How much time is needed to explore Aquarium of the Pacific?

[dtk07]

How late in the day can we arrive and still see everything?

We currently have a 9:30am LGB flight arrival that we are thinking of pushing back to sleep in a bit longer. Would arriving at the aquarium at noon or 1pm give us enough time if we took a later flight in?

 

[cruisehopeful]

Yes, that should be plenty of time. While there is a lot to see there, it's very compact. I think you could see the entire thing in 3 hours or less. The only thing that would take longer is if you wanted to take any of the extra tours or behind the scenes stuff. All of those might not be available right now anyway.

 

[Lumpy1106]

It should not be crowded now, but we are locals with annual passes and our strategy when it was absolutely nuts was to get there 2 hours before close - just get there as everyone is streaming out. You could see absolutely everything in that time. There are a few more exhibits now so 3 hours sounds about right.

BTW - if you are going to do that, don't park in the aquarium lot. They will charge you a "daily" rate that is higher than the hourly rate you will pay at the Pike lot (or find a nearby parking meter).

 

[DLgal]

Honestly, 2-3 hours max.

 

[ChanaC]

I agree with others, you can do the whole thing in a few hours, unless you want to go to every single talk/demonstration.

As a tip, I love doing the package deal ticket that includes a whale watch cruise. I've done it twice and have seen whales and dolphins both times. The tour also includes an expert from the Aquarium on the boat, and both times they have been great with giving out whale and dolphin fun facts, and they can answer pretty much every question you have. The captains track reports of whales in the area so they know about which areas to go out to. I think winter is the preferred time to go because it's the whale migration season but I believe they do the cruises year round.

 

[Evita_W]

It really depends, if you are like us, 4 hours or more, if you move quickly from spot to spot, 2 or 3 hours will be sufficient.

 

[colormegreen]

It isn't an all day thing and its fairly quick. I'd say 2 or 3 max. They do have watching cruises outside if you want to extend the day and make the experience longer.