Hatfield Marine Science Center Oregon State University — Attraction in Newport

$5 per person (over 6yrs) Plenty of parking (Thursday morning in December)

This place has several areas that will be interesting for all ages. When you go in, first go to the left in a circle and you will see a place that gives you a chance to pilot a boat in simulation. Then there are tanks with sea creatures and fish, lots of information on the ocean. As you go around, about half the center is interactive focusing on tsunami simulations for kids (and adults who are kids at heart).

My daughter and I really enjoyed a sand topography feature which allowed us to move sand and see it on screen look like land and water. We also loved building Lego houses to see how they might withstand a tsunami.

We went during a weekday in December and it was not crowded at all, so nice!

The staff are very friendly and welcoming. If you keep your ticket, it's good for all day if you want to get lunch and bring your kids back to play more. This is a place that could potentially occupy busy boys for a few hours.

They have a cool pet octopus and they will let you know when they are feeding...

I always love stopping at this marine science center to learn about commercial fishing practices, tidepools, local marina life, and tsunami waves.

The tidepool exhibit allows you to gently touch the sea life in the pools.

It is interesting to learn about the different fish that are caught off the Oregon Coast and the type of gear used to harvest them.

You will also learn about commercial oyster, and crustacean harvesting

Their is an augmented reality sandbox that is popular with young children.

The Yaquina Estuary Trail is located outside the center.

Located in the South Beach section of Newport on Oregon State University's Ocean Research Campus.

A five dollar fee is now charged for admission.

A nice place to spend an afternoon learning about the ocean and the marine and sea life in it with interactive exhibits in a fun...

This place use to not charge in the past, except donations, and it was 5 stars. They now require advanced, online reservations for $3 a person. The online reservation system is not convenient, and they didn't even check it when they made us do it. It would be better if they had someone who could just ask for the fee at the front. If things stay this way, I will unfortunately not be back anytime soon. It was an exhausting and stressful experience to just make the reservation, and we were not planning to stay long. The inside doesn't have much to offer and is very small, so just not worth the hassel of their reservation system plus the fee. I would recommend if you have kids, at least once if you are touring the area. I would not recommend if you don't have kids in the group and they keep requiring...