San Pedro’s outstanding, accredited Cabrillo Marine Aquarium displays the largest collection of Southern California marine life in the world. But it isn’t a place to just look at the sea life; it’s a place where you get to experience and interact with it close up. The aquarium, founded in 1935, is a facility of the City of Los Angeles with support from the Friends of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. It’s housed in a striking facility designed by noted architect Frank Ghery at Cabrillo Beach. There’s an aquatic nursery, research library, exhibit hall, exploration center, and more in the facility that help make complex topics fun and accessible with creative and informative exhibits. The award-winning Exploration Center challenges visitors to engage all five senses and use scientists’ tools as they explore the habitats of the nearby Cabrillo Coastal Park. It includes a crawl in aquarium” where visitors crawl into a large aquarium and are surrounded by teeming ocean life such as flatfish, sting rays, octopuses, and other creatures but never get wet. And there’s a mud walkthrough where visitors get a worm’s eye view of the mud, including simulated interaction with organisms found in the mud, while moving through a squishy, tactile tunnel. External exhibits provide insight into food chains and how organisms survive in mud. The aquarium also has a gift shop with books, glassware, jewelry, t-shirts, and toys—everything for the perfect gift or souvenir. And from December through April the aquarium sponsors the area’s best whale watching trips. The aquarium is open Tuesday to Friday noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cabrillo Marine Aquarium 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, Cabrillo Beach, LA Waterfront 310-548-7562, http://www.cabrillomarineaquarium.org Click here for a map to Cabrillo Marine Aquarium