The Monterey Bay Aquarium located in a former cannery is one of the largest aquariums in the World. The aquarium holds over 35,000 creatures in its many aquariums. One of which is a 33 ft high aquarium for viewing coastal marine life, and a one million gallon aquarium which features one of the largest windows in the World.

Among the exhibits is a beautiful, up-close view of a kelp forest, another room shows several species of amazing jelly fish, and then there's the shark tank. In the shark tank you'll find several species of shark including hammer heads, white tip and black tip reef sharks, and at one time a great white .The great white was returned to the ocean March 31st, 2005 because it was eating the other sharks.

The aquarium opened October 20th, 1983. You will find long lines outside of people waiting to get in. The line took about 30 minutes for us at 11am on a Saturday. Once inside there is lots of room, and many exhibits to see. There's even a great restaurant with Executive Chef Dory Ford. I felt a little guilty eating a lobster sandwich. But it was excellent! It's not all that cheap either, so bring some cash. We ordered calamari (I know, I know) two lobster sandwiches, some iced tea, and desert. All in all it was about $80.

There are several touch pools located around the aquarium giving kids and adults the opportunity to touch sea life. You can even touch a string ray!

Click here for a video I made of our visit. It's 15MB so it might take a few minutes to download completely.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Exhibits

• Drifters Gallery: Float along through the largest permanent collection of jellyfish species in the United States.
• The Kelp Forest: Look through the world's largest window to get a diver's eye view of a kelp forest and its inhabitants.
• Sea Otters: See the otters above and below the water at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Feeding time is a special treat for Monterey Bay Aquarium visitors as well as otters.
• Outer Bay: Creatures found in the temperate Eastern Pacific swim in more than a million gallons of sea water, giving a glimpse of life in the open ocean.
• Sharks: Myth and Mystery The shark extravaganza includes a shark petting pool and a collection of the sharp-toothed creatures such as round stingrays, pajama cat sharks and the Galapagos shark, never before displayed outside of Hawaii.

Monterey Bay Aquarium
886 Cannery Row
Monterey, CA
(831) 648-4888 (information)
(831) 648-4800 (main number)
Monterey Bay Aquarium Website

• Hours: Open every day except December 25
• Reservations: Not required
• Cost: Admission charged
• Location: Cannery Row, driving directions below
• How Long: Allow at least half a day
• Best Time to Visit: Any time, but the Monterey Bay Aquarium is less crowded on weekdays when the kids are in school

Getting to the Monterey Bay Aquarium
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is located at the west end of Cannery Row. To get there from California Highway 1, exit at Munras Avenue. Follow the brown signs toward Cannery Row and the aquarium. You will find a paid parking lot just uphill from the aquarium on David Avenue.
During summer months and major holiday periods when the area is very busy, look for signs directing you to parking in downtown for the free WAVE visitor shuttle to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

No matter how you enjoy our ocean's bounty, remember that our planet is more than seventy percent water, and there's no one to take care of it but us! "The happiness of the bee and the dolphin is to exist. For man it is to know that and to wonder at it." - Jacques Cousteau

Here are some great webcams from Monterey Bay Aquarium.