Seymour Marine Discovery Center

This discovery center is relatively small but filled with great educational stations, opportunities for hands on experiences and beautiful views upon exiting.

I enjoyed my visit because it didn't feel overwhelming. Also, I appreciated that the staff welcomed curious adults like myself to touch animals and get involved without making you feel a kind of way.

Great place for family trips, dates and solo exploration. Plus, beautiful area to take pics. I recommend this place hands down!

Have been going every other year for 12 years now. It's a fairly small aquarium but still has a good selection of things to see and interact with. The staff are helpful and knowledgeable.
On this most recent trip we were able to pet some swell sharks which was very cool. They have an amazing whale skeleton out front which is very impressive. There is a short tour which takes you around the outside of the facility where you can see dolphins among other things. It's been closed since covid, but will reopen very shortly (July 2022) apparently. It's the highlight of the aquarium. There's a gift shop inside and we have packed lunches and used the benches out front to eat lunch in the past. If your looking for something to do in Santa Cruz and only need to kill an hour or so, this is your place.

Blue whale & gray whale skeleton outside. Pretty Oceanside view. We touch live Swell shark skin, live sea stars& otter skin specimen. Starfish takes its time to turn back to its preferred position. Nice walking trails with sea view & surfers enjoy surfing. Fun!

This is a really great place to visit if you love the ocean and all inhabitants. The blue whale skeleton outside is pretty awesome... its so long! The exhibits inside were great. Really enjoyed our time here.

I loved it, better than expected. There were two whale skeletons outside and an otter skeleton inside! Seal pelts you can touch and a live shark you can stroke. There were starfish with unusual numbers of legs. There was a lobster who recently molted out of his shell. The informational signs were more sciencey than normal, including descriptions of scientific experiments and discoveries, stories about scientists exploring the ocean etc. Nice little gift shop too, not too overpriced. My nephews loved the outing, it got us out of the house on a rainy day.