Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
Los Angeles's free window on local waters
⏱ 1-2 hours👤 All agesFree
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The local focus is the point. Cabrillo teaches you to recognize garibaldi, sheephead, sea hares and kelp, which turns a later walk at the Point Fermin tidepools or a Catalina snorkel into something richer. The aquarium's education programs, including its well-known grunion run evenings in season, have introduced generations of Angelenos to their own coast.
How to visit: come on a weekend morning or a weekday afternoon, spend an hour inside, then walk out to Cabrillo Beach and the harbor-side jetty. If the tide is low, the tidepools around Point Fermin are a short drive and the best free marine-life experience in the city. Follow the tidepool etiquette posted by the aquarium: look, touch gently with wet fingers, and leave everything in place. Inside, the Susanne Lawrenz-Miller Exhibit Hall moves through five local environments, the Aquatic Nursery is a working lab where you can watch research in progress, and the Exploration Center is the hands-on room for younger children.
Practicals: free admission with suggested donation; Cabrillo Beach parking is charged by the hour with a daily maximum, card only. Closed Mondays and major holidays. Pair it with the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, about twenty minutes away, for a paid-and-free LA aquarium day.
What to Expect
Format
A community-scale, free city aquarium at Cabrillo Beach focused on Southern California sea life — touch pools, kelp and rocky-shore tanks, jellies and grunion exhibits in a Frank Gehry-designed campus.
Best Time
Weekend mornings or weekday afternoons; time a visit with a low tide for the nearby tidepools.
Duration
One to two hours, more with the beach.
Tips
It is closed Mondays and opens at midday on weekdays. Bring a card for the beach parking. Leave a donation if you can.
⚡ Quick Picks
Best For
A free, local-waters aquarium that makes the LA coast make sense.
Families
Excellent — touch pools, friendly staff and the beach outside.
Couples
Pair it with a sunset walk at Point Fermin.
Pair With
Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, about twenty minutes away.
Time Needed
One to two hours.
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Get Tickets →Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cabrillo Marine Aquarium free?
Yes — admission is free year-round, with a suggested donation. Parking at Cabrillo Beach is paid by the hour.
When is it open?
Tuesday through Sunday, with afternoon hours on weekdays and longer weekend hours; it is closed Mondays and major holidays.
What will we see?
Southern California species — touch pool sea stars and anemones, kelp forest fish, the redesigned Jelly Lab and exhibits on sandy beaches, mudflats, rocky shores, kelp forests and the open ocean.
What are grunion runs?
Spring and summer nights when small grunion fish spawn on the beach; the aquarium has long offered programs to watch them in season.
Should I combine it with Aquarium of the Pacific?
Yes — Long Beach provides the big tanks, Cabrillo the local, hands-on side, and they are about twenty minutes apart.
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Aquarium of the Pacific
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Monterey Bay Aquarium
America's #1, and it isn't close — the aquarium that invented the living kelp forest, raised the bar for every institution after it, and still runs the country's best single exhibit lineup: otters, open-ocean tuna, and deep-sea aliens.
OdySea Aquarium
An ocean in the Sonoran Desert — Scottsdale's big modern aquarium with a reef tunnel, sharks, sea lions, penguins and a stingray lagoon, and the coolest way to spend a 110-degree afternoon.