Alaska Sea Life Center

[PennStateMom]

We will be taking the 8.5 hour Major Marine tour on Friday after arriving on Celebrity Millennium and the spending the night.  We have the day in Seward on Saturday before catching the Coastal Classic to Anchorage Saturday evening.  Is the Alaska Sea Life Center an all day thing, or should we plan on something else in the afternoon.  There is a Zip Line that also looks interesting and we could do that in the afternoon, but if the Sea Life Center is worth an all-day visit, I don't want to plan to do too much.  Thanks for any insight.  

[wolfie11]

Depends on how much you like looking at sea critters.  The extra behind the scenes tour with feeding of the animals is good.

[Northern Aurora]

While I absolutely love great aquariums (Monterrey is my all time favorite but there is one in Spain we also love) the SeaLife center is not what I would describe as an aquarium as many of us understand the concept.  It is more of an education experience with sea life.  Also don't expect some sort of performing dolphins type of experience.  While it is a nice experience, you will not spend the entire day there.  Even if you do a behind the scenes tour.

 

Depending on your own interests, consider visiting Exit Glacier for part of your day.

 

And Major Marine is my preferred vendor in Seward for visits to Kenai Fjords National Park water visits.

[quack2]

I would say half-day max. 

[Kathscof]

I LOVE your plan, as some people I have come across on the internets weren't even planning on a Kenai tour 🙂

 

I haven't been there yet, but I am planning on just a before lunch type of thing (for the morning before we get on the ship) 

[PNW Traveler]

On 5/3/2023 at 5:17 PM, PennStateMom said:

We will be taking the 8.5 hour Major Marine tour on Friday after arriving on Celebrity Millennium and the spending the night.  We have the day in Seward on Saturday before catching the Coastal Classic to Anchorage Saturday evening.  Is the Alaska Sea Life Center an all day thing, or should we plan on something else in the afternoon.  There is a Zip Line that also looks interesting and we could do that in the afternoon, but if the Sea Life Center is worth an all-day visit, I don't want to plan to do too much.  Thanks for any insight.  

Consider the Behind the Scenes Tour at the Sea Life Center.  It's best to book in advance.

additionally, there is a waterfront park with a long walking path that adjoins the Sea Life Center.  You may see seals and other sea life from the path.  We did.  If you like ice cream, there's a fun spot nearby the Center.  For lunch, if you don't want a sit-down restaurant, the food trucks are a good alternative.  (Try the Mexican) Downtown Seward is compact and easily explored on foot.  The waterfront park and walking path give great views of the mountains and bay.

[fishiecrackers]

Definitely not worth an all-day visit. If you haven't done this yet, I would suggest watching a walk-through video on YouTube. I agree that it's very education-based rather than entertainment-based. To be honest I find it very boring, but I do support their mission and the work they are doing! It's just not a personal must-see for me when we have guests in town.

 

Also seconding the suggestion to walk along the waterfront from the Sea Life Center - you will almost definitely see some otters or something swimming around in the bay, and it's a really pretty walk.

 

Adding onto the ice cream recommendation.... there's a couple who runs a sweets shop (Sweet Darlings) and they make all their gelato in-house - we really prefer it as opposed to the Creamery in the more central downtown, which often has a line out the door.