Its worth the trip just to see the whale skeletons outside (free) and the beautiful view of the ocean.The gift shop is probably one of my favorite gift shops around, with an amazing selection of unique, ocean related items

This is a really cool place to visit with the whole faimly! A few giant whale skeletons outside for display all day!

Marine Science is my favorite. I totally geeked out thw whole time i was here. My kids had a lot of fun too. They got to hold a hermit crab and touch a shark! I hope to be going back again soon.

Such a great place to walk, bike, wave watch. I talk about my love of biking and (temporarily) disabled hip- so I got an adult Trike this weekend!! And gave her a whirl on a few laps through the trails outside. I think I may have reviewed this place, possibly before- cause its away from the crowds- and I pretty much dislike crowds . From every trail- you either get a breathtaking sparkly ocean view- or sweet fields of lush grass and garden. Park outside and walk or rider in to the Seymore center- are enormous whale skeleton, sit on a bench- bring a picnic....But ssshhhhhhh! ! A lot of tourists havent found this sweet spot yet.This is just between u and me**

Im so glad we finally decided to go to Seymour Marine Discovery Center. We have been living in Santa Cruz for over four years and for some reason never visited Seymour before. Well, our loss.This place is great. The amount of things you will learn here is off the books. All of the volunteers were amazing and very attentive. You can totally see how they love what they are doing. They were so engaging that my four years old daughter was interested during our whole visit - which is impressive. From touching a swollen shark to learning about Seal sounds and their fur, from holding a hermit crab to touching a few different sea stars, and much more, we enjoyed every part of our visit. So thanks Bonnie, Lynn, Dale, Tais and all the other volunteers that made our visit to Seymour so pleasant. Some of the activities geared towards kids include a scavenger hunt, stamps, touch pool, puzzles and more.Remember that they are part of a marine lab, so there are people researching and actually working on the background to learn even more about the marine life surrounding us.We did the tour and I was once again amazed by how knowledgeable these people are. I learned so many things that I was as excited as my 4yo. The blue whale skeleton is certainly a highlight of the tour, especially when you get to stand inside the whales belly.Take your time to read as many signs and details as you can. I can guarantee that you will learn something new. Remember that this is a small aquarium/marine center, so dont compare it to bigger aquariums. Think about Seymour as a research center. These guys are working daily to learn more and protect our amazing ocean. And they share their knowledge with us. So forget about size and enjoy your experience.

Awesome place to learn more about the marine mammals and its beauty. This view is one of the best that Ive taken while I was there. It was super stunning! If by any chance, you guys should check it out. Thumbs up!

Great place to visit and very educational and inspiring about the hard work of those studying marine life. There is a great museum as well with clean bathrooms and the gift shop was worth a visit with many ecofriendly items that were unique.

Had a great time here on a weekday with little kids. They have some fun activities geared towards very young ones and many friendly volunteer staff ready to answer questions and help with experiencing the touch pools and other exhibits. The free tour that lets you see their research dolphins was very fun, too!

You hear a lot more about the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Cannery Row, but theres also a marine discovery center in westside Santa Cruz, at a breathtaking ocean side location with educational coastal paths. Admission is nominally $9 with breaks for seniors, students, and children. There are rotating exhibits, an aquarium, and huge skeletons outside (Outdoor Giants). Part of the scenic facility is available for rent (conferences, weddings, etc.). Parking is easy and free. Ive only been there during the week. It may get crowded on weekends. There are periodic community free days with no admission. You can check their website for that information and much more. This is an extension facility of UCSC.

Excellent exhibits, interactive opportunities for the kids. Entertaining and informative, with family-friendly admission price.

Its nice and small. Something different not too crowded and we went on a Sunday. Great for kids under 10 years old. Very educational. My kids loved it. They have a touch area where you can touch starfishes, shark eggs, urchins and a shark. When you touch the shark they give you a sticker. They have a scavenger hunt for the kids. My kids enjoyed it. We spent probably an hour in there and then went outside walked around to the whale Skelton.

What a cool find that we drove by so many times and didnt realize what was hiding there! Fun little sea creatures to touch, like sharks!! The area is well kept and the staff seems immensely happy to be there, so much so we wanted to work there too, lol! I certainly would love to be there every day to help with the dolphins!! Absolutely soul warming to watch as they swim and play. I hope the funding never ceases for them, and they are definitely on my list of places to donate to! It offers a wonderful day of surprises :-)

The knowledgeable volunteers here as well as the hands on tide pool creature touching experience made this worth the trip. Its small but full of information.

I really enjoyed wandering the Seymour Center. They have a ton of hands-on exhibits for kids (and grown up kids), tanks with live creatures, a touch pool with very knowledgeable volunteers, they even had a special tank with Swell Sharks and give out stickers if you touch them. After touring the inside you can head out for a stroll along the coast, learn about some shipwrecks and check out Mr. And. Mrs. Blue (photo).

The Seymour Marine Discovery Center is a magical, educational, beautiful, fun hidden gem in the Santa Cruz area. Its totally worth the price of admission, and worth a membership if local. Please note it cant really be compared to our neighbor across the bay in terms of size and exhibits, but the Seymour Center is truly special in its own right. The center is at UCSCs Long Marine Lab, and the exhibits are intended to educate. Everything is science-based. The exhibits inside are small -- think a tank with hermit crabs, a small tank of baby jellies, a touch pool with sea stars and mermaids purses -- no hammerheads or manta rays here. Theres also activity based exhibits throughout and lots of activities around for the kids, like a self guided scanvenger hunt with a prize at the end. Theres tours throughout the day and you can TOUCH a SHARK. I repeat, you can touch a shark! The staff and docents are polite and helpful and seem happy to be there, and theres a cute giftshop onsite. Outside, there are two complete and enormous whale skeletons, including Ms. Blue. They are magnificent. There are also sweeping ocean views and beautiful paths to walk. The view is spectacular. Oh, and this place is rarely busy, so you can enjoy everything without huge crowds. Lastly, the center hosts various special events all year long, and theres cool marine themed artwork that changes frequently on display. I truly love this place. ️

Absolutely awesome!! The complete real blue whale skeleton is jaw dropping, gives a real perspective of their size!! The kids touched their first shark, a swell shark!!

Very nice place in a quiet area. Lots of interactive activities with friendly staff. Pet sharks and other sea creatures.

Really beautiful! Love the whale bones

Use to live in Soquel. Took my kids there for many years. I still go even though I live 5 hours away. Friendly people lots to see and do. Great experience for kids 14 and under. Plus you can go for a walk outside and enjoy the ocean.

If you havent been to the Symour Marine discovery center at least once you should go, absolutely worth the 9 dollar admission. Also you get 3 hours of parking so after you pet a shark and take the tour make sure to take a walk on the cliffs or check out Natural bridges state park thats near by.Excellent friendly staff is a plus as well.

I’m so glad we finally decided to go to Seymour Marine Discovery Center. We have been living in Santa Cruz for over four years and for some reason never visited Seymour before. Well, our loss.This place is great. The amount of things you will learn here is off the books. All of the volunteers were amazing and very attentive. You can totally see how they love what they are doing. They were so engaging that my four years old daughter was interested during our whole visit - which is impressive. From touching a swollen shark to learning about Seal sounds and their fur, from holding a hermit crab to touching a few different sea stars, and much more, we enjoyed every part of our visit. So thanks Bonnie, Lynn, Dale, Tais and all the other volunteers that made our visit to Seymour so pleasant. Some of the activities geared towards kids include a scavenger hunt, stamps, touch pool, puzzles and more.Remember that they are part of a marine lab, so there are people researching and actually working on the background to learn even more about the marine life surrounding us.We did the tour and I was once again amazed by how knowledgeable these people are. I learned so many things that I was as excited as my 4yo. The blue whale skeleton is certainly a highlight of the tour, especially when you get to stand ”inside the whale’s belly.”Take your time to read as many signs and details as you can. I can guarantee that you will learn something new. Remember that this is a small aquarium/marine center, so don’t compare it to bigger aquariums. Think about Seymour as a research center. These guys are working daily to learn more and protect our amazing ocean. And they share their knowledge with us. So forget about size and enjoy your experience.

Great place for a wedding party and learning about sea creatures

We absolutely loved working with the Seymour Center for our wedding reception in October 2019. Their staff was incredibly friendly, helpful, and responsive to work with. The wedding venue was also a perfect gem in the Santa Cruz area — our guests were excited about the beautiful outdoor area right next to the ocean, the exhibits (especially for our younger guests!), and the touch tank during the reception was a total hit. Thank you so much, Seymour Center!

Its nice for families because the Staff is Friendly and they have all the answers. They also let you touch the Sharks, jelly fish and its very educational. Thanks to their hard work and knowledge, children enjoy it.

Wonderful small aquarium with cool creatures

A bit small but still interesting.

Such a cool facility, right on the coast. Its so amazingly unique and beautiful. Their exhibits are actually bring renovated soon, so I assume their exhibits will be getting an upgrade soon. That being said, they have a lot of interesting exhibits already, and if youre into sea life, I highly recommend visiting. Their whale statues are so unique and huge, its truly awe inspiring to look at them. Also, I really recommend walking out back, sitting and watching the waves. Its like a secret part of the museum they dont tell you about. Free admission for UCSC students. Parking free with admission. My favorite animal were the moon jellies. : )

Was good until , they showed us the dolphin they were studying , kept in a tiny pool it could barely swim around in. And was told no photographs or people would get the wrong idea. Dolphin just floating in one spot pretty much lifeless, and he said they have toys to keep him stimulated. If your not doing anything wrong then why hide it? Dont go to this terrible place. I should have taken pictures anyway s so everyone could see how appalling you treat mammals. What a joke.

A great museum with lots of rally cool marine animals!

Beautiful scenery, educational, and interesting to learn.

A beautiful place to visit with children. The view is amazing to walk around and take pictures! The museum is very simple, special and good for children!

Beautiful spot, great event center.

Small Marine education center. There were panels, videos, and live exhibits. SO MUCH TO READ... Almost too much... But the whale outside was fun and the view from the cliff cant be beat!

Great little marine science place. Inexpensive. Not crowded. Small, but a lot to see even so. Blue whale skeleton is amazing!

The whale bones are huge. The view of the ocean is awesome and there are lots of cool things in the museum store.

Hands on...great for kids. I touched a shark and enjoyed the tour where I saw the friendly dolphins!

We had a really good time here. Well done displays. We walked around and enjoyed the location.

Great little aquarium that has plenty to do for little ones. Touch tank and jelly fish!!?!

Awesome cheap aquarium. Especially for the kiddos

Great hands on discovery center for kids. They have tanks where anyone can touch a swell shark, sea anenomes, sea urchins etc. Ask at the desk for a fun scavenger hunt that will take you to most of the exhibits and reward you with a prize. Walk along the cliffs is lovely.

Unbeatable location for a hands-on marine experience. The aquarium and touch tanks are a pleasure to visit and interact with; with docent assistance, touch the Swell Sharks and feel their dendicles for a really unique experience. There are great educational workshops and events here, for teachers, children, and people of all ages and interests. The grasslands surrounding the lab has good birding spots, too.

Ranks with fish and swell sharks and a great view from the cliffs, etc. Very educational.

A small aquarium to explore, but fantastic marine life to see and fun touch tanks

Wow, great info panels and descriptive pictures for all ages. We touched multiple live underwater sea creatures and saw 2 male porpoises playing together. I think one was playing keep away from the other with a big ball. The staff tour guide, Judy, was super helpful to point out dofferent perspectives and an opportunity to touch a Swell shark. The sharks were asleep, thank you.If you like to get into the weeds, see the details under the top surface of the ocean, the Center can more than satisfy your needs.

Really cute and the tour was very informative, touch tanks were super cool

Had a good time learning about marine life, petting starfish and sharks, and having a private little tour of their lab for studying marine life :)

It is a great place to have your kids and adults involve in activities related to our oceans and marine life. My kids had a great experience and had the chance to interact with some marine life. Now we also need to note that the place is a bit small but full of opportunities for you to learn. I he the opportunity to visit this place when I was taking marine biology at school and now I had a chance to share it with my little ones.

A real treasure to Santa Cruz, California and the World! A must see while in Santa Cruz or near Half Moon Bay as well.This picture is taken looking North

Wonderful place! Lots of important information about our oceans. Sharon was a great guide.

A nice sea life science center, primarily geared to kids. Well worth visiting, but I probably wouldnt get a membership. Inside they have a dozen large aquariums with local sea life, a couple of touch pools, and several interactive exhibits.The highlight of the trip were a couple of whale skeletons outside. The blue whale was absolutely enormous!It was raining when I visited, but it looked like there was a nice coastal trail that would be fun on a sunny day.

Excellent marine center with many hands on displays and exhibits. Included with the admission was a tour outside of the facility. Staff was informative and educational.

I could spend 3 days here - so much great info on ocean science!

Amazing panoramic ocean views. Awesome marine mammoth skeletons. Fresh air. Nice gift shop.

Fun and interactive! They allow you to touch some of the creatures too. Beutiful view of the ocean.

Our guide was more interested in promoting political views than the wonder of the scientific animal world.

Really liked this place. Very informative. If you have time take the free tour. Our guide explained a lot about the bay and the creatures living in it. She also took us up to look at the dolphins. You wont be able to see the dolphins if you dont go on the tour.

Great museum, if a little small. I would recommend the dolphin tour.

Small hidden gem in Santa Cruz located on the UC Santa Cruz Campus is a quaint educational and research facility for marine mammals and the entire coastaleco system. Plenty of parking for a small fee and the entrance fee is affordable for large families. Qucik half hour tours of the grounds includes the research areas where you can see dolphins. Nice gift shop proceeds fund research. Hands on activitives include interactive displays, petting sea life.

The aquarium itself is not very big but the view and the tour are great, at the tour you can see the dolphins and a seal. and get an amazing view to a private beach

Perfect place to stroll with the kiddos and learn about ocean sciences with great views! Enthusiastic volunteers are a great source of info.

Beautiful setting. I have volunteered there for years. A good cause. My fellow volunteers are dedicated and interesting people. One of my favorite places to be.

The next best museum after Monterey Aquarium

A wonderful place for young children and adults! The museum is engaging, not overwhelming. My 4 & 7 year old children had such a good time and we all learned a lot about Marine life. We also took part in the guided tour outside, which was informative and interesting. You can see the skeleton of a blue whale on display as well. All the volunteers working at the Center are knowledgeable and friendly.

Love coming here, great place to take children and you may learn something new yourself.

Didnt even know this place existed. While its no Monterey Bay aquarium it allows you to have a very intimate interaction with both staff and sea life. You will not be rushed here and you can ask tons of questions. Best part is you can pet a shark.

It’s a wonderful education! Docent tours every hour. Superb. Kids and adults love it!!

Grandkids (3.5 & 1 year old) loved the touch pools. The kid friendly tour was great. We got to see the dolphins be fed and it was very informative.

If your science minded this place is really fun. Certainly not like the massive Monterey aquarium but thats the point. Small exhibits, scientific info on the region and you get to to touch the swell shark. Youll have to ask how the shark gets it name.

Very fun for the whole family. Free parking the first three hours there.

Great place to take the young ones to learn about local marine life.

Perfect for families with small children. The sea life is incredible here! I learned so much about marine life and the price is really affordable. Gift shop had really cool beach glass items. Loved it.

Absolutely amazing place. Very informative, and a great tour guide.However the parking ticket that we received while on the tour was ridiculous

Very informative and nice place to view different Pacific animals

I touched a shark, and I LIKED it!!! Lol What a wonderful place to visit with the kids! Super informative and they even had a red octopus to look at! The gift shop is really nice too!

This little aquarium is great for little kids. It has a lot of hands on exhibits for them, fulfilling their sensory inquiries. The trail behind the center is fun to explore too!

Nice little museum. Aquariums. You can touch various underwater animals. Interesting. Worth a visit if you are in the area or it is on your way.

A little small, but inexpensive and clearly this place is a love letter to marine biology. Great place to spend an afternoon with the kids.

Small but hands-on experience. Staff are all so knowledgeable and nice. View from Shipwreck cove is amazing!

A gem of oceanic science and outreach. Beautiful exhibits and a focus on education without the crowds. Dont miss it!

Great small aquarium. Perfect size for smaller kids so you can look at everything and not get overdone. There are tanks where you can touch sharks, anemones, and other creatures. The outdoor section is beautiful and the giant skeletons are incredible. You can easily see everything in an hour!

Great family outing with beautiful ocean views as well as natural history with whale skeletons and living sea creatures.

Great non profit museum and research center. Not big, but pretty interesting. Organized tour outside was awesome.

Small and a little out of the way, but still worth the visit. Beautiful views and educational. Recommend taking their tour. They have a small shark petting tank, and a small starfish touch area.

Sadly we visited Santa Cruz on a day the center was closed but the skeletons were really impressive and the view from the coast was nice too.

It wasnt open but we were able to explore outside and loved what we saw!

Being this a research center, got to know the authentic info about different species living underwater.

Wow beautiful museum really easy to walk around and enjoy all the exhibits I got to touch a live shark with help from a professional also I got to touch starfish and anemones did you know their venomous but they cant actually hurt you cuz your skin is too thick haha also they have some cool whales skeletons in the view outside on the cliff edge is spectacular

Kids loved it! Cheap little fun things to do love love love! The sharks you get to pet are beautiful

Fun place to visit

This is a small place, so it won’t take longer than two hours to go through, but worth seeing sometime. You get to pet a shark that’s sleeping; as well as pet a whole host of other smaller marine creatures. Outside the building there are skeletons of some large whales, and at the very back you get a view of the Pacific Ocean (with no beach) that feels surreal.

Good interactive marine center. Be sure to take the tour.

Really cool place! My kids loved it. They have a little touch pool and very educational staff, we learned and saw a lot!

My wife and I have 2 kids and we love Santa Cruz and this is generally one of our stops. It is simple easy yet has a lot of entertainment for the kids. Highly recommend checking this spot out

The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable! Definitely recommend if you have little ones!

84foot blue whale skeleton must be seen outside of the center and free !!!

Tour was fantastic! Swell sharks are wonderful and all for under $10/day

Great place to go, I would extremely reccomend you go on the tour offered, the volunteers are very nice. The volunteer we had was very helpful in answering our questions and would insist on it. I would love to have longer tours becauss of how interesting the tour is and how nice the volunteers are.

I love this place. They have amazing views and a awesome petting zoo for the kids to touch small sharks and etc.. They have cool exhibits and a gift shop kids will love.This place is a must visit with the kiddies. Dont miss the photo ops with the whale reconstruction-ed out front.

Great educational place for kids on the coast. Take the tour. Its free and worth going.

We were looking for some places in Santa Cruz other than this usual theme park, to take our 6 year old daughter and found out this marine discovery museum. It was very educational and there was also an half an hour tour of the research taking place there, and even we had a chance to see the sunset. As this place was very near to the ocean, the views were spectacular as well. They volunteers were pleasant too. Overall, we all had a great time. Must go place in santa Cruz!