The Birch Aquarium is nestled in the breathtaking views of the coastline of La Jolla and the Scripps Pier. Only being $9 to get in for students, the Aquarium makes for a cheap and interesting way to spend the day. It summer and it was Saturday, which apparently means family day at the aquarium because it was crowded. Other than a little bit of lag going from tank to tank, it really was not that much of a burden. In order to avoid the crowd, we didn't do the typical start of The Hall of Fishes, but rather the "Feeling the Heat" exhibit. This explored the fate of our planet due to climate change and the irreversible effects of CO2 emissions. Although this is a current topic and it has now been ingrained into our brains, I felt the Birch Aquarium did a wonderful job on displaying the facts in a visually appealing and interesting way. Lots of hand on activities and videos to watch. There is also an educational section for smaller children to participate in activities. Next we headed to the Tidepools and surprisingly the view was what caught most of our interest (no offense to the tidepools, but the La Jolla coast is magnificent). The tidepools look out to Scripps Pier and the surrounding La Jolla coast. You can see beautiful sights of San Diego. After taking in our fair share of the views, we journeyed over to the Shark exhibit. I would have to say this was the low point of my day. The exhibit was small, and placed outside in the back corner of the aquarium. I expected to see something like Sea World's Shark Tunnel, but instead was greeted by a somewhat small sized tank filled with smaller sharks. It may be my expectations mixed with a little excitement from Shark Week that let me down, however, I do feel their Shark exhibit was a little less than satisfactory.
Moving inside, we finished up with the Hall of Fishes. Amazing. The Birch Aquarium Hall of Fishes has so much to see and so many things to learn about. The dark maze of fish tanks are organized by region. Each tank explores a different part of the regions. The fish are incredible. I have been to aquariums but it still amazes me to see some of the underwater creatures. Overall, I would say the Birch Aquarium is a great trip to take in San Diego. We spent about 2-3 hours there and it was time to see all that it had to offer. If you time it right, you can see feedings or there are activities for kids.
The second part of the day was spent on one of Hornblower Cruises' fabulous boats. We went on the Sights & Sips Sunset Cruise, which is new to Hornblower. We had never done a cruise around the bay and let me tell you it was a great way to see San Diego from a new view. The cruise is about 2 hours and it takes you around the bay to see sights such as Seaport Village, Downtown, Coronado Bridge, and many more. I was a little apprehensive to take a cruise in fear it might turn into a tourist sight seeing tour, but this cruise was nothing of the sort. Seeing San Diego from the water is unmatchable. The Sights & Sips Cruise changes its theme and menu every month or so and this month had a Hawaiian theme. Basically all that means is the food and hors d'oeuvres being tray passed are Hawaiian based. They also offer drink specials in conjunction with the theme. For $30 a person, I would have hoped to get my hands on a few more hors d'oeuvres, but overall it was a fantastic experience. We sat at the top of the boat and could see everything perfect. Although it was just a bit cloudy, the sunset was beautiful. This is definitely a great thing to bring a loved one or a group of intimate friends to.
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Links
- Birch Aquarium http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/
- Hornblower Cruises http://hornblower1.reachlocal.net/port.asp?port=sd
- Sights & Sips Sunset Cruise Information http://hornblowerholidays1.reachlocal.net/sd/sunset_cruise.htm
- Sights & Sips Sunset Cruise Reservation page https://hornblower1.reachlocal.net/IDC/reserve.aspx?Port=sd&GuestNumber=I50137&ActionNumber=28
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