Ucluelet Aquarium

The Ucluelet Aquarium is inspiring and that word is not enough to give full measure to this treasure of learning it is, located in the stunning ocean village of Ucluelet aka Ukee on Vancouver Island’s Wild West coast. Its unique catch-and release micro aquarium collects sea animals from local waters in the early months of the year, then returning them back to their ocean home at the endof the March to November season, giving visitors who live on land a nine- month window to learn about their fellow creatures:It also does outreach programmes on the impact of waste on the ocean’s health and other important issues.It is dependent of volunteers and donations. It has recently added a big cedar fish facade to its delightful building , and linked it to a donation program where, if one donates 200$ plus one can get a cedar fish scale shingle inscribed. I got one to honour my ocean-loving son and his family of four., expressing gratitude to them for their care.It is a great gift, and a great way to donate to this Ukee gem.Posted by S Fuller

A great little aquarium, with a wonderful catch-and-release of local species, but the highlight was the truly incredible staff.The women working were incredibly knowledgeable and passionate, and shared that with everyone in the building, making it an exceptional learning and interactive experience for young and old.This aquarium should be an example for all others on how to engage and teach in an approachable manner!

Great aquarium! It looks small from the outside but there was a lot packed in there! Tons of awesome sea creatures to see and to learn about! My favourite was the octopus, we could watch it swim around and change colours!

See the colourful diversity of the local ocean life — without having to snorkel! Absolutely stunning—so many fascinating species! HINT: look closely and wait for a tiny bit— camouflaged life appears right in front of your eyes! The truly interesting life is small and can go unnoticed. (This is not for profit—important to support them with your visit. Staff are knowledgeable and super friendly!)

Our family really enjoyed this little aquarium. Although not many fishes, it has a large variety of sealife found in the shores and docks nearby. Lots of different anemones, clams, scallops, crabs, starfishes, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and more. And each tank had short informative cards, and some with hand drawn boards. The gift shop section have many great books, many of which applicable to local coastal waters. Though you can loop through the aquarium in about 15-20mins, we spent about an hour to slowly look through each tank. It was a great experience for kids and adults.

Great place to bring kids and learn about the sea life in this coast, and it helps with conservation of wild life.The staff is very friendly and attentive helping and answering questions. There is a very friendly octopus and has a touch and feel experience as you can touch sertain animas around the aquarium. Lovely.

Great little aquarium to see and learn about the local aquatic life! They said they release the sea critters out into to the wild every few weeks so there's new things to see every so often.It's maybe a little pricey, but it goes to a good cause and the staff were friendly and informative.Overall, I recommend you stop by if you have an hour and a bit to spare when visiting Ucluelet.

The Aquarium uses specimens that are collected and released each season for study and display, their water supply is a direct exchange from the harbor giving the animals the most natural environment they can indoors. The staff are super friendly and love nerding out sharing their knowledge and i learned a lot of stuff. well worth the price of admission.

Incredible aquarium! So much marine life to look at and definitely a better experience knowing the species are locally caught and released. Informative displays and friendly staff. Especially recommend to anyone with small children!

I did not know about this quaint little aquarium till last September. Walking along the board walk one stumbles on charming surprises which this aquarium is. If you have kids this is great for them. They will be able to see the wonders of our local water from starfish to urchins and small fish. This is no big city aquarium and there's no big city price tag.One of the most interesting tanks was one that has been untouched for a decade but it is fed by the local ocean waters. Over those years you get to see what has settled and thrived in that tank.