Central Coast Aquarium Programs

Central Coast Aquarium Programs offers Discovery Lab Field Trips, Coastal Quest, Floating Lab Field Trips, Tidepools on Tour, and School Programs. Coastal Quest includes hands-on STEM activities, outdoor exploration, and creative projects focused on marine ecosystems, ocean animals, and environmental stewardship. Floating Lab Field Trips are boat-based and include surveying and studying marine life and collecting samples in tow, and Tidepools on Tour is an Aquarium on Wheels program that brings the ocean to the classroom.

Programs

• Discovery Lab Field Trips
• Coastal Quest — Weekly · Designed to enrich at-home learning through hands-on STEM activities, outdoor exploration, and creative projects focused on marine ecosystems, ocean animals, and environmental stewardship.
• Floating Lab Field Trips — A boat-based program to survey and study marine life, collecting samples in tow.
• Tidepools on Tour — An Aquarium on Wheels program that brings the ocean to your classroom.
• School Programs — The aquarium offers a multitude of fun educational programs in and out of the aquarium.

At a glance

• General schedule: Weekly program; in and out of the aquarium.
• Facility hours: Open daily 10:00 AM-4:00 PM

About the provider

The Central Coast Aquarium nonprofit’s mission is to cultivate a community dedicated to ocean stewardship through education, engagement, and action. It was founded in 1994, incorporated as a 501c3 nonprofit organization in 1998, opened as an aquarium in 2006, began docent-led interpretation in 2010, and was rebranded as Central Coast Aquarium in 2013. The aquarium’s community involvement includes school programs, community events, science seminars, birthday parties, and weddings, and it serves over 29,000 visitors and 5,000 students each year.

Last updated October 14, 2026.