CA
California Academy of Sciences
Science and wonder under one roof—from oceans to stars.
5
Arts & Entertainment
$$$
Science and wonder under one roof—from oceans to stars.
California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco blends an aquarium, a planetarium, and a museum under one roof. Visitors explore the Steinhart Aquarium, enjoy the Morrison Planetarium’s 75‑foot dome, and encounter a diverse range of natural-history exhibits. The venue features interactive displays, a lush indoor butterfly atrium, a rooftop garden with city views, a dining terrace, and a dedicated kid-friendly outdoor play space.
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Explore diverse marine habitats, from California tide pools to coral reefs, featuring penguins, sharks, and colorful fish.
Experience immersive space shows under a 75-foot dome, offering educational and awe-inspiring astronomical presentations.
Walk through a multi-level tropical environment with free-flying birds, butterflies, and exotic plants in a controlled climate.
Discover life-size dioramas, dinosaur fossils, taxidermy specimens, and interactive exhibits on global ecosystems and wildlife.
Visit the iconic eco-friendly rooftop garden with native plants, scenic views of Golden Gate Park, and sustainable design features.
Participate in guided tours, workshops, and special exhibits designed for families, schools, and science enthusiasts.
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Overall rating
Dheepak Guruswamy
This place is expensive, we chose this indoor thing to do since it was rainy day in SFO and also happened to be Christmas. I will recommend this place to all science enthusiast and this one building has an aquarium, science center, etc.
Neal Mueller
The Cal Academy of Sciences has many distinct science exhibits under one giant, wide roof. The lower level houses the Steinhart Aquarium, which includes a California-coast habitat with Garibaldi, anemones, and sea bass. The main floor holds part of their large collection of taxidermy specimens from local and international ecosystems, including California bobcat, raccoon, African wild dogs, antelope, and gorilla. The Morrison Planetarium is a 75-foot dome and runs scheduled shows. The grounds include outdoor areas on both sides: the left side is a designated play space for kids, and the right side has food service and a terrace with outdoor dining.
Craig Reichel
Wonderful place to visit! Loved the jungle environment full of birds and butterflies. The planetarium exhibit was great. Lots of interactive exhibits. The aquarium is large and has a good variety of animals. Loved looking at the tide pools. The minerals and African exhibits are smaller but nice. Loved the penguins. They have a dining area with ok food. The large entrance moves people in quickly, especially if you bought your tickets in advance.
Michal Carmel
AMAZING!! This place is full of entertainment for the whole family - wonderful and super fun interactive exhibits including unique and beautiful animals, planetarium, rain forest and much more! Currently there’s a dinosaurs’ exhibit which was fascinating for my boys :) This is a fun day or even two if you want to go through everything :) We had lunch at the cafeteria which was a good solution for us so we could take short break and keep enjoying the academy right afterwards. Highly recommended!!
Robert Curtis
Wow this place was awesome! A great place for all ages to enjoy. View dinosaur bones and many marine species. A Huge indoor atrium that is home to many different species of butterflies that fly everywhere around you...its quite an exciting experience. On the bottom level is the aquarium with many tanks with colorful fish and coral reefs. There is also a natural history museum with life size animals in picturesque settings. Wait there is more...A giant rooftop garden that overlooks golden gate park . This place has it all! Also I have to say we had lunch in the museum and it was very good tasting and fresh ingredients and many tables to sit and dine-in. All around 5 star experience i would absolutely recommend this place if you have small children...they will have an absolute blast here!!!!
