Aquarium Of The Pacific

We were so happy to be invited to the Aquarium of the Pacific this weekend to help them celebrate their reopening as well as checking out their safety measures for you. The kids are so excited to be visiting their favorite places again. But, like any parent, even though my husband and I are fully vaccinated, our children’s safety is our number one concern. I want to share my experience to help inform you in your decision on venturing back out into the world.

Per California state mandate, advanced reservations are required for safety. Aquarium Of The Pacific does have timed entry and reduced capacity which I really appreciated. There are temp checks at the door and masks are mandatory while you are visiting for ages 2 and up.

Pacific Visions Wing is new and not to be missed! I expected it to be closed but was pleasantly surprised not just to find it open, but to see how they handled the interactive learning portion and the movie experience. AOP has made clean stylus pens available so that you can easily grab and use a stylus for the touch screens. There are buckets labeled “clean” and “dirty” holding stylus pens throughout the aquarium. My kids actually prefer using a stylus and loved using it instead of their hands. The Pacific Visions movie experience is very well spaced out skipping every other row. We felt very comfortable in the stadium seating to watch this incredibly visually stunning movie.

Another favorite for our family is the touching pools. Although the indoor tide pool is closed, you can still touch the sting rays, moon jelly fish and even feed a lorikeet! The kids especially loved the sting rays and the jelly fish!

There are plenty of hand washing stations as well as sanitizing stations throughout the aquarium for you to clean your hands often. There are some places inside the aquarium and even outdoors at the touching pools where it can get congested and a little crowded for our comfort. As we begin navigating life outside our bubble it is up to us to decide how comfortable we are and remove ourselves from the situation. Luckily, at the Aquarium of the Pacific there was no lack of fun to move on to the next space safely.

A special thank you to the Aquarium of the Pacific for hosting our visit. All opinions and thoughts are my own. For more tips, and to get an inside look, check out our story highlight on Instagram! If you have any questions about planning your next visit, drop them down in comments! I’d be happy to help you plan your next visit! To book your tickets to the Aquarium of the Pacific, click here!