Oceanarium And Education Center
Oceanarium And Education Center
Oceanarium And Education Center
4.5
About
The Oceanarium and Education Center is a science museum of the Acadian sea, shore and sky located in Bar Harbor, Maine. Some highlights include a 29-Foot Authentic Indoor Lobster Boat for kids to play and learn on, 2000 Gallons of Authentic Gulf of Maine Habitat in Nine Tanks, Rare Blue, Calico, & Orange Maine Lobsters and a 650-Gallon Touch Pool filled with all sorts of saline from the Gulf of Maine
Meets animal welfare guidelines
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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4.5
28 reviews
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treocyn
South Freeport, ME53 contributions
Jul 2023
Fantastic rainy day activity for all ages. We were here years ago and have fond memories of it. It is under new ownership now and I can't say enough good about it! We came in June for the Ocean Festival and came back to get a family membership. My younger daughters never want to leave the lobster boat and there is a brand new boat playset outside as well. The touch tank is HUGE and well maintained. They are clearly still in the development phase but it is so great to see the improvements (including a whale skeleton!) and we can't wait to see what they do next.
Oh, and the gift shop is worth a stop in even if you're not up for visiting the oceanarium. Beautiful gifts for all ages.
Oh, and the gift shop is worth a stop in even if you're not up for visiting the oceanarium. Beautiful gifts for all ages.
Written July 6, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alex M
1 contribution
Aug 2024 • Couples
My girlfriend and I visited on our last day in Maine, and we were very surprised with the quality of this place! All of the employees we talked to were very kind and knowledgeable. The salt-water Marsh tour with Mikey was awesome, as well as the touch-tank live feeding event with Alex. Larkin was very cool and has done very impressive work on the whale skeleton in the museum. The front desk employees (I didn’t catch their names) were helpful and friendly! If you’re an environmentalist, family, or just looking for something chill to do, I’d recommend checking out the Oceanarium.
Written August 24, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Aiyana E
1 contribution
Aug 2024 • Couples
Probably the best place to visit in bar harbor! Me and my boyfriend came on a whim and ended up spending 3 and a half hours there! All of the staff are so wonderful, personable, knowledgeable, and caring! All of the exhibits are so neat and have so much history and meaning behind them. Mikey was such a great tour guide in the estuaries and super knowledgeable in the aquarium as well! Alex was also so wonderful while doing the touch tank feeding, super funny and smart! I loved listening to Larkin talk about their experience with the whale skeleton and how they cleaned it and put it together in the museum. And the two ladies in the shop (I didn’t catch their names) were also so sweet, friendly, and helpful! It was so touching to see so many people so passionate about doing what they love. Definitely such a personable experience! I learned so much and can’t wait to come back again!
Written August 24, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
sirafro2000
Holly, MI26 contributions
Jul 2023 • Family
You enter through the gift shop that is so bright and full of color. Celeste, the woman in the shop, was polite, professional, and very informative. She helped us telling us where to start and made sure we were aware of the scavenger hunt and the marsh walk. Side note, the marsh walk is through the salt marsh and bug spray is a must. They do provide some free in the gift shop. We started in the aquarium building and checked out the cool tanks with the blue and orange lobsters. Ben was the gentleman at the touch tank. BEN WAS AMAZING! He talked to us in a way that everyone from my youngest up to myself could understand. He kept everyone engaged and more than happy to answer the continuous questions being lobbed his way. The museum building was next and it has an out of this world sea glass exhibit. Scott was in there and gave us the great story behind how it was acquired and the reasoning for how it is being displayed. Also the whale skeleton that is displayed at eye level is great to see so up close. We finished off with marsh walk. Great views and it was neat to see the osprey’s nest across the marsh. Again, bug spray is a must. Overall I’d say 11/10 would come again.
Written July 30, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
anne b
Berkley, MI17 contributions
Sep 2024 • Couples
We were expecting much more. One building had 50 gallon aquariums with a few lobsters. It also had a tidal pool with sea creatures you could touch. The other building had a skeleton of a small humpback whale and various sea glass pieces, shells and driftwood. The people who run it are very knowledgeable and friendly. We were done in about 20 minutes.
Written September 24, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Miss R C
6 contributions
Aug 2023 • Family
The oceanarium was a great way to spend the morning!
We had a wonderful time in the aquarium section and in the touch tank my daughter loved! . Really knowledgeable and friendly staff who were happy to talk us through the variety of sea life.
Marsh walk was good, we liked reading the story as we went around. (Although I wish I had taken them up on the bug spray offer!)
The skeleton of the whale was incredible to see up close- the only other I had seen was in the natural history museum.
Overall thoroughly enjoyed our trip and look forward to going again when we come back.
We were a group of 6 ranging in age 11-73.
We had a wonderful time in the aquarium section and in the touch tank my daughter loved! . Really knowledgeable and friendly staff who were happy to talk us through the variety of sea life.
Marsh walk was good, we liked reading the story as we went around. (Although I wish I had taken them up on the bug spray offer!)
The skeleton of the whale was incredible to see up close- the only other I had seen was in the natural history museum.
Overall thoroughly enjoyed our trip and look forward to going again when we come back.
We were a group of 6 ranging in age 11-73.
Written August 2, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
cindy
Feeding Hills, MA5 contributions
Sep 2023 • Couples
Beautiful location, the aquarium staff were friendly and knowledgeable. Really enjoyed the touch it tank,even as an adult. Well marked paths around the property through salt marshes, woods and bay.
Written September 25, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Josh B
Eldersburg, MD11 contributions
Jun 2023 • Family
The aquarium staff were very knowledgeable and they had a few fun things for the kids to do. The price was a bit too high for what there was. My 3 year old had a good time, but even an hour was a stretch of time, most of which was spent on the pirate ship playground thing.
Written July 1, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Casey K
1 contribution
Aug 2023 • Family
I took my four young kids there on a gray morning and we were so pleased! They loved the scavenger hunt, playing in the lobster boat, touching different sea creatures and going on the story walk. Everything was so well done, we will be back!
Written August 10, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Melissa W
Rockaway, NJ36 contributions
Aug 2023 • Family
We thought that is was a good rainy day activity, and for the most part it is. Downside is you can’t do the marsh walk which is 1/3 the experience in a thunderstorm….however the touch tank was great, the lobster boat for the kids to learn about how to trap lobster was great entertainment for the young ‘uns. Overall a really nice experience for the kids..
Written September 1, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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