Long Beach highlight
Aquarium of the Pacific
A major nonprofit aquarium founded in June 1998 on Long Beach's waterfront, home to thousands of animals and extensive educational programs.
The Aquarium of the Pacific opened in June 1998 on the Long Beach waterfront as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The 165,000-square-foot facility holds more than 12,000 animals representing over 500 species of fish, mammals, reptiles and plants from the Pacific Ocean and tropical waters. It is designed as both a public destination and an active research and conservation center, with a mission to inspire conservation of the Pacific Ocean and its inhabitants.
The Aquarium's galleries include the Shark Lagoon, Lorikeet Forest where visitors hand-feed colorful parrots, Penguin colony exhibits, sprawling coral reef habitats, and immersive experiences like the HoloTheater and Undersea Explorer VR. The Aquarium hosts daily keeper presentations, animal encounters, diving experiences, and a variety of educational camps and classes. Admission includes access to all galleries, and the site offers dining, a gift shop, and outdoor event spaces along the harbor.
Families who bring young children to the Aquarium often talk about building traditions there—the annual field trip, the special birthday visit, the memory of touching a sea star for the first time. Those traditions are what term life insurance is meant to protect. Coverage sized to support a family through those years, from young children through education and into independence, is how a household plans for continuity when income is interrupted.