Steinhart Aquarium
Steinhart Aquarium
4
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
The California Academy of Sciences is the home of Steinhart aquarium.
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Neighborhood: Golden Gate Park
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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.
Popular mentions
4.0
62 reviews
Excellent
29
Very good
26
Average
1
Poor
2
Terrible
4
Extraordinary825507
9 contributions
Sep 2021 • Family
This aquarium was so cool! Would recommend for all ages! Great exhibits, very well set up. Rainforest dome in the center of the natural history museum. Overall 10/10! Much better than Aquarium of the Bay.
Written September 25, 2021
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.
Rehsinup19
Kent, WA1,913 contributions
Sep 2014
Located in Golden Gate Park this aquarium is very well designed and contains several aquatic species from a variety of marine habitats. Of the 2 aquariums in San Francisco this is the one to go to.
Written October 7, 2014
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.
jserramcorder
san francisco150 contributions
$25 is pretty steep but if you go on free day and don't mind crowds it's great. There are more free days for SF residents but for out of towners it is now limited to 4x a year. Either way, go early and stay all day. Once inside make a beeline to the ticketed (free but you need a ticket) areas such as the planetarium, special movies/exhibits, etc. You get a timed ticket usually good for several hours later (if you are there early enough) so by the time your ticket time rolls around, you are hopefully still there. Don't miss the rain forest, gotta stand in a long line to see it but well wourth the time.
Written May 24, 2013
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.
Christopher J
Portland, OR33 contributions
Jul 2022 • Couples
I’ve been to far better aquariums than this for a lot less money. I am not sure how it manages the ratings and reviews it has. It’s not well organized, it’s horribly crowded, there is zero crowd or traffic control, and zero ventilation. It was horribly uncomfortable place to be especially during a pandemic where it seems the facility could be doing so much more to safeguard their guests. But the exhibits were just not at all diverse or interesting. It was very narrowly focused, didn’t really teach anything about the local region, at least from the glimpses I saw whiles being jostled by the overcrowded mass of people. The entire building is trying to do too much in too small a space and largely failing at most of it in my opinion.
Written July 18, 2022
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.
zippiCalifornia
California1 contribution
Before we went, I was very excited to see the improvements to the aquarium. The old aquarium had a wonderful flow to walking around looking at the big tanks of fish,ect. The new one is a crammed-up maze of mostly tiny tanks, some clear down floor level that an adult would have to lay down to see in. If they wanted tanks for toddlers, they could have put in a childs area. The walkways are very narrow, and there is no flow, not knowing if you have been this way? Or have we been down that way? From what we could tell, they have one bigger tank full of little fish, that you circle around, looking in varius ports. And what happened to the larger fish, ect? The science section was also not much, existing of little exibits of plastic in the environment, ect. They did have the one white alligator that looked like he was made of plastic. We did get a laugh that it probably was plastic, and at night they move him so people will think he is alive. The largest area there is the giant food court. It looks like they only want people to come to spend money at the food court! We did not eat there. Very expensive. I will not go back.
Written July 27, 2009
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.
OurLittleFamily
Sacramento3 contributions
I used to visit the Steinhart Aquarium growing up in the 70's and 80's and always enjoyed it very much...I was last there in 1996 and remember the nice circular aquarium, the alligator pit, the gift shop and remember the layout was very nice...I guess I expected too much from the recent renovation and all the hype...here are my disappointments/complaints:
I bought online tickets for my wife and two children...pretty pricey...$80 and then pricey parking as well! But beyond that and irrespective of the price, we found the aquarium to be rather disorganized and poorly managed which affected our experience. In order to catch any of the shows, such as the 3D bug show or the planetarium, you must get to the aquarium at opening time or you will not get in to see any of the shows at all. We arrived after a 2 hour drive at 11 am. The tickets to all the presentations were given out on a first come first served basis as soon as the place opened. This is for ALL the days shows. There is no warning of this method on the website. They do not hand out tickets before each half hour show as one may expect, they just give them all away based on demand first thing in the morning so they will all be gone probably before 9 am so if you get there any later, you cannot even stand in line for a later show, you are out of luck, pretty poor organization! You paid big bucks for admission but will not see any of the major presentations...Next problem we had was the rain forest exhibit. They meter the number of visitors who can go in at any one time, so there was a line to get in which stretched the full length of one side of the hall! We never went in cause the line was so long. The next issue is the $52 lunch for two small kids and parents...be warned they will charge you very inflated prices more so even than Disneyland. Also, the living roof? You can't even walk out on or near it. You can only go up to the roof and look from a small cement area...even then, it looks like a bunch of weeds covering steel mesh...not like it looks on the calacademy website!
The best part of the aquarium was the African Hall and this was a leftover from the old hall! I must admit, it was not all bad, as the lower level aquatic life displays were very nice and the albino alligator was a thrill to see...but even those displays were a challenge as there is no one way direction to enter and move through to view the exhibits so there are people going around in all directions. As a result, there is a lot of jostling and running into each other trying to see the display tanks. Overall, it was a very disappointing experience and in almost all ways, I wish the old academy was back so my kids could see it as it was! I am not kidding you, it may be worth seeing on a weekday, but on a weekend, it can be very difficult to enjoy for many reasons. If you brave it , you'll see what I mean...even so, it is not worth a return trip..unless you have lots of hard earned money to throw away on a disappointment...and for those of you who remember the old Steinhart, you will know and understand what I said about expecting too much when you visit...very sad that they are so disorganized and over priced...
I bought online tickets for my wife and two children...pretty pricey...$80 and then pricey parking as well! But beyond that and irrespective of the price, we found the aquarium to be rather disorganized and poorly managed which affected our experience. In order to catch any of the shows, such as the 3D bug show or the planetarium, you must get to the aquarium at opening time or you will not get in to see any of the shows at all. We arrived after a 2 hour drive at 11 am. The tickets to all the presentations were given out on a first come first served basis as soon as the place opened. This is for ALL the days shows. There is no warning of this method on the website. They do not hand out tickets before each half hour show as one may expect, they just give them all away based on demand first thing in the morning so they will all be gone probably before 9 am so if you get there any later, you cannot even stand in line for a later show, you are out of luck, pretty poor organization! You paid big bucks for admission but will not see any of the major presentations...Next problem we had was the rain forest exhibit. They meter the number of visitors who can go in at any one time, so there was a line to get in which stretched the full length of one side of the hall! We never went in cause the line was so long. The next issue is the $52 lunch for two small kids and parents...be warned they will charge you very inflated prices more so even than Disneyland. Also, the living roof? You can't even walk out on or near it. You can only go up to the roof and look from a small cement area...even then, it looks like a bunch of weeds covering steel mesh...not like it looks on the calacademy website!
The best part of the aquarium was the African Hall and this was a leftover from the old hall! I must admit, it was not all bad, as the lower level aquatic life displays were very nice and the albino alligator was a thrill to see...but even those displays were a challenge as there is no one way direction to enter and move through to view the exhibits so there are people going around in all directions. As a result, there is a lot of jostling and running into each other trying to see the display tanks. Overall, it was a very disappointing experience and in almost all ways, I wish the old academy was back so my kids could see it as it was! I am not kidding you, it may be worth seeing on a weekday, but on a weekend, it can be very difficult to enjoy for many reasons. If you brave it , you'll see what I mean...even so, it is not worth a return trip..unless you have lots of hard earned money to throw away on a disappointment...and for those of you who remember the old Steinhart, you will know and understand what I said about expecting too much when you visit...very sad that they are so disorganized and over priced...
Written January 13, 2009
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.
fishfan32429
Glen Ellen, CA1 contribution
Jul 2010
Having spent many hours enjoying the old Aquarium,and still enjoying looking at the photos I have of it,I was eagerly looking forward to seeing the new one.The fact that I recently re-located to the bay area ,I was eager to see the new aquarium,one which I considered to be one of the finest in the country.I will never ,ever go back again.It was vastly overpriced, a disorganized mess.The main problem is there is not much to see. The old one had a collection of fish 2nd to none,and they were displayed in a organized manner,ie Africian fish in one tank,Asain in another ect. and they were magnificent ,show quality.ones that were unique to that aquarium.That now sadly is all gone.You can see that whole place in about 45 minutes.If you are a true collector,or just a novice,save your money,and visit the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.,or if not,go to your local Petsmart,sadily it would be as enjoyable,and a lot less money,I say with much regret
Written February 26, 2011
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.
Jim90403
Santa Monica, CA31 contributions
Dec 2013 • Couples
Easy to spend the day here. Easy trolley trip from downtown. Many great exhibits including the rainforest. Can get tickets ahead of time.
Written September 18, 2014
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.
randijim
Alameda, CA113 contributions
Spend a day in Golden Gate Park and visit the aquarium and all the other venues. Don't forget to take tea at the Tea Garden.
Written May 29, 2013
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.
elle S
San Francisco7 contributions
Feb 2012
If you want to see a world class aquarium that will fill you with awe go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and see the real thing. This is what results when people spend more money on the outer building and are unqualified to design exhibits.
Written April 12, 2012
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.
there is an online access. I cannot post the link here.
Written January 10, 2017
We parked for free on the road that circles the museum/aquarium. We were there by 0930. Just watch out for the bicyclists, they can be a little hostile. I believe there is paid parking under the museum.
Written November 26, 2016
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