Quick Guide to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport

As much as I love the Pacific Ocean, driving rain and gale-force winds were enough to temper my enthusiasm for a walk on the beach during a recent weekend trip to Newport, Oregon. Since the weather at the coast can be unpredictable, it’s a good idea to have a backup plan that depends less on nature’s caprices. At Newport’s Oregon Coast Aquarium, you can admire marvelous sea creatures in an accessible, family-friendly, and partially indoor space. Here is everything you need to know about visiting.

Cost and Admission

*Look for the ticketing window to the left on your way into the Oregon Coast Aquarium*

You can purchase admission tickets for Newport’s Oregon Coast Aquarium when you arrive or online ahead of time. Tickets cost:

Adults (18-64): $25.95
Senior (65+) and Young Adults (13-17): $19.95
Child (3-12): $15.95
2 years and younger: Free

In addition to the admission ticket, the Oregon Coast Aquarium has special tours and experiences that you can book. If you are looking for a more interactive day, you can take the behind-the-scenes tour that focuses on animal care and feeding ($25), or touch jellyfish in an encounter session ($20). Learn more on the aquarium’s website here.

The Oregon Coast Aquarium is open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM Labor Day until Memorial Day, and 10 AM to 6 PM Memorial Day until Labor Day. It is open every day except for December 25th. Ticket sales end 30 minutes before the aquarium closes. An admission ticket is good for the whole day. Expect to spend about 2 hours at the aquarium to see all the exhibits.

The Oregon Coast Aquarium has a large free on-site parking lot.

Note: If you purchase tickets online ahead of time, make sure you buy them for the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon, NOT the Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky. I was one click away from spending $200 in tickets for my friends and me to go to an aquarium in the wrong state before I realized my error. Phew, close call.

Renovations in 2024

Oregon Coast Aquarium Rocky Coast galley — *Tank in the new Rocky Coast Gallery*

The Oregon Coast Aquarium completed a large renovation project in 2024. After months of construction, the Rocky Coast Gallery is now open. This indoor area includes the new touch tank.

Food and drink

Moon Jelly Cafe Oregon Coast Aquarium — *Jellyfish swim near the aquarium’s cafe*

The Oregon Coast Aquarium has a couple of spots where you can get lunch before or after your visit.

The Aquarium Coffee Shop is open 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM daily and sells snacks, smoothies, and coffee drinks.

The Moon Jelly Cafe is open 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM Wednesday through Sunday and has a full food menu. Think burgers, sandwiches, seafood, and salads. On a nice day, check out the patio seating. Even if you’re not stopping to eat, you’ll see the cafe’s main attraction as you enter: a 360-degree jellyfish observation tank.

Things to see and do

Marine mammals

Once you enter the Oregon Coast Aquarium, you’ll pass the restrooms and the cafe. If you head out the back door and go to the right, you’ll find the marine mammals. Outdoor walkways lead to several enclosed pools with some of the aquarium’s most engaging residents. For cuteness, you can’t beat the sea otters. Three fuzzy male sea otters live in one of the pools, where you’ll likely see them scurrying on the rocks or floating in the water. Although wild sea otters no longer live on the Oregon Coast, once in a blue moon an otter will find its way to our stretch of the coast in pursuit of food.

To watch the sea otter feeding presentation, stop by their enclosure at 10:30 AM, 1 PM, or 3 PM.

*The pinniped exhibit has both seals and sea lions*

Next to the sea otters, another pool houses the seals and sea lions, collectively called pinnipeds. While they can be hard to tell apart at first glance, the spots on harbor seals often give them away. Sea lions are also larger than seals and have small ear flaps, whereas seals do not.

To watch the seal and sea lion feeding presentation, stop by at 11 AM or 2:30 PM.

While you’re outside, make sure to visit the cave. The entrance is near a pool that mimics an intertidal area complete with anemones. Inside the cave is a tank that housed the aquarium’s octopus before it moved inside the newly renovated Rocky Coast gallery. Now, the tank holds basket stars. These strange and fanciful invertebrates have many branching arms that trap prey in a basket-like formation. They look like a cross between science fiction monsters and your grandmother’s macrame project.

Birds

In the aquarium’s seabird aviary, you can watch a variety of seabirds swimming in pools and sunning themselves on rocks. The enclosures are pretty minimal once you’re in the aviary, making it easy to admire the birds. Look for tufted puffins, horned puffins, common murres, pigeon guillemots, black oystercatchers, and rhinoceros auklets. Their reactions to visitors range from indifferent to mildly positive. One memorable puffin there has a habit of showboating for crowd reactions.

*This tufted puffin is known for showing off to visitors*

To watch the seabird feeding presentation, stop by the aviary at 2 PM.

*Pigeon guillemots in the seabird aviary*

Besides the seabirds, look for the separate turkey vulture enclosure next to the sea otters.

Rocky Coast Gallery

Pacific sea nettle jellyfish Oregon Coast Aquarium — *Pacific sea nettle jellyfish*

The newest attraction at the Oregon Coast Aquarium is the renovated Rocky Coast Gallery. When you enter, you’ll see the touch tank in the center of the room. The tank houses both common tidepool critters like ochre sea stars and giant green anemones, as well as many creatures you’re unlikely to see in the wild. Look for chunky orange sea cucumbers, blood stars, leather stars, red abalone, and Christmas anemones. I consider myself strong at tidepool critter identification, but the touch tank had a few I didn’t recognize, like the squishy-looking bryozoa.

You can gently touch anything in the tanks, and staff members have helpful tips about interacting with tidepool life. I learned that the best way to encourage an anemone to let go of your finger is to gently rock it back and forth rather than pulling your hand straight back.

The touch tank is one of many things to see in the Rocky Coast Gallery. To the right of the entrance, look for the aquarium’s octopus. Continue through the gallery to find two more rooms full of display tanks. One room is devoted entirely to jellyfish. Other highlights include an eel with a surprising leopard print pattern and the seahorse tank.

sea horse tank Oregon Coast Aquarium — *The seahorse tank*

Passages of the Deep

Passages of the Deep is a three-part exhibit that showcases Oregon’s underwater sea life. Unlike the coast’s mammals and birds, you won’t be able to see these animals from shore in natural spaces. The three underwater walkways in Passages of the Deep represent different ocean ecosystems. As you move through the building, picture yourself getting farther out in the Pacific Ocean.

China Rockfish Oregon Coast Aquarium Newport — *China Rockfish in the Orford Reef tunnel*

The first underwater tunnel is Orford Reef, built to mimic the rocky kelp forests near Cape Blanco on the southern Oregon Coast. Here you’ll find many types of colorful rockfish, predatory fish that thrive in this environment. They hang suspended in hopes of catching prey.

The second tunnel is the Halibut Flats, modeled after the Pacific’s continental shelf, a treacherous area for ships. Spotted ray-like skates, halibut, flounder, and sturgeon swim around a shipwreck teeming with plumose anemones.

Open Sea Oregon Coast Aquarium Newport — *Sharks swim around and above you in the Open Sea*

The last tunnel is the Open Sea, a surreal world populated by sharks, bat rays, and large schools of small, vulnerable-looking fish. The plant life and rocky reefs are gone here. Instead, you’ll see the hypnotic movement of mackerel and anchovy schools as they move away from passing sharks, only to reform their tight and organized formations.

Nature Trail and Estuary

Estuary Oregon Coast Aquarium — *Viewpoints overlooking the estuary are great birdwatching spots*

The Oregon Coast Aquarium and its grounds are on the site of a former lumber mill. Time and careful groundskeeping have transformed the once-industrial landscape back to lush greenery dense with native plants. Many plants are labeled, helping you hone your identification skills.

A short (about a quarter mile) nature trail on the aquarium grounds connects the Passages of the Deep building and the playground. The trail runs along a natural estuary with several observation decks along the way, which are excellent places to watch for shorebirds. I saw a group of buffleheads there when I visited.

Other places to see marine animals in Newport

Hatfield Marine Science Center

nudibranch Hatfield Science Center — *Delightful nudibranch at the Hatfield Science Center*

Only a half mile down the road from the Oregon Coast Aquarium, the Hatfield Marine Science Center has wonderful and intriguing sea life to admire. Part of Oregon State University’s marine lab, the Visitor Center houses fish tanks, touch pools, a boat piloting simulator, and an augmented reality sandbox. It’s completely indoors and makes for an excellent escape when the weather doesn’t cooperate. As a bonus, admission is only $5 for ages five and over (under five is free). You can buy tickets online or at the door.

While you won’t find marine mammals or birds here, the intertidal touch tanks are fantastic. Expect to see tons of tidepool critters like anemones, sea stars, urchins, chitons, and nudibranchs (sea slugs). Volunteers are great resources for critter identification and all burning tidepool-related questions.

Hatfield Marine Science Center red urchin — *A red urchin and I investigate each other at the Hatfield Science Center’s touch tanks*

Volunteers at Hatfield are very knowledgeable and can answer your burning questions about intertidal life. It’s a rare treat for me to meet anyone who shares my level of enthusiasm for tidepools, and the volunteers and I were pleasantly surprised at this mutual interest. My poor friends, meanwhile, were weeping near the exit, having lost any hope of going to lunch.

The Visitor Center is open Thursday - Monday from 10 AM - 4 PM. Visit Friday at 11 AM to watch feeding at the tidepool tanks.

Sea lion docks

No trip to Newport is complete without a visit to the sea lion docks. Unlike the sea lions at the aquarium, these are wild and come and go as they please. And come they do in large numbers. Male California sea lions spend almost the whole year on the Oregon Coast, returning to California only in July to rejoin the females for mating season. In any other month, you can find them in Newport’s jetty, marina, and, especially, crammed onto the floating platform at Port Dock One.

The sea lions here aren’t hard to find. You’ll hear them barking before you see them. Walk out onto the pier next to the Clearwater Restaurant to admire them basking in the sun and bickering with each other. Visiting is free. Other than on the docks, look for them out in the water anywhere around Newport.

Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area

Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area is one of my favorite places on the Oregon Coast. Here, a narrow basaltic peninsula juts one mile out into the Pacific Ocean. At the end of the peninsula, panoramic ocean views surround Oregon’s tallest lighthouse. Best of all are the animals. From the viewpoint next to the lighthouse, watch for birds in the sky and whales in the water. Take the staircase down to Cobble Beach to find one of the best and easiest-to-reach tidepooling spots on the Oregon Coast. Besides the intertidal life like anemones, sea stars, urchins, and crabs, the rocky ledges around the beach are favorites of lounging harbor seals.

Admission to the park costs $7/vehicle or use the America the Beautiful Pass.

More Things to Do in Newport

Historic Bayfront

California sea lions sea lion docks newport oregon — *California sea lions lounge on the sea lion docks*

While the sea lion docks are the undisputed highlight of Newport’s historic bayfront, it’s worth taking a stroll down the street to check out the shops, restaurants, and galleries. If you’re visiting with kids, look for the giant gorilla statue outside Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum. While you walk, look for impressive murals and a picturesque harbor where sea lions swim and gulls fly. The bayfront is a great place to have lunch or dinner while watching the water. Try Clearwater Restaurant, Asiatico Waterfront Fusion Sushi, or Thai Port Restaurant for excellent bay views.

Nye Beach

Newport’s Nye Beach offers the best of both worlds, a picturesque sandy beach and a charming, walkable neighborhood center. As you walk along the beach, look north to see views of Yaquina Head and its lighthouse. Then, stroll through town to check out the bakeries, restaurants, bars, art galleries, and shops.

Getting there

Address: 2820 SE Ferry Slip Rd, Newport, OR 97365

Coming from the north, take Highway 101 S across the Yaquina Bay Bridge and then turn right onto SW Abalone St. Continue onto Marine Science Center Drive. Then, turn right on Ferry Slip Rd.

Coming from the south, take Highway 101 N until SE 35th St. Take a right onto SE 35th St, then an immediate left onto Ferry Slip Rd. Continue about 0.5 miles to reach the Oregon Coast Aquarium’s parking lot.

Enjoy your trip to Newport’s Oregon Coast Aquarium!

With love,

Emma