Beaty Biodiversity Museum

An amazing experience! Although it was mostly rows of specemin cabinets, there were plenty of glass cabinets to look into, and lots of larger specimens on display. The drawers in the open areas can be opened, with lots of cool animal facts and preservation procedures. Most of my photos are from the mammal area, but there's entire sections on plants, coral, and invertebrates as well. Most of the skeletons were in the entrance area. My only wish is for a seated area for life drawing but that's a really niche request.

It’s a fascinating and unique place. Some people joke that it feels like a giant cemetery - a bit dark, but not entirely wrong. Many of the animal and plant specimens have been here for decades. Each specimen feels like a teacher, quietly sharing the story of nature. They’re not just displays; they form the foundation for research and inspire both children and adults to appreciate biology. What I especially value is how the museum explains the process of collecting, cataloguing, and preserving specimens, while also serving as the actual storage site. I hope visitors leave with a deeper respect for nature.

The Beaty Biodiversity Museum is a hidden gem in Vancouver and a must visit for nature lovers. The iconic blue whale skeleton is breathtaking, and the exhibits beautifully showcase Earth’s incredible diversity from fossils and insects to plants and marine life. Everything is well organized, informative and engaging. A special shout out to the staff and volunteers, who are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate, making the experience even more enjoyable. A peaceful, educational, and inspiring place to explore the wonders of life on our planet.

The Beaty Biodiversity Museum offers a truly captivating experience! From the moment you enter, you’re immersed in a world of natural wonder. Its displays are stunning and varied, featuring everything from towering skeletal reconstructions to the intricate details of preserved specimens, each telling a story about the incredible diversity of life on Earth. Adding to the appeal, the staff are exceptionally knowledgeable and approachable, which makes the visit all the more engaging. Compact yet rich in content, this museum is a must-visit for anyone with even a passing curiosity about the natural world—it’s an experience that educates, inspires, and sparks a deeper appreciation for biodiversity.

We popped into the bio museum on a whim and were surprised at how much content is stored within these displays! Staff were helpful and informative, the museum was clean, interesting and filled our afternoon pleasantly. We enjoyed half of the movie about the blue whale skeleton, but my boyfriend was exhausted from learning so much about the animals, microorganisms and plants that he fell asleep and I figured I best get him out of there before his snoring disturbed the other patrons.

What an incredible museum! The hands-on exhibits made learning about biodiversity so engaging and fun. My kids loved touching, exploring, and interacting with the displays, it’s such a memorable way to learn.

Such and amazing museum on biodiversity. So much information about birds animals and plant life of the region and well of other parts of the world. Very much suitable for school kids for great learning experience. You can skim over the whole place in about 2 hours. And you can deepdive into the tipics that interest you. Superb collection of fossils! And the teachin aide in the drawers below the exhibits is delightful. No cafeteria there though you will get so many options at the nearby UBC student center. A lovely walk around the campus is also recommended.

I think this is Vancouver’s best museum. It’s like an ethical zoo! So much to learn here for kiddos and adults alike. As aspiring birders, we loved the bird art and the hundreds (maybe thousands?) of bird taxidermies that were truly fascinating to ogle at. We also spoke with such a warm and welcoming volunteer (whose name is escaping me sadly) which introduced us to “Georgie”, as she had kindly named the owl she was touring around the museum. We learned SO much! I would love to come back, especially as I get the sense that they often change their exhibitions around too.

Sunday mid morning - came over to UBC to check out the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. Blue sky outside - started thinking I should be at Kits Beach instead - I'm missing out on all that sunshine! Budget for minimum 2 - 3 hours here. It's a little tricky trying to get to this museum if you're driving ... actually even walking here could be a challenge - so look for the signs. Also it's not far from the UBC Bookstore - if that helps. Located between East Mall & Main Mall - the closest cross street - Biological Sciences Rd., with the main entrance being off Main Mall. Walking into the museum is immediately breathtaking - the skeletal remains of a Blue Whale are assembled hanging from the ceiling & what an amazing sight! This display almost ruins it for the rest of the tour - everything else seems so much smaller & unimpressive. When you leave the entrance level in awe of the Blue Whale - you go below ground level for the rest of the museum tour - its very dark after coming from the natural lighting on the main level. The lower level is very dark & contains rows & rows of storage cabinets - sort of like an episode of the X Files. I forgot to ask 'why so dark down here?' Perhaps it aids in the preservation of the museums articles - I guess. However, this museum has a massive collection of animals, species & historical information. I arrived just as a tour was beginning. The tour was informative & interesting but not necessary unless you're a huge museum fanatic. Remember to check Groupon - 2 for 1 deals!

The Beaty Biodiversity Museum is no Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, but it's pretty damn cool, and I make an effort to visit when I can (which, unfortunately, is only every few years). The main exhibit is a collection of hundreds of specimens on display, ranging from animals and birds of all variety to insects, plants, and fossils. Pretty much every type of organism is represented. The main attraction, though, is the skeleton of a blue whale that is hanging in the foyer. Now, that's definitely worth a trip to the museum! The museum is located at UBC, which is a bit of a trek via transit, and their hours are quite limited, Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm, closed Mondays and holidays, which is why I can't visit as often as I'd like. But if you're a visitor to the city, or you're a resident but haven't gone, I'd recommend checking it out. [Yelp collections: Museums and Art Galleries; Being a tourist in my own city]

My second stop of UBC Alumni day. I have seen the whale skeleton numerous times, but today I got to go below to look at all of the other displays that were in this place. WOW! All kinds of stuff to look at including a gallery of photos. http://www.yelp.ca/biz_photos/wYe_lvuzST85uqJGzitJLA?select=9G2W4kjNNOiZaUbMi2ogpQ#9G2W4kjNNOiZaUbMi2ogpQ As well, the museum is generally dark with rows of displays. However, within the rows, they cut out little areas for additional open area displays, that are sunken into the ground or on elevated tables. There was a puppet show today for kids. My daughter was entertained. Great stuff!

I'm giving this museum a low rating mostly because I don't think it's a good value. Between overpriced tickets and expensive parking, it was a lot of money to pay to see... not very much. Because the Museum of Anthropology, also on the UBC campus, is so excellent, we figured this natural history museum would be on par. And the admission, $14 for an adult, certainly suggested that it would be! What this museum actually is, though, is more like the university's working research collection, of which a small fraction is displayed for public viewing. So the "museum" consists of row after row of narrow, dark aisles of locked cabinets, and maybe 5% of them are glass-fronted display cabinets with exhibits. The rest are just locked drawers, taunting you with the sense of what's inaccessible. The first few rows of cabinets have the best stuff: taxidermy birds and animals, including a black panther and musk ox, and some Victorian-era curiosity cases with a nice eggshell collection. But once you get further back, it's all just fish in murky glass jars. It's very clear that this is working space for researchers, not a museum primarily intended for the public. So I thought it was pretty misleading. We didn't see any free guest parking, and parking at the nearby garage is $1.75 for 30 minutes or $8 all day on a weekend. If we'd known we would only be there for an hour, we could have saved a few bucks... but then, if we'd known how little there was to see, we probably wouldn't have gone in the first place. If admission was more like $5 to $8, I would have felt like it was more appropriate to the value you get. But there just wasn't much to see or do, even for this die-hard, stay-all-day museum lover. Walk into the lobby and admire the blue whale skeleton, and you've already seen the coolest thing they have for free. I really can't recommend this museum for the price.

From the sneak peak so far, this is shaping up to be one of the coolest and most important museums in the province. Standing alongside the 25 metre Blue Whale is truly humbling. I am still amazed that such creatures roam the planet. We are all quite insignificant! I am hoping to see a few more of their collections during the upcoming previews before the grand opening in the fall. There's The Herbarium, The Spencer Entomological Collection, The Marine Invertebrate Collection, The Cowan Vertebrate Collection, The Fossil Collection and last but not least, The Fish Museum. And If none of these 2 million specimens interest you... well, then I dunno. Go to wreck beach and gawk!

I couldn't believe it took me so long to visit this museum. Sure, the only hype I've heard about this museum has been the skeleton of a blue whale. I've been to some famous museums such as Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, American Museum of Natural History, and Natural History Museum in London. How does it compare? First, this is one of the few museums in the world which has a skeleton of a blue whale on display. I will have to say this is probably the best one made for display! It's displayed in the front entrance and there is a lot of natural light which is awesome. Compared to a skeleton of a blue whale at the Natural History Museum in London, I really enjoyed Beaty's display of a blue whale skeleton the most. It would have been even more awesome if the entire skeleton was real. The skull of the blue whale at Beaty's is actually a replica. I highly recommend a tour by a museum interpreter such as Tanis. It took about one hour and she showed us the museum is organized. She showed us some fun and interesting facts about species which used to inhabit North America, but they are now extinct. She brought out some species for us to look close up and touch. Most of the displayed items are from B.C. and Canada. There are many from North America and other parts of the world too. I wish it wasn't so dark (shelves for displays are painted black!) and many of the shelves weren't opened for display. So, you'll be looking at a black wall with nothing for most of the shelves. All in all, this is a very good natural history museum which is located inside a university. If you visited some of the more famous natural history museums, this one is still pretty cool because it has a lot of items from B.C. and the rest of Canada!

How have I never heard of or visited this place until now? So much fun! Spent a lovely sunday wandering, reading, watching, learning. There was a fabulous guided tour guide who answered all our questions pulled out specimens and showed an infectious passion for the place and the work done there. There is soo much to see here, I will be back just to spend some more time in fungi and plants. I saw a groupon and I am so glad I came! I just wish there was one late night a week, weekday or weekend no matter but just one evening :) A fun thing to do if you like museums!

This is an OK natural history museum. Some parts of the exhibits are great but there was not enough representation of the different creatures. Many of the displays are just closed cabinets. I love natural history museums and so I had fun there. Certainly not the best natural history museum I have ever seen. It could be more informative on the research going on due to the nature of the UBC research.

So cool! If you want to see one of the few places that has a the original skeleton of an entire blue whale, then this is your stop. Disclaimer - a portion of the head is recreated due to severe fracturing and cause of death, and the ribs are not the original ones (though they have them all in storage) due to the weight limits of suspending it from the ceiling. The Biodiversity Museum isn't your usual museum. It's more of a storage area for all things nature research, put into an underground vault with a few things on display. It's highly recommended if you take the tour that they provide (free!) so you'll get a better idea of what you're looking at. They've also got a story time for children if you want to spend some time there with your kids, and a little interactive area in the back where you can look at some of their articles up close and even touch some. It's worth a look-see, I've been back here twice now and the place is like a little hidden gem on campus. If you're around, go check it out - UBC students can get in for free.

Five stars for the blue whale skeleton! I love museums and this one did not disappoint me. Perhaps my only disappointment was that alumni cannot get in for free. Come on UBC, cut me a deal! That aside, I actually kind of liked the zigzagging through the aisles and rows of jars and bones and taxidermy. My boyfriend and I stopped at a trivia game. Other guests left but we stuck it through to the end and answered all the questions because we are dorks like that :) Just shows that 3rd year Plant Taxonomy really does sometimes have applications in real life :) After you finish looking through all the rows there is a children's play area in the back, where I made a reindeer puppet (we will name her Rosa the Reindeer) and took pictures with giant ladybug stuffies. We spent about an hour and a half here, but didn't really go through things in detail (despite the trivia game). The museum is a little dark inside though, so some children may not enjoy looking through all the rows. They may also not have the patience to look at everything before getting to the play area, so maybe try going there first after looking at the outer exhibits. But, if they're dorky little kids like I was/am, who love libraries and opening drawers full of doodads, they'll enjoy this museum!

Awesome place to visit on a lazy day! The UBC campus is like a small town and the Beaty is worth a visit

It's more of a library than a museum really. Largest collection of animal specimens dating back to the early 19 century. Row upon row, drawer after drawer, although many are locked and more that have no view of the contents, only a photo of what's inside. Not that there's any shortage of specimens on view. On the contrary, you could spend hours exploring and reading. It's nothing short of mind boggling.

I definitely would not recommend this museum unless you have a UBC card and can get in for free, because it costs $12 and most of the wow factor comes from the giant blue whale skeleton which can be seen for from either the inside or from outside of the building for free. I honestly don't think the average civilian would enjoy themselves here, as it's mostly just a collection of specimens used by the research centre. I think they do interactive activities on the weekends, because I've seen the tables where they were set up, so that might be fun for kids. Basically, this museum seems like it was primarily designed as a storage facility..then converted into a museum for public use. So, it's a great collection, but not a great museum.

Lovely museum. Love the giant skeleton right at the entrance. Also love the layout of the museum. Rows and (narrow) rows of dead stuffed animals & things in jars :p Yes, the layout is very boring (when I say rows and rows, it really is just that) but it makes for a easy way to navigate through the whole thing without worrying that you'd miss a thing! This museum is not very big. You can walk through it under 1.5 hour if you skim through it. Of course, if you open every drawer and read every signage you could spend days and days in here. There's a also a little "activity room" in the back for the youngsters.

What an unexpected gem tucked away in the middle of the UBC campus. Be prepared to spend a a solid couple of hours here as there's lots to see. as other people have said, it's really a library more than a museum with rows and rows of specimens. Glad I stumbled upon this place and look forward to more visits!

Are you kidding me!! This cold insensitive space isn't even designed for people. Of course, children are an after thought with their make shift space at the end of this dismal corridor bunker that echoes so loud we couldn't even hear ourselves. Needless to say, my son wanted to get out of here..We couldn't find the spider exhibit with their ridiculous difficult coding system on the floor. The Patkau's should be ashamed of themselves for another failing projec that doesn't include people. You can still see the whale upstairs for free but I wouldn't bother paying to see what's below.

New building by Patkau Architects with green roof and a huge custom collection area for 2,000,000 specimens. And that whale. Wow.

Great place one could spend hours here and barely touch the surface. It is truly amazing. And in the entrance is a skeleton of a full sized blue whale. It is next level.

Wow the blue whale skeleton is incredible! Other than that I wasn't too enthused about the museum. I do think it is good and has some interesting stuff, but it is quite dark and the layout is institutional. When I went there were more than a few items taken off display for cleaning or out on loan, some of the shelves were locked also. I wish there was more interactive activities to do for the adults and teenagers, for the people who learn by touch not by looking at something behind the class. I highly recommend one of the interpretive talks. Not much info is given with the display specimens, the staff have lots of interesting things to tell.

Stunning stunning stunning, but hey I'm a Marine Biologist by education. The Blue Whale skeleton is amazing it's on my gringo tour of Vancouver sites now I'll add it into the 2 -3 hours at the Museum of Anthropology.

Nestled in the middle of the UBC campus, the Beatty Biodiversity Museum welcomes you with the open maw of a 26 metre long Blue Whale. The staff are extremely friendly, one volunteer was very excited to show me an eye dissection (his first one I found out later). There is a plethora of specimens, text is light and many times reflective of human relations that keeps it relevant and interesting for even non-science types. Going through the museum can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours as they also have a theatre room and activities at the back for students.

JP and I were lucky enough to be among the first people to claim the Vancouver Inspiration Pass and we got some goooooood use out of it! We arrived just as a film about the Big Blue started so we hoofed it into the theatre to watch. The blue whale skeleton is impressive on it's own but after watching the challenges the team went through to get it there made us appreciate it even more. There are thousands of skeletons and preserved plant, animal and fossil specimens to look at. This is an awesome place to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Such a disappointment. I love natural history museums, but this one was more of a storage facility than a museum. There are long, narrow rows of huge black cabinets (that are locked!) with one or two small windows to peek in. There was very little information to read, and it was very dark, which made it hard to see any specimens. I love animals and museums and I was bored in less than an hour. Not worth your time!

This place is really impressive. My sister bought me a membership for the year and I'll certainly be going back. There's a ton to see and you could easily spend hours in here.

Went last week and was ... underwhelmed to say the least. I kept looking about thinking ... surely there's more and/or better displays. Subterranean sterility is my overall impression with very little to hold kids' attention, for sure. The museum in the geology building or the MOA are definitely superior. MMaser

Sweet whale skeleton! The whole building is fantastic. It was built to be a sustainable building with a natural meadow-like feel in the courtyard. Great place to enjoy lunch!

I visited this museum recently when my brother was visiting from Ontario. The skeleton of the blue whale that hangs from the ceiling of the atrium is truly amazing. It's at eye level when you walk into the building and then you walk down a ramp so that you can walk underneath and get a really good view. Just seeing the whale made the trip worth it, but there is more! This museum is filled with specimens of everything living - fossils, fish, insects, plants and fungi, marine, mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles. Most specimens come from BC but also from everywhere on Earth. This is a museum that you will probably want to visit more than once. You can buy a yearly membership for $35.00 (individual) plus get 2 free guest passes. Regular price is $10.00. There is much to see.

Reasonably priced, and interesting, though not a lot to do besides look at the fantastic collection of specimens and the blue whale skeleton. I'd recommend following a tour group and watching the video presentation as well. About 2 hours of your time, maximum.

I was SO looking forward to going to this museum and taking my boys who are just into all sorts of things. It promised so much - I mean the whale skeleton in the entrance hall and the way it is set up, with all of the information, is so enticing and just makes you even more excited. Then you get into the display section - oh, they have missed the mark here and managed to make a very sterile environment that is very traditional in its set-up. There are just rows upon rows of display cases with actually very little information for those not in the know, or those wanting to learn something. Sure there are some impressive displays of various heads, stuff in jars and a few displays that you can pull out in drawers, but it could have been so much more. As one of the previous reviewers said, all the hard surfaces make for a very noisy environment. And the way they have set it all up really it does not make it a museum you want to return to again and again. OK, I'll admit that I have been totally spoilt and had been thinking it would be a smaller version of the Natural History Museum in London - I was very wrong. And I am not just talking about it in terms of attracting children, because I do realise that it is not always about that, but even as an adult fascinated by this type of museum, I can see no reason for returning and the boys have not even asked if they can go again - to me, a sure sign that they were not gripped by anything.

I went in expecting something amazing, the giant whale skeleton attracted my attention as I walked by. But once inside all I could think was no! no! no! I don't know where to start. The ticketing counter happens to be in a dark corner of the gift shop, hard to get to and a real pain to deal with when you've got dozens of families and kids on school trips waiting to get a ticket at the same time as you. The gift shop fails on all levels, there isn't a thing of interest in there just a few books, coffee mugs and t-shirts. The whole place is surrounded my cement and if that wasn't bad enough the actual displays are in the basement which happens to contain row after row of boring, unappealing and highly claustrophobic display cases. whilst some displays contain mere diagrams or a picture others contain 10 jars with specimens in them. I mean what's the point of placing jars behind other jars if you cant see whats in them? It's totally insane! They've got some interesting skeletons here and there and some interesting egg shells that would make for a interesting display, but that's only if we could see them! Its crazy how they've arranged the displays! The only area I felt the museum might have succeeded in was the children's play area and labs at the very back of the basement. But if you're over the age of 10 and in search of fascinating displays you might as well not bother, the museum doesn't come close to Mao in any shape or form. The place feels more like a daycare in the back of a warehouse with a puppet show display, a little lab with microscopes and very friendly staff ( who I might say do a really good job of taking care of visitors and are very creative when it comes to engaging little kids). But what good is all that when you don't have decent displays that are meaningfully organized. I mean for crying out loud this is a museum in the mists of a university! As a student at UBC I feel really embarrassed about having such a bad museum on campus. I mean visitors must think we're all idiots. If I were to meet someone who wanted to pay to see the displays at Beaty I'd tell them not to bother because the building across from the museum has more interesting displays of seal and dolphin skeletons and guess what, you can see those for free and be on your way.

The whale's as long as a bus it rocks and they've got like every animal that I've ever hit with my truck! :-) and all the birds and sharks are awesome! Goin back cus I only saw like half and that was mind blowing!! Two thumbs way up!

It's free, it has a blue whale skeleton. The free talks are cool. Not s museum per se, as much as it is a catalog of dead things. #keepingTaxidermyAlive