– adventuring with ash –

My sister and I are big aquarium lovers, so when planning our San Francisco trip, we made sure to include 2 of the best in the Bay area.

First up on our list was the Aquarium of the Bay, located at the famous Pier 39. This aquarium definitely gets a 10/10 for location. Pier 39 was built in the 1970’s, as an attempt to turn the waterfront area into a tourist attraction. Needless to say, that worked remarkably well. Pier 39 is home to several amazing restaurants, sea lion viewing docks, and of course, the aquarium.

Aquarium of the Bay contains over 750,000 gallons of water and is home to over 24,000 local sea creatures from over 200 different species.

The aquarium has two underwater tunnels you can walk through and peer above at local sea life, like sea bass, sharks, and bat rays.

My sister and I came at the perfect time, which I luckily found myself saying quite a bit throughout our trip. Right as we were finishing up having the tunnels to ourselves, a large group of kids on a school trip came flooding the tunnel behind us. We made our way to the next room to observe the moon jellies and jellyfish, all to ourselves while the kids explored the tunnel.

I love moon jellies. My sister and I can stand in those aquariums for hours watching them and & the other fish. The way they move and their colors. Just so cool to watch. These moon jellies at Aquarium of the Bay were born and raised on site.

They had lots of different cool fish tanks and exhibits. While me and my sister were walking in the tunnels, we got to see volunteer divers in scuba outfits cleaning the tunnels and hand feeding the fish. It was actually hilarious, to look up while in the tunnel and see a scuba diver. Definitely was unexpected and gave my sister and I a good laugh when they photobombed our photos 🙂

You finish the aquarium off with seeing some non-sea creatures like turtles, river otters, and parrots. The river otters were cooped up in their little cave when I went, so I couldn’t see much of them which stunk cause I love otters. But the turtles, snakes, etc were so cool to see.

Overall, I really liked the aquarium. The underwater tunnels were such a cool experience to walk through and you don’t see those at every aquarium. It was worth the $25 ticket for sure! 🙂

Fun Fact: As I mentioned before, the docks at Pier 39 are home to several sea lions who started basking in the sun on the docks around 40 years ago. On the 30th anniversary of them being there, the Aquarium had 30 local artists paint unique sea lion statues, that were then placed around San Francisco for visitors to enjoy. I spotted a few during my time at the Pier, and 3 of them are at the entrance to the aquarium. Could be a cool scavenger hunt to find them all! I’m sure you can find a map online.

Anyhow, we still have a whole aquarium to talk about! Steinhart Aquarium, located at Golden Gate Park in the Conservatory of Sciences. This aquarium is awesome. The Steinhart Aquarium is one of the most biologically diverse aquariums in the world. They house nearly 60,000 live animals, from over 1,000 different species.

The Conservatory of Sciences has a planetarium, an aquarium, and a rainforest exhibit. The planetarium was closed for maintenance the one day my sister and I were there 😦 but we did get to do the Aquarium and the rainforest.

The aquarium was awesome. Several large tanks with moon jellies, eels, jellyfish. They had a dark room where you could view bioluminescence from living organisms. Another room you had to crouch to get into and then once you are in, you’re standing under a tank of fish. It was cool.

They have very large viewing tanks, with super cool fish, anemones, and other animals inside, that made for some awesome full body aquarium shots if you’re wanting any. They also had some smaller “porthole” looking tanks that were so aesthetically pleasing.

The Steinhart aquarium was the first ever aquarium to display the “flashlight fish” and coconut octopuses, both of which come from the ocean’s less discovered “twilight zone”. The dark room allowed you to see the bioluminescent fish and sea life. Within the twilight zone, they also have what are called “deep reefs”. These bright, neon-colored deep reefs are coral reef structures that are typically found very deep in the ocean. Fluorescent corals, vibrant anemones, and all sorts of very colorful fish can be found here.

They also house a crocodile with albinism, snapping turtles (which were adorable), and my favorite, the African penguins. My sister and I stood there for a good 10 minutes just watching the penguins. They are so playful and energetic, would come right up to us at the glass. I’ve always been a big penguin lover, so this was one of my favorite parts.

The Steinhart Aquarium was awesome, and they had a ton of interactive exhibits. You could stick your arm into this box to feel what a snake’s squeeze would feel like. You could speak into a “dive communication box” and hear how your voice would sound hundreds of feet below the surface. They had an interactive LED wall that reacted to touch, so you could map out movements and bring things to life. I seriously think anyone would be able to enjoy themselves here, such a good time.

Next, we moved over to the Rainforest side. The Osher rainforest exhibit is a 4-story live replica of an amazon rainforest, the largest Rainforest exhibit in the world. Within the exhibit you’ll find live free-flying birds, butterflies, silk-weaving spiders, giant amazonian fish, newts, rainforest frogs, and other amphibians. They even have an amazonian tree boa!

As you’re walking through, it’s possible to have the butterfly’s land on you. They ask that you gently shoo them away if you do. There were so many of all different colors flying around. At the top floor, you even get to observe the butterfly cocoons.

While walking through the exhibit, you have to pass a section of “silk-orb weaving spiders”. I have had arachnophobia for as long as I can remember, I hate spiders lol. I closed my eyes and held onto my sister’s backpack as we walked through that part. I am very good on not seeing giant spiders that will haunt me in my nightmares LOL.

As well as the spiders, the rainforest exhibit is home to two blue and yellow Macaws, who were so cool to see. Macaws are a type of Parrott, & these two definitely had personalities. They were adorable to watch.

The rainforest exhibit is home to over 1,600 species of plants, including the Theobroma Cacao, the plant from which chocolate is made! How cool.

The Osher rainforest exhibit and the Steinhart aquarium were with the trip to the Conservatory of Sciences alone, although I am bummed we didn’t get to do the planetarium. I’m sure I’ll be back in the area someday, and it will be on my list for sure. Be sure to add it to your San Francisco Itinerary as well!!

Thanks all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed 🙂 here are a few more photos from these awesome aquariums to enjoy!