Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History — Attraction in Santa Barbara

LOVE IT HERE!!

gems and minerals: absolutely stunning. nice part where there’s a small cave you can go into and look around. overall great exhibition

space: pictures hanging on the walls with small plaques saying what it is. kind of plain, but still a nice experience. there were seats in the middle so i’m guessing there’s sometimes a lecture in there. someone asked me to take a picture of their family, so seems like a good place for taking pictures for the gram.

mammals exhibit: showed mammals local to California and santa barbara. very nice sets and lots of interesting information. small photo op where you can hold a sign saying you were a human. some of the bigger animals had fake skulls set out to touch. wonderful vibe in that room and kutos to whomever set it up.

birds: so many birds!! very well done taxidermy and each bird was labeled and sorted with other similar species (for example, different types of goldfinches together in one group).

room of paintings: this one seems to change seasonally. very cool to see it. the paintings were scientific drawings of birds. most were from around 1800s. so cool to learn about!

jurassic garden: this section was definitely more catered to little kids. beautiful scenery. was not expecting that crocs weren’t the right footwear for this museum but that’s my fault for guessing. plaques were very simple and dinosaurs were a bit inaccurate. i get it, it’s for kids and little kids don’t care.

butterflies alive: beautiful butterflies from costa rica. apparently in california they’re invasive species so they check you like you’re at TSA to make sure you don’t take some out with you. they had blue morphids, monarchs, and glass wing butterflies, among others. got some nice pictures.

gift shop: nice selection of things. seemed a bit overpriced for some, but so is everything in a museum gift shop!! got a sticker with some butterflies that says “SANTA BARBARA.” Will stick it on my water bottle.

underwater/evolution exhibit: has to be my favorite section. the attention to detail and the craftsmanship is remarkable.

climate change exhibit: very interesting. learned a lot of things. included local climate change. i liked it

other: the map included a live birds exhibit and an observatory. didn’t get the chance to go but seems interesting. public bathrooms that remind me of a park bathroom. they were clean they had no student discount they had volunteer opportunities available and i saw some kids taking those opportunities about $80 for a group of two adults, two teens, and one child.

this is one of my longest reviews, in the best way possible. love it here!! i won’t add too many pictures so i don’t spoil it...

I really wanted to give this museum a good review but cannot. I will say, it has a lot of information and heart for such a small place. Everyone working there seemed very friendly. Alright….onto to the negatives, The whole facility is insanely outdated. There were numerous informational tags that were ripped or hard to read because the ink had worn down. There were outdated interactive stations that didn’t work at all. This place looks like it was put together 50 years ago and then forgotten. There is a reason why you don’t see a lot of adults around. It’s a relatively cheap place to bring your child too for an hour to just do something, I guess or for school field trips. The observatory was close, the butterfly garden closed… many other areas, closed…. and when you walk outside to the dinosaur trail which we enjoyed, it was filled with school field trips of children screaming and trying to jump on what I imagine is very expensive animatronics. I am all for kids having fun and learning as I am an educator myself, but this was ridiculous. I even had to tell an older kid to stop touching the dinosaurs because he was being so disruptive and kept trying to jump on the dinosaurs. All the kids could read the sign which says this but they didn’t care and they were all unsupervised.🙄 Not sure where the staff was or parents for that matter…. If you are looking for something to do while vacationing here, I sadly do NOT recommend this place at all until everything is at least updated and all areas are open and they have more staff to monitor children groups. There is also no place to grab a quick lunch so plan on packing food if you plan to be here long. This museum was very low key (and not in a good way), and a total disappointment. My husband and I love history and museums and have been to some of the best in the country. As much as I kept rooting for this place while we were here, I had to call it like I experienced It. So maybe I save a couple from wasting their 3 hours here like we did on our last day vacationing. We did love the Santa Barbara Zoo and Botanic Gardens so I highly suggest going there instead for a much better well rounded and fun experience. Also check out the...

Situated along Mission Creek, this regionally focused natural history museum gives out an old-fashioned feeling, which is a mixed feeling. Let me explain this: on one side, the architecture of the SBMNH and some of its dimly lit galleries (e.g., Hall of Chumash Life) combine to create an intimate ambience, which is hardly replicated in more modern-looking museums; on the other side, you might wish to bring a pair of binoculars to read the small-fonted labels placed on the side walls of the display cases.

Small font does have an advantage—there is enough room to populate the labels with information, and I find the labels generally well-written. Dioramas are not themselves spectacular, but they do a great job of illustrating the spectacularly diverse habitats and wildlife in the Santa Barbara region.

Seating is plenty both inside and outside the exhibition halls, and it is very soothing to listen to the creek flowing in the SBMNH's outdoor area. However, the Museum does not have a café onsite (the gift shop has snacks for sale) and there are few dining places in the immediate vicinity, so you should pack your own food if you want to spend more time enjoying the Museum grounds. Also, cell phone reception is poor (at least for Verizon, as of January 2024) and there appears to be no free Wi-Fi provided. (Edit: Based on the response from a museum staff, you can get the password to their network at the admissions desk. I do wish that that information could have been printed on the visitor guide/map.)

Despite its low-key entrance, the SBMNH has a lot to offer—its exhibitions are wide-ranging and cover most major disciplines of natural sciences, and you could easily spend 2 hours here. If you are a resident in the region, this place is a must-visit as it will surely deepen your knowledge of your natural and cultural surroundings. If you are a tourist, this informative and pleasant museum is also worth adding to...