NightLife at the California Academy of Sciences

What do you do on a thursday night after work? Wind down with a beer and check out the an aquarium or experience an earthquake of course! The nightlife at the california academy of science makes me feel like a little kid again. I really enjoyed checking out all the fish and marine animals as well as this beautiful forest. It’s a wonderful date place because there’s so many interactive attractions.
Check out the planetarium but get tickets early because they usually run out after the 1^st hour or so! It’s definitely worth it to get to the academy early so you have ample time to scope out all the attractions and some even more than once!

I absolutely love museums and being able to experience them at night is an amazing opportunity. The vibes at nightlife are so classy and elegant. You can grab a drink and walk around casually with your friends. It is such a great date spot to be in the wonderful world that’s created.
It is not expensive at all to go. The themed nights throw a little flair to going to the Academy of Sciences.
And there’s plenty of parking around Golden Gate Park and it’s super accessible by bus.

I wish more museums had night life option for discounted price! It usually cost a little less than $ 40/​person for general admission. A NightLife ticket cost $ 15 for non-​members. I’d recommend purchasing online since there’s no hidden convenience fee. But there was no line when my boyfriend and I arrived so I suppose that defeats the purpose lol. It’s 21+ only so they checked ID at the door.
Apparently each mini-​bar has their own cocktail. I had the strawberry sangria tonight, $ 12 for a small cup. They have café that sells pizza and burgers. To my surprise, the pizza was only $ 6. The crust was very doughy, I suppose they just want to suppress your appetite. All the exhibits were really nice, I wish nightlife was a little longer till midnight so I could actually slow down and appreciate each exhibit.
Great place for a date night!

I’ve always wanted this experience but after two trips to this establishment, I thought I don’t wanna go back a third time. Went on St. Patrick’s Day, this may have been the reason for easy parking. I really enjoyed the music as I roamed and looked at the exhibits. The planetarium though, hands down was the best part. I’m not sure if it’s the same person hosting the show each time, but he was hilarious — which is always a good bonus!

My boyfriend took me here for a spontaneous date night :) it was a good experience and you basically get to do/​see everything that would be open during the daytime for half the price (and there’s no annoying little kids AND you get to drink!) so it gets pretty packed on Thursday nights.
The rainforest and aquarium were two of my favorite attractions. It gets really stuffy in the rainforest and I wasn’t dressed properly so I didn’t get to stay there for long. I spent most of my time oohing and ahhing over the fish and animals LOL and screaming in the earthquake simulator. They also had an animal exhibition and it was pretty dope to look at all the exotic animals.
I wouldn’t come back here every single week but maybe once or twice a year when they have interesting shows/​attractions to offer :)

My one and only experience with NightLife was a disappointment… although I am willing to give it another go.
If you don’t mind the trek, you can park on the street for free and walk on in. I opted to park in the parking garage. The spaces were so tight, my car was scraped (but that could definitely be due to my poor driving skills lol).
The line to check in was RIDICULOUSLY long. It wasn’t really an issue though because they had a few people doing check-​in so I got in fairly quick. Clearly this is a very popular thing.
Once inside, my boyfriend and I had a great time walking around and enjoying the displays. I was a little disappointed that you had to pay a leg and an arm just to get a small slice of pizza or a cup of beer…
An hour into the event while we were waiting in line to get into the space exhibit, the fire alarm goes off! Everyone was ushered to evacuate immediately and we were never allowed back in for the night. There goes $ 15 I’ll never see again.
We were never reimbursed. An explanation was never even provided — not even an email blast apologizing for the inconvenience! For shame…
I drove my butt over 2 hours to get to SF to have a great NightLife and was thoroughly disappointed…

This is one of the best things to do in the Bay!!!
The Academy of Sciences is an amazing museum. It is so huge, there are so many exhibits, and everything is well-​kept and up to date! Rainforest? Check. Aquarium? Check. Dinosaurs? Yup. Dome theatre? Uh huh. Living rooftop? You got it! This place has everything… but the best part about nightlife is that us 21+ adults get to experience it with no grubby kids running around, alcohol, and live music and DJs! My fiancée took me on our 2^nd date here and I was absolutely floored because I’ve never been to such a unique and interesting event before. We’ve been back numerous times and it never gets old.
Tips:
–buy tickets online so you can get in line to enter earlier (don’t forget your ID!)
–upon entering, go straight to the dome theatre and get tickets for the showing (they run out quickly)
–each bar setup has a different specialty drink, so don’t feel like the 1 bar you wait in line for that they all have the same drinks. Go around and peek at each of their drinks menu to see which one you want to try!
–go to the rain forest and living rooftop first since they do close early
–there is a coat check!
I absolutely love coming here. It’s a nice change in something to do on a Thursday evening and something about it just feels magical :)

Such a magical night! Nightlife at the Academy is a wonderful date night outing!
My love surprised me on Thursday morning, informing me that we were venturing off to Nightlife that evening (this is something that I have been wanting to do for quite some time), and I was beyond excited! To add sugar to the mix, it was their annual holiday bazar! The evening would be complete with reindeer, snowflakes, and special holiday treats!
The holiday theme was quite nice, and enjoyable. The themes differ from week to week, and majority of the exhibits are open. We missed the rainforest exhibit (it closes at 7:30pm) so we were disappointed by that, but will hit that up first the next time we are there.
This place is definitely an end of the week treat! Be sure to get in line early, as there was already quite a line before the doors opened (we arrived at 5:35pm)!

Okay, I’m happy I crossed NightLife off of my Bay Area bucket list, but it wasn’t quite what I expected. Yes, there was decently priced alcohol; yes, there was music; and yes, there were even free food samples and gastronomic demos… but, it was missing that ‘NightLife’ feel I thought would be there.
I guess I was hoping there was a place to actually dance? Maybe in The African Hall. I guess it kind of reminded me of attending the closing night happy hour at a work conference. It was still pretty buttoned up, professional, museum ambiance. I still had a great time, and wasn’t upset about the $ 12 admission, although, I was left with 2 extra unused tickets.
I can’t complain about $ 8 champagne and $ 10 beer and shots, and humid rainforest tours. So, maybe it’s more like a good first date place for science nerds? Not really a birthday celebration event?

Fun experience to have. Remember to keep in mind this will not be very bar-​like nor will this have any nightclub feel. However, if you’re interested in the history of our planet and such science fun, and would prefer to learn more about this with booze in hand, then this is the place for you.
Try coming around 6:30−7 for the rainforest experience. For the planetarium experience, remember to get your tickets online beforehand! When we got there at 7 they were already sold out. You are given the option to line up at the door in case they have extra seats (which they usually do), but it is a ~30 min-​1 hr wait. An older gentleman working the lines let us go in without a ticket because the showing we were at didn’t have as many people. Thanks a lot!

Its the same like as you go in the morning/​afternoon but Made for people 21+ and up since they serve alcohols. Don’t have to worry about kids and family crowdedness. So its cool that you can drink alcohol while browsing the place but there are certain areas that they don’t allow drinks.
Its better to bring a friend who like to hang out and drink for a long period of time or else you may stay less then an hour.
They have a DJ but only at one section on level 1.
I came on the thursday that was 2 days before Halloween, so there were good amount of people dress up for halloween.
Before of parking lot. If you park after 5:30 pm, you’ll get flat rate of $ 16.25, does matter how long you stay.
Expect long lines and it may get crowded once you get inside

I’m a fan. Don’t eat here though.
Most of the drinks are good, and I like how they have themed stuff everywhere.
It does get REALLY crowded, though. Before when they first started this, it was less crowded, and i liked that because I didn’t have to deal with screaming children, but now, I have to deal with more annoying, screaming adults. The california academy of sciences is my favorite place though, it always has been. I grew up going there as a kid when they were at the other location, and now here.
Some exhibits are boring, honestly. Like the ones all the way in the back where they change it all the time– boring. They could’ve done informative things in a better way. Favorite are the big fish tanks, of course and the african hall.
They always have new things to learn about, which I dig, and the last time I went they had a beer garden, which was pretty awesome.
CONS: long ass lines for drinks sometimes. Like, really long. The first time I went, they had DJs down stairs in the aquarium areas, so it was really nice to just vibe out, sit and watch the fish go by as you drink… now there’s nothing and it’s just a LOUD roar of drunk people.
Still, I love the cal academy of sciences, so… I’ll still probably come here.
BTW, never miss the planetarium shows. It’s amazing, it makes you sleepy and it’s just pretty.
Also, dear nightlife,
Please get better DJs in the main room
Love,
Meena N.

I’ve gone to nightlife maybe 8 times this year and normally it’s pretty fun but the fun seems to have recently rapidly declined.
Last night– food was super sub par and food in the cafeteria was one step above microwaved dinner. Nightlife is now someone you want to do about once a year, vs once a month.
Pros:
No children
Alcohol
Awesome performances /​games in the piazza
Cons:
Can’t bring alcohol into basically any exhibit
Habitat earth show is so stupid! Show us space!
Eat before you go and bring lots of friends so you don’t get bored.

For some reason, on Thursdays, I am super thirstayyy and Nightlife at the Academy of Sciences is the perfect way to start a Thirstday. With some alcohol in your system and a DJ in the main area and some party time with the penguins, it’s a guaranteed great time. It doesn’t get really busy until 7:30 8 pm ish, but the rainforest exhibit closes the earliest, so I suggest going there first if you want ti go walk around and sip your drink there.
The big difference between the day and night is 1. the crowd — over 21 only and a mixed group of people in their mid 20s to early 30s 2. music in the background 3. night time view from the top and 4. mixed drinks to your hearts desire.
In terms of drinks, I always go to the «VIP» bar on the upper level that serves more quality alcohol such as grey goose — a little more pricier, but they are strong! All bars offer a drink special so it is cool to check those out as they are pretty bomb and a fair price for how much alcohol they put in. If you want to start your night off fast, there’s the shot (bourbon) and beer of the day combo. The beer is always/​usually Bud Light or another low grade beer, but it does the job! If you are getting the drunchies during your stay, the pizza is the cheapest and most reasonable thing to eat before going out.
Overall, I highly suggest coming to Nightlife as it is the cool thing to do these days :), but really, it’s pretty awesome and fun to do in big groups.

Looking for something fun to do on a Thursday night?
Then maybe you can consider going to NightLife at the Academy of Science. Pretty good amount of different things to see there such as the aquarium, forest, planetarium, and etc. All the times that I’ve gone, I still haven’t experience the planetarium cause it’s always sold out.
If you haven’t been, def do go! It’s a great date night outing. :)

I love the idea of nightlife here. I mean you don’t even have to tell me twice about how I can walk around drunk while looking at exhibits. You had me at «21 and up» because that means I won’t be in competition with young toddlers and children and their parents when I want to be front row at every exhibit. Not only that but a normally 35 $ ticket reduced to only $ 12?! That sounds like insanity. But then I actually attended nightlife and I can totally see why it’s $ 12…
First of all, remember that its only 6 – 10. You have 4 hours so plan wisely. If you are not there early, the line outside can take 40+ minutes to get in. Then once you’re in, lines for the bar are ridiculousssssss. Like I said, the idea of being drunk sounded great! The actual possibility of it was slim because by the time we waited to get in (we even came a little early), then grab a drink (another 20 or so minutes), we were left with 2 hours. The rain forest exhibit was closed already (closes at 8) so I recommend this being one of the first things you do. Even with only 2 hours left, I was still happy because the aquarium has the really cool shark fish tunnel thing where you walk through and have sharks/​fish above and around you. Geez, that has to be the coolest thing ever. The biggest disappoint of this night was the fact that we specifically choose this night for «SF Street food night.» My friend and I are huge foodies so this long waited for night had us filled with anticipation. The description of the night said «NightLife partners with SF Street food festival to bring the city’s tastiest mobile bites.» Then it went to name a couple venders such as Secret scoop serving thai gelato, etc. I don’t know about you but it sounded like it was about to be one crackin, nap inducing food coma we would have after that night. We walked in and there were 2 vendors, one serving rice balls (no not those nice seaweed wrapped triangle things you get from asian stores, these were literally balls of rice… see photo) and samples of hot tea. We asked a couple workers if there were vendors elsewhere or did we miss them and they answered, «no…this is it… sorry we didn’t expect this either.»
Regardless, it’s a cool place. I wouldn’t count on the themes always being on point, but I’ve heard other weeks are better so I would definitely come back. I would just see it as a discounted trip to the academy of science without children around. I wouldn’t get my hopes up or plan around what themes they have nor would I count on drinking too much.

Definitely a great place to enjoy science, food, drinks, chill with people 21 and older, and gain interesting learning experiences.
My friend and I attended the Fermentation Night and arrived around 6:10pm, found lots of free parking located 3 minutes away, were quickly admitted inside the building, and were one of the firsts to grab planetarium tickets. How lucky were we?!
We spent our time browsing around the academy sampling multiple specialty drinks at every bar table, interacting with hilarious games, attending most exhibits and events (sadly, we forgot that the Amazon exhibit closed at 8pm), and occasionally dancing on the dance floor (the DJ was playing great oldies/​funky music that night).
The planetarium shows are only 30 minutes long, but the graphics and synopsis are truly magnificent, even if you’re not a science major. Also, the representatives from the different colleges and businesses were exceptionally knowledgeable about their projects. After the Fermentation presentation, I remember seeing several members from the audience taking the time to talk to the speaker, asking questions about their own fermentation projects and so on, which the speaker was gladly to assist.
The staff here were also knowledgeable and friendly, especially the docents at the touch-​tank tide pool in the aquarium section and cashiers in the café. We were also able to see taxidermists performing live taxidermy; it was great.
The dance floor does get lonely during the first 3 hours of the night, but an attraction does start building up around 9pm, and there were some INTERESTING dancers that night, but overall, it was a hilariously memorable moment.
Honestly, being a Biology major myself, words cannot describe the amusement I experienced that night. I highly recommend those who are old enough to attend Night life at the science academy and arrive with an open mind; trust me, you’ll definitely have more fun.

We were a couple of out of towners visiting San Francisco for a few days and stumble upon this as part of the night life search (LOL i know that sounds way nerdy but nerds are cool!) It was literally the greatest thing and the best 12 bucks spent for 4 hours of amazing experience, especially when you compare to the full ticket price of 34 dollars for adults for daytime and thats with KIDS there. Tonight is strictly an adult event for anyone 21 and up to enjoy themselves without children.
There are a few options to get tickets but you must have your tickets in hand while in line because when they check your ID there is no time for you to buy your tickets. We got there right at around 6 PM and the line was forming already.
******Tip 1: Buy your tickets ahead of time on the interwebz or at the ticket counter service while your friends is waiting in line for you. I think there were Groupon deals but only for daytime and for kids.
i’m not sure if it is always like this but VitaCoco and Noosa was there passing out samples from their trucks to those in line and that was a great plus to try new items.
******Tip 2: When you first walk in and if you been there before then its probably best that go straight to get tickets for the planetarium show. There are I think two showings. I didn’t think much of it when by around 8 o’clock I was wondering why people was waiting in the long line circling around almost twice! In hindsight, it would be been cool and good idea to pick it up those show tickets but we’ve never been there so everything else took up our time.
*****Tip 3: The living rain forest is beautiful and i think its a must see. However it closes at 8 PM. I only knew that hearing someone and rushing to it after checking my watch at 7:35.
The place is lively and very cool. I think I saw a majority of what I wanted to see and if I wanted to go to everything in detail I probably could have stayed till 12 AM. The center was clean and spacious. Even with all these people I never felt crammed.
I skipped the food for some burritos on Mission but there was bites available and alcoholic drinks for purchase.
I would say its great for current locals and out of towners like us.

I’ve been to the California Academy of Sciences both during the day and for Nightlife. And I gotta say I love it 1000X more at night. First of all, it was significantly cheaper ($ 35 vs $ 12) and there was a lot less people. It’s also different atmosphere and vibe with music and alcohol. There was also a photobooth the night I went.
Tips:
— I would recommend parking on the main street (its free!). Just make sure to leave by 10pm.
— Once you enter, make sure to grab a planetarium show pass (behind the planetarium). They have limited tickets/​showings.
— After that, I would go visit the rainforest bc it closes at 8pm (be prepared to be a little warm in there)
— Don’t forget to visit Claude the albino alligator and the Living roof

Drinks + open exhibits + additional themed booths/​exhibits + music = FUN!
I had a couple free tickets I received from a friend, so I went twice. March 19 for the Time Capsule theme and March 26 for the Robot theme. I haven’t been inside the new building so both times I spent most of my evening exploring all the exhibits and not so much the themed events and booths. I did walk by a few at both evenings and they seemed engaging — some with hands-​on activities, others with demonstrations.
Drinks! Drinking inside a science museum! The beer snob and nerdy side of me rejoiced. The Aliciella Bitter by Magnolia Brewing is a must try. Read up on it too, the beer name has an interesting back story. My first visit, there were a lot more beer options at the ‘Beer & Whiskey Zone’. Second visit, they only had Magnolia’s Aliciella and their IPA. So, it seems they somewhat ‘rotate’ or add and take out drinks every week. Beers are $ 8, I believe, which is a bit for a beer… but expect high prices at any kind of event.
Food is also expensive for the portions you get. First visit, I got the hot dog with duck bacon, which was good and disappeared from my hands too soon! Second visit, I got a hot dog with shredded cheese on top, meh. There are options for food inside and outside the museum — I got both of mine at the pop up spot near the front entrance.
NightLife can get really busy. My second visit required about a 10 minute wait in line to get into the building. I assume only because it’s spring break for some schools in the city. Both times, I hit up the line for the rainforest right away! Good call, because later in the evening the line grows like ten times! The earthquake exhibit gets busy too. Don’t go in there if you’re too drunk. :P
Can’t wait to be back for more nerdy date nights! $ 12 is a great price for what you get at NightLife (well, besides the additional $$$ on food and drinks).

I came here twice and the first occasion was for the robot nightlife, and the second was for nightlife live. I honestly was not expecting tons of people to show up. The line to get inside is always long but it moves quickly.
Tickets are $ 12 if you’re not a member of cal academy. It’s definitely worth it though because it brings you 4 hrs of fun. Just think how cool it is to have cocktails in your hand as you walk around and explore the exhibits. My favorites are the aquarium, rainforest, planetarium, and earthquake exhibit. There’s a lot to see so I recommend planning ahead and keeping track of time.
I had to knock off a star because the nightlife is only on Thursdays and it closes at 10 pm :(I wish it closed at 11 or 12… time just goes by fast when you’re having fun.
Oh and did I mention there are some good looking men over here ;) I think this place would make a great date night.

Take your geeky side out for a night here and you won’t regret it!
Tickets:$ 12 (21+ only)
Drinks: ehh, i mean it’s a bar set up in a museum so I didn’t expect much. I just stuck with my usual, screwdriver or redbull vodka. They only serve simple well drinks!
Food: just your average tacos, burgers, and hotdogs… except they double the price!!! I wish I just waited to eat after I left.
Atmosphere: I saw lots of young kids that def didn’t look 21 but who am I to judge. Everyone was having a great time especially down at the aquarium looking at all the different fish haha. Kinda felt like an underground club except there was no dancing and the talking overpowered the music. The only thing that sucked was that there were long lines for EVERYTHING… from the food to the attractions (rainforest, earthquake thing, observatory)
I had a great time revisiting this museum in a more classy setting. However, its definitely a one time thing for me though.