The Oregon Coast Aquarium is located on the Central Oregon Coast in Newport Oregon. The first time we visited there Keiko lived there.

Keiko stared in the movie Free Willy and lived at the aquarium from 1996 to 1998 and was then shipped to Iceland where he eventually died.

USA Today and Coastal Living Online have ranked it among the top ten aquariums in the United States. The collection focuses on the flora and fauna native to the Oregon Coast. There are outdoor exhibits, indoor exhibits and an Aviary.

This is a great place to bring your kids. They can learn about wildlife and have fun learning. It is very easy to get around and not too spread out for the handicapped.

There are over 15,000 animals, representing 500 species in the indoor and outdoor exhibits. You will find seals, sea otters, sea lions, sharks and a very inquisitive octopus that likes to play with your hand on the glass. The octopus has an arm length of almost 20 feet.

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This is a spectacular exhibit! It is were Keiko use to live. They made acrylic tunnels and you walk through and look at all of the sea creatures. You are surrounded by deep-water marine animals such as sharks, rays and rockfish.

You can stand and watch the marine life and you feel like you are right in the water with them. It is a lot of fun when they go in and feed them. Waves surging against the tunnel gives you the impression you are beneath the ocean. There is even a shipwreck resting on the bottom.

This is one exhibit that you don’t want to miss! The kids love to watch the sea animals and they don't even realize that they are learning because they are having so much fun.

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The indoor exhibits include three permenent displays: Coastal Waters, Rocky Shores and Sandy Shores. We especially love the Sea Jelly exhibit. You just can’t visualize that there really are beautiful creatures like this in the ocean. They look so fragile as they swim around the tanks. This is a picture of just one of the tanks with the Jelly Fish. It doesn't show as good as in real life but you can get an idea of what they look like.

These are the permanent displays and they have changing exhibits all the time. You can spend a lot of time in these rooms. The kids and even touch some of the sea life in one display area.

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One of the outdoor exhibits is the sea lions home. Six sea lions and five harbor seals are living at the aquarium. Five of the sea lions and one of the harbor seals were captive born; one sea lion and four harbor seals were rescued but they couldn’t be released so they are now living here.

There are viewing windows where you can watch them swim and play and they will come up to the window and watch you. The children love to interact with them through the windows.

The rocky pool is 15 feet deep and holds 90,000 gallons of seawater. The seals have beaches and rocky islands where they can leave the water and sun themselves. There are many vantage points for the public both above water and below water views.

One of the most loved creatures at the Oregon coast Aquarium are the sea otters. They are full of high energy and very playful so they are a big hit with children and families. It is a lot of fun to watch the trainers come in and feed them. They make you laugh because they are so funny trying to get the food before one of the others get it.