Steinhart Aquarium is home to 38,000 live animals from around the world, representing more than 900 separate species. Come nose-to-beak with an African penguin, watch sharks and stingrays cruise beneath your feet, check out the set of teeth on a piranha, and learn about the critical, life-sustaining role that water plays on Earth.
Philippine Coral Reef
 | At a depth of 25 feet and holding 212,000 gallons of water, the Philippine Coral Reef is one of the deepest exhibits of live corals in the world. It houses a broad range of aquatic life from the coral reefs and mangroves of the Philippines, one of the most diverse reef systems in the world. These animals include delicate soft and hard corals, blacktip reef sharks, stingrays, and more than 2,000 colorful reef fish. |
Northern California Coast
 | The 100,000-gallon Northern California Coast tank replicates the habitats of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. A walkway along the surface allows visitors to smell the seawater and witness the filling and draining of tidepools as waves spill onto a small beach. A large, L-shaped underwater window reveals the eels, anemones, sea stars, rockfish, herring, sardines, and urchins that live beneath the water's surface. Nearby tanks feature a giant sea bass and a giant Pacific octopus. There's also Discovery Tidepool where visitors can touch and examine a wide variety of ocean creatures. |
Water Planet
 | The Water Planet exhibit is designed to be infinitely flexible. Dozens of tanks, from five to 5,000 gallons in size, contain an ever-changing variety of fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and other invertebrates. |
Flooded Amazon
 | Take a stroll beneath the surface of the flooded Amazon basin. A clear underwater tunnel provides stunning views of arapaima, giant catfish, and arowanas swimming overhead. It's part of the Academy's new Rainforests of the World exhibit - a 4-story rainforest enclosed in a glass dome 90-feet in diameter. |
African Penguins
 | A colony of 20 African penguins dip and dive in a 25,000-gallon tank at the end of African Hall. Native to the coast of South Africa and Namibia, these penguins are part of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's Species Survival Program, aimed at conserving this species in the wild. Take a sneak peek at the colony with our PenguinCams » |
The Swamp
 | A returning favorite from the original Steinhart Aquarium, the Swamp contains an albino American alligator and several alligator snapping turtles. Visitors can view the animals from the surface as well as from an underwater window. A tank of fearsome alligator gars, which look like alligators but are actually fish, faces the Swamp. |
Location |
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Aquarium exhibits are accessible from both the first floor and the basement floor of the Academy.
Daily Programs |
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- Penguin Feeding: Every day at 10:30 am and 3:30 pm
- Coral Reef Dive: Every day at 11:30 am and 2:30 pm
- Reef Lagoon Feeding: Tuesday and Thursday at 3:00 pm
- Water Planet Film: Every hour on the half-hour
- Discovery Tidepool: Every day during museum hours
Thank you for following all posted warnings against photography at selected exhibits. These rules are important to maintain the health of our animals.
