The Monterey Bay Aquarium is the Peninsula’s crown jewel, one of the best aquariums anywhere, built into the old Cannery Row sardine plant with the bay itself piped through the tanks. Whether it is your first visit or your fiftieth with visiting family, a little strategy makes the day.
The must-sees are the kelp forest, a two-story tank you can watch feeders dive into, the jellyfish galleries, and the open-sea exhibit with its tuna and sea turtles. The touch pools and the sea otters are the kid magnets. Feeding times are posted and worth timing your visit around.
The local move is to go early on a weekday if you can, since weekends and holidays get genuinely crowded, and to buy timed tickets ahead. If you visit often, a membership pays for itself in two trips and lets you drop in for an hour without the pressure to see everything.
Parking on Cannery Row is tight, so use the garages or the free downtown trolley in summer. See what else is on around the bay on our events calendar, and our guide to getting around the Peninsula covers the trolley. For tickets, hours, and feeding times, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has everything.
