My youngest has an obsession with walruses and sea lions. While we live in gorgeous Southern California, with so many hundreds of miles of coast line, there aren’t a lot of aquariums available where you’re guaranteed a good view of those favorite sea animals. Good thing the Aquarium of the Pacific is only about 1.25 hours away from us (in decent traffic) and they have an outdoor exhibit housing, you guessed it, sea lions!
How do you not love that face?
I was fascinated with this same big guy, I kept taking pictures of him!
Aren’t they adorable?
Not so much this guy….
I was glad for the thick glass when he slowly cruised by me. I swear he was eyeballing me.
That’s a much cooler looking fish, and Little Dude was really enjoying watching him! He rarely smiles on camera, so either he didn’t know I was taking this or he decided it was cool to smile.
See? Rarely a smile on camera!
I totally didn’t have his attention right now, that caramel Flavorburst ice cream cone did!
Next up, the Google maps tool had his attention. I was proud to watch him quickly navigate to our neighborhood on the big screen when inputting our zip code wasn’t doing it. Such a fun toy, I’d have spent a lot longer with this except there was a line.
And these jelly fish were mesmerizing! I could have watched these for a long time, too. They each truly just move so gracefully yet independently, and they reminded me of helium balloons. So beautiful, though I don’t want to see them when I’m at the beach. (We used to see them at Myrtle Beach sometimes, and they are much prettier inside a tank, safely away from us.)
The Aquarium of the Pacific was a blast! We wandered through the exhibits, sat outside in the sun, touched the rays and Little Dude even got to touch a baby shark! We enjoyed ice cream while looking out at the shoreline where the Queen Mary is, beyond a beautiful lighthouse, and picked up a quick souvenir in one of the gift shops. As a highlight, we passed the remnants of the Long Beach Grand Prix, pretty cool for this racing fan! If you’re looking for a fun family outing, visit the aquarium! (And if you’re a member of the Auto Club, or AAA, flash your card when you purchase tickets and you get a decent discount!)
What a fun day! My daughter recently went to that aquarium for a field trip & couldn’t stop talking about how neat it is. Great pics!
Thanks! I took so many pictures, I was loving my son’s laughter and smiles while watching the sea lions. We got there at the perfect time, getting a great seat at the glass right before feeding time. It’s a great aquarium with a lot of different zones to wander.
What a fun place to spend the day! We have been a few times and really like it, especially my daughter.
Isn’t it a great aquarium? We used to go to the one in Myrtle Beach twice a month for their awesome homeschool classes and I miss that. This was the first aquarium we’ve gone to since and it didn’t disappoint.
The Aquariums in California do such a GREAT job. Seriously, some of the best I’ve seen… and the Aquarium of the Pacific is one of my favorites. Glad you guys got to explore and visit!
Thanks, Jamie! I’d love to see the Monterey one, too, but haven’t been up there with enough time to squeeze it in. Someday!
This looks like so much fun and you took some amazing photos. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Christy! I had just gotten my new phone the week before and I may have gone a bit overboard with the photog LOL
Holy crap, thanks very much for posting this! It is gonna be so helpful when I am thinking about going to Sun Ray Cinema in Jacksonville! Very Beautiful!