The employees were all so sweet and knowledgeable! We got to learn about local sea life and even touch them. My 5 year old loved it and wont stop talking about it!

Located on the North end of Sterns WHarf this small Sea Center has a nice variety of exhibits including a touch tank for small sharks and small tide pool critters. There are several tanks and a tide pool display. This is a great place for visitors and locals to see some of the local sea life. The staff is friendly and helpful and families with children should enjoy the interactive nature of the exhibits. There is a modest admission fee.

Friendly, knowledgeable volunteers, unless your kid is a crustecean lover you can breeze through in less than an hour without rushing. Our 2 yr old had fun but ideal age would probably be 4-8yrs for maximum fun

Cool little museum where you can get your hands wet or just observe.

My husband and I had our wedding at the Sea Center and it was incredible! A truly beautiful location with stunning views of the mountains, beach and ocean. If youre thinking of a venue for a wedding or a special event, this is the best place in Santa Barbara. You cant beat the setting or the price. We had our ceremony on the wharf, cocktail hour inside the sea center, and then back to the wharf for dancing. Thank you staff at the Sea Center for making this the best day of our lives!

We loved it! The touch pools were fabulous. Hands on feel to the ocean. The staff was very knowledgeable about sea life and had answers to all of our questions. Ian (age 11)showed us some very cool things and helped us hear as dolphins hear! Our 3 kids loved it!! We spend about 1.5 hrs and we will be visiting again!

This was an awesome place. Went near closing and were the only people there.

Really nice, staff was very polite and informative

It was so cool to touch all the different sea creatures! The kids as well as the adults loved it! The staff was so friendly and knowledgeable, they interact with the everyone and asked the kids questions to get them involved. You can try and pull sea creatures up from the ocean yourself and the staff will tell you all about anything you find. Theres also an upstairs which we almost missed but theres even more to look at up there. I would definitely recommend checking this place out if youre in the Santa Barbara area

The pier is a never to be missed attraction in Santa Barbara. You can drive on the pier to an amazing Pacific Sunset. The restaurants and the Gift shop on the pier is amazing.

Incredible place to visit. Very, very, very cool. Staff/Volunteers very knowledgeable and friendly. Staff encouraged exploration under microscope to find living organisms in sand and on plant life. Love this place!!! Thank you to all staff, you ROCK!!!

Really nice! Interesting!

Amazing little Aquarium for Kids who love sea animals. My kids 4.5 and 7 enjoyed touching the sharks and the rays, the sea stars and the anemones in this little gem. The staff is helpful and eager to share their knowledge! Even though its on the smaller size, and doesn’t have a lot of exhibits, the exhibits it does have are awesome and very well taken care of.

Small, but nice. Exhibits are great with touch tanks for rays, sharks, anemones, sea stars, cucumbers, and mollusks. You can also take a look at recently collected organisms and small animals from algae. The jellies were nice, and we liked the upstairs exhibit. Docents were helpful and plentiful. A fairly high price, but it provides funding for beach cleanups, plankton research, and education. I think its totally worth it!

Great interactive museum. First time visiting and it was a free day! However, I did donate upon entering. Although my son was only 9 months and in a stroller, he still enjoyed looking at the aquariums. Theres an elevator as well to assist wheeled visitors to go upstairs. Will bring my son again when hes older.

Loved the experience of petting the tiger sharks. The moon jellies were the best.

Amazing place to bring kids or come yourself ! Pet some sharks, touch some warty sea cucumbers and pull up some nets!

Great little place on Stearns Wharf. Perfect for children and adults. Friendly staff. Not very big but lots of fun, interactive things to do and a lot to learn. Those with sensitivities to smell will be cautioned to the plasticine dolphin upstairs. The odor is not too strong but definitely present. I wasnt bothered by it but others may be. Great views of the ocean and shore from upstairs.

Down stairs it really boring... blonde girl stands in the way of anyone who tries to look at something! It’s ridiculous. RIDICULOUS. So anyway let’s get back. Go upstairs you will not be dissappointed

Cute little museum, quick enough to do and get to the beach.

Best touch tank ever. More geared towards kids, but still worth a walk through for anyone.

Just a really fun little center, with knowledgeable staff who genuinely care about the amazing sea creatures they care for. My girls love the touch tanks and the jellyfish!

Take the kids, a very small well kept place. Enjoy the pier when you are done.

Really nice place. Friendly staff too. Very interesting

The people that work here are very lovely, nice interactive exhibits

Quite a nice place to visit. Parking was great and ticket prices were reasonable. Lots of little buildings with exhibits to wander through. The whale bone display out front was also nice.

Small but very well run musuem. Volunteers were extremely knowledgable and helpful. Wonderful way to end a walk and lunch on the pier. Dont be fooled by the surrounding paid parking areas. You can park on pier for 90 mins free. Museum takes about an hour.

Interesting small museum. Staff very helpful and eager to explain things. Very good for kids.

This place is great. You are even allowed to pet a shark. Its a small sea center but its on the wharf I the pier. Enjoy the center, enjoy the pier and enjoy the beautiful weather! Definitely a must to be here. You get 90 minutes free parking on the end of the pier.

Great place! Most of the staff is super knowledgeable about local sea life and the ecology. Feeding the sharks was amazing. However, one staff member was a tad argumentative about a particular shark I have a lot of experience with. (He remained professional and was admittedly not as familiar as I was. No big deal. Hes a good guy. )

Super cute little spot. A lot smaller than I had anticipated, but a good experience for my 5 year old.

The boys love this place. They have great staff at each of the stations teaching the kids about marine life and there is so much to do in the limited space that they have. Boys had a great time in the ocean lab part of the sea center where they got to test the pH level of the water and do the interactive exhibits with water flow and even pulling a net up from the ocean!

I love the experience of the wet deck, where you can bring creatures from the bottom of the ocean to look at them. There are also touch pools with sea anemone and starfish.On the upstairs, there is a bunch of tanks with other cool sea creatures. I love this place and think you should too.

Fun exhibits & marine animals, can interact w/some.

Amazing place to learn about marine animals and the ocean. Gorgeous views, knowledgeable staff, and well stocked gift shop.

This place is awesome. Took a ride up to Santa Barbara for the day with my wife and son for lunch and sight seeing. My wife led us here. This place is cool, fun and cheap. Im glad I walked in. Their setup is fun. A lot of interaction for the kids and adults who nerd out like me. Also, they have jelly fish and some exotic fish upstairs. The best part is when they let you touch the starfish. Must try, dont just take my word for it.

Fun family activity. Not very big but they have a sweet gift shop.

This place was really great. We got to touch some amazing creatures! The staff was super friendly and very educational. I recommend taking the time to bring your children. They learn not only facts but how to be gentle and understanding when it comes to touching. Not only do they learn but they get an amazing view towards the ocean and the city. Prices are very moderate and they give military discounts! We walked out wanting to bring our nieces and nephews on our next trip. We’re definitely going to return.

This place isnt large but its packed full of cool exhibits. Highly recommend this for a family outing. The price is right.

Took my son and he loved it! Great experience for the family. Knowledgeable staff and beautiful exhibits.

My daughter loved the divers cause she could ask a lot of questions to the divers. The staff are very very nice

Had a great time on a weekend trip to Santa Barbara. There are a ton of little exhibits for a buddong naturalist covering local nature plus bigger topics like climate change. As a science teacher, I love museums and a chance to learn and there was plenty to keep me occupied. It wasnt crowded so that was nice with nearby free parking. If o had little ones, itd be a great morning adventure and its a great afternoon date. Lots to see and talk about plus learn!

Pretty fun little place with nice exhibits. Get to feed sharks and other things and touch a bunch of weird sea creatures. Make the most of it!

Beautiful museum and place for events. I was there at a wedding and everything was perfect!

We decided to go to Santa Barbara just for the day. We went to this little Museum on the pier and had a blast! The moon jellies were super cool to look at as well as the other ocean life there. We saw baby sharks hatching and discovered some other cool sea life there. Just inside the enterence has a hugh polar bear, great for a photo opportunity! This place is small but great for a whim visit!

Its​ a nice small museum. Kids will enjoy interacting in the tidepool tank and the shark touch tank. Also, they have a cool exhibit of jellyfishes (medusas).

So incredibly worth the price of admission. Interactive exhibits as fascinating as they are informative. The touch tanks are so much fun- where else can you touch a shark! And we really enjoyed playing marine biologist in the lab.

Small and quick little interactive aquarium perfect for young kids or toddlers in need of a distraction and some fun.

Cure place. Looks like a scaled down version of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. More of a little kid place and smaller than I expected, but it entertained the 2 teenagers I had with me for almost an hour.I can not deny that how they go about it is top shelf! The place is as well laid out as you could ask for, immaculate almost to a fault, and absolutely everything about how the staff perform their jobs is first class, all the way. They were friendly, attentive, and seemed knowledgeable.

My sister had her wedding here and it was beautiful! Views from the pier and a great party atmosphere inside. I even learned a thing or two about mantis shrimp during the reception.

Good exhibits and well informed, friendly, Staff. I would recommend a visit to anyone interested in the world about them.

Very friendly and knowledgeable Staff who allowed you to interact with the sea creatures, even allowing us to touch them in controlled ways. Their close up cameras and viewing pods allowed you a fantastic view of some very small sea creatures. The staff explained clearly a number of each animals features and how that helped them in life. We spent at least an hour being entertained.

Very cool...down from Sacramento spending the day here in SB

Fun for kids. They get to see sea life and theres spots to touch some sea creatures.

So much to learn about the marine life and the people there are so knowledgeable and helping

Nice for younger kids or a quick tour to the local sea life. Just about a hour worth. Wonderful marine touch tanks. Great young staff, good with kids and answering questions. A must stop for my grandkids.

We loved this place, and my toddler loved walking around and touching the different seat creatures!

Watching the kids at hands-on learning and demonstrations was a great way to enjoy a windy morning.

I would say if anything that the Santa Barbara museum of natural Sea life is I would say at best just fine and its cool if you want to just kill some time while youre out in Santa Barbara but the negative of it is the price of a condition is honestly quite high I dont feel the real return on investment $9 from adult seems a bit high when they really dont give you anything thats worth that value I would say its cool to take your kids maybe once or twice but I feel like that place needs a little bit more for what they charge

We were at the Harbor today. It was a Gorgeous day. And to go to the NHM was fun. The people were so nice & informed. People of all ages had a good time there.️️

Awsome adventure we were not planning this but wete planning to go to the Santa Barbara Pier. So this was a welcome surprise we will go again

Great day with our granddaughter ️️

Really cool museum. Small in comparison with other museums, but the exhibits are very cool. Many things you can touch, and there is even a section where they have a station build around a hole in the floor. You can lower down a small grabber that takes some sand of the ocean floor. You can then look inside to see what there is. Shells, rocks, and small sea life can be found. The staff are friendly and know a lot. In all, a really great museum.

Even though it was a small venue, it was still pretty cool to visit

Small but fascinating. Dont forget to go upstairs to see the moon jellies. Easy to park for free on the pier on this Friday afternoon.

It’s a fun little aquarium for kids. We came here expecting something slightly larger, but this place is meant for kids. We spent about 20 minutes walking through. They have lots of staff interacting with and teaching the kids, so I’m sure you’d spend at least an hour here with children. However, for two adults, it’s not worth the price.

Love this place was so cool. I love the fact you can touch the creatures.

I came bby myself but it was a great place to enjoy by yourself or with kids. I would love to being my son through here, it has little interactive thing for kids and adults of all ages..also I was free to go through which is always a bonus

This is great lil place to come bring the kids, family see underwater creatures. It even has a touch pool. Very nice shops and great places to eat.

Fun place to walk around and learn more about the marine life

My son loves all the animals he can touch. The staff is great with kids

Kind of expensive, but our grandchildren had a great time touching sharks, starfish & sea cucumbers. They also loved the shark movie.

Its a very small museum. There are two floors, but very little to nothing to do on the top floor. At least not the day I went, which was on a Tuesday afternoon. The little we did was enjoyable. I probably wouldnt pay full price if I went back.

First time visiting with my grandkids. We all enjoyed the hands on exhibits. $22 for 3 of us! Very reasonable.

Great place! It is small, but jam packed with so much to do and learn! The employees were knowledgeable and very kind.

Small, but nice, u can touch some of the fish

Its very fun for little kids, I love bringing my family here.

Volunteers who were guide!

Loved the place. My daughter wants to comeback again, so planning for next visit again

They let you pet young sharks and you can look at small marine life under a microscope. It was really nice.

My 3 year old had a great time. We came for the octopus but pulling up sand from the ocean floor was the best part.

First time to go. So many amazing sea creatures big and small to see..ALL right from the area. GREAT place for young and old alike.

Such a fun day out with children. My boys LOVE it here. Were members and visit regularly.You can touch sharks and rays. They have a tidepool touching exhibit, and a deck observation where they pull up debris and creatures from the bottom of the harbor and you can see what you pulled up under a high powered microscope!Upstairs they have a dark room with aquariums full of jellyfish, decorator crabs, fish, and an octopus.We start downstairs, make our way upstairs, and return downstairs for one more look at the lobster, sharks, rays, and sea stars before lunch. Fun outing!

Great museum that is geared towards all ages. It keeps children in mind heavily as it has many interactive exhibits.

What a treat is this on the Santa Barbara pier. My 6 year old granddaughter was amazed with the holding of live sea creatures uner the direction of University students of Marine biology. We spent two hours inside and outside.. learning and being amazed. This is a first class Marine biology museum for all ages. And the gift shop has quality gifts. The setting on the lively Santa Barbara pier is breathtaking.

I invited my family from san Francisco and they loved it

Loved hows the staff showed my little one all the sea creatures and explained to him what was what...

Small but truly spectacular ocean museum. The focus is interaction with real sea life. The main attraction is a sampling station, where you can help drop a spring-loaded scoop or a wide net to the bottom of the channel, then bring up live invertibrates. When we visited, there were octopus, nudibranch, sea cucumber, and a wide variety of crabs, shrimp and vegetation in collection jars to touch, inspect closely or place under a microscope connected to a video screen. Truly amazing. The touch tidepool and touch shark tank are also best in class. There are also nice, small exhibits with octopus, jellyfish and other sea creatures, particularly upstairs. One of the best sea life museums I have visited :-).

This is the coolest marine museum ever! I went there with my 4-yr old granddaughter, but its a fun place for adults, too.

Its a wonderful place

Great place to spend an hour with kids

Very pleasant and wonderful for children

Since were being subjected to so much unnatural history, this is a perfect place to see some things that are charming, nostalgic, and educational. Lovely dioramas, which are being restored; a nice little gen collection; fossil remains; stuffed birds ( thats why you dont need to feed them) and if you are lucky real ones,too; a live butterfly area; an outdoor area to wander; and a library, all make this an easy adventure right near the DT Santa Barbara area.

Sea center at the wharf is fun for kids

Beautiful and we got to pet a baby shark.

Fun interactive exhibits. Great for kids.

Got t the place 18 minutes before closing and were told they were closed, as young lady was counting ting out her cash drawer. We drove over 100 miles to go there and wanted a souvenir to no avail. 1 start is to many. Maybe next time my 2 yr old wi be able to rush in and see so.e fish. Which is all he wanted.

15min to closing so decided not to do the museum since not enough time but decided to at least by a few things in there gift shop. Went to register to pay Brittany was rude. Then said she already closed out and I had to use my credit card only ....wow wouldnt take a cask transaction and would rather lose a sale...poor customer service...wow

Nice set up on the pier. I just dropped in to buy something from the gift shop and look around. Very friendly informative staff.

It was okay...beautiful location..was expecting it to be bigger