AWSC Shark Center Chatham

This place is wonderful. Truly incredible. It provides the history, evolution, and biology of the white shark (aka the great white) as well as other New England species, it shows how you can track sharks that have been tagged, it has detailed information about how they tag sharks and the different types of tags, and there are stories about local sharks including Curly, Chex, and Bruno. There's even a model of Bruce, the puppet used in JAWS, a real shark cage photo op, and a summer fossil pit that kids can dig in for shark teeth. This conservancy is committed to shark research, public education, public safety, and conservation. Without it, we wouldn't know nearly as much about the North Atlantic White Shark population as we do and there's still so much more to learn. Their commitment to finding ways for humans and sharks to peacefully and safely coexist is admirable and I, for one, very much appreciate that. I appreciate everything they do. Support research!

Educational spot but not the best for younger children. Our 8 year old struggled with engagement and he’s a reader. The displays are text heavy and not nearly interactive enough to keep small kids intersted. Our favorite part was the extra large shark puzzle on the grass outside. I think we spent more time on that vs. inside.

Our guide was wonderful and very informative! My family is very supportive of this Great White conservation group. I love their motto, "Respect the Locals." Great Whites and all sharks are fascinating, and learning more about them is exciting to me. If you can visit the Chatham center, I highly recommend it! There's one in Provincetown, too!

Very informative - loved the displays. Great way to spend a day that wasnt beach weather. Loved supporting the organization and all the great work they do

Fun for the kids and adults! Very informative and kind members walking the floor to help. Really nice stop. Bought tickets there. Went on a Sunday and was steady with visitors, but not overtly busy.

Fun place for little kids. 45mins to 60 mins is good enough. Kids love shark necklace DIY . Great experience.

Awesome place to learn everything about sharks. My son was very happy. He dig up for a shark teeth and the staff made him a necklace. He had fun playing outside. The staff is very knowledgeable, something that I like. I Think everyone should go and learn that sharks are not a horrible monsters.

Such a gem to educate the masses on great white sharks and it has a bust of "Bruce" from Jaws that is one of only 2 made from the original mold that created the one in the movie so for this diehard Jaws fan and huge lover of sharks, this is one of my favorite places to visit when staying at the Cape.

Small but cool! I definitely learned a lot about sharks the day we toured the center! We had 4 kids ranging from 1-10. The two older kids 8 and 10 obviously got the most out of it but it helps that there are a lot of visuals (displays, photos and video clips.) The kids asked us a few questions. I have to say they said it was ok but later in the night I quizzed them. They were easily able to spit out a few things the learned that day so I would say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Heather, the person who checked us in, we really enjoyed talking to. She amde us laugh, we made her laugh. We lingered for the last 15 minutes of our visit just chatting her up about how she got into sharks and she has some interesting encounters! Thanks Heather for educating and entertaining us! Why not 5 stars... very small. No actual tanks with baby sharks on site and it cost us $30 to get in but it lasted about 30-40 minutes total. In my opinion, not enough bang for my buck.

Highly recommend especially for those with young kids. AWSC is both educational and fun, demystifying the great white shark. I first went a few years ago and have been back a few times since. I've also attended a couple of lectures they have had as well as whale and shark expeditions which I highly recommend. LOVE.

Nice way to spend an hour on a chilly overcast Monday morning. Everything you need to know about Great White Sharks. And more. Though the place was kinda packed with kids, most of them were busy outside playing games like shark cornhole and digging for shark teeth in the mock beach. The exhibits inside definitely kept adults interested. The staff are all super enthusiastic about sharks. I was totally in awe learning about the biology of the Great White. How new the tagging system is. And how much more there is to learn. I also learned that Peter Benchley is now a shark enthusiast and claims he wishes he could rewrite Jaws. Never!!!!

Super cool group doing super important work, helping to educate the public and inspire curiosity and wonder for these awesome animals. To be perfectly honest, I don't know and have never met any of the folks involved with this group but I see and hear the results of their work constantly. Just over the past few days (it's 12/30/17 now) they've been involved with 3 shark autopsies that appear to be a result of "cold shock", which basically froze these sharks to death! Whoa. That's crazy cold. I happen to be on the Cape right now and can attest to how cold it is to the point where Cape Cod Bay has frozen over quite a bit, which is insane when you realize it's SALT water! Anyway, these folks are doing really cool, important and interesting work - glad they are!

We found this place while being a tourist in Chatham. It's a little ways out of town and has a dedicated parking lot. This non-for-profit has been open a year for the benefit of teaching about sharks. Adults $5 donation is worth the money to see the dedicated research, videos, artifacts, and especially the Virtual Reality shark dives. They have non scary ones for young children and a night dive that makes adults look around behind them as it is so real. Picnic tables and games outside for extra entertainment. Don't forget to go outside to the patio to dig for a real tooth in the sand. They make a free necklace for you out of it and give you stickers on your way out. There is a gift shop for items where proceeds benefit the conservatories efforts. Nice young people working there. Highly recommend this.

This is a small one room museum. There is also a small area where they have a virtual reality shark encounter which our kids really enjoyed. We went mid day mid week and it was not too busy at that time. They have a little sand area with shark teeth in there for visitors to find so it would probably be best to get there early if your coming with a group of kids who all want to find a tooth. They then take the tooth your child finds and make it into a necklace. They also have some outdoor games and a small shop to get your souvenirs.

Small but interesting. $5 for kids $7 for adults and free for either 4/5 and under and military. Outside you can dig for shark teeth in sand bins and they will make a necklace or bracelet out of it for free. There is also a short virtual reality video also. Definitely can't complain especially for the price. The only con is that there is a small parking lot.

I LOVE this place. They are so dedicated to making every penny count toward conservation. Their facilities and museum are extremely clean and there are just amazing things to experience in the Conservancy! It is a MUST if you are on the cape!

Took a trip down to Chatham not knowing what to expect. This is well worth your time. My four year old loved it all. She liked the VR and interactive exhibit. The staff also made her a shark tooth necklace. Can't wait to go back