Because of some mixed reviews, we questioned whether to spend the time and the money on a visit to the aquarium. We're glad we did. I'll never look at kelp in the ocean in the same way again. I used to view it as rather disgusting "seaweed". Now I know there's a beautiful kelp forest below providing "living quarters" for a miriad of sealife. We learned a lot and enjoyed our visit. We went shortly after it opened in the morning. We were there on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 and although there were a lot of people there, we found that everyone waited their turn to get to the front of the group at each display, viewed the exhibit, and moved on. We opted to park at one of the 4 hour meters on the street, and were able at that time of the day to get one just a few blocks away. We put in money for 3 1/2 hours and made it back with 5 minutes to spare. There are a lot of interactive areas for children, so if you have children in your group you should plan on more time than that . Be sure to allow enough time to see it all. Print your tickets on-line ahead to save the wait.





