Ocean Institute

I didn’t think it was all that. My daughter age three and I become part of an impromptu tour group. We went into a crowded hot room with some fish tanks.
That would have been fine for five minutes with less of a crowd. Instead she had to compete with adults to see the fish.
Turn we went to a room to hear about how great Richard Henry Dana was. Swell dude indeed. Just kind of boring.
I also thought some of the workers had kind of an attitude. Noticeably the older ones. The younger ones seemed spunky enough.
Just my experience of course.

I have to say that I was very disappointed with this place. I took my daughter here on a Monday and every single exhibit was closed except for 1 small area where you could pet the sea stars. The price was only $ 5 and then we paid $ 3 for a fish dissection. This wasn’t an issue of course it was so cheap in my opinion. They had a whale talk going on, but everyone just sat in chairs and listened to an older woman talk and point to the different whales on the poster board.
My child is pretty well behaved and very smart for 2.5 and they made us feel unwelcome, because of her age. She speaks in full sentences and can have a conversation with you. The gal that was in charge of the sea star station didn’t seem like she liked all the kids going up to her station, but it was the only thing to do, so I’m not sure what else she expected. She was a brunette with glasses.
The other issue I had was when it was time for fish dissection. My daughter and I sat down and arrived first and we also had paid first and waited for a few hours to do this. She was pretty excited. She never received a fish while all the other kids around her did. The worker who was handing it never even acknowledged us or made eye contact. If you don’t have enough fish then say something and if you are going to leave my child out then I need an explanation why she was singled out. I sat there for 30 minutes while my daughter watched everyone else and kept asking me why we didn’t get a fish. During that time I had to ask for each handout, because again she never bothered to give myself or my daughter one. Then I finally asked in the nicest way possible «are you out of fish?» I just wanted to make sure since my daughter is the only one who didn’t get one. At this point there was two volunteers here. The blonde and the brunette with glasses from the sea star station. The blonde again didn’t even acknowledge us. The brunette with the glasses glanced in the since and said no. Then said she can just watch the others and share. No kid wanted to share. These are all really young kids super excited about the fish dissection. If there was an age limit to this, then they shouldn’t have offered the experiment when we paid. Not to mention myself as an adult wanted to participate, even though I’ve done several dissections in my lifetime.
We will not be returning here, which is unfortunate because we love supporting these kinds of things. The gal at the front offered us a refund for the dissection and we told her it was unnecessary. She insisted and we still turned around and went into the shop and returned that money plus the additional amount it cost to buy an order priced stuffed animal.

I took 101^st graders to this place this year and for the past 10 or more years we have enjoyed The Ocean Institute field trip!

If I could, I would give this a 0 stars.
So today my and my mom and sister went to here. We thought it would be a place where you could touch and see sea life.
But we were very wrong.
We finally arrived, and my mom purchased a membership online. So we went in. A staff member greeted us by standing beside us and said «can you find the hidden eel?» We found it almost immediately. Then we went outside. We walked to go to another facility, then a staff member blocked us. They said there was a class there. We thought we could just go! Other museums let classes and people not in classes in the same facility. We were disappointed. So we herd they had a tour! We went to a classroom of fish where we could look at fish. SO CROWED AND SO BORING! We looked at only 2 fish actually move, which was a seahorse, and another kind of fish. We then left. We then went to the gift shop. Hardly anything besides butter knifes and jewelry and things for kids and other crappy things.
Overall, this was very disappointing and we will probably never come again.
Update: THEY ONLY OPEN ALL FACILITIES ON Sunday!

We brought our toddler on a rainy Sunday. Not too crowded and tons of activities and friendly staff. No where near as many tanks and fishes as a big aquarium, but so many activities for kids of all ages– seriously activities every half hour or hour (squid dissection, holding hermit crabs, petting sea stars, etc, etc). $ 10/​adults and $ 7.50/kids BUT an annual membership for the whole family was $ 75 and then we got a military discount! So this is our new rainy day plan if we don’t want to commit to a big adventure, just have a fun outing for a couple of hours… The membership also gets you discounts on whale watching trips, etc.

Wonderful volunteers here today!
Very helpful and informative! The lady feeding the Sharks/​sting rays was fun to watch teach the audience of all ages how the animals eat and about how they live.
At each exhibit the staff made sure all questions were answered and fun facts were shared!
Very interesting place to learn in the OC! Come in and check out all the different species of sea life!
(ps my mom thinks this place is where she will take her grandchildren every weekend)

This place is fantastic to bring the ocean lover to in So. Cal. They have a fantastic gift shop that has a wide selection of California native sea life in toys, stuffed animals, books, etc. They are located at the Dana Point harbor, all the way at the end, and the walk around this institute is beautiful, and has amazing backdrops, benches, and a jetti to walk out onto.

My younger sister came home bawling because one of the «actors» on the boat had singled her out and yelled at her profusely with a voice loud/​harsh enough to cause other students to be frightful. He was not just acting in this situation and chaperones on the field trip had seen this to be abusive. All other classmates were terrified too because of the abusively harsh way that this man treated them, lacking sympathy even though it was obvious the kids were scared. If I could give this review 0 starts I would. Completely unacceptable to treat a child in that manner.

I’ve been to two private events here, which is fun (company party, and high school prom). Touch tanks, sea life to look at. Big fire pit. The food they produced for the company event (probably catered?) was decent, too.

Love it. Brought my mom and sister here when they were on vacation. Just happen to get lost and found this amazing place.

Went on the Blue Whale Discovery Cruise today and it was unforgettable!
Bought tickets online, the only time available for today was 10am. The boat is in good condition and clean. They have seating outside and plenty of room in the front and back to feel the ocean breeze and admire the view. It was a gorgeous day and there was a lot of wind so if your usually cold then bring a jacket.
The crew was educating us about everything we saw on the way out to the ocean and they had a great sense of humor! Super friendly too! Then about 30 minutes in our captain spotted the spout of the blue whale and off we went towards it. We were fortunate enough to get really close and watch it surface and dive back down. Remarkable!
Then we went sailing towards a mega pod of dolphins and saw them play and jump out of the water! They were super playful!
This experience was amazing and I would 100% recommend taking kids on this cruise. The crew had the kids explore the sea specimens that are taken right out of the ocean’s floor.

I had a work function in their Surf Deck room and it was so gorgeous and such a wonderful environment. I had staff in from four different states and they loved being there. I have done events up the hill at the Marriott which is lovely but it’s extremely pricey. This is a much more unique and beautiful setting. Jennifer was so wonderful to work with. I am very much looking forward to returning for more meetings/​events in the future.

I love this place! I love this place so much. Beautiful place to look out at the ocean, beautiful learning center, and a really awesome gift shop. We went back to this place twice just for the gift shop! This place is one of the things I think of first when I think of Dana Point.

I had the pleasure of chaperoning my daughters 5^th grade class here for a science field trip. It was a great a learning experience for them and myself. The place is not too big and too be honest we didn’t get to go in all the buildings but from what we saw and did I was pleased.
In the back of the building there is a picnic area where we had lunch before starting our tour. It was beautiful back there with the ocean in site. You can see the waves crashing on the rocks and people kayaking, paddle boarding, fishing, etc.
Once our tour started we took about a two hour boat ride to see some sea life. It didn’t take long for us to see animals. As we were pulling out along the rocks there was multiple bird species and sea lions just hanging out. As we got out further in the ocean we saw dolphins, sea lions feeding and whales migrating. We followed the whales for a bit and got to see them on their travel. The captain and crew on the boat were all very friendly. They were providing the kids with many facts and helping point out things to look for. They taught the kids how to collect water samples and plankton. How to identify different fish and had some they were able to pet. They also had crackers, water and meds for any kids who may have gotten sick.
Once we were back at the institute they had different labs set up. The kids were taught about living systems and habitats, jellyfish life cycle, how to use and see small organisms thru a telescope, how to check ph levels in water and had the opportunity to dissect a mackerel fish. I was pretty stoked about that one. There is sea life to observe as well. They have a cute gift shop too!
The place is normally closed in the spring to the public and focuses on schools. However, they are open on weekends to the public and all other seasons daily. I will definitely be back with my younger son to explore.

I LOVE going to this place!!!
I work right up the street from here, I probably come 2 – 3 times a week after workJUST for the sunsets.
Its a FANTASTIC beach location to bring the family. They have tidepools for the kids, educational classes and if you have an afternoon to burn, you can even take a boat to Catalina. This is my absolute favorite place to enjoy the beach

ok price for what you get. This is a small ocean learning center. Only takes max of an hour to go thru. Some cool stuff to see, whale bones, sea stars and rays. Right by the beach and boats in the bay area. Very pretty outside view. Staff was nice.

GREAT learning experience for kids and adults during the Watershed/​Research Vessel Cruise. Kids had a blast in the four classroom labs including fish to dissect (not for weak stomachs). The staff was great with plenty of real life applications for fifth graders to relate to. The cruise was very cool and fun. The crew knew when to have the students outside in the breeze and when to conduct class inboard. Went beyond the breakers about a mile out past the sea lions which was an unexpected surprise. Mild swells that day made the afternoon excursion enjoyable without a Disneyland fast pass! Plenty of picnic space to bring a sack lunch. Kudos to Mrs. Parker and Bill and his trainee. Well done! FIVE STARS for defining «what teachers make» … Inspired children and adults!

The Ocean Institute summer program for children is overbooked and run very badly. I felt that it was so overbooked and there was such a miserable feeling coming from the counselors that I suspect they enroll as many children as possible and pay the staff as little as possible or use volunteers as counselors. These programs they offer in the summer are a great idea but my experience was so bad that I would not recommend anyone enroll unless they want to send their children to an over-​crowded, poorly run mess.
The Institute and its beauty gives a false impression that they know how to run a summer program for children.

Great event with my sons Adventure Guides group.
Tall ships festival was awesome– I recommend it to everyone.
The facility is really cool and the boats are awesome, one boat is there year round.
Tall ships festival is a period event, like pirate era. Kids loved it.

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).