Mount Desert Oceanarium

Look. I’m the first to admit this place could do with a freshen up. HOWEVER, look beyond that and get yourself on the tours. David, the owner and former lobster fisherman gives a real first hand insight into the industry and what’s what. Wonderful! Then we had two marine biology students take us over the farm and then the tank where you touch and experience the sea creatures. Wonderful! We have a 15 and 13 year old in tow which isn’t always easy to find interest for them but visiting the Oceanarium was THE Bay Harbor highlight!

Pros: Extremely educational and interactive. Allow a minimum of 2.5 hours to partake in the guided tours of the museum, hatchery, discovery pool and marsh walk. Each segment last 30 – 45 minutes. Staff are exceptionally knowledgeable.
Cons: N/​A

This was my favorite, favorite, favorite attraction of Mount Desert Island!!! If you have any interest in any natural aspect of MDI, this is a must-​do. We chose to do ALL of the available demonstrations and I’m so glad we did. The lobster hatchery, the lobster museum, the discovery tank, and the marsh walk. (The discovery tank and the marsh walks were my favorite, possible because the woman doing the presentations was fantastic. I was so impressed, I actually sent an email to the ocenarium itself (which I didn’t hear back, lame!). Here is that email: «Spectacular! I just wanted to e-​mail you all to commend you on what a wonderful experience I had at your aquarium! It is undoubtedly the highlight of my week long stay here on the island. The staff was incredibly friendly and exceptionally knowledgeable. I do not know the names of my guides, but I wish I could give them individual praises for their performance! My favorite portion, though hard to decide, was the Marsh walk. Amazing. The view, material, delivery: everything was great. I cannot thank you enough for having this program available, for both tourists like myself, as well as for the lobster hatchery and environmental work you participate in.»

Very informative, I loved learning all about lobsters. I was surprised that the experience included an explanation about the lifecycle of a lobster, how the hatchery works. You get to choose the exhibits you attend, we bought into all four. The first is the hatchery. The second is a museum that explains how lobsters are caught such as the traps, the floaters, and how to band the claws. The third is a touch tank experience that taught me many things about sea urchins, sea stars, and other creatures I hadn’t known about their behavior. The last is a marsh walk that talks about Maine plants mostly.
This was a great experience for adults and children. There is a price break for the children and seniors.
The entire experience takes about 3 hours since each part has a time schedule. We never spent any time waiting.
The staff is very knowledgeable, allow children to touch and ask questions.
A freebie explanation told how to keep seagulls from trashing your oceanfront driveway.
All entry fees and gift purchase profit is used to fun the lobster hatchery operations, so if you like to eat lobsters, stop by and offer a donation to keep them on your table.
Restrooms are available and clean.

We went here to for my 4 year old daughter. It was interesting learning about lobsters. My daughter really enjoyed the touch tank. She held and a sea urchant, star fish, and a few other sea creatures. We also went on the Marsh tour. It was ok except the mosquitos were so bad they almost carried us away. If you do the marsh tour definitely put on bug repellent and not just the stuff they tell you to put on. It didn’t work.

Very informative for adults and kids. The tour is set up in ½ hr intervals. You can see the museum and have a talk with a seasoned lobsterman. Next is the hatchery and then the discovery pool. Our daughter loved the discovery pool, and the guide at both the hatchery and the discovery pool were very informative.

We decided to visit this place because of baby lobster information in their ads. My 5 years and 3 years old were really curious to see a baby lobster. They said they open from 9 – 5. We arrived at 4:10pm, were told they were about to close. I asked if they can let kids take a peek at baby lobster. We won’t need more than 3 minutes. The answer is No. The reason is this place is for education purpose. We must go through the whole program to see baby lobster. The problem is we were more than happy to go through the whole program, were told it’s too late; the whole program takes at least 1.5 hours. Kids were very disappointed.
Two suggestions to others who plan to go:
1. Ignore 9 – 5 promise in their ad, arrive before 3:00pm.
2. Set expectation right. Based on what I was told, this place is for education purpose. The place is very small and simple from what I saw. It is not oceanarium you normally expect.

I have to admit that the Christian fish on the Oceanarium’s seal made me nervous, but these are liberal Christians who don’t try to tell you that Adam rode around Alley-​Oop-​style on the back of a dinosaur. When the Bible is quoted, it is in the spirit of Stephen Jay Gould — celebrating the diversity of species around us.
There are four parts of the «tour» of the establishment, one of which is optional — the Marsh Walk. We didn’t take that thanks to the weather, so we saved ourselves $ 3 on the ticket price.
The parts we did see included the Hatchery, the Lobster Museum, and the Discovery Pool. Each section is hosted by a guide/​attendant who enthusiastically describes New England nature and fishing culture. To help expedite you through the experience, your times at each of these attractions is scheduled at a specific half hour interval. Groups are dispersed so that no one area is overcrowded and you don’t necessarilly see all the exhibits with the same people.
The staff are friendly and knowledgeable about their areas and ever-​eager to share the wonders of the coast with you.
Don’t expect the New England Aquarium. It’s not that kind of place.