Love, love this area of Dana Point. This has been my families spot to learn about the ocean and to enjoy sea life. We have always come to the Marine protected area when the tide is low and walked along the beach and sand outside the Institute to see all sorts of sea life. It is amazing what you can see, even saw an octopus one time. Just make sure that you know when the tide is rolling in and out to not get caught out on the rocks! On the backside of the Institute there are also benches to sit at and listen to the ocean. The Institute itself is filled with wonderful sea life and is a great learning experience no matter your age. Outside, there is a calm bay area where paddle boarders are all over as well as the educational ships filled with history. There is nothing that you cannot do in this area! read more

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We came to the Ocean Institute for a homeschool field trip and was it ever worth it for waking up at 6am! The initial lesson part was split into groups and we were assigned to Sydney. She was absolutely delightful! Very knowledgeable and receptive to the questions the kids have! After the lesson, we headed out to the open sea. To our delight we got to see dolphins, sea lions, and even spotter a whale! Overall it was a great experience and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting a lesson on ocean mammals! read more

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Great field trip destination for middle schoolers and even elementary students. We participated in the lab, nature and whale watching tours and each experience was fun and informative. Every group had a dedicated guide who made the information engaging, easy to understand and enjoyable for the kids. We were able to see dolphins and a whale on our boat tour! They have a cafe on site where you can grab lunch or a coffee! Had an amazing time coming here! read more

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Did their tide pool hike. Great event and not too expensive at $18. You will learn about the items you see in the tide pools. Staff were knowledgeable and friendly. Definitely worth it! read more

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Went along with our young niece and nephew, and we had about as much fun as they did. It's not a large place to visit, but it's packed with interesting and exciting exhibits. The staff and employees are all amazing. Fave part was getting to pet a snake. The handler was so friendly and gentle, and handled grabby little kids very well. We went back another time just the two of us for the schooner sail and that is a not to be missed experience. Just bummed we missed the bioluminescence sail as it's only during summer months. But there's always next year! read more

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One of Southern California treasures located at game point. You even can go out on cruises occasionally here they have wings for children all the time educational it's a great place to learn explore and enjoy coastal life in Southern California, California. read more

We wanted to spend some time inside a place near the ocean since my son really enjoys the sea creatures, so we decided to buy tickets for this place and the website said there's lots to do and you can purchase a squid dissection class for an additional cost. First, it's roughly 46$ for two adults and one kid. The place is pretty small, there's two buildings of sea creatures to explore and an auditorium where someone will give a lecture on a whale historically found at Dana point. I'd say this is a great place if you are into touching the sea stars, sharks (small ones), and sting rays in an accessible tank. The squid dissection is a class and scheduled, my son didn't want to go near the display showing how the dissection class might show. It is limited in how many exhibits there are: The touch tanks and other view tanks are in one exhibit building. The squid dissection, microscope slides, snake tank, eel tank, and jellyfishes are in another exhibit. There's a play tunnel of an actual scaled heart of a whale, the kids can go in and out of it. The auditorium has chairs and an actual whale bone hanging of a whale which washed up without its tail. Since my son likes seeing new things, unfortunately, we were not able to keep him entertained for more than 30minutes before he asked to leave to the beach. Overall, it's a nice small entertaining exhibit which you get in and out privileges since you get a wristband but it's not the same as an aquarium experience. read more

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My son had a 6th grade field trip here and I was lucky enough to be a chaperone. This was hands down one of the coolest field trips! It was entertaining and educational all in one. The kids did activities from a boat ride out to see to seeing the life cycle of a jelly fish to learning what back breaking work it is to work on a ship. They got to raise a sail on The Spirit of Dana Point! The staff are all passionate about what they do and are so patient with the and the million questions they had throughout the day. We even got to hike along the shore and check out tide pools. All in all just a great day at the Ocean Institute! read more

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Found this place on a whim. We actually intentes to go to the Marine Life Conservation Center but it was closed! Being a weekend, there wasn't a lot of parking but we managed to get a spot. Spotted a coffee shop at the entry and grabbed a cup of coffee before entering. The cashier at the institute almost ruined the rating here. She didn't bother to ask how old the baby was and proceeded to charge me for 2 children instead of the infant/toddler rate (adults $15, children $7.50, age 0-2 free). She was a bit confrontational too. Anyway, after paying and getting a refund for the child ticket, we put on our wrist bands and were greeted outside by an employee who gave us a rundown of the building and exhibits. Then we walked around the exhibits in the institute. Each station had employees/volunteers sharing information about the experience. We were able to see some fish, starfish, and sea stars. My girls pet the sea stars and sharks. We found a huge whale skeleton that had washed ashore in Laguna that still had some "feet" bones. They had a kid friendly heart replica for kids to play in. They had a few other add on activities but we didn't do them. There was another kid friendly seating play area too. There are restrooms and a gift shop in the building. After exiting this building, you can head across the parking lot towards the "pirate ship." The Spirit of Dana Point actually replaced the precious ship that sank in 2020 that was also coined a "pirate ship." The ship does in fact set sail and they do weekend tours as well as a Pirate Themed sail geared for kids. The crew was super knowledgeable and had lots of info regarding the history of the current and previous ship. You could smell musty wood too as you looked inside the deck from above. Lots of photo ops and my daughter got to ring the bell. After exiting the ship we proceeded to the little maritime museum and saw some cool artifacts and more info about the ship from a history buff volunteer. We learned that a log of volunteers help keep the Spirit of Dana Point alive. Once exiting this time capsule we headed over to the stable next door where we learned about games the pirates played. You could also play the games yourselves but we were hungry so didn't spend time on that. A little mini snack bar was located in this area with candy, drinks, Cracker Jacks and more. Overall, a good experience for families with kids. The pirate ship tour was especially cool for the little ones and my hubby. read more

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What a fantastic space! You can have weddings here or your corporate events here any kind of private party or you can just go to the Institute and learn about the ocean. They have all sorts of rooms that tell you different things about different sea critters, one of my favorites is the moon jellies! And of course, the petting area where you can pet sharks and manta rays is always fun! On this particular night, I signed up to do the "sharks after dark" event where they do a shark feeding....I thought it was great! I can't wait to find other events to get involved with read more

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Went here last night for the sharks after dark event. I thought it was going to be something different or an add on of the main normal displays but it wasn't. It was just open later in the evening. There's a couple buildings and the whole display tanks are kind of small but it was cool the kids got to touch the sharks and sting rays in the touch tanks. We went through the whole area in about 30 minutes and it was quite pricey too. But the kids liked it and there was a food truck and some live music which was fun. It's more of a one and done place, but the atmosphere is nice if you don't have kids to run around with. read more

Ocean Institute - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Dana Point, California

This was a happy little accident. ChatGPT told my friend about this place for us and so we came here on a whim. We enjoyed a fun tour, and Dee absolutely slayed me. So much fun. Then the Whale Discourse after the boat tour we thoroughly enjoyed. Dr Milt and his his gorgeous wife clearly have all the love in their hearts for marine life and especially whales. We could have spent hours upon hours listening to this beautiful couple of 70 years (2025) tell stories of their adventures. So much wisdom and knowledge and true treasures in this world. We saw bottle nose and commons while out on the boat, along with a few sea lions (4). If you enjoy birds there was a blue herring. The gift center is one of the nicer ones we've seen. There is a replica of a whale's heart. I believe from the blue whale. You can get inside. Super cool. There is a petting tank for guitar fish, California round, and I think forgot the name of the shark. Another tank for starfish. Dissecting lab. So much in a small plot of land. Parking is free if you can find it, arrive early so you can get a spot. Highly recommend. read more

Absolutely worst cruise. Bioluminescence tickets are a massive rip off. No one says everyone gets sea sick. Boat smells bad. Staff are young and inexperienced. I cannot think back to a worse experience. Look at my reviews, mostly 5 stars. A couple of 3 stars. This is a one star. Complete waste of money and time. read more

Our 7 year old great granddaughter loved it! She especially enjoyed the touch and feel tanks. The docents were very helpful and clearly enjoyed what they were doing. A big plus! read more

Cool place. Provides education and history of Dan Point for students and adults about basic things ocean. It's always been a chill and friendly vibe read more

Ocean Institute - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Dana Point, California

This review is specifically for Tiny Tots program. I've taken my son there about 5 times. The program has so much potential to be great, but unfortunately the staff are very young and inexperienced. One of the days they had an electricity theme which involved toddlers handling button batteries!! Any parent can tell you that button batteries are probably the most dangerous thing to ever give to a young child. The young man leading the activity collected the batteries at the end but left them in a clear bag on the play rug, within babies and toddlers reach. This is a big NO and safety concern. These are my recommendations to improve the tiny tots program: 1) hire a credentialed teacher who has experience working with young children 2) incorporate more song and dance in the program - it's easy and fun 3) design more age appropriate activities that are SAFE. No button batteries ever!!! read more

Small but filled with lots of knowledge! It was a great place to visit for those who like to learn about the ocean and touch some aquatic life. They also had an area with snakes and we also attended a talk about one of them and got to touch a snake! read more

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I ( with my granddaughter) attended the TINY TOTS: Physics event today at the Dana Point Ocean Institute. The staff ( especially Emily and Asael ( sp.) ) were enthusiastic, informative and excellent with the "tots"! The art at a table) & physics activity on a mat ( electricity & conductors ) were demonstrated to their level with hands-on demonstration. The fish story was animated & visit to marine- life tanks were well described and enjoyed! A fabulous discovery day for my little one snd me! read more

Cute place to take the kids, and take a cruise to watch whales or dolphins. The beach is nice. Also a great vendor for school field trips!

Please put on your website that some events are tickets only or if an event is sold out. We drove in traffic just to be dismissed. So many families were already leaving too because I overheard them saying the music wasn't great or felt too loud. My son was so sad. I wasn't the only one. A couple families tried buying tickets there too. read more

We stopped by here briefly and had our little breakfast before walking over to the dana point caves. Such a cute & educational place, especially for kids! As they say, experience is the best teacher! They have tours, little areas to explore and play with animal sculptures in a small playground. Had we known about the big waves by the caves, I think we would've stayed longer; except, we would've missed out on these phenomenal views! Basically, I had to be carried most of the time so I wouldn't get as splashed but the entire saga was just so much fun and created great mems ;) read more

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We love the ocean Institute! My kiddos always get a kick out of all the things. Everyone who works here is also super helpful and sweet.

We visited before years ago, and came back for a kids birthday party today. The place is beautiful right next to the ocean and they offer a lot of educational programs for the kids to learn and interact. They assigned one staff for the party and the person helped and did the interactive program with the kids. All staff here are professional, friendly, knowledgeable and very patient with kids. The kids got goodie bags at the end of the party and also taking home some knowledge about the ocean. During the pandemic, they require all guests wear masks and temp check upon checking in as well. read more

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Fairly small aquarium but very knowledgeable volunteers and employees! It took my friends and I about an hour to walk through all the exhibits. They have a lot of native California species like the state fish, other kelp fish, and even a few reptiles. Make sure you grab a map because there aren't many signs for which building is where. This place is great for elementary school aged kids! They have their own parking lot (that's free) so there's no need to stress out about finding harbor parking. read more

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If I could give 10 stars I would. I took my niece and nephew last weekend. They are 5 and 9 respectively, I signed up for the squid dissection and sea star feeding. MOST.AMAZING.EXPERIENCE. The 5 year old was initially reluctant, then she wasn't and was very into it. Do both. Don't just sign up for sea star - you chop up squid to feed the sea star anyway .. do the dissection and make some core memories. Learn squid anatomy - you learn all the parts, you sex them (determine their gender) and see if your squid has ever reproduced. Squid only reproduce once in their lives #thethingsyouknow Shout out to David, who said he'd only been working there about a month, for his Snake Talk with Rosie the Rosie boa. My nephew is a TALKER and has endless questions, David was a pro. There are fun things to do ,, very educational, and there are jellies ! Which I love. Cute gift shop as well, clean bathrooms, ocean views. They had corn hole and giant jenga - jenga has little fun tasks on the blocks ie; 'walk like a crab'. Affordable as well. Check out their website and calendar. You can also tour the tall ship - we arrived too close to our squid dissection time to do that, but the kids want to come back !! See you soon Ocean Institute ! We had a great time. read more

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Be careful sending your child here on a field trip. Our group instructor Michael full blown SCREAMED at a 10yr old boy (My son) on the autism spectrum because he felt like he wasn't listening to his every word. He threatened to make him leave and miss out on the rest of the program. I was a chaperone for this group and could not believe what I saw. Michael is very rude, snarky and condescending to the kids the entire day but this incident was inexcusable. I approached him and let him know that this boy was NOT being disruptive, he just lost interest and sat there quietly and he should never ever speak to a kid that way. Michael never apologized just full of excuses. This guy should not be around kids. I'm so lucky to have been there to protect our students from the verbal abuse. My son is still upset and doesn't want to go on any more trips. I spent $140 for this??? Be careful who you leave your kids with. read more

Great place to take a little one! Love seeing the sea animals and plus it's right on the beach

This place has always had events that are well planned and focused. They are great at showing the amazing life of the ocean. From the life that is indigenous to the ocean to the life people have had and can enjoy on the ocean, they present to guests in a very special way. read more

Today we attended the Ocean Institute's Homeschool Day and it was AMAZING!! From start to finish, our kids had a wonderful day! There were so many activities to participate in (whale watching, touch tanks, dissection, beach clean up, pirate ship tour, ocean related activities and more!) It was seriously exceptional! We stayed the entire day 10:00am to 3:00pm and are already looking forward to attending the next homeschool event. The staff was also great and really kept our kids engaged and excited about all things Ocean. Every person we interacted with really seemed to enjoy their jobs and interacting with all the kids. Really appreciated the level of service they provided. The only negative was the payment system they used for this event. Simply put...it sucked! The amount of emails that were sent out "confirming" our registration and then "declining" our registration was ridiculous. Hopefully they get that fixed before the next event! Things happen though so it's all good. Thanks again for such a wonderful day!! read more

Nice little area. My kids age 7 and 8 loved the touch tanks. The old tall ship was ok, my kids were not impressed. Multiple rooms with different themes that kept the kid's attention. We spent about 1 and a half hours total. read more

This is such a wonderful place to take the kids to not only have fun but to learn about the ocean and its inhabitants as well. The tours are every hour and last about 30-40 minutes and involve many interactive exhibits as well as plenty of touch tanks which is always our favorite part. The staff here is great and very good at explaining everything to kids in a fun way. $5 during the week and $10 on weekends is an affordable way to spend the day by the beach as there is plenty in the area to explore after, highly recommended! read more

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Just LOOK for the TALL SHIPS, Next to BABY BEACH! OCEAN INSTITUTE, Dana Point, CA! My Two Nephews think this Institute is one of the Coolest Places to explore the Ocean's Underwater World & learn about Marine Conservation, Marine Science, Maritime History, and Ocean-life Awareness here! You can't miss the Iconic "PILGRIM" Tall Ship! It's the Ocean Institute's largest classroom venue to thousands of students each year. It's a full-sized replica of the Original Pilgrim built in 1825 and entered Dana Point Harbor back in Sept. 1981! Also docked right next door is the "SPIRIT OF DANA POINT", it's a replica of a 1770's privateer schooner used during the American Revolution, and it does set sail frequently! Every September the OCEAN INSTITUTE Hosts a Fleet of Historic Tall Ships that sail into Dana Point Harbor from all over! They held their 33rd Annual Tall Ships Festival this past September 2018! I Share my Love & enthusiasm for the Tall Ships Festival, in my previous Review, too! I Highly recommend checking this yearly event out if you can! And We were Blessed, this past week, with a Special visit of a Traditional Polynesian Voyaging Canoe, named "Hikianalia", which sailed more than 2,800 miles from the shores of Hawaii, across the North Pacific to get to California, to make its rounds down the CA Coast! It's one way the Polynesian Voyaging Society is trying to share the ALOHA Spirit, & Spread Awareness for Global Environmental Sustainability, and Share their message of "Mālama Honua"... "Caring for our Island Earth!" What a Treat, "Hikianalia", arrived in our Charming Dana Point, CA Harbor on 10/23/2018, & is docked in front of the Ocean Institute for a week, before it heads to San Diego! OCEAN INSTITUTE, is a Must Check out, when visiting the Dana Point Harbor! read more

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Really loved the Whale Talk session with these two elderly couple. They knew a lot about whales and their stories were fun and interesting. They answered my questions. I wanted to attend the Story session but alas the person doing that presentation didn't show up. This is a really nice and informative attraction. I have been here a few times but this was the first time I went outside and they have a great view of the ocean and there is a tide pool. I didn't go though. I would like to go next time with a friend. Recommended. read more

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Great for hands on with sea creatures. Lovely gift shop as well. Very interesting privateer ship to explore. Wonderful for kids.

Everything was great! I took six of our grandchildren and they loved it. So much to see and do.

Lovely discovery center, friendly staff, interesting aquatic animals and a killer view. The Dana Point harbor is a great place to spend the day. read more

Went there this weekend with family and right off the bat, there was disorganization everywhere and lots of things strewn about on tables and displays, a mess. Walked in and were directed to the left in this lack-luster lobby which was poorly lit and half the things on display did not have anything actually on display. A microscope-like display which was not functioning. Here's my biggest complaint: As we moved along into the other areas, saw a family of four (two adults and two middle school aged children) all walk around with no masks. Now, I get it, if you're outside and not around anyone - fine - but they were not, they were inside the display areas, running around next to others without having any consideration. ZERO F's given. What bothered us the most is that the staff made an observation which was not taken seriously, in fact completely ignored the staff member who said "unless you have a medical condition please wear your face covering." Yet, no other staff member ever addressed them further, nothing. I would have expected staff to walk up to them and have a conversation. My family was uncomfortable in their presence, we will never go there again. Overall this place was not impressive at all, I was extremely disappointed with how much mess there was around and how a lot of the display windows were grimy and dirty with prints and just looked so poorly tended to. The display areas were poorly lit and there was no order or organization to the movement of visitors, etc. Bathrooms were filthy! Unfortunate. read more

Came here when they were hosting the Mermade Market - we have been here twice before. My daughter wanted to go see the sea creatures (after an hour of window shopping), so we went in and right away I firmly heard someone say "You DO NOT touch the glass because it scares our friends. It is ONLY for looking and not touching. Got it?" Wow, is that how the employees talk to kids? We took a few more steps in and that same lady looked over at me saying "Are you here for Camp Science?" We didn't see any signs or even heard anything about it so I replied no and she said "This area is ONLY for Jr Camp Scientists. So please leave." Wtf. As soon as I told my daughter we had to leave and left the building, she immediately slammed the door behind us. Calm down, Karen! I left to go look at a few booths inside a building while my daughter asked to play with the other kids outside. I told her that I would be inside that building and do not let any adults take her away. She understood. And yes, I did regularly check up on her to see how she was doing and what she was doing. While waiting in line to check out, a mom came inside and asked, "Is *daughters name here* here?" I said yes immediately. She said that my daughter "had an accident and they took her to the front, wherever that is." Confused and scared, I looked around. All over. I looked inside the main entrance to the Ocean Institute. Nothing. I went back to the shopping area where the checkout is - nothing. Went back to the front of the Institute - parking lot area. Nothing. Saw some teenagers walking out of the employees area with paper towels and knew my daughter was inside that building. Confusing .... Yes, I know. Hard to explain. Walked in and saw she was tucked in the side of the reception area. She saw me and was excited. I asked her what happened and why didn't she come to me. She said the adult that took her away wouldn't let her come to me even though she knew where I was. Wtf?! The fact that my daughter knew where I was, and that "adult" wouldn't let her come to me nor did they even bother looking for me (or make any announcements) - except for the 1 mom that came looking for me - is ridiculous. And the person talking to my daughter didn't even bother saying anything to me or what even happened. All I got was a nasty look. Okay, please pull that stick out of your butt, please. Good job, Ocean Institute. You suck. And that's me saying that nicely. read more

This place is magical! I felt like a princess! The wifey and I wanted to get married by the Ocean. There's only a handful of places up and down SoCal, but we decided to go with the Ocean Institute for a number of reasons. 1. It's non-profit organization. Mad tax breaks in April 2012! Plus it was cheap to book this place compared to St. Regis, Ritz Carlton, Marriott Resort, Best Western (yes, I poop you not.)...etc. 2. Food. There's no kitchen here, so we have to go outside to find our cater. This encourages competition between the various catering companies in the area, so we have more control of what we wanted vs. a set menu at a hotel or country club. 3. Open bar all night long. Since there is no liquor license here, we had to hire bartenders for the evening. This means, whatever booze we brought, we took with us to the after party. 4. Secluded. Unlike hotels or other public venues, this place was only open to our wedding. It's located at the end of the road, at the bottom of the cliff by the water. It makes it harder for wedding crashers to stumble thru or annoying interruptions from passer-bys. 5. Close to hotels and free parking. Makes it easier on our guests to get to and from the Ocean Institute. Overall, would I get married here again? Yes, absolutely. It was a very fun time. Our guests really raved about the location and there was very minimal decorations required. A couple seashells on the table and done. A little about my credentials: This was my first time getting married and hopefully my last. I can't really take any credit about finding this place; we have our wedding coordinator to thank (message me if you want an awesome wedding coordinator). read more

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If you want to spend a few hours of your time one weekend with the kids then you might want to check out this place. It costs $6/adult and $4/children 3-12 years old to get in and once inside you can linger for as long as you like. Displays are housed in various rooms and there are a total of 5 which includes a movie theater where you can watch a show on various topics. My favorite room was the one where they make their own plankton and krill for the marine animals. The volunteers are all very enthusiastic and helpful when you have questions. Before you enter (and after you've paid) they will give you a schedule of the day's events and you can choose to attend or not. We attended the 'dissecting a squid' workshop which entailed a dead squid placed in front of you with scissors, a probe and tweezers. The volunteer will go through the various parts of the squid which is rather interesting. I've been cleaning squid for food preparation since I was lil guy's age and never knew what was what on a squid. All I knew was which parts were not edible but didn't know why. After this workshop it made sense why my mom asked me to discard the bits of the squid I knew 'instinctively' were not edible. I would suggest bringing a little picnic if you plan to come around meal time. They have a cart which sells drinks and hotdogs but bringing your own packed lunch would seem more practical and healthier for the kids. There are some tables and chairs within the Institute itself, however, it's far more pleasant to venture outside where there are picnic tables and benches where you can eat your food. They give you a stamp on your hand so you can return later if the kids wanted to rediscover the displays they had seen earlier. Parking is free (as opposed to $10 parking over at the aquarium on weekends) and it's a seriously great option for a family outing! They are open to the public Thursday and Friday for a public tour which starts at 3:30pm and lasts about 40 mins. On weekends it is open from 10am to 3pm. read more

Ocean Institute - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Dana Point, California

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