Very poor management and how the exhibitions were arranged, combined with very little to see.

First impression was horrible and already demonstrated the poor management - I wish I did not purchase tickets ahead of time so I’d cancel the plan when I saw the line: they force everyone to stay in a long line without separating people who had tickets vs who did not - instead of separating the lines and having more crews help with entering, they chose to let the visitors suffer and have the crews monitor the lines (the crews were nice but it does not help the visitor’s situation at all). A Caucasian green jacket man along with his wife cut the line behind us and set a very bad example in front of his two little kids - I noticed and asked him to move to the end of the line but he sneaked out and cut lines in a later section of the line. I would not blame him for being “smart” and having zero dignity here. It’s the management team’s job to not rely on humanity and civilization to solve their management problems.

Been living in NYC and DC for the past decades, I have never seen any museum/aquarium/zoo/garden running like this. Maybe it’s their way to attract more tourist (rather than make the already more than they could handle paid visitors have a pleasant experience). A way to guarantee no coming back - I could say for sure, with this level of management, if this place was in DC, it could have lasted no longer than a year. They probably think it’s a good way to to persuade people to get membership - but it honestly only pisses off potential members and after you finish reading the second part and know how little they offer, you know you will not come back, despite their membership for individual is less than 2 times of their ticket prices - a great indicator of what the value is. If it was not this bad, for my love of marine animals, I’d revisit and get membership even I only stayed in Carmel for two weeks.

Second, this place offers very little to see. Their highlights were sea otters while The two poor mom otters were circling around in a very tiny area surrounded by crowds of screaming kids who occasionally smashed on the glasses. Everything else could be seen in most other aquarium with much better views. The aquarium offers zero guidance for visitors so you will see crowds of visitors sticking their faces on the glasses and no designated lines and no staff was there guiding people on what to do or what not to do. It was nearly impossible to read the informations right by the exhibits due to the unguided crowds everywhere.

If you are planning a family trip here to have your kids get any knowledge of marine biology, look elsewhere - the national aquarium or the Atlanta one both have way better educational opportunities/programs as well as the management. Here your kids will learn how to cut lines, block others views and scream (yep, an eye opening 3-step education program which was quite immersive).

They do have a few telescopes outside for you to watch for wild sea otters, seals and etc. But you could see them everywhere along the bay and those are free (also no need to stand in lines for). Go to point lobos and you will see more and get more educations there.

It’s true that you’d probably skip the lines with a membership but you do still need to stay with the crowds inside. I came in winter which I feel it’s the off season for tourists so think twice think triple times!

Overall, I would not recommend this place to any nature lovers! Stay away and watch wild otters with your own binoculars or iPhone!