Maui Ocean Center

For the most part the Aquarium was great!! We will be back the next time that we come back to Maui. We love it here. We unfunctionally had a bad experience when we were there. We were enjoying it when a big class of kids came thru, they were very unruly, and their attendee's let them run. They at one time even pushed in front of me and stepped all over my feet. It kind of wrecked the mood for the rest of the visit.

Paying for parking can be difficult if your phone doesn't have roaming data. This can result in a hefty Parking fine.

Small but good aquarium. The location is excellent. The reef exhibit is unique. Food at the Seascape restaurant is really nice. The show at the whale auditorium could have been better. Overall, a great experience for half a day.

I came to the Maui ocean Center for the very first time with the group of friends. I love coming to aquariums. I've been to the one in Okinawa, Monterey Bay, and now I'm happy I'm able to get this cross off my list. This is a great spot to take your kids for the day. The landscape throughout the whole aquarium is absolutely beautiful inside and outside the buildings. They have a little mini market where you can buy food and snacks to eat outside the buildings. Please do not eat inside the buildings. THE SOUVENIR STORE IS AWESOME!!! They have some pretty cute stuff in the store. Don't forget to buy your souvenirs. Overall it's a beautiful experience.



BEFORE YOUR TRIP TIPS
- book online one day in advance to save yourself $5
- prepay your parking or pay on site. Payment is contactless. (We went through the whole aquarium in 3 hours and it was not busy)
- if you would like to extend your experience, I highly recommend booking behind-the-scenes. You will get more of an experience for sure.

An experience for sure!

This wasn't my first time to the center but it was my children's first time.

Parking costs now and you will indeed get a fine if you don't pay!

Buy your tickets online and save yourself a couple bucks!

The whale sphere was an amazing experience! Nothing like seeing a whale in 3D.

The other exhibits were entertaining.

I was sad my kiddos didn't get to go around and trace the rocks for a prize but it was super windy.

Disliked how pricey it has gotten but the kids had fun.

Definitely recommend.

Large parking lot ($3/hr for non-residents).
On-site restaurant has pretty good deals for beers and Mai Tai for most of the day. Food is a bit pricey for what it is. For more affordable food option, head to Tante at the nearby shopping mall. (5min walk)

Tickets are $5 cheaper when buying ahead of time ($50-55). Included is a 10 minute 3D whale encounter video that I appreciated the 3D nature, but the commentary was just okay.

There really is 2 main indoor exhibits and a small green turtle viewing area. Between each exhibit is outdoors so keep that in mind when looking at the weather as we initially thought it would be a good option on a rainy day. The underwater tunnel was pretty cool, but aside from that, the aquarium was quite small and you could probably see everything in ~1-2 hours.
There is a small playground, which was nice to see.

Overall, if you aren't looking for an activity for kids, I would probably not recommend it, especially for the price and if you've been to aquariums like Monterey.

I haven't been to many aquariums, but this one is my favorite. You have the shark tank, and the sea turtle viewing, but the coolest thing here is the 3D humpback whale show. It's truly an experience. Running every 20 minutes, you enter the dome and sit in a circular screened room. You literally feel like you're in the ocean scuba diving with the majestic giants. At one point one of the images got a little too close for comfort...lol. And at the end, you follow one breaching to the surface. You also have to stop by the gift shop. Lots of must buys here! The whole place is a must.

Wouldn't outstanding visit being handicapped in a wheelchair. If you don't have one they will give you one and it's very accessible. There is no rush and you can take all the time that you want. It's a great afternoon was wonderful exhibit including the huge tube that you go through with your fish swim jelly on top you around you but also underneath you is a restaurant that offers outstanding menu, as well as a wonderful gift shop or two on site, the parking is very reasonable at two dollars an hour and the person is not at the station is sure to ask at the center says they will call for you to be OK the two dollars also be a $15 fee. It's a cream is something you could see more than once, and still not get tired of seeing it it's right in the marina district so there's a lot of other places to go see shops, sushi, restaurants, pizza, places, music, gift shops , it's a full fun day and if you just do it right you pre-book with the Whale foundation to do a dive over at Malikini and then come back and tour the aquarium and then grab a bite and a beer even if your handicap this is a great fun time

This is one of the best aquariums I have ever been to. Kama'aina weekends are the best and it's a great way to spend the day. At $45 for a family of 3 this is an experience that's totally worth the price. The indoor tanks are huge filled with reef tip sharks, tiger sharks and large barracuda. They also have large tanks with smaller tropical fish filled with color unique movements. The outside petting pools are super cool and fun for the kids. The fun charcoal activity for the kids keeps the little ones involved with learning cool Hawaiian words with a promise of a prize!

My favorite part of this aquarium is the 3-D movie on whales. It was in an iMax type theater with the animals coming at you!

The aquarium also had a small playground for the kids to climb and socialize.

There is so much to do at this aquarium keeping the kids highly engaged!

4 out of 5 as an aquarium but +1 because there's a both a Tiger Shark in the shark exhibit and currently (March 2024) a baby Hammerhead in the nursing tank. Only marine swimmers from Hawaii since it's a smaller aquarium but for a cheap dad like me totally worth the money. Parking is $2 per hour and the aquarium and shops around it have about 5 restaurants to choose from all with typical island menus. Rated worth adding to your experience.
Yes you can buy tickets at the gate.