Heal The Bay: An Insider's Guide to Santa Monica's Aquarium

Heal the Bay Aquarium, nestled within the Santa Monica Pier, stands as a beacon of marine conservation and education. The aquarium offers visitors a captivating journey through its exhibits, showcasing diverse sea creatures and habitats. 

From colorful tide pools teeming with sea stars and anemones to shark touch tanks, and interactive displays highlighting the importance of ocean conservation, Heal the Bay Aquarium provides an immersive and educational experience for visitors of all ages. 

Discover all there is to do at the Santa Monica Pier with kids and find more fun things to do with kids in Santa Monica beyond the pier. For more animal encounters, browse our Zoos and Gardens for Los Angeles Kids Guide. For more aquarium fun, check out this guide to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. 

Heal The Bay Aquarium

I visited Heal the Bay with my family on a whim—more out of curiosity than anything. My kids were thrilled when I announced that we were going to an aquarium, and I was ecstatic to learn that kids 12 and under are free.

With four kiddos under the age of eight, this outing was fabulously budget-friendly. After paying for my $12 admission, we moved into the small aquarium, which lacks square footage but bursts with marine life. 

 
Mesmerized by a tank of moon jellies ballooning up and down! Photo by Kylie Williams

Ocean Friends at Heal the Bay 

Most of the animals at Heal the Bay were found right off the Santa Monica pier. All of them were brought to the aquarium for rehabilitation or protection due to injuries, dangers, or concerns about their ability to thrive in the Pacific Ocean. There are over 100 species of fish and sea creatures inside the aquarium. 

We spent a significant amount of time ogling eerie eels as they slithered between the rocks of their tank. One tank holds a squirmy two-spot octopus and a large tank against the back wall houses local fish.

My daughter was mesmerized by a tank of moon jellies ballooning up and down. Other sea creatures in the aquarium include a decorator crab, sea horses, sea snails, and lobsters. 

Interactive Sea Creature Encounters

Have you ever touched a shark? My kids have! Heal the Bay offers two spacious touch tanks where kids can explore the textures of marine life. One of the shallow tanks holds horn sharks, swell sharks, and skate rays. 

Don't worry, these small sharks don't bite, and skate rays can't sting. Staff are standing nearby, helping teach kids how to pet the animals with a soft, two-finger stroke.

The other touch tank holds sea cucumbers, sea anemones, and sea stars of various shapes and colors. We revisited these touch tanks over and over during our visit. Weekly animal feedings also occur at Heal The Bay, providing another unique way to see the marine animals. 

Boys crafting at the aquarium. Photo by Kylie Williams

Multi-Media Room

If the kids are tired of gazing at marine life, the multi-media room around the corner from the moon jellies is full of oceanography books, kids' books on sea creatures, coloring pages, and crayons. My kids loved coloring a few pictures to bring home as souvenirs of our adventure. 

Conservation Efforts at Heal The Bay

The staff at Heal the Bay truly care about marine life. A friendly worker explained facts about starfish and sea cucumbers to my boys, showed them the different stages of shark eggs, and how to gently touch the sea creatures. 

Heal the Bay is more than a tourist attraction—it's a conservation effort. The aquarium spearheads monthly Nothin' But Sand Beach Cleanups to protect ocean life from harmful trash and keep the Santa Monica beaches clean. 

All the sea creatures inside Heal the Bay are undergoing rehabilitation to return them to the ocean. 

Special Events at Heal the Bay 

Heal the Bay offers birthday party packages, and an annual science camp in the summer. 

Birthday parties include private access to the aquarium, including a multi-media room that doubles as a great party room. It's a fantastic and unique setting for an indoor birthday in Los Angeles. For additional costs, kids can feed sharks, enjoy a marine-themed story time, make a craft to take home, and more. 

Heal The Bay offers a science camp that runs for five weeks in the summer and is available for kids in grades K-8. It's one of the best STEM summer camps in Los Angeles for tech fun. 

 
Photo courtesy of the Aquarium

Getting To Heal The Bay Aquarium

Parking access to Heal the Bay is easiest directly next to the Santa Monica Pier (Lot 1). Parking fees fluctuate from $7 - $18 depending on the day and time of your visit. 

To find Heal the Bay, through the parking lot, walk toward the famous Santa Monica sign on the pier. The aquarium building isn't hard to locate. You'll see a stunning mural of marine life around the outside.

Know Before You Go

• Heal the Bay is $12 per adult, $10 per student (ages 13 - 18), and $10 for seniors. EBT cardholders can visit for free, and children under 12 are free with a paying adult. You can buy your tickets at the door. 
• No food or drink is allowed inside Heal The Bay, but there are plenty of family-friendly places to eat throughout Santa Monica. 
• A wheelchair ramp makes it easy to bring a stroller into the museum. If you have stroller-aged toddlers and babies, you may want to pack a baby carrier in case it is a busy day.
• There are clean bathrooms inside the aquarium.

All photos by the author unless indicated otherwise.