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2300 Expedition Way, La Jolla

Hours: Daily 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Admission: adults $11, seniors (60+) $9, college students $8, youth (3–17) and UCSD students and staff $7.50, children 2 and under free

Info: 858 534-FISH, http://aquarium.ucsd.edu

The Birch Aquarium—part aquatic zoo, part science museum—serves as the publicly viewable fruit of UCSD’s world-renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

More than 60 underwater habitats reveal the rich variety of Pacific marine life, from the cold waters of the Northwest to the tropical waters off Mexico. Along the way, visitors can observe colorful coral displays and their inhabitants in the Tropical Seas Gallery, the 70,000-gallon kelp forest tank, and the Shark Reef exhibit.

Like any good science museum, Birch has no shortage of hands-on exhibits that showcase Scripps’ cutting-edge research discoveries, including living tide pools and the recently opened “Feeling the Heat: The Climate Challenge.”