Name: Ocean Institute
Address: 24200 Dana Point Harbor Dr, Dana Point, CA 92629, USA, US
Telephone: +1 949-496-2274

Ocean Institute is an aquarium, located at 24200 Dana Point Harbor Dr, Dana Point, CA 92629, USA. They can be contacted via phone at +1 949-496-2274, visit their website www.ocean-institute.org for more detailed information.

Location :

24200 Dana Point Harbor Dr, Dana Point, CA 92629, USA

Contacts :

Added by Jopie, at 25 April 2016

Monday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Tuesday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Wednesday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Thursday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Friday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Saturday 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Sunday 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM

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Anonymous

27 February 2020

As a local, this is one of my favorite spots to stroll, chill and breathe. I always plop down on a boulder but there are benches to sit on. Enjoy the low tide in the small Cove. The original Killer Dana Surf spot before the jetty was built
Anonymous

18 February 2020

We fully enjoyed this place for several days. My 3 year old and we; parents learned a lot here and really appreciated very informative and kind staffs who works the best here!
Thanks a lot for good memories! My daughter will remember this lovely place and the nice people here! We Recommend Dana ship tour and whale watching as well~
Anonymous

31 December 2019

Dated and on the decline. A few dirty fish tanks and touch tanks (star fish, rays and small reef sharks). Lots of educational displays but we were finished in under 30 minutes. Half of the place was closed when we attended 12/30/19 and was not explained when we purchased our admission $62 for 7 of us. Would not recommend.
Anonymous

16 July 2019

Kids had so much fun exploring! We check the low tide time online and come 30 minutes before low tide. Tons of hermit crabs! They also found sea slugs that were huge! We walked on a trail around the cliffs and found a cave. It took about 25 minutes of walking though. We didn’t do any of the inside activities. We stayed outside and enjoyed everything for free. This was our second time coming and we will definitely be back.
Anonymous

06 June 2019

The ocean institute is wonderful. It is fun for the entire family. There was beautiful waves and a beach for the kids. There was two pirate ships there as well.
Anonymous

09 November 2017

Amazing Ocean exploration programs for kids offered.
Anonymous

11 October 2017

Good for school field trips, luxury building mostly used to walk around and look at small area of ocean front
Anonymous

14 September 2017

I love this place because it's so cool that we go on a boat to find creatures in the sand from Vista bel valle
Anonymous

01 April 2017

I have so many memories coming here when i was in 4th grade, wish to go back, love it
Anonymous

25 March 2017

This place is amazing for families the small gift shop is awesome but in the afternoon Love the Sunsets
Anonymous

01 March 2017

i am a fith grader and i went there on a trip yesterday, and the science experiemnts and stuff were fun, but when it got to the ship, (i got to expereience how a saior works) it was the most horrible part. My hands got rope burn, my feet hurt, i was wet head to toe, and it was raining. I dont like the ocean institute at all. Plus the ship reinactors also were very mean and strict. i dont like the trip. i advise yu not to go there. ಥ_ಥ
Anonymous

23 September 2016

So couple things:

It's not a museum or aquarium, but rather a maritime education center, so they don't have a ton of tanks/exhibits. They do, however, have a number of interactive exhibits, plus a few tanks throughout the grounds that houses some neat local marine life - sharks, coral, etc.

There is also a path on either side of the Insitute that leads to a really cool look-out point with benches and a jetty that you can walk along. It is free to the public and the institute generally has regularly scheduled tours throughout the day.

It gets very busy during the week as they have lots of programs for children such as summer camps and sleepovers. Not all the exhibits are always available during the week as the campers have dibs on them! So best to call beforehand if you have something specific you want to see.. Everything is generally available on the weekends.

They also maintain two tall ships (exact replica's of 1800's tall ships) and an exploration vessel that makes frequent departures (bio-luminescence evening cruises, whale watching cruises, etc.).

Additionally, there is an annual fundraising raffle where you can win a million dollar laguna beach home - the tickets are $150 but they include a free individual membership with a single ticket and a free family membership with the purchase of more than one raffle ticket. There are also bonus prizes the earlier you buy your ticket, and you qualify for more prizes with purchasing more than 1 ticket. So definitely worth doing if your going to be buying a membership anyway.

Finally, "Baby Beach" is right near the institute as well; which is a protected, netted, white-sand beach in the corner Dana Point Harbor that is great for young ones.
Anonymous

13 August 2016

It is a great place to bring toddlers it teach them about our oceans and learn about the different animals
Anonymous

03 July 2016

This was so fun. My girlfriend and I came here to check it out and have some fun. Very awesome. Grand and Leo were a great help to us, they knew a lot and showed us around. Very friendly people
Anonymous

18 June 2016

Last year I went out on one of their boats. We saw a hump back whale
Very impressive. The Institute itself offers such wonderful education for kids.
Anonymous

02 May 2016

Great place to stop in for a few minutes. I felt like it would be nice to have more to see and learn there, but it's small and not meant to be a full day trip. Excellent learning center of you're strolling the area