Ucluelet Aquarium

The catch and release aquarium at Ucluelet is a fantastic place to go with the whole gang. Amazing displays some you can reach in and touch. The octopus was a bit shy this time. There is so much to see and so much to learn. A must visit, it never disappoints.

We visited today. It was incredibly educational, a fascinating experience. I am happy that our child's first experience in a Aquarium was this Catch and release one. I was blown away by the knowledge all the workers had and how friendly everyone was. A must see! We easily spent a couple hours here. Could stay longer and ask as many questions as your heart desires!

First catch and release aquarium in Canada. Absolutely beautiful, you can touch some starfish as well. What a neat experience, friendly staff and decent price for entry as it’s not for profit. Loved it thank you 😊

Everytime we are in Ucluelet, we make a stop at the aquarium - It’s an absolute must see. It’s the first “catch and release” aquarium in Canada and one of a kind. There is so much to learn, and the experience is what you make of it. You can easily buzz through but the point is to stop and interact with the staff (Who are always absolutely lovely and knowledgeable) and learn about the efforts and work that goes into their projects. It’s a great tool for kids and adults - My partner and our friends stopped in a few weeks ago and Nate took the time to talk with us and educate us about different aspects with wildlife/old growth, etc. He left such an impact and made this experience one that we will remember for quite some time. Thank you Nate and the team at this aquarium for all that you do!

MUST SEE if you are visiting Tofino or Ucluelet.

Take your sweet time when you visit. The more you look, the more you’ll see. Super impressed with the variety of marine life here, and I love the sustainable catch and release concept. Super helpful staff too. :)

We’ll be back every time we visit now, especially knowing the marine life gets switched up seasonally.

Absolutely wonderful. This is a catch and release aquarium. All of the visitors are returned to the wild once a year. All exhibits are of local creatures. Bay water is circulated through the tanks. Great docents. Very educational. Some touch tanks. Extremely well done.

Great fun for the whole family!
We come back every year to enjoy the fish and displays. My girls love the touch pools and seeing the big fish in the main display.

We were so lucky to be staying right beside the Ucluelet Aquarium, and made it a priority to visit! The staff was all very friendly and knowledgeable , and were working hard the whole time we were there. We absolutely loved all of the indigenous species, and the beautifully decorated and well-kept tanks and enclosures. We learned a lot about local sea life, and enjoyed our time immensely. Photos don’t do justice - make sure you check out this gem for yourself!

Visited in April 2023. This was such a unique little aquarium! Love that it is catch-and-release - and all local animals/specimens. The open tanks are very cool and there are some which allow you to touch. We also really enjoyed the educational panels throughout the aquarium, and appreciated the focus on conservation.

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.

An awesome catch-and-release aquarium that has a new assortment of specimens on display each season. Friendly and knowledgeable staff that are happy to explain the variety of species on display. There is also a small gift shop with some really cool stickers, postcards, T-shirts and books.

As a first-time visitor to the Ucluelet Aquarium, I was thoroughly impressed by the wide range of marine life on display and the dedication of the staff to educating visitors about the importance of conserving our oceans.

From the moment I stepped through the doors, I was captivated by the vibrant colors and diverse species of fish, invertebrates, and marine mammals. The aquarium's exhibits are well-designed and informative, providing visitors with a wealth of knowledge about the local marine ecosystem.

I was particularly impressed by the aquarium's touch pool, where I was able to get up close and personal with some of the creatures that call the Pacific Ocean home. The staff were incredibly friendly answering all of my questions and providing fascinating insights into the lives of these animals.

In addition to the exhibits, the aquarium also offers a variety of educational programs and events. The Aquarium are all for the importance of protecting our oceans.

Overall, my visit to the Ucluelet Aquarium was a great experience. I was left with a renewed appreciation for the importance of protecting our oceans. I highly recommend this aquarium to anyone visiting Ucluelet.

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 end
of 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

Unique aquarium! I love that it is a "catch and release" centre returning all of its exhibits of local marine life back to the bay at the end of the season. The staff are friendly and informative, and the touch tanks are interesting. Definitely worth visiting!

This place is awesome! It is the world’s first catch and release aquarium. The staff are knowledgeable and friendly and you get to see what life is like on the shore. Admission supports their conservation and education programs and the had a puget sound king crab.

The best part of this aquarium is that they have local fauna, they have this innovative catch-&-release system, that every 6 months release the animals they have at the moment, you can touch some species, the staff is really friendly and wise, the place is small compared to other aquariums i had visited but… is totally worth it to visit!, the place and the conditions of all the animals and plants is great, definitely i’ll come back!

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.

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!)

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.

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.