Port Townsend Marine Science Center

Friendly new displays. Knowledgeable people to help. All and all fun place to visit.

Fascinating to learn more about the local sea life! Kids had a great time and the staff was very knowledgeable and friendly. $7 adults, $5 kids, and 5yr and younger are free.

What a beautiful beach. Found a few pieces of sea glass. Tide was high if you want to find the sea glass best to go when tide is low. It's a nice public area. Had port restrooms and picnic benches

You do have to pay to go in. It's not a big place like an aquarium, but a small learning center more for children to learn about sea creatures and tide pools and that sort of stuff. It's a nice little place to show your kids and teach them.

Lovely small attraction for your kids The octopus is a great thing and don't miss out going on the other side of the road and learn with real whale bones.

A live octopus that they fed, right on the water, and very respectful staff. One kid even knew facts about the fish and octopus there. Great family experience, especially on mothers day! (You get in free mom!)

Educational fun stuff. Nice views outside on pier. Viewing boat launch can be entertaining. On clear days the view account the sound to the mountains is worth the trip. So much to explore. Wheelchair ♿️ accessible. Good fun for all ages. Take your time to enjoy all there is here.

Cool little place. Small, but some great stuff for kids. Octopus was out and active which was surprising for the time of day. Your admission gets you into the museum as well which has one of the few complete orca skeletons in the world. Really cool experience.

First time visit, and yes, the main aquarium center is closed for the winter, but, such a charming, educational place. Small gift shop when coming in and then stunning whale bones and displays ushers you forward! At the end, there's a kids-focused, hands-on experience. Looking at everything from marine anatomy to actual bones, fur and specimens. Take your kids or kids at heart here. Now!

Great fun for family and kids. Prices very reasonable. Alot to do there. My kids loved it.

Wonderful experience for all ages. The aquarium has many of the local marine life on exhibit and informative docents ready to answer questions about them. The other half of the center is the Natural History Museum across the road and is loaded with info about the habitats of the area.

Great times at this little marine science center! I think $5 was completely worth the admission as well as admission to the other exhibits across the street. We went in around feeding time and were allowed to feed the urchins, starfish, and other sea life. Great information to read and an awesome presentation from the workers there about the sustainability of sea life. Totally worth a visit if you're at Fort Worden.

Touch and feel gooey things that live in the ocean! What could possibly be better than that? My two young kids got fabulous one on one attention from the dude working there and learned a lot. SO worth a few bucks to get in and really understand what lives under the water. The 20lb starfish was worth the price of admission!

A wonderful experience for the whole family. Hands on exhibits and a friendly and knowledgeable staff to answer all your questions. Highly recommend.

I love this place! It's a Fort Worden Park. It lets us see and learn about the local marine life. It's right on the waterfront. It's at the end of a pier with absolutely beautiful scenery along the way. Once inside, there are 'touch tanks', fish tanks, and wall tanks. I just found out there's an onsite research lab. On land, there's the Natural History Exhibit. Alot of information and fun for only about $5 for both. Can't beat it.

It is definitely small! You can learn a lot and appreciate those who have gone before you in learning, research and technology to study oceanography. Tho' small the time to maintain and to keep open is likely mor ethan one can imagine. The touch tanks and other tanks require cleaning and upkeep regularly.

The best tiny marine science center by far! When my kids were younger, they loved the fact they could "pet" some of the critters without being edged out by pushy types like in bigger museums. At certain times during the year,one could see jellyfish from the dock around the museum.

A gem! This is a small, super-local, family-feeling non-profit. A visit to the PT Marine Science Center informs patrons of local marine life, geology, ecology, and general natural science. All of the animals on the pier in the Marine Exhibit are local and represent Puget Sound habitats. Beautiful links are made between the significance of geology and marine life. If you're a hard-core science nerd or just someone who appreciates interesting critters, you'll get something out of visiting PTMSC. Ask lots of questions- staff and volunteers love to entertain inquiry and will look info up if they don't know it first hand.

Small but cozy, lots of hands-on fun for kids.

Great place to learn about conservation of the local and greater marine environment. There are two buildings one of which houses the marine animals and some touch tanks the other of which houses an Orca skeleton and has a lot of information on the history of the area and education on everything from local invasive plant species to the impacts our actions have on the marine environment and the toxins that are present in the ocean.

I'm a volunteer at PTMSC, so maybe I'm disqualified from writing a review. I am biased. This little organization has been providing environmental education for 28+ years with a minimal staff and a horde of volunteers. If you're visiting P.T. be sure to drop in for a visit to their marine exhibit of local fish and invertebrates, surprisingly comprehensive for its size, and the natural history exhibit, which covers local geology and natural history of birds in particular. The underwater video of seabirds rounding up and hunting a herring ball is amazing! The nicest touch at both these exhibits is that when you come in you are met by a friendly docent who will tell you all kinds of fascinating stories,.especially if it's Moh, a walking fish encyclopedia and great raconteur. He might even play you a jaunty sea shanty on his harmonica. You don't get that kind of personal attention at bigger institutions. This year they'll be opening a new exhibit on orcas, based on a skeleton from a whale that beached herself in Sequim. She had more PCBs and DDT in her tissues than any other marine mammal ever found, so there's a timely story there. No matter how many times you visit PTMSC you'll always find something new. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to witness some of the odd reproduction strategies our underwater neighbors rely on: hermaphroditic sea slugs fertilising each other, barnacles probing their neighbors with penises longer than their legs, "pregnant" pipefish papas bulging with eggs, or grunt sculpins posing as barnacles while guarding their eggs. Or just watch everyone's favorite, the lumpsuckers, who don't have to do a thing to make you laugh and squeal with their silly appearance. The family of river otters wriggling and cavorting on the floating dock is another treat.That's why so many people end up volunteering there. It's endlessly fascinating! Check out www.ptmsc.org where you can read blogs by the Americorps volunteers,link up to the underwater hydrophone system listening for orcas and mysteries, and find out about upcoming lectures, classes, field trips, cruises, and "citizen science" research opportunities. It's a great way to find out what's going on in the Straits and Puget Sound, full of intriguing surprises. PTMSC: small but CHOICE!

It was a very very small aquarium. With that said, the kids still enjoyed the touch tanks and looking at the various sea creatures. Although the admission was $5 per person, I was hoping to see a little more than expected.