After careful planning with the City of Long Beach, the Aquarium of the Pacific will reopen its outdoor areas this Saturday, January 30, with special safety measures in place. The Aquarium will also continue to offer a variety of at-home programs through its Online Academy, including virtual cultural festivals.
The Aquarium is offering discounted admission to visit its expansive outdoor areas with safety protocols in place. Whether you’re planning a staycation or looking to unwind watching fish or playful penguins and sea lions, the Aquarium invites you to explore its outdoor areas for $19 per person with advance reservations. Guests can feed colorful lorikeet birds and safely touch sharks, rays, and even moon jellies in the Aquarium’s outdoor exhibits.
On the Aquarium’s Harbor Terrace with ocean views, you can see an exhibit with archerfish that can shoot water out of their mouths and another with mudskippers, fish that can live out of water. The Moon Jelly Touch tank is also located on the Harbor Terrace. Guests can journey into the Lorikeet Forest aviary to feed colorful Australian bird species. As you exit the aviary, you can learn about the importance of fresh water and what you can do to conserve it in the Our Water Future exhibit. Then, you can visit the Southern California Steelhead Story exhibit, where you can see and learn about a local fish that can change its body to live in both freshwater rivers and the ocean.
Visitors can see large sharks and rays in the Shark Lagoon’s main habitat and touch tropical species of sharks and rays in its two touch pools. Adjacent to Shark Lagoon, you will find the Molina Animal Care Center, where you can learn how the Aquarium cares for its animals. On the second floor outdoors, you will find the Seals and Sea Lions Habitat. The upper floor is home to the June Keyes Penguin Habitat, the Ray Touchpool with bat rays and shovelnose guitarfish, and the Shorebird Sanctuary featuring local wetlands species, including fish and rescued birds. The Aquarium’s retail is open and some food service is available. Indoor areas are temporarily closed.
Safety is the nonprofit Aquarium of the Pacific’s top priority. The Aquarium is limiting the number of visitors, requiring advanced timed reservations, managing traffic flow to ensure social distancing, requiring masks for everyone age 2 and older and temperature checks for everyone, providing numerous hand-sanitizing stations, sanitizing surfaces constantly, and much more. For complete details, you can visit the Aquarium’s safety page.
Anyone who wishes to visit during this time must make an online reservation. Members and those holding tickets must still make a free reservation time. The Aquarium will be open 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and will extend its hours on Saturdays and Sundays to remain open until 8:00 p.m.
WHEN: Public reopening date: Saturday, January 30, 2021, starting at 9:00 a.m. (open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. / Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.)
WHERE: Aquarium of the Pacific, 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach, CA 90802
COST: General admission: $19 per person (adult, senior, and child) and free to children under age three and Aquarium members / Advanced reservations required for everyone
PUBLIC INFO/RSVP: (562) 590-3100 or aquariumofpacific.org / Spanish website: aquariumofpacific.org/español
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