Oceanarium and Education Center — Attraction in Bar Harbor

Although small with only three buildings, you learn so much from the very friendly and knowledgeable staff. The first building that you walk into is this gift shop and ticket desk. The young lady behind the desk explained the layout of the Oceanarium, explained when exhibit talks and feedings were going to happen and let me know that if I had any questions to ask the staff. The second building that is literally right outside and to the right, is where the live marine life, full size lobster boat and touch pool is located. There you will find the life cycle of the lobster with viewing tanks of each stage which was really interesting. Also if you follow Jacob Knowles on Instagram or any social media platform, one of the lobsters he has caught is living there. They have a section in the middle of the building showing the marine life that you would find on and off the coast of Maine, a long with a few lobsters showing the different colors they're found in. In the back of the second building is the touch pool filled with crab, lobster, and scallops along with the tanks that they produce the brine shrimp that they feed to all their marine life. While having a very indepth conversation with one of their amazing staff, I pretty much got a one on one walk through of the lobster life cycle, learned what a lobster pound was, the history of Maine's fishing industry through the centuries, the happenings of what goes on a lobster boat with the tools they use and shown how a lobster trap works. In the third building, the display shows the skeleton of a humpback whale suspended from the ceiling, artifacts found around the area, animal skulls that are found in the region and I teresting read ups on how the Maine coast was once seen and how people lived there in the past. Outside is a beautiful path that you can take to walk the property with a gazebo next to the water. This place l, although small, is amazing and full of...

We spent 40 hours a month here (according to my google maps app) last summer. I have a kid who loves all things ocean & water related and our annual pass was the best money we spent last year.

Animal feedings are at 2pm, and I think most folks spent maybe an hour or so there. If your kids are older and not absolutely ocean obsessed? Don’t expect to be there forever.

You have younger kids? You need to stop for a rest with them between more exhausting activities? This is a good rest stop. There’s an indoor lobster boat they can play on, with a sand box. There’s an outside boat with a slide. There’s picnic tables and they renovated the bathrooms this past winter.

Like birds? There’s an Osprey nest you can see from the shore.

The staff is lovely and welcoming. The aquarists are happy to share information and tell you all about the animals. Everyone there is doing a great job rejuvenating a...

What a wonderful visit we had during the soft opening. The staff were all eager to greet us, show us around and tell us all about what's going on here. The touch tank is huge with a large variety of creatures to explore. There is a lobster boat the kids can play on with all the gear available to play with. The gentlemen (sorry forgot their names) in the aquarium were so informative and ready to answer all the questions we had. We had great timing and were able to catch them feeding some of the animals in the tanks. We're very excited to see what things will be like in the spring after they finish some renovations and adding to the number of ocean animals they have. This is a great addition to the community for the kids eager to learn about ocean life. We also took a walk through the trail and saw a heron, egret, and many other birds along with some...