Great place! Good op to see local marine life! Hope it reopens after the pandemic!

Is very small, but has interesting info and a couple little ponds

If you havent stopped by, you absolutely should. While their aquatic displays are limited to just a room, it keeps the children easily entertained for over an hour. They have an amazing touch tank and another tank where you can step inside and get a 360 view from inside the tank. If youre lucky with your visit, youll catch them during feeding time where everything in the center display comes alive. For the cost of only a donation, if truly completes your trip to the marina.

Tiny place, but the kids liked it. The young lady working there was very knowledgeable and happy to share. Worth stopping by, making a donation.

Stopped in and glad we did. Traveling with 3 little dudes and they really enjoyed this. It’s one room so it won’t take more than an hour to enjoy. It’s free to get in but they do accept donations. Good family fun spot.

Great place to stop in for 20 minutes. Staff are very knowledgeable and will tell you all about the animals exhibited. Its free and educational. My toddlers loved it. The staff fed the animals while we were there. There is a touch pool, and there is a small sand box.

One of the must visit places in Bellingham. Family friendly and touch tanks too. The staff is amazing and they have tons of knowledge to share.

3 and 1/2 stars. It was cool because they’re some animals and it interesting, but is quite small, we only stayed about 10 minutes. If you have small children I would definitely recommend.

My 2 year old loved being able to touch some cool creatures, play in their sandbox, go inside a tank, and watch some other creatures including crab, starfish, and and octopus! Such a fun, educational spot for children!

This small aquarium is absolutely perfect. Casey was the most informative person with a fabulous personality. We learn so much. This is a great place for kids & adults.

Very small only about 5 different tanks, however very interesting displays. Its a great place to take kids with a lot of factual information geared towards them!

Great place to go rain or shine! Learn something new about marine life, no matter if you have kids or are an adult. We love to take outings here as homeschoolers. Its free to boot, but they do appreciate donations. Also we had trouble finding the first time. You have to park & then walk in a little ways. You cant see from the car.

Helpful volunteers. Love the environment. Good rainy day activity for all kids. Probably dont plan to spend more than 45 minutes here, its not very big but good for brief visits!

Great quick stop to see some marine life. Small touch tank for kids to explore. Staff is generally friendly and knowledgeable. They take the time to teach you about the sea life. It is free to go in so that is nice. But because of that its not super fancy or anything. We often go here though for quick trips. Kids always enjoy it doesnt 2o or 39 minutes.

Always fun to see the marine life up close. Even touch, gently, some starfish!

Beautiful place to see. Its a small hall with 3, 4 aquariums. There are very interesting crabs and marine plants. Flawless place to walk through. Time of attendances will be round about 30 min - 1h

Love this stop. Its small but the people working are very knowledgable and friendly. Answered all of our questions and more. The touch pool is super awesome as well. Very fun and interactive little place that runs on donations. If you have kids or love the sea inland recommend checking this place out when you are in the area.

This little aquarium offers a free view into the underwater life of the Pacific Northwest. The colors are astonishing! The staff are wonderful at answering questions and very informative and engaging. A real bonus when they have an octopus to observe, which seems often. They help the injured and disadvantaged and release them back into the ocean. And they have a touch tank!

Because its has an octopus! And more. A great place to take the grandboys for some interesting facts about the NW marine life. The volunteers were very informative and enjoyed hanging out with us. We had a ball!

A great little place to stroll through and check out some amazing sea life

Three kids had fun .. theyre the best reason yup give 5 stars

Great little place to view local sea creatures such as shellfish, crabs, & fish. Most tanks are accessible to young children via steps or stools. There is also a touch tank too. All children should be supervised!

Very small but fun little spot to visit. The guy working there knows his stuff

It is fun and free.

The two volunteers available were absolutely fantastic at their jobs and made the smaller building feel like it truly housed part of the sea. Would definitely recommend for smaller groups and super fun for kids of all ages!

Nice little museum. Filled with marine life. Staff are friendly and well informed on species etc. Interactive touch pond has many eels and hermit crabs along with shrimp and starfish. Great location to take younger kids and anyone intersted in Marine life.

Definitely coming back! Very amazing work with the sea creatures.

We love the Marine life center. The staff is so knowledgeable and they take such good care of their residents. My son is homeschooled and theres always great things to learn there. We got to see them feed the big pool of fish today and it was really neat to watch.

Our family has been enjoying this Marine Life Center at the Port of Bellingham for over 20 years!

This was a great free activity to do with kids! Its only in one room and it didnt have anything too exciting but the touch pool with crabs and star fish was fun for my kids. Its a nice little fun stop to make.

Fantastic for a free little hands on aquatic exhibit. They need some fundraising to spruce up the place a bit, so make sure you make a little donation when you visit.

Sweet little humble place. Great for kids.

ITS FREE!little kids will like it

Wonderful first experience for my 16 month old and his toddler friends.

Cool as a first time goer. But its not somewhere we would choose over and over again. I understand that it is expensive because it is going towards all the costs of the animals but It is such a short lived trip. Wish they would expand and have a larger aquarium, to make your trip last longer than an hour.

My family loves this place!Great for all ages! Well not anyone under5 if they are prone to misbehaving.Kids love to touch tanks but you must be respectful. Do not bring the creatures above water. You must be gentle and slow with them. Please do not tap on tanks.The staff is very knowledgeable and loves to answer any questions you might have!

Free entry and several tanks full of native sealife in this one room facility. Not really a destination but we stop in with the kids about once a year.

This place is, hands down, my familys favorite place to go when we have some free time. My exuberant 4 year old is always asking to go to the touch tank. The staff/volunteers are friendly and knowledgeable, and have extreme patience with the little kids that come there.If you are lucky, you will be able to see a rescued octopus that is waiting to be released! Sometimes there isnt one, but that doesnt make the place any less fun.Love the marine life center, and I hope it never closes. Education and conservation about the animals of sea being taught to my kids is a win.

Weve been coming here for a decade. It is always good for a pick me up, no matter the weather. Theres nothing like watching an octopus sleep or the rhythmic beating of a filter feeder to relax you and make the world seem full of purpose and beauty.

This place is awesome and educational place to take kids of all ages. Hands on education.

It was smaller than I expected, but still fun. The touch pool had a good variety of sealife to experience, and we got to help feed them. The lady working there was great explaining things about the creatures, both to children and adults.The Center could use some signs directing people from the parking lot. We werent the only ones in the lot asking strangers if they could direct us. It is in a group of buildings, and farthest away from the parking lot, closest to the marina.

I wouldnt recommend visiting this Center if its the only thing you are planning on doing. Its fairly small and unheated and wont take very long to browse. I would plan to spend some time on the waterfront or enjoy another attraction nearby to make it worth your time. It has a little sandbox, a little touch pool, and other aquariums around the small room to look at, but its not much. That being said, my kids enjoyed seeing the crabs and the fish and touching the starfish. And its free.

Great place to see sea critters of the Pacific northwest! Dont expect a full on aquarium, but my kids love this place and i enjoy seeing the stuff thats around us! Highly recommend!

This small aquarium full of local marine life is always fun to visit. I only wish they had better quality lighting for their tanks, it would be so much healthier for their animals and would certainly showcase them much better. I enjoy taking out of town guests here, so they can see first hand what creatures live in the local bay. Our daughter also enjoys the touch tank. The aquarium is small but very educational. It is free admittance, but please do donate what you are able when you visit.

Its fun, its free (you can drop a donation) the kids like learning about sea creatures. There are a lot of pictures with facts about sea friends.

Small, but really neat. Has a wide variety of sea life. A hidden Bellingham gem.

Perfect little spot in Bham to let littles get to experience some of Washingtons sea creatures up close and personal!

Kind of small... But altogether it was great! It had cool fish, an octopus, starfish, and crab!

Its cool if youre taking someone who doesnt use a wheelchair or other assistive device, but otherwise you cant really move around and they are really restricted which sucks cause it is a fun thing to do.

Decent for being free. But was pretty tiny and my kids got bored after a bit.

Such a wonderful place for kids to learn about water animals and get to see some. They even take the time to answer questions to your little ones or even you yourself.

Great place to take out of town guests or kids.

For such a small discovery centre, there was a surprising number of very unique and unusual collection of marine species available to see and learn about. The staff that operate it are actual marine biologists and really know their stuff so don’t be shy to ask about anything regarding the animals that are there.

Amazing!!! The staff knew EVERYTHING! There wasnt a question we asked they didnt know! Loved it and recommend to all!!!! A must see!

It’s funded by donations so don’t expect anything modern or fancy. It’s a small centre with a couple aquarium tanks and a touch pool. The touch pool is large and has star fish and crabs. It’s quite entertaining watching the crabs move around the water.

Pretty cool place to bring the kiddos, and free to boot. The touch tanks and octopus make the trip from Ferndale worth it, and my family visits about once a week. While it will only likely keep the youngins entertained for about an hour, my children and I also enjoy looking for seashells behind the building so we get to learn a little, bond a little, etc.

Definitely small and not alot 2 see

Fabulous displays, Staff is hella knowable, super mass friendly. Great place!

This is a small place, but so awesome! Brooke was a four twin of knowledge, and the variety of animals was so cool.

Kids loved it! Teacher Casey(?) was awesome!

I love the people there how they encourage everyone, even the Grown Ups to touch the fish.

As a homeschooling mom its great to have places like this where my kiddos can go to learn and experience new things that just arent the same when reading from a text book. You guys rock Marine Life Center!

My husband and I stumbled across this place on accident and enjoyed the discovery. There are marine creatures in various small habitats. Its a small place, and youll be in and out within 30-60 minutes, tops.The center is free to enter and does run on donations, so be sure to drop a few bucks in the donations box on your way out.

Very clean and well kept. Was a little smaller than expected and the staff didnt really interact and explain stuff.

Single room aquarium. Kid had fun but its small

This was a great stop on our day and an even more integral service to our community and the children that reside within it

Donations welcome at this free and informative marine life center. Learn about all sorts of different local marine life or just marvel at how cool they look. Take your picture inside the dome where it feels like youre one with the sea creatures. There touch tank is cold but worth the pain; touch sea urchin and stars.

Kids love it and its educational

Small place but there are so many varieties of sea creatures to look at, study and touch. Some might stay for 5-10 minutes and leave but you could actually spend an hour or over if you pay attention to the details. Highly recommended if youd like to know and experience whats in the Salish Sea.

We always have such a great time. My family loves watching the Marine life and learning about them and touching all the different things in touch tanks.

We love our visits here. we come atleast 3-4x a month stay for about an hr or 2 just letting the kids have fun with the touch tank they have there which is perfect for my kids ages 6-9. always having something new added when we come...staff is great and informative.

Very informative. My nieces loved touching the starfish! Really cool to watch an octopus eat. Thanks!

It is a free small aquatic information center with tanks full of tidepool sea creatures. Lots of great information. One tank us hands on, so you can touch a live starfish. Right on the Marina.

Rather nice spot to go to with a cool touch tank

Grandkids love it well an Papa, great touch tank

Love this place, its free to visit and our son really enjoys seeing the fish and crabs!

This is a wonderful, hands-on, interactive marine life museum aimed at kids. Visitors have an opportunity to see, touch and learn about various harmless marine life common to the Sound and Pacific coast tidal pools like urchins, oysters, clams, mussels, hermit crabs, prawns and sea stars.Visitors also have an opportunity to view and learn about a wide variety of less hospitable marine life close-up, but safely. The museum is small, but packed with interesting exhibits and supported by a friendly, dedicated staff of (mostly) volunteers.

It was small, but the gentleman working there was very knowledgeable which made it more interesting. It was a nice stop

A small volunteer-run display of maritime creatures from the Bellingham area. There is a touch pool for those so inclined, and tanks of other interesting local finds. Some visit for only a short time before being released back into the wild, while others are regulars. Good for everyone, but particularly suitable for kids.

Amazing place to take children, family, or friends for a unique up close experience with marine life! Touch tank is great for kids and adults alike.

Emily was patient, knowledgeable, welcoming!

Great place for kids to see and touch real marine life in this small but dense exhibit. Even fun for boring adults as well!

Free, kids love it, well maintained. Touch tank kept them busy for over half an hour.

Such a cool place! We walked in during meal time and my daughter got to help feed the touch tank critters.

Defiantly smaller than expected, a good place to stop in for 15 min though. 5 or so small aquariums to look at and a touch tank with star fish, little crabs and such

Lovely little center with aquariua full of local creatures and knowledgeable & helpful staff. Leave a couple of bucks in the donation box for the best deal in Bellingham.

We made a visit to the Marine Life Center with our 4 year old and 1 year old boys. The two of them are still fascinated with fish and marine invertebrates so the small center was a fun stop. It is a relatively small place, so do not expect an extravagant aquarium. Although we did not interact with the staff, it seemed that they make an effort to provide educational information that is directed at young audiences. Another plus is that there is no admission.

Learn about local sea life of the PNW!Donations taken but its free!Fun for the whole family!Only thing is there isnt much room inside for to many people.One time I stopped but and a whole class was there.

Fun for littles. Very small, cramped and smelly, but educational and fun for kids.

My 3 year old lives coming here and exploring. Very friendly and informative staff

It was a pretty nice place. The volunteers were knowledgeable and nice. It was kinda small but had everything a large aquarium would have, just smaller. The tanks were filled with local animals and there was even a touch tank. The best part was that you could go in and see all of this for free (donations welcome).

I love this place! The lady running the shop new a lot about the octopuses and was able to answer any questions we had. Such a great place to visit for anyone who likes marine life. We will definitely be coming back to visit again.

Great place to bring kids.

Fun place to visit with the little ones

Beautiful place to go for a walk. The marine life center is small, but you will sure enjoy it and have a good time with your kids. The park is really close and the bellweather hotel is next to it

Definitely a must see. Bring the whole family. Constantly new specimens arriving. Got to see the giant wolf eel fed. Octopus was swimming around. Baby stingray. So much to see from our local waters.

Always fun to visit the new octopus, also got to see baby skates. Our 8 yr old daughter loves the touch tank, and we love that there is always someone knowledgeable to answer her many, many questions.

Wonderful for kids of all ages!

Very informative, and free. Although I recommend donating if you can spare it.

Love kid enjoyed everything