California Academy of Sciences

One of the coolest science museums I’ve been to! You get a combination of a natural history, aquarium, and a planetarium theater. I really love the Amazon rainforest, the Philippines coral reef, the new California: State of Nature, and the Living Roof with views of Golden Gate Park and Sutro Tower. I love that there are so many things to see in several hours. I recommend it for everyone!

My family and I had the most wonderful time as we went from exhibit to exhibit. In the Rainforest, I felt much joy seeing the beautiful butterflies hovering over me. This made me desirous of constructing my dream butterfly garden before the year ends. At the Oceans exhibit, we were thrilled when we saw the Philippine Coral Reef section. What’s even more amazing is the Filipino translation in each exhibit. There is a wide variety of plants and animals - live and preserved. And there are penguins that are just so fun to watch. One must-experience moment is the earthquake simulation of 1906 and 1989. It was frightening to feel the intensity 9 tremor of 1906 but it is one I highly recommend, with caution though if you’re queasy. The 1989 earthquake simulation of intensity 6.9 was reminiscent of those tremors I felt in the Philippines, my home country, Three hours we spent there were not enough. It is highly recommended you allot at least 4 hours if you’re one who loves natural science.

Very cool palce situated in the middle of a beautiful park. Amazing display (especially marine ecosystems), interesting gifts in the store, nice atmosphere. Great place to take your kids.

Great interactive museum. There are many in San Francisco but this one is probably the best or top 3. It is located in a central area of golden gate park next to the de young museum, the botanical gardens, and the Japanese tea garden. Also in close proximity to the clement & Irving districts with lots of food and entertainment. The academy of science itself is a great place for children and adults to explore and play to their hearts and imaginations content. Attractions: Huge aquarium (which is think is better than the Monterey bay aquarium, and much closer if you are in the bay area). There's a realistic (and very warm) rainforest habitat. A planetarium auditorium with Hourly shows. Live penguins, which they feed daily. A living garden on the roof. A cool earthquake simulation exhibit. And much much more. On some Thursdays they have night events with music and alcoholic drinks for adults. Overall highly recommend this place, I've been coming here since I was a kid and now I bring my kids here.

An interesting interactive place for family with children to visit and spend time together. They have many astonishing exhibitions and shows inside the museum that can be both enjoyable and captivated to children and adults. Places that are worth visiting from our trip: - Earthquake simulator - Osher rainforest - Reinhart aquarium - African taux museum - Gift shops Place that I haven’t visited due to age restrictions: - The planetarium (too bad because my kid isn’t 4 yet) Overall, it was a pleasant trip. My kid smiled and laughed the whole time.

I would highly recommend this experience for adults or kids ! I attended on veteran's day with my partner and there were a lot of visitors ! We enjoyed it...

Perfect place to take your toddler, the aquarium area downstairs has been updated and it's so cute. The alligator also looks much happier for some...

We have had a pre Covid membership at the Cal Academy for more than 5 years now but I've never written a review! We love this place and it's a Bay Area...

It was nice. I recommend this to families. When we went there were a lot of school field trips going on so it was crowded. We went on a weekday pretty early in the morning, so you should definitely come early before it gets even more crowded. they had a lot of cool stuff like an earthquake simulator, a planetarium, and more. We thought we would spend more time there but we looked through everything pretty fast and only stayed for about and hour and a half.

I've been to San Francisco several times, and am disappointed that this was my first time visiting this stupendous living museum, as it was a glorious experience. The entrance fee is a bit steep ($43/person for adults), but it's absolutely well worth the price. This place is truly a living museum - it has a fascinating rainforest exhibit with living birds and butterflies, an aquarium with live animals, and a super-cool natural history museum (we loved the African Hall). The planetarium was also fantastic, although please note that you need to make a reservation for one of the shows. We enjoyed just wandering through the museum to take in the exhibits at our own pace.