Visiting the Maui Ocean Center makes me wanna sing “Under The Sea” with Sebastian from Little Mermaid. My kids and I have been at the Maui Ocean Center many times, and yet whenever we have guests from the mainland we always make it a point to bring them there. We never get tired of visiting it. 
It’s one of our favorite place to show on Maui. It’s truly an awesome place. And so when I was initially paired up with blogger @SheilaS on this So Much More Hawaii Tour, I thought that would be one of the place I’d show her. Â Lo and behold, we are thinking of the same thing! She said that she and her son would like to see that place too. So last Friday, we all went together (@SheilaS and her son together with my son and I).
Located at 192 Maalaea Road, The Maui Ocean Center has something for everyone. Put aside the fact that they have a 750,000 gallon shark tank with over 20 lively sharks, and you still have one of the best aquarium experiences on the globe. One of the many exhibits they have here is a 360 degree tank with glowing jellyfish.
Outside you’ll find multiple pools for touching and interacting with the sea life.
During season, you can be touching a starfish and watching a humpback whale in the near distance outside of the harbor.
Everything swimming around and in the Maui Ocean Center is from Hawaiian waters. Children get as much of a kick out of going here as do adults. They even offer overnight sleep overs for groups interested in watching the nocturnal behavior of the sharks and other ocean life. The shark tank holds over 20 sharks including Tigers. 
The tank also has a long glass tunnel which you can walk through and watch the enormous sting rays, huge tropical fish, and graceful sharks swim over head. For the adventurous, you can even dive in the tank for a price. Tiger Sharks are common in Hawaiian waters, but are rarily seen and seldom attack humans. Seeing them among other sealife is really exhilerating.
The tank also holds many other sharks like reef sharks. These Maui sharks are smaller than the tigers. All of these sharks are nocturnal, so if you get a chance to see them at night, you’re in for a treat. The giant sting rays are also nocturnal and usually only feed at night. These graceful giants are a wonderful addition to the tank and great to watch glide over you from inside the water tunnel.
* excerpts of this post are info from Maui Information Guide website.
aw. this is one of my favorite places in Maui as well! It’s were aaron and I got engaged too. In the amazing shark room and there was a tiger shark in the tank at the time! LOVE LOVE LOVE this place!
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Thanks for the fun trip with the kids, Liza! Meeting a local blogger family and experiencing Maui that way was the BEST. 🙂 Hope we can return again soon or host your family in Texas.
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Hi Liza.
Glad you found my blog – and glad you win with Bing (for your site rankings).
Have a great day in Maui! Must be awesome to live there with your Hapa Boy & Girl & Haole Hubby. I enjoy Colorado with my equivalents – wife instead of hubbie, of course. 🙂 And two instead of three kids.
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The MOC is one of our favorites, too.
We’re not big snorkelers or scuba divers, so we love being able to walk through the reef exhibits and the Open Ocean Exhibit to see all the wonders of the ocean up close. Cindy’s a fan of the sea turtles, and I personally prefer the sharks. Especially that Tiger Shark!
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The Maui Oceon Center looks like a great place to visit, especially with kids. Looking at the sharks up close must have been real cool!
After reading this blog makes me want to start my own 🙂