Visiting the California Science Center in Los Angeles puts you right in the middle of one of the city’s most exciting cultural hubs. While the museum itself offers hours of interactive fun, the surrounding Exposition Park area is packed with family-friendly destinations that extend the adventure. The location is incredibly convenient, sitting adjacent to the University of Southern California and just a short drive from Downtown LA.
Planning a day trip here can feel overwhelming because there is so much to see and do within a few square miles. You want to maximize your time without exhausting the kids or breaking the bank. Fortunately, the neighborhood offers a mix of free outdoor spaces, world-class museums, and unique sporting attractions that appeal to all ages.
This guide focuses on the best attractions located within a short walking distance or a quick drive from the museum. Whether you have toddlers who need to burn energy or teenagers looking for interactive thrills, there is something nearby for every age group. The goal is to help you build an itinerary that balances education, physical activity, and relaxation.
You do not need to travel far to find iconic landmarks, beautiful gardens, and historic venues. Many of these spots are located directly next to the Science Center, allowing you to park once and explore on foot. This saves time and makes the day much easier for families with young children or strollers.
Before we dive into the specific locations, it helps to understand the layout of Exposition Park. The area is a sprawling green space that houses multiple museums and stadiums, all connected by walkways and gardens. This central location makes it a prime starting point for a full day of exploration.
Below, you will find a curated list of the top destinations to visit after you finish exploring the California Science Center. These spots are organized by proximity and appeal, ensuring you can create a seamless, stress-free itinerary for your family.
Discovery Cube Orange County
| Address | 2500 N Main St, Santa Ana, CA 92705 |
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| Maps | Click here |
| Website | Click here |
| Opening Hours | Monday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Tuesday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Thursday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Friday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Saturday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Sunday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Phone | (714) 542-2823 |
Always love the experience. My daughter can co.e here every month and still learn something new. The Scooby exhibit is adorable and a great deal. Great customer experience. Everyone is helpful and knowledgeable. Convenient location.
Great place for children and adults! Had a blast with my family. Great way to introduce science to children and young adults. They have a marine section where children can touch marine life. A planetarium section and other cool things. Recommend coming early, we did the entire thing in about 4-5 hours. Bring hand sanitizer as there are many high contact areas. They have a little cafe for a quick lunch and a gift shop to end your day. Parking is $10.00.
Discovery Cube is a very nice, well-designed museum focused on hands-on learning and discovery for kids of all ages. It’s engaging, interactive, and honestly enjoyable even for adults, not just children.
The exhibits are playful but educational, and everything is set up to spark curiosity rather than just entertain. We especially loved the space-related exhibition on the solar system — really well done, visually appealing, and easy to understand for both kids and grown-ups.
A great place to spend a few hours as a family, combining fun and learning in a smart way. Highly recommended.
Great interactive place with lots of fun activities to do especially for the children.
They have areas from Dinosaurs to Space, rockets, car racing and my favorite was the Eco Shopper Supermarket where the kids can learn to shop and do self checkout.
Another great spot was the fun way they did an interactive to learn about waste management. Lots of kids were having fun there.
I don’t have small kids but it was a fun place to walk around and see all the kids learning and have fun at the same time
Incredible! So many things to do. My little ones loved it!! We arrived upon opening and left till closing hours and didn't finish all the activities. Definitely stopping by again. No wait for entry because we bought our tickets with advance on the website.
Chabot Space & Science Center
| Address | 10000 Skyline Blvd, Oakland, CA 94619 |
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| Maps | Click here |
| Website | Click here |
| Opening Hours | Monday: Closed Tuesday: Closed Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Thursday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Friday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Saturday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Sunday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Phone | (510) 336-7300 |
I’ve been to Chabot before for their nighttime telescope viewings, but this was the first time I saw what the museum itself had to offer.
The museum is definitely catered towards kids & families. My party had just 2 adults - me and my mom. What I personally enjoyed most as an adult were the physical models and artifacts. They had a few interactive areas and exhibits, but again, clearly designed for younger audiences.
I don’t want to give Chabot less than 4 stars, but something was lacking. They simply don’t have enough to show as a museum that warrants 3 floors of space and a $20 ticket price. As my mom put it, the museum “needs a little more love”. We came in expecting to spend a few hours here, only to be finished in under an hour. The gift shop wasn’t appealing either, most were very basic tacky space-related gifts, a few with the Chabot logo.
I’m not entirely sure what to recommend to make this place better but there just needs to be *more*. You don’t feel like you get the maximum amount of value out of the time and money you spend here. Again I still liked Chabot and I don’t want to give it a lower rating, but I won’t come back unless I see *more*. Overall, 4/5.
Great hands on center. Very kid friendly. Very STEM. Build your own paper rocket and fly it with lots of docent help available. Real rockets, space craft, space suits, telescopes, planetarium shows, moon rock, and mail a postcard to space. We saw Jupitor and Aldaran thru telescopes during the day visit. Set in a beautiful mountain redwood forest park with lots of walking and biking trails, archery range, and valley views. All just a few minutes off the highway. Day and night tours & events. We spent 5 hours looking and playing around the science center
A true East Bay gem. Pro tip field trips leave at 1pm so after you have the place to yourself. Only con we went on a Friday and the theater had no shows today. Friday and Saturday night 730-1030 they have free telescope 🔭 viewing but is weather dependent . We saw Jupiter in great detail. Free parking, planetarium shows were included in admission, and great AC made this a Spring Break treat.
There should be higher security in the parking lot here. Despite the fact that my father and I had seen a security worker walking nearby when we had pulled in, our car, despite being parked in broad daylight outside of the observatory, was broken into. Our window was smashed and property was stolen. To make matters worse, the only camera that was aimed at the parking lot at the time was blocked by a tree. This happened today at around 11:45 a.m. I was in the observatory with my father for about 35 minutes.
My advice to future visitors: Be wary of robbers, they are everywhere, even here. Or simply, avoid this location.
Get your own lunch, there is a coffee in the center but is literally coffee and bread only.
The telescopes where closed, I want to think they open them at night.
Discovery Cube Los Angeles
| Address | 11800 Foothill Blvd, Sylmar, CA 91342 |
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| Maps | Click here |
| Website | Click here |
| Opening Hours | Monday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Tuesday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Thursday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Friday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Saturday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Sunday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Phone | (818) 686-2823 |
Our kids had fun and it was great watching them play. Great for a half day trip.
This place has lots of short interactive games and learning activities. Unfortunately most are showing their age or just simply out of commission. The place is clean but could use an update to most of their permanent exhibits. Some of the exhibits look to be rotating/short term and all those were good.
They have a small little food court that we didn't try but the offerings are pretty bog standard for a place like this.
Parking, like others have mentioned is a little strange but plentiful. It shares a communal lot with the parks it neighbors, so expect a short walk.
We traveled from a few hours away for our visit. All in all, I think we'd visit again sometime in the future. Hopefully by then some upkeep has taken place.
Good place for the kids, specifically the younger ones. There is a big play place that takes up the entire top floor, meaning the only science-ish stuff is at the bottom. The place where you had to check a house to see if its well maintained is a very cool concept. There is a little gift shop, and there is a little pretend marketplace but the carts are really heavy. There's a little cafe, but they only have pizza and deli sandwiches.
An incredible place to explore for kids! My 4 year old spent 3 hours here discovering and learning. Not only do you learn about science, you also learn social skills when it comes to sharing and taking turns. There was a field trip with about 1000 kids (is what we were told!) so the place was unusually packed.
Perfect for toddlers! We were hoping for the dinosaur exhibition but enjoyed the Barbie and L.A Kings exhibitions that were currently running.
The carousel out front was spectacular. You can purchase all-day tickets or a single ride. It was the perfect way to end the visit. Little kids can ride (under 42” tall) so long as a parent or guardian is next to them holding them up.
There’s a cafeteria that serves ready-made sandwiches, hot pizza, fruit and snacks. The bathrooms have changing tables and there’s a family bathroom on the 1st floor.
Parking is free next to the park and it’s about 1 block away from the entrance of the Discovery Cube.
This is exploratory Wonderland for my two year-old son!!! He is obsessed with this place when we go it’s impossible to get him to leave because it’s that incredible!!! We’re going back again this weekend, because once you know how wonderful it is, you never wanna stop revisiting 😍
We recently visited Discovery Cube Los Angeles with our 3.5-year-old, mainly to explore the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse exhibit—and it was definitely the highlight of our trip! My son absolutely loved it and had so much fun interacting with everything.
It was also his very first carousel ride, and he enjoyed it so much! That ended up being one of the most memorable parts of the visit. Aside from those, he also liked the Pixels area, the racing track, and the garbage sorting game.
The staff were friendly and helpful, which made the experience even better. We also found free parking nearby, which was convenient. Inside, there’s a good café for a quick break, and the restrooms were clean and well maintained.
From a parent’s perspective, while the experience was enjoyable, the ticket price feels a bit on the higher side for what’s offered—especially for younger kids who may not engage with all the exhibits. It would be great if they could include more activities tailored to toddlers to make it feel more worth the cost.
Overall, a fun visit for little ones.
MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation
| Address | 125 State St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 |
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| Maps | Click here |
| Website | Click here |
| Opening Hours | Monday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Tuesday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Thursday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Friday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Saturday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Sunday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Phone | (805) 770-5000 |
Awesome, kids had more fun than they could handle. Could return for day two. Everything seemed to work properly, unlike other exploratory kid places very often. Great staff. Clean facilities. Recommend
Sadly, the Makers Lab at the Moxi has changed and now feels much more rigid, boring, and uninspiring than before.
For years, the old Makers Lab was one of the main reasons my family maintained our membership. Children could create freely, use a wide variety of materials, and build whatever they imagined.
Now there are far fewer materials available, even though many of them are still visible in bins but children are told they cannot use them. Children also can no longer use the hot glue guns, soft materials, or electric cardboard cutter that used to make it possible to quickly bring ideas to life.
At the same time, children are still allowed to use wire cutters, wire sheets, and handheld cardboard cutters, which honestly seem more dangerous than the tools that were removed.
The new themed approach may sound good in theory, but in practice it is far less creative and engaging than the old open-ended Makers Lab. It also seems like these changes may have been made for children under five, even though the Makers Lab really is not intended for that age group.
What was most disappointing was how rigidly feedback was received. It felt like concerns from families were dismissed rather than considered.
If the Moxi wants to keep this new themed version, perhaps it could be offered only on busy weekends when there are many tourists. During the week, I hope they bring back the original Makers Lab that so many local families loved.
Amazing place! Your kids will be very happy! The museum has three floors of different educational activities. There is a special place for crawling babies and toddlers. It has an arts and crafts room. Kids can play with water on the top of the roof. There is a parking lot right next to it. First 75 minutes are free and then it’s $3 per hour.
Great place to go with the kids.
Pro Tip: Park at the adjacent train station for convenience. First hour or 75 mins are free, followed by $4 an hour.
Moxie and Santa Barbara was a great experience. I think that it was not really geared towards toddlers under two years old. We did have a great time once we found the water table on the roof and the toddler play area. But a lot of the exhibits were a little bit Geared towards older kids. I’d love to come back when our toddler is a little bit older.
The parking situation is a little bit odd for this location as there’s no parking garage and we took grandparents who were disabled and had to walk all the way around the building and up the ramp to get in. I guess I just make sure that you have a game plan ahead of time for where you’re dropping folks off and how you’re getting disabled people into the place if you happen to bring some
Pennypickle's Workshop
| Address | 42081 Main St, Temecula, CA 92590 |
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| Maps | Click here |
| Website | Click here |
| Opening Hours | Monday: Closed Tuesday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Thursday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Friday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Saturday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Sunday: 12:30 – 5:00 PM |
| Phone | (951) 308-6376 |
Great place you children and adults. This was my first time and I really enjoyed myself. My 2 kiddos enjoyed themselves as well. All the displays were kid interaction friendly. The staff was great. Very friendly and cost was reasonable. I really enjoyed the science show with the experiments. A great reminder for the kids and microwaves.
It was a great experience for my little one
Parking: Ample space for free parking
Staff: They were very nice, greeted with smiles, and informative
Entrance fee: $10 per person/child
Location, vibes and etc: The place is clean, including bathrooms. My little one had so much fun! I think there's stuff to do from toddler's all the way to early teens. Lots of learning for STEM. Lots of sensory stuff as well. I guess the only drawback is the 2-2 and half hour time limit. They reset every couple of hours to clean and get ready for the next batch. Otherwise, I'd come again.
Oh, if there's too much sensory overload for your child, there's ear plugs. The staff were very observative that my child was covering her ears, and they offered the ear plugs to decrease the sensory overload. Kudo's to the staff.
Had an amazing time! Everyone was so kind, but we were especially lucky to receive a tour from Lupe. She was incredibly loving, understanding, and kind to my son, who has a few disabilities. She made sure he felt included every step of the way and was very mindful of things that could affect his epilepsy. We truly enjoyed the tour and the beautiful care and attention she gave our family. Thank you for making this day so memorable for us. 🤍
Our 3 grand daughters, 3, 5 & 7 loved it and the adults did too. The amount of creativity that has gone into this is astounding. Be sure to check the website schedule information.
It was fun for my 3 year old Grandson he was too overwhelmed and didn't understand a lot of what was going on. I think 5 would be a better age, I will take him back. I enjoyed the Steampunk vibe.
Exploration Discovery Center
| Address | 867 Ramona Ave, Grover Beach, CA 93433 |
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| Maps | Click here |
| Website | Click here |
| Opening Hours | Monday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Tuesday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Thursday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Friday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Saturday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Sunday: Closed |
| Phone | (805) 473-1421 |
It's expensive for what it is.. the children's museum in SLO is cheaper, cleaner and more organized. I often saw chemicals where kids could reach them behind a curtain. One visit was enough. Sad to see as it could have the potential to be amazing. It was dirty and not well maintained. It's kinda a junkyard for old toys.
The ladies were very rude. It’s a kids’ playroom, so of course kids are going to have fun. The entire time we were there, they kept saying, “No running,” no food inside when we didn’t even have food and “Put that away.” It felt like they were constantly scolding the kids instead of letting them enjoy themselves. We won’t be coming back.
We had a great time! My boys are 3 and 1.5: most was accessible for them, some things were too tall or difficult for them but there is so much available that it wasn’t an issue.
So much for kids to do! My 2 year old son was entertained for hours! Crafts and take home stuff too. We were there for hours and didn't do even half of what we could do.
Our 4 and 1 year olds loved this place! It's quirky and wonderful.
Thrill It Fun Center
| Address | 20 City Blvd W, Orange, CA 92868 |
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| Maps | Click here |
| Website | Click here |
| Opening Hours | Monday: 2:00 – 8:00 PM Tuesday: 2:00 – 8:00 PM Wednesday: 2:00 – 8:00 PM Thursday: 2:00 – 8:00 PM Friday: 2:00 – 9:00 PM Saturday: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM Sunday: 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM |
| Phone | (714) 363-3858 |
Their workers are so nice and helpful! They found my son's toy, and not just that my niece got hurt, the worker come ask if we need ice for her! We love it! This place is clean, My kids have so much fun!! $16/p for all day in ball room! What I love is you can bring your own food here! So easy for parents! 🌷🎉
Hosted my daughter’s 11th birthday party here and it was a total success. The party room is spacious and the party host was extremely nice and helpful. The area is clean. The kids had unlimited playtime on the ballocity party, and they didn’t want to leave after 3 hours playing. I am very grateful to all the staff here for helping my party be a success!
Great place to get your kids away from TV, Video games, and electronic devices!!
Their confidence, balance, and heart rate will increase!! Outside food is allowed and you will be glad that they were able to be active. Knocking out when yiu get home for sure!!
My family had a lot of fun and the worker Octavio I think his name was made sure that my sister and brother was safe in the obstacle course.
Great place for kids. If they can walk, they pay to play in the ball-room, but parents are free.
Fresno Discovery Center
| Address | 1944 N Winery Ave, Fresno, CA 93703 |
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| Maps | Click here |
| Website | Click here |
| Opening Hours | Monday: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM Tuesday: Closed Wednesday: Closed Thursday: Closed Friday: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM Saturday: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM Sunday: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Phone | (559) 251-5533 |
Stumbled upon this while burning timenin Fresno. The Dutch gardens are really something, completely cared for by volunteers. I recommend going to take a look. Only 4 stars because the actual discovery center was under construction and not up and usable.
Visited on a Saturday morning at 9 AM with our 2-year-old niece (kids free 2 and under). Enjoyed our visit and spent about 2.5 hours.
Large dinosaurs, play areas, toys, jungle gym, swing, science section, reptiles, turtles, dirt/dino bones area, koy fish.
Plenty to do and for kiddos to keep themselves entertained and learning. Very affordable, fun activity.
My son is homeschooled and we thought it would be a fun time of learning and exploring. But it turned out to be just a disappointment. 4 employees sitting behind the counter none engaging with anyone or trying to maintain the areas in the building. ALL THE CENTERS were just not maintained for learning. Thank goodness it was cool inside but when we stepped outside it was even worse. No landscaping so many dangerous areas not suitable for kids. Ant hills everywhere. I see a lot of the same reviews and no changes . So I write this and hope someone can do so changes. Fundraising I don’t know. Growing up and coming as a kid myself it was fun. Today wasn’t. Let’s DO BETTER
Wonderful interactive and educational center for kids. My first time visiting here with my child's school was a great experience. The guides were very informative and knowledgeable. I will definitely be back with my children.
We took my friend's grandchildren there. They had a blast. Many fun and informative things to do there. It was pretty warm, so most of our time was spent indoors.
Western Science Center
| Address | 2345 Searl Pkwy, Hemet, CA 92543 |
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| Maps | Click here |
| Website | Click here |
| Opening Hours | Monday: Closed Tuesday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Thursday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Friday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Saturday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Sunday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Phone | (951) 791-0033 |
We were heading home from palm springs. This is museum is highly recommend. Lot of interactive activities for the kids . Will have them thinking, building, and drawing. The best part was making the fossils. Will be back with more family members.
I went there with my grandchildren, and we all had a blast, they enjoyed everything.
It is a great place for kids, they have a big exploration lab (STEAM lab) with many activities for small and bigger kids, they also have a few activities in the fossils section such as making a fossile with clay. The staff is also really friendly and helpful. And they have big spotless toilets which is unusual for a museum. Highly recommend for a fun day out!
The Western Science Center is a great place to visit on a hot day. Bring your kids if you need a break and to let them burn off some energy. The science center offers an exhibit just for kids. But for the adults, if you want to learn about the local history such as the founding families like the Dominigoni family amongst others then I highly suggest going. The museum also explains what the Native American tribes were like and how they inhabited the area. For the fossils, they had a few things but one that will catch your eye is the “Giant Sloth”. I highly suggest taking a trip to visit.
It's a small museum with a lot of cool fossil and has great interactive items for the kids. There is an educational movie that plays every half hour and they have a space that has rotating exhibits.
Adventure City
| Address | 1238 S Beach Blvd, Anaheim, CA 92804 |
|---|---|
| Maps | Click here |
| Website | Click here |
| Opening Hours | Monday: Closed Tuesday: Closed Wednesday: Closed Thursday: Closed Friday: Closed Saturday: 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM Sunday: 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM |
| Phone | (714) 236-9300 |
We had such a great time here! Prices for things are very reasonable! They have a Starbucks in the park! My 2 and 5 year old loved that they could get on just about every ride. The animals in the petting zoo are so sweet and cute! The arcade was a lot of fun as well! We won some fun prizes! Definitely a great day out with my kiddos.
First time here with the family and we all had a great experience. The staff were all very courteous. The rides are all well placed for a small amusement park. I would definitely recommend.
Its a great place for small kids like till 8 years. Has like 10 games all fun and small place like mins walking to go from game to another. Waiting no more than 10 mins to ride every game. And there was artificial snow and dancing. There is a place kids can play with trains and tracks.
I do recommend it.
So underrated!! Perfect if you have kids younger than 4 years old. All the rides are made for small kids. Close to no wait at all. We went during the 4th of July weekend and it was so good! My 3 year old didn’t have to wait more than 5 minutes for any ride and he could go on as many times as he wanted! Bathrooms were clean. Snacks were priced fairly. Staff was super friendly. A+++ experience. Seriously perfect for families w young kids. It’s not a massive park though. We did everything (including multiple turns on certain rides) in a little over 2 hours. Ticket price is a little high for the time you spend there but when you think about the no waiting and the fact that your little ones can actually enjoy the park without being incredibly overstimulated, it’s worth it!!! ❣️❣️❣️
Pretty cool place to bring your little one's. My kids and now, grandkids love it here. Not bad price for entrance. They will enjoy every minute spent there.
Seymour Marine Discovery Center
| Address | 100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 |
|---|---|
| Maps | Click here |
| Website | Click here |
| Opening Hours | Monday: Closed Tuesday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Thursday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Friday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Saturday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Sunday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Phone | (831) 459-3800 |
You need a whaling of a good time... This is the place to go.
Pro tip: it's past past the butterflies
Parking is free in weekends but there are plenty of park to pay machines around
Things to touch, yes!
Walking paths, yes!
Gift shop, yes!
Super friendly staff, yes!
Support science!
Highly recommend!
I definitely recommend visiting the Seymour Center on the UC Santa Cruz campus. They offer paid parking through an app, but you can also park on Delaware Street and walk to the entrance, which is what I did. The walk follows a paved path with two or three different routes lined with native plants, adding to the open-air experience and making it easy to enjoy the scenery along the way.
The center itself is small, but I highly recommend taking a tour with one of the volunteers. I toured with John, and it truly enhanced the visit, I learned much more about the center and its work. The tour lasts about 30 minutes and takes place outdoors at two different sites.
After the tour, I explored the indoor exhibits, including tanks with various marine species. There’s also a touch pool where you can pet sharks, as well as another area with smaller sea creatures. Afterward, you can continue walking around the grounds in the permitted areas, which is definitely worthwhile for the beautiful views and surroundings.
Such a fun little stop with plenty of emersive activities for the kiddos. They loved the touch pool and the trail along the beach. Not too crowded at all and plenty of friendly staff. Perfect if you have 1-2 hours for a quieter aquarium experience.
The Seymour Marine Discovery Center is a lovely spot to stop in Santa Cruz, especially if you have little ones. There are a couple of small touch tanks. You can even pet a sleeping Swell Shark.
There are restrooms and a cute little store.
The entry fee is reasonable and the view of the cliffs is fantastic. Bring binoculars if you have them and you may be lucky enough to see otters in the kelp beds.
Cute discovery center. Probably super fun for kids and may take longer to visit but my husband and I saw the center in about 40 minutes and we still enjoyed ourselves. Got to touch a shark! The staff was friendly and helpt. We did the 30 min tour which was interesting and fun to see the dolphins being studied currently. The view along the coastline behind the facility is also very nice.
Bay Area Discovery Museum
| Address | Art Studios, 557 McReynolds Rd, Sausalito, CA 94965 |
|---|---|
| Maps | Click here |
| Website | Click here |
| Opening Hours | Monday: Closed Tuesday: Closed Wednesday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Thursday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Friday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Saturday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Sunday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Phone | (415) 339-3900 |
Found this place online. Our kids ranging from 7 to 1 years old loved this place. Indoor and outdoor options for all ages. Plenty of playgrounds. Food options were good here and they had a large picnic area to eat outdoors. Kids can easily spend 4-5 hours here. I would say it great for kids under 10 yo.
Wow! For kids under 7 this is as fun as Disneyland. Between the first week of June and the first week of September there is a suds maker that is wildly popular with the kids. There is a cement mixer like revolving machine that the operator “shoots” into the crowd. The suds are like the same suds created when the dishes get washed. The kids LOVE it! Items not scary and the suds are harmless so even a toddler will find it fun
PRO TIP: 1. Some kids like it so much that they don’t want to do anything else and eventually get their clothes wet. Bring a change of outfit as a back up. 2. The food is pretty mediocre even if graded generously. I suggest bring your own food.
The museum is pretty good without the suds but the suds elevate it to a whole new strata. I would double check the website for confirmation that the suds will be operational. When we were here today, I think the suds machine operated from about 11:00 to 1:30 but check this so you don’t risk disappointment. As a grandfather, I got a kick watching all the kids and my grandkids thoroughly enjoy themselves.
The Bay Area Discovery Museum is a fantastic place for kids! The outdoor play areas are incredible, and the views of the bridge make the setting even more special. There are so many hands-on exhibits and interactive activities to keep children engaged for hours. I highly recommend packing a lunch and planning to spend the entire day—you'll have plenty to explore, and the kids won't want to leave!
Great place for kids and parents !!! So fun and also super educational.
You can picnic or buy food there.
The view of the Golden Gate Bridge is amazing
Went for Art Week. A busy event! Started our day from 10:55a ended it at 2p. So much to do and awesome sights. Enough places to sit and get shade while the kids play.
My daughter had a great time and she's autistic. Honors Musems for All 🙂
Tips for Planning Your Family Day
To make the most of your visit to this vibrant area of Los Angeles, a little preparation goes a long way. The neighborhood around the Science Center is walkable, but weather, parking, and timing can significantly impact your experience. Keeping a few practical strategies in mind will help you avoid common frustrations and keep the day enjoyable for everyone.
Start early to avoid the midday heat and crowds. Los Angeles can get very warm, especially in the summer months. Arriving when the museums open allows you to enjoy outdoor spaces like the Rose Garden before the sun gets too intense. It also helps you secure a better parking spot in the general Exposition Park lots.
Pack layers and comfortable walking shoes. Even on sunny days, the air conditioning inside museums can be chilly for little ones. The grounds between attractions are expansive, so supportive footwear is essential. Bringing a light jacket or sweater for each family member prevents discomfort when moving between indoor and outdoor spaces.
Check the event calendar for the LA Memorial Coliseum and BMO Stadium. These venues host major sporting events, concerts, and festivals that can cause road closures and heavy traffic. If a large event is scheduled, you may want to adjust your visit date or plan to use public transportation instead of driving.
Bring your own snacks and refillable water bottles. While there are food vendors and cafes in the area, lines can be long and prices can be high. Having healthy snacks on hand keeps kids from getting cranky between meals. Many museums have water fountains where you can refill bottles for free.
Consider purchasing a Go City Pass or checking for reciprocal museum memberships. If you plan to visit multiple paid attractions like the Natural History Museum or the California African American Museum, a multi-attraction pass can save you money. Some local library systems also offer free passes to residents, so it is worth checking before you buy tickets.
Use the Metro Expo Line for a stress-free arrival. The Expo Park/USC station drops you off directly in front of the museums. This eliminates the need to search for parking and is often faster during peak tourist seasons. Kids usually love the novelty of riding the train, adding an extra layer of fun to the day.
The area surrounding the California Science Center offers a rare concentration of educational and recreational opportunities. You can easily fill an entire weekend without ever getting back in your car once you arrive. The combination of green space, world-class museums, and historic sports venues makes this one of the most family-friendly zones in Los Angeles.
No matter which attractions you choose, the key is to stay flexible and let your children’s interests guide the pace. Some families may spend two hours in the rose garden, while others will want to rush straight to the space shuttle exhibit. By planning ahead and using these tips, you are setting yourself up for a memorable and low-stress outing in the heart of the city.
