California Academy Of Sciences

08/09/10

Love this museum!

by Lauren Hannah at Citysearch

I love this museum!

I first ventured into the California Academy of Sciences on a date -- it was one of the best dates ever!

The museum has so many different exhibits; a rainforest complete with free-flying butterflies and birds plus some caged animals as well, an awesome aquarium with tons of different fish and coral exhibits, and a living roof.

This museum is great for kids and adults alike. They also have "adult night" on Thursdays, but I've never been.

Their individual (and changing) exhibits should be included in the General Admission price. I'd love to check one out.

03/24/10

Albino Alligator Rules!

by Casi C , Citysearch Contributor at Citysearch

CA Academy of Sciences opens at 9:30a.m. and we arrived a little after 10 without any lines. We went straight to the planetarium to get out passes for the 12p.m. show and began our journey. It's important to get your passes ASAP because the shows fill up quick!

We started off in the aquarium and saw some of the prettiest, craziest, ugliest, biggest, smallest and coolest fish! There are a lot of under water tunnels so you can see the fish from every angle ... which kind of freaked me out sometimes! From the aquarium we ran over to the cafe for a quick lunch before the planetarium show. There was all types of different foods, all of which was pretty good! Sandwiches, tacos, chicken, rice, salad, spring rolls, soup, and tons more I didn't see.

The planetarium was definitely our favorite part! The show was called 'Fragile Planet' and was about our Earth and the universe we live in. It really showed us (in the coolest way possible) just how small we really are! It also made me feel very lucky to be apart of this crazy phenomenon we call life!

After the show we visited the Rooftop Garden or the "Living Roof." It's pretty fascinating to see how many different flowers, birds, and insects thrive off of this rooftop! We also saw solar panels along the roof which provides the building with 5-10% of its electricity. It was a beautiful day so we got great views of GG park, the Musical Concourse, and the de Young Museum.

Another great exhibit the museum houses is the four story life-like Rain Forest. Get ready to sweat when you get in here because not only does it look and smell like a rain forest, it's hot and muggy like a rain forest too! Filled with plants, animals, and insects the rain forest was really fun to walk through. The prettiest part were the butterfly's that flew freely throughout the entire exhibit.

Towards the end of our journey we went through the African Hall where we saw mostly replicas of animals that live in Africa. One of the few live animals in this exhibit were the African Penguins! Yes! Penguins live in Africa too! Crazy hu!

It was a long day of walking through the CA Academy of Sciences. We all had a great time and I can't wait to go back!

11/09/09

Very serene and eerie. Cool!

by tanya86 at Citysearch

All I remember from my childhood of this place was a lot of green algae growing in tanks, everywhere!

I went recently and really enjoyed the Living Philippine Coral Reef exhibit.

"The Academy chose to feature a Philippine coral reef because the reef systems in the Philippines are among the most diverse in the world."

Very serene and eerie. Cool!

12/13/08

Great Family Experience

by rickames at Citysearch

A great place to take the family. My kids loved all the exhibits from the Rain Forest to the Ocean. It was a little crowded when we went but that's expected for a Saturday. If you want a good out of town experience with the family then the California Academy of Sciences is a great place to go.

• Pros: Awesome experience with the family
• Cons: A little crowded