Monterey Bay Aquarium hits top ten list

Last week we did a post called “Down to Earth Monterey Bay Aquarium.” The aquarium is set in a beautiful location for family getaways and even added a few crowd-pleasing exhibits this year. Since then the Monterey Bay Aquarium made No. 8 on the TripAdvisor list of the 10 top attractions for travelers in the United States.

Buzz: In our previous post, one person commented that they were middle class and couldn’t afford the admission to attractions like these (even though the aquarium is in the $25 range). The comment sparked quite a response from many readers about the topic of affording travel in general. Here are a few from first 20 comments.

Have you seen the new “Wild About Otters” exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium?

Comments from readers from the “Down to Earth Monterey Bay Aquarium” post:

“Can anyone afford any of this? I’m a health care professional, and I can’t pay the admission to these places and still have a bed at the end of the day. Traveling has more and more become a luxury for the wealthy, while the middle class steps closer and closer to the end of the bread line.” —Spoonido

“Your readers may also want to consider joining as members. For $120 you can get a family membership (2 adults + kids 3-21). The best part is that a portion of it is tax deductible (I think about $75, but I can’t remember off the top of my head). Members have a separate entrance, receive monthly updates on events and have special after hours events. If you are coming up from Southern California, there are a number of less expensive hotels in Marina and even Gilroy and Morgan Hill. We live in Campbell (about 70 minutes from Monterey) and visit about 4 times a year. Monterey is beautiful, peaceful, and it has a ton of history.” —John

“One other summer tip: Saturdays and Sundays through Labor Day, the aquarium is open until 8 p.m. I’m on the aquarium staff, and crowds during the extended hours have been very manageable — an off-season experience in the middle of summer. Plus there’s live jazz and the restaurant is open for early-bird dinners.” —Ken Peterson

“Glad to hear some folks are doing so well. But this year my pay went up 2% and my rent went up 10%. Good money management only goes so far, and on my vacation this year I will be camping and staying with relatives. 25 bucks for admission to an aquarium? Yikes. The one in Long Beach is only $20, and you get $5 off if you buy your ticket at Ralph’s grocery store.” —Ruth

“I like traveling on a budget. These deals make it easier to enjoy exhibits and recreations for less money. I think places like the aquarium are stuck in a hard place as people cut out travelling from their limited budget resulting in lower admission revenues and so with rising energy costs and lower revenues, organizations such as the aquarium are left to increase ticket prices to make up for the lost attendance, which only drives more people away. Some day, I may not be able to visit these places but until then, I think it is money well spent, especially when deals arise!” —Bogart

“Curious impact from traveling to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. All forms of motor transport utilize petroleum which when combusted produces CO2 — a gas that is emitted to the atmosphere. As the concentration of CO2 increases in the atmosphere the partial pressure of CO2 increases which results in an increases of the concentration of CO2 in the waters of the world’s oceans. As CO2 concentrations increase in the ocean the ocean water becomes more acidic — the result is acidification of the world’s oceans and a dieoff of marine organisms with concomitant changes in ecosystem composition and function.
The best course of action is to not go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium as going is accelerating the death of that which we ‘love’.” —Robert

Why Go: The Monterey Bay Aquarium added a new $3.6 million “Wild About Otters” exhibit this year. There are affordable campgrounds, hotel + ticket packages and other special events through the aquarium worth bribing your kids into good behavior for.

Why Not: You’d prefer to wait until school is back in session for smaller crowds.

When: Ongoing

Contact: Monterey Bay Aquarium, 24-hr. info: (831) 648-4888
Español: (800) 555-3656

Related Los Angeles Times links:

Monterey Bay Aquarium otters get African visitors
Elkhorn Slough, an intimate Monterey Bay wildlife refuge
Down to Earth Monterey Bay Aquarium

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This entry was posted on Saturday, June 30, 2007 at 8:06 am by Jen Leo and is filed under California, Family & Kids, News, Tips & Advice, Summer, Weekend Getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.