Oregon Sea Grant Hatfield Marine Science Center Youth & Family Camps and Programs
Hatfield Marine Science Center, 1600 SW Western Blvd, Suite 350, Newport, OR 97333
About
Oregon Sea Grant Hatfield Marine Science Center Youth & Family Camps and Programs offers hands-on programs such as summer day camps, a Spring Break STEAM camp, and Family Fun Friday activities that include lab and field experiences, field trips, and visitor center exploration. Participants take part in specific activities like Squid Dissection and Printing, Coastal Explorations, an Underwater Robot Design Challenge, Speedy Science, Tidepool Exploration, estuary investigations, and fish dissections, as well as experiments, simulation games, and crafts and creative hands-on activities related to fish. Program themes range from marine technology to marine mammals, and students interact with researchers through tours of research labs, meeting researchers who study marine mammals, and learning how scientists design and conduct fish experiments.
• Ages: 8–18 years old
• Schedule: Spring Break STEAM Camp runs March 23–27 from 9 am to 4 pm; Summer Day Camps run in four-day sessions Monday through Thursday, 9 am–3 pm, from early July through mid-August; Family programs, including Family Programming at HMSC and Seal Rock Tidepools and Summer Family Fun Fridays, are offered as 2-hour sessions on select dates.
• Price: Spring Break STEAM Camp costs $200 per student; Summer Day Camps cost $200 per student; Summer Family Fun Fridays cost $15 per participant ages 4 and above per 2-hour program; visitor center exploration tickets cost $5 per person ages 5 and above; lunches are not included for Summer Day Camps.
During marine mammal-focused activities, participants visit the Whale Watching Center, observe local pinnipeds in action, explore the migration journey of humpback whales, examine a real whale skeleton, investigate efforts behind sea otter reintroduction, and join hands-on activities and guided investigations about marine mammals. Tidepool and shoreline activities include exploring tidepools at Seal Rock, investigating crabs and other hardy species that live between the tides, practicing field techniques like quadrat surveys and biodiversity studies, digging into estuary habitats through hands-on investigations, searching for mole crabs along South Beach, and taking an afternoon trip to look for freshwater crayfish while learning from Hatfield researchers about crustaceans and taking a closer look at diverse crustaceans. Creative and stewardship-focused activities include exploring local coastal habitats such as tidepools, estuaries, coastal forests, and beaches through a creative lens; learning about patterns in nature like camouflage, the Fibonacci sequence, and stripes and spots of coastal species; pressing plants; using natural items to make sun-prints; capturing the marine world through clay sculptures and 3D scenes; helping clean up a local beach; and turning plastic trash into something artistic.
At the Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center, participants can touch a sea star, pet an anemone, drive a research vessel simulator, and take part in fun, hands-on learning about marine science and the natural world, with visitor center exploration not included in program fees and tickets available for purchase. Programs are described as fit for all ages, with family programs for all ages and a Spring Break STEAM camp specifically for students in grades 3–5, and due to popular demand, two options are offered for 11–12 and 8–10 year old camps with the same content. Summer Day Camps registration includes all instructional materials and a T-shirt, and Spring Break STEAM Camp registration includes all supplies needed for hands-on activities.
Oregon Sea Grant was established at Oregon State University in 1971, following the establishment of the national Sea Grant program by Congress in 1966, and Congress has provided funding to Oregon Sea Grant every year since 1968, allowing it to serve coastal communities for over five decades. Oregon Sea Grant states that its mission is to spark discovery, understanding, and collaboration to foster healthy and resilient coastal communities and ecosystems, and it envisions a future of thriving coastal communities and ecosystems in Oregon. Oregon Sea Grant is one of 34 programs within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Sea Grant College Program and is a cooperative program between NOAA and Oregon State University, and its Whale Entanglement Project has earned a national award, with Oregon Sea Grant also awarding $1.22 million for marine research.
Oregon Sea Grant notes that its programs serve all of Oregon and that it relies on many collaborators and partners, including local governments, agencies, industry, and philanthropy, to expand its capacity to address needs of Oregon's coastal communities and ecosystems. A community advisory council of Oregon residents and community leaders provides guidance on its programs, and Oregon Sea Grant collaborates with community, industry and conservation groups, researchers, teachers and students, tribes, resource managers, and political leaders, including through efforts such as a Travel Oregon collaboration that promotes outdoor guide certification.
Last updated December 29, 2025.
• Ages: 8–18 years old
• Schedule: Spring Break STEAM Camp runs March 23–27 from 9 am to 4 pm; Summer Day Camps run in four-day sessions Monday through Thursday, 9 am–3 pm, from early July through mid-August; Family programs, including Family Programming at HMSC and Seal Rock Tidepools and Summer Family Fun Fridays, are offered as 2-hour sessions on select dates.
• Price: Spring Break STEAM Camp costs $200 per student; Summer Day Camps cost $200 per student; Summer Family Fun Fridays cost $15 per participant ages 4 and above per 2-hour program; visitor center exploration tickets cost $5 per person ages 5 and above; lunches are not included for Summer Day Camps.
During marine mammal-focused activities, participants visit the Whale Watching Center, observe local pinnipeds in action, explore the migration journey of humpback whales, examine a real whale skeleton, investigate efforts behind sea otter reintroduction, and join hands-on activities and guided investigations about marine mammals. Tidepool and shoreline activities include exploring tidepools at Seal Rock, investigating crabs and other hardy species that live between the tides, practicing field techniques like quadrat surveys and biodiversity studies, digging into estuary habitats through hands-on investigations, searching for mole crabs along South Beach, and taking an afternoon trip to look for freshwater crayfish while learning from Hatfield researchers about crustaceans and taking a closer look at diverse crustaceans. Creative and stewardship-focused activities include exploring local coastal habitats such as tidepools, estuaries, coastal forests, and beaches through a creative lens; learning about patterns in nature like camouflage, the Fibonacci sequence, and stripes and spots of coastal species; pressing plants; using natural items to make sun-prints; capturing the marine world through clay sculptures and 3D scenes; helping clean up a local beach; and turning plastic trash into something artistic.
At the Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center, participants can touch a sea star, pet an anemone, drive a research vessel simulator, and take part in fun, hands-on learning about marine science and the natural world, with visitor center exploration not included in program fees and tickets available for purchase. Programs are described as fit for all ages, with family programs for all ages and a Spring Break STEAM camp specifically for students in grades 3–5, and due to popular demand, two options are offered for 11–12 and 8–10 year old camps with the same content. Summer Day Camps registration includes all instructional materials and a T-shirt, and Spring Break STEAM Camp registration includes all supplies needed for hands-on activities.
Oregon Sea Grant was established at Oregon State University in 1971, following the establishment of the national Sea Grant program by Congress in 1966, and Congress has provided funding to Oregon Sea Grant every year since 1968, allowing it to serve coastal communities for over five decades. Oregon Sea Grant states that its mission is to spark discovery, understanding, and collaboration to foster healthy and resilient coastal communities and ecosystems, and it envisions a future of thriving coastal communities and ecosystems in Oregon. Oregon Sea Grant is one of 34 programs within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Sea Grant College Program and is a cooperative program between NOAA and Oregon State University, and its Whale Entanglement Project has earned a national award, with Oregon Sea Grant also awarding $1.22 million for marine research.
Oregon Sea Grant notes that its programs serve all of Oregon and that it relies on many collaborators and partners, including local governments, agencies, industry, and philanthropy, to expand its capacity to address needs of Oregon's coastal communities and ecosystems. A community advisory council of Oregon residents and community leaders provides guidance on its programs, and Oregon Sea Grant collaborates with community, industry and conservation groups, researchers, teachers and students, tribes, resource managers, and political leaders, including through efforts such as a Travel Oregon collaboration that promotes outdoor guide certification.
Last updated December 29, 2025.
Is this your business? There is no cost, but you will be asked to sign up or log in.