Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
An aquarium on the harbour.
An introduction to the Long Beach waterfront, where the Aquarium of the Pacific stands on Rainbow Harbor.
On this page
Read the city from the harbour
The Aquarium of the Pacific is at 100 Aquarium Way on Rainbow Harbor in downtown Long Beach, across the water from the Long Beach Convention Center, Shoreline Village and the Queen Mary.
A city guide can give context without turning a neighbourhood into a backdrop. Notice how the harbour, the shops and the promenades sit together, and how people move between them. Respect homes, working businesses and places of worship.
Panels, glass and water
The Pacific Visions wing, designed by EHDD, has a curving, organic form meant to evoke the ocean, clad in more than 800 individually shaped panels. Inside, the windows, and the water in each habitat, must be kept right for the animals that live there.
Begin with a detail and ask how it was made and maintained. A photograph alone cannot tell you how a window was installed or a habitat built, or the conditions in which people worked.
An aquarium chapter
The Aquarium of the Pacific shows one side of the Long Beach waterfront: a harbourside building given over to the ocean beside it.
Look at the meeting of the two: the boats and promenades of the harbour outside, and the kelp forests, cold seas and reefs recreated inside.
Make room for context
Pair this city reading with the aquarium’s history and the Journal. This is an introduction for visitors, not a claim that our team manages these places or represents their makers.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
