SAN JOSE, Calif. — You could spend an entire day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and not run out of stuff to do, thanks to behind-the-scenes tours, animal feedings and opportunities to get wet. Here are five awesome ways to maximize your time at the aquarium (and you’ll no doubt find others).
- Explore a new deep-sea exhibit
Giant isopods scurry like roly-poly bugs in a touch tank. Japanese spider crabs the size of Labrador retrievers stalk a whale skeleton. Glasslike jellies crackle with electric-rainbow lights. Into the Deep, which opened in 2022, features the largest collection of deep-sea animals in all North America — you’ll find awe in this weird environment lurking around every darkened corner.
- Dive with aquarium staff
Want to immerse your child, literally, in the wonders of the ocean? You can with surface-diving excursions in the Great Tide Pool right outside the aquarium. For $150 plus admission, staffers will give kids ages 8 to 13 lessons in dry-suit scuba diving and guide them through the diverse wildlife that exists in the shallows. Afterward, they get a dive log and a warming cup of hot chocolate. Call ahead for dates.
- Get happy with penguins
There’s something mood-lifting about standing in front of the African penguin environment. Looking like wobbly bowling pins with flippers, many of the birds have paired up into couples, and the romance spreads across species — on a recent visit, a man proposed to his partner in front of the penguins. Get there at feeding time, and you’ll learn plenty of interesting facts, including that the birds can defecate 3 feet away by “projectile pooping.”
