living coast discovery center

We went here without kids! And it was lots of fun. We parked in the lot and waited for just a few minutes until the shuttle came. It was a nice 5 min ride to the center. The giant eel near the front entry was amazing. It looked like he was showing off for whoever would watch him. We were told not to miss the burrowing owls. But we could not see the owl in its hole so we walked around a little and enjoyed the bald eagle exhibit and the peregrine falcon. As we made our way back we decided to check out the burrowing owl cage again and there it was! It was just standing in front of its hole watching everyone. It would stare and follow your movements by turning its head(owls eyes are so large that there is no room in the cranium for eye muscles so they must turn their entire head to see around them)The shark and ray tank was small but very interesting. The rays are receptive to being petted and we were able to watch feeding time. The staff member put some fish bits in his hand and fed it to the rays whose mouths are underneath. There is a very unique sea turtle in with the sharks. Sapphire, was injured and now cannot fully express the air from her lungs. She had to have weights attached to her to help her submerge so she can eat, but her hind legs still float upward. She is a delight to see!Make sure you take a walk on the trails before leaving. The Discovery center is a great place to spend an afternoon with or without kids.

It is a nice place for young kids. It is at small side. I love their sea turtle exhibit. You only need an hour or so to go through everything. Staff there are really helpful.

This is a fun place for kids to explore, and it's not so huge that they (or you!) will get worn out.They have a good assortment of local wildlife, from birds to reptiles to sea creatures.There is a fun petting pond that kids enjoy.There is a shuttleIt's a little on the pricey side as it isn't that large, but if you are in the Chula Vista area it's a fun place to visit.

My grandson and I parked off of E Street and a bus takes one to the Living Coast Discovery Center. There were two different types of eagles, hawks, owls. My grandson loved the eagles. We also saw small sharks in a pool and different types of manta rays. At the entrance they have the giant turtles. It was very interesting and informative.

My son attended Summer Mini camps here & LOVED it! I hadn't been so was very anxious to go check it out. First off I felt it was pricey given what you get to see. When we arrived they had no maps to give to us. Fortunately we were able to touch some star fish which was very cool HOWEVER we were handed a disgusting stained old towel to wipe our hands with. No sink or soap or any other kind of clean towel to be seen. We walked further to where the Sharks are kept & the water was so murky you could barely see them. There was an opportunity to touch the stingrays & here there were several sinks to wash up. They were filthy! Not to mention no soap or anything to dry your hands on. The bird section was interesting & walking through was fine. The shuttle driver was great & waiting time was minimal. Overall I was disappointed in my experience.

Shuttle driver ignored me and my daughter waving to him. He did not stop. Hey pal. This isn't New York. Fish Brain!!

A fun and charming environmental experience. Leary about, and to appreciate, your community resources. This place rates a 5/5. You will have a great time if you explore all their resources to learn about the marsh and estuary that define Chula Vista.

This discovery center is small and intimate so it is great for young children. I took my 5 yr old, and 9 and 11 yr olds nieces. We did 2 of the VIP tours. The best is the back tour of the aquarium where they let the girls have hands-on info on a lot of the items (shark egg shells, starfish, plankton growth tanks, turtles, and food for feeding). The finale feeding the sting rays was the highlight for my peeps. They got so much attention since there was only 5 of us total. We also did the back tour of the birds of prey - taking out the burrow owl was awesome! Again, girls learned so much and were very enthusiastic about all the new information all well. I think it is worth it if you want an intimate experience with young ones. The San Diego Zoo and Sea World are great, but are on a huge scale - so this was a nice break to do something local supporting conservation efforts and keep it personal.

We visited this nature center with our two kids (10 and 14). It was a very nice, thoughtful nature center. The shuttle bus wasn't a problem at all. The center itself was a bit pricey but I considered that partly a donation. The center seemed to be geared toward children under 10 so my kids weren't very engaged. We thought there would be some trails we could explore on our own but that wasn't the case. I would recommend it for younger kids though.

My husband and I decided to visit the Living Coast Discovery Center. The center is located in the Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge along the San Diego Bay. Parking is available just outside of the entrance gate. A shuttle bus runs approximately every 15 minutes. We waited a few minutes before the bus came. The bus ride is a short trip (less than 5 minutes) to the discovery center. The entrance fee is $14/adult. It's slightly overpriced, but it goes for a good cause. At the entrance, 3 live sea turtles greet visitors before going inside. Once inside, there are several aquariums containing mostly local saltwater fish. Our favorites were the large crabs, jellyfish and eels. There were also a few fresh water tanks. There are signs identifying the animals in the tanks. Outside of the main building is a large pavilion containing 2 large tanks with sharks, rays and a variety of other fish. In one of the tanks they allow visitors to touch the rays. We happened to be there during feeding time and the discovery center's staff was giving an interesting presentation. The rays kept splashing anyone close to the tanks. It was quite entertaining. There is a nice display of birds including owls, a bald eagle, vultures, etc. We really liked burrowing owl. It was so cute! After checking out the animals, we took a walk out to the bay. There are 1.5 miles of trails that pass by old remnants of a gunpowder factory. The trails are flat and fairly accessible for most people. We did see lizards, a duck and egret during our walk. The trails have signage and nice views of the San Diego bay. There are benches and picnic tables available in the park. This area would be a nice spot for a picnic lunch. Bring your own food since there isn't much available at the discovery center.Overall, a fun and interesting place to visit. We ended up buying a membership and will be back.

I love this place. It's like a mini-aquarium set on a nature preserve. It's not crowded, loud or hard to navigate like some zoos. It's perfect for my toddler. We've seen sea turtles, jellyfish, seahorses, sharks and rays. There's also a bird section. Tastefully curated, and all species represent LOCAL wildlife. You can also walk the free nature trails outside, right by San Diego Bay. Breathe in the freshest air you'll find in the San Diego area. The smell of sagebrush and the ocean... very healthy and refreshing.

We've been to Chula Vista every year since 2006, and have never visited this place. We figured our three year old daughter would enjoy it. We were able to get in for free, and I'm so grateful we did not have to pay. The animals we got to see my daughter liked, but there weren't many animals, and the place looked pretty run down. A lot of it was overgrown with grass. After reading other reviews, I wonder what it is we missed out on. The highlight for my daughter was the bus ride from the car to the site.

The Discovery Center was perfect for our 2 year old. She enjoyed looking at the different aquariums, and being up close to the different sea life. There were no huge lines, or people pushing to get to the best views. The kids enjoyed seeing the shark feeding, and the staff was knowledgeable in their explanations and discussions. It is a smaller place, and putting that with the attention span of a smaller child means the visit was fairly short. I did like it for the work they do, and would make the trip again if only to support them.

I went to the Living Coast Discovery Center (LCDC) around 11:30 AM on a Wednesday to check it out in advance of my niece and her daughter visiting in a few weeks. There were only a handful of people in the center at that time, making for a very quiet, relaxing visit.You park in a lot at the end of E Street and a SDMTS shuttle bus will take you to the center for free. The bus runs every 15 minutes with its last pick up for entry into the park at 3:00 PM. (The park closes at 4:00 PM.)As a solo adult, I spent a little over an hour there. When my niece and her daughter come, I could see spending about 2 hours there.The main building contains several aquariums with all sorts of sea life, from fish to lobster to Moray eels to sea urchins and much more. I found the Moon Jellyfish tank particularly mesmerizing, as the white jellyfish floated gracefully in front of the blue background of the aquarium.There are also some displays of local reptiles--snakes and lizards--as well as insects.The shark and ray enclosure was very well done, with window access to see the sharks and rays swimming from just about any angle. Unfortunately, I had just missed their 11:00 AM feeding.The shore bird enclosure was nice in that you can actually enter the enclosure with the birds through a double door system. Raptor Row, where the eagles, owls, hawks, and ospreys are located was nice. The enclosures, however, are about 10 feet from the pathway and they are filled with foliage for the birds, so it can take a few moments to locate the birds in the shaded enclosures.They have a set feeding schedule that you may want to plan your visit around. Sharks and rays are fed at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM; sea turtles at 1:30 PM; and eagles at 2:30 PM.I walked one of the trails (nice pea-gravel path) all the way to the water's edge on San Diego harbor (about 10 minutes each way). Along the way, I learned that the site was used to manufacture gun powder from 1916 - 1919, so I learned a little early San Diego history, too. You can see some of the ruins from the gun powder plant as you walk to the harbor.I know that the LCDC was just days from having to close its doors late last year because of funding issues, and I'm glad that groups came along to save it. It's a very nicely done nature center that educates everyone on the importance of preserving and protecting the surrounding wetlands and marshes.

Living Coast Discovery center is a small, little aquarium center. It is a non profit and I think they are doing a good job with what they have to work with. It was quiet (until we got there with our 4 noisy kids) and there was enough to look at for an hour or two. We paid for the 'behind the scenes' tour which was interesting. They had baby creatures that they were caring for in the back and we got to feed the sea turtles and touch starfish. We stayed for the shark feeding and the bird feedings which were interesting to learn more about the animals and their habits and how the center cares for them. There was a lot of focus about the local environment and species so for locals it might be more interesting than to us tourists :). The kids thought the bus ride from the parking lot to the center was an adventure in and of itself.