Our "field trip" to Aquarium of the Pacific

[Just_Greg]

Renee & i have been members of the AoP for a few years now, and last Sunday, we took Bill along (it was his first time).  here are a few pix:












and (i hate to do this) for all you Nemo fans...

[Bergy]

i thought our date was our little secret????

I guess i am ready to come out of the closet then...



heheheheh



as for teh aquarium of the pacific... WOW WOW  WWWWOOOOOOWWWWW


I ahve heard lots of stories about this place.. most of the stories are that it is small, the diplays arent clean... theyarent 'reef' freindly, (they dont have a lot of reef stuff), etc...


I was so surprised...

The place was laid out well.. you can walk 'aimlessly' without following any specific route, and it didnt seem to matter.. all paths led somewhere, and not just dead ends.. (even though they were remodeling one area)

You can zip thru and be done in about 1-2 hours.. or you can take your time and be there for 1-2 DAYS

I wold love to see behind the scenes stuff, but again, I didnt NEED to see it to be entertained...


they had inside and outside displays...

IT was PERFECT...

(even though we almost didnt make it....(btw:  next time you drive, I will need to check my life insurance policy.. hehehehehe)

[Learner]

Looks like a great place/exhibition..... 8)

[psykokid]

We're not members but we go usually once every other year, more than that and it gets repetitive for the kids. Their displays are quite nice with a good variety of different things.

We took the kids to Sea World in San Diego two weeks ago for the first time and to say i was let down by their aquariums is the understatement of the week. If it wasn't a mammal it didn't get a whole lot of attention. The thing that was really crappy was the all the fake corals and sponges in the displays. The biggest "reef" tank had a bunch of different triggers, groupers, clowns and tangs. It was just so underwhelming. I know other reefers that have (albeit smaller), much better looking displays. Even the small species specific/biotope 100 +/-ish gallon cube tanks in the Aquarium del la Mer were lackluster at best.

[Just_Greg]

one of the things i enjoy is seeing how they set certain things up and figuring out how tuff it would be to duplicate/improve on what i've seen on a smaller scale.  i totally love the surge setups and they have a little (20 gals or so) cold water tank full of little scorps and other critters from the N. Pacific that i MUST get my hands on...

[Bergy]

i loved sea world but i knew to not expect reef stuff...

It is a typical mammalian exhibit with some fish/shark/rays...

but it also has aviary and wildlife/animal show...

so come on now...

liek you said about the aquarium of the pacific and the kids, would not apply to seaworld now would it???

two different parks, two difffent attractions...

Sorry you didnt enjoy the reef stuff, but hopefully you enjoyed the rest of it and at leastenjoy that your kids enjoyed, and yes, i know you did...


btw:  when i went with the daughter, we went when it was effing cold, and we sat in the soak zone and got DRENCHED... and were effing cold the rest of the day...

[OCtrackiepacsg1]

I'm not a fan of sea world. It was always my dream to go there but when we finally moved here and went. It was quite a disappointment. I know its catered to kids so Guess thats why it didn't interest me. Especially when everyone waved their hands and danced and singed when shamu was out. I like the aquarium part of it though, it was quiet, serene and not that many people. Aquariums I'm no longer a big fan because its no longer a place to relax and enjoy as much. I'm not disappointed, but I think I grew out of visiting aquariums and going to Shedd every few months.

[Bergy]

my faovrite aquarium of all time is monteray aquarium...

But, i havent been there in almost 20 years, so i have no idea what it is now...

But, before i spent the majority of my time ont he tide pools...

[OCtrackiepacsg1]

Monterey was also one I really wanted to go because they had a great white there. By the time I moved here yet again, the shark was no longer there and I had one a terrible stomach ache did not have a great experience. Especially since the only place to rest was in the parents seat at the kiddie section. My favorite aquatic place to visit would be the tide pools themselves.

[RandyFolds]

Anyone been to Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro? It is the only aquarium that is listed as a museum rather than entertainment. It is small, but pretty sweet, and it is donation based. None of this $18 jibber-jabber.

Rose and I went to the aquarium when we were in Boston, since it is supposed to be a really good one. I was rather unimpressed. It did have an awesome 3 story mega-cosm with a spiral staircase around it. Everything was really turbid though, so it kind of put a damper on things. Added to that was the fact that there was grafitti carved into the acrylic everywhere. Their poo poo was all sorts of scratched up. Who wouldn't think of that?

[Just_Greg]

i hope they caught the peeps and fed them to the sharks with everyone watching...