Rating: A for educational, squishy hands-on, family
Ages: 2 and up
Directions: 101 exit Garden, turn toward ocean and turn right onto Cabrillo Boulevard. Turn left onto Stearns Wharf. The Sea Center is on the left.
Contact: 682-4711 or www.seacenter.org
Season: Any, as it’s a great indoor activity during bad weather!

Our treasured sea center was rebuilt, updated and re-opened in the spring of 2005, thanks to the generous assistance of Ty Warner, the Beanie Baby mogul who has become well-known locally as a major property owner and philanthropist. He has purchased San Ysidro Ranch, Four Seasons Biltmore, Sandpiper Golf Course, the five-diamond Los Cabos resort Las Ventanas Al Paraiso, and Kona Village Resort on the Big Island in Hawaii.

Visitors to the sea center can experience five exhibit galleries with more than 30 marine science exhibits. It is designed to be a hands-on immersion in the work of scientists who explore, monitor and discover ways to preserve our oceans. It is twice the size of the old facility, and is part of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

Children can take seawater samples and test for salinity, temperature, pH balance, dissolved oxygen and specific gravity, and learn why these are important. They can enjoy touch tanks, a theatre, and a gift shop, as well as the view outside the facility.