San Francisco Attractions
California Academy of Sciences
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55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA 94118
Tel. (415) 379-8000
info@calacademy.org
Originally clustered around the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park (in multiple buildings) and intending to return there in September 2009 after a complete rebuild, this duo of outstanding museums is poorly represented in its temporary home near Moscone West and the Yerba Buena Gardens and Center for the Arts. You'll find a small selection of Steinhart Aquarium's sealife here, including seahorses, turtles, snakes, and poison dart frogs as well as a two-story 20,000-gallon living coral reef featuring Yellow Tangs, sea stars, and a giant clam. Kids love the "touch tide pool" where they can get their mitts on live sea life and the African Penguin feeding show, which happens daily at 11am and 3:30pm.
A truncated version of the Natural History Museum has also been transplanted here with changing exhibits, a new exhibit on California, and some of its permanent displays, including Snake Alley, where terrestrial snakes reside; and ScienceNOW, which presents a frequently changing display of Academy research, breaking science news, and expeditions around the globe. Kids 5 and under like the Nature Nest, an education center with hands-on learning activities.
Families should look into the Academy's calendar of events, which includes fun kid-friendly festivities such as face painting, storytelling, animal origami, and exhibit-related stories and demonstrations. All that said, I can't wait for these spectacular museums to reopen in their rightful spaces in the park: Their truncated versions don't offer nearly as much entertainment for the money as their complete collections in their original locations.
wherever it appears.