Very cool Museum! First time seeing a Mammoth and Saber-tooth Tiger Skelton. Great family outing or day date.

My boyfriend and I went here for his birthday! It was a nice relaxing day! We explored the whole museum except for the gem room at the bottoms floor. It was closed. We loved the taxidermy, models, skulls, and books! We love animals, so this was a great place to visit!

went here for a family day.. and it was AMAZING! we're a family consisting of: 2 adults, 1 teenager, and 1 kid, and all 4 of us had lots of fun. this is coming from someone who's out of town/a tourist! 😁 parking was hard to get.. but we managed to get a good spot! it's all about waiting around and driving in circles. as soon as someone leaves their spot, it's taken instantly, which made finding a spot a struggle. we came around 1 pm and we were able to visit the first 3 floors! we missed the 4th & the floor below 1 but that was on us 😁 as we arrived late-ish. it was actually really fun but also very informative! i was totally geeking out and all of the information and animals that were on display! there were lots of other families there scattered around the place, and it was never super crowded in a room. there were lots of things to look at for all ages! no one felt left out. it may take a lot of walking around to look at everything, but, there are lots of benches and seats around. there's also hand sanitizer stations everywhere so use it!! final review: 100000/10, fun for all ages + the whole family, would definitely love to come back soon :^)

This museum is large (4 stories) so I highly recommend to arrive early so you can enjoy all the nice halls in it. Despite it is mainly designed for kids I had a great time as an adult. There are many interactive material.

During my recent visit to San Diego for the Esri User Conference, I had the pleasure of attending a social event at Balboa Park, and it included a visit to the San Diego Natural History Museum. The museum's location within the beautiful Balboa Park was a treat in itself. The stunning architecture of the building blends beautifully with the surrounding Balboa Park, creating a harmonious and inviting atmosphere. As soon as I entered the museum, I was immediately drawn to the fascinating exhibits that showcased the region's diverse natural wonders.. Moreover, the dinosaur exhibit was a particular highlight for me. The life-sized replicas and detailed explanations gave me a newfound appreciation for the prehistoric creatures that once roamed the earth. The staff at the museum were courteous and enthusiastic, adding to the overall positive experience. All in all, it was wonderful experience.

Fantastic museum. Parking spots directly in front of museum are extremely limited, please be prepared for a small, flat walk in order to access. The museum is beautiful. 4 stories, elevators included for persons of limited mobility. The gift shop is located on the main floor, directly after entering. Cost was $24 per adult, tickets available at the front desk, payable by cash or card. Fossils, minerals, live exhibits, theater, etc. This museum has it all. Plenty of places to rest and take in the wonder. There is a small indoor play place for the smallest children. Bathrooms are clean, spacious, and well-maintained on multiple floors. Museum is kept cool, a light sweater recommended.

Did not meet my expectations but the movie theatre enhances the experience I expected much more from the NAT, maybe because I had high hopes, I was disappointed, anyway I didn’t really enjoy it that much. The IMAX movie theatre is a nice feature of the museum, make sure to check out the schedule when you enter the museum so you can catch the next show, or you might miss a good one. It is included in the San Diego Go-Card.

Absolutely LOVED experience here. My daughter enjoyed every second of it. Museum has 4 stories but best one was 2nd story. So spend most of the time there. Also 50% OFF at 4:00 pm (1 hour before close). Usually it takes 1 1/2 hrs at normal speed. But with 60 min we were able to see everything but had to go bit fast!!

A great place to explore and learn. It’s nice to get to know so many things before our lives and what we have currently. It is a great place for weekend no matter for kids or adults.

I absolutely love this museum! Its such a great place to explore especially with the little ones! Has plenty to offer, movie showings, live animals, kids play areas,cafe & much more! I highly recommend its a must see place & very educational.

I came here awhile ago but I thought I would write a review and share some pictures. I’m sure they have done some renovations and remodeling since then. Current admission is $24 for an adult. Parking was very easy, we had no issues finding a spot. I really enjoyed this museum. I saw a lot of intriguing exhibits and I liked that they had some interactive activities. We probably spent 3-4 hours here. Museum was well kept. We came on a day where it wasn’t too busy at all.

We enjoyed our visit to this museum. If you like science you are likely to enjoy this place. If you have kids surely they will love it. A good place for a science teacher to tour the kids.. We went to museum of arts as well. Oh I love San Diego!

This place is found amusing for any age, from young kids to senior. You wouldn’t get bored because the combination of Living Lab with a bunch of living creatures, the facts of dinosaurs, and the history of this beautiful city. If you’re a resident, pls consider the annual member for the entire park, it’s gonna be very useful for indoor activities during hot summer (when you’re taking a break from the crowds of beaches), or any season … worth the money!

Would absolutely recommend coming here if you are in Balboa park. Tickets are pretty cheap, and there's several floors of things to look at. There's a ton of really cool artifacts, fossils, taxiderm, and life-size replicas of all sorts of animals. One of the coolest exhibits was this section with preserved jars of animals, like two headed snakes, big toads, and other weird animals. The place is also not crowded. Probably one of the best museums here, apart from the air and space museum and the model railroad museum.

I normally do not give bad reviews… It’s a very scattered museum and does have much signage for what your looking at. This place has too much wasted space, the first level is very blank and boring on the 3rd and top level too. It has so much potential that could be better used. Too many whale bones take up so much space all you need is 1. It could use more dinosaurs since my son kept asking where they were. Also every sign was so small I gave up on squinting to read any. A little more interactivity would be nice. Hoping they make changes and will increase review.

Arrived at Balboa Park intending to spend a day of exploring but our first stop was the Natural History Museum and we spent much of the day there. So much to see and while not as big as the Chicago or New York Museums the displays were very accessible and they had "picture cards" at many of the exhibits that explained what we were seeing. A neat room that was open to the public had the feel of a storeroom that allowed my touching. Several of their exhibits had similar animals so that we could compare sizes. There was a small refreshment area that had tasty salads, chicken tenders and fries and sandwiches. Although we were there on a school day with "field trips" the kids were all well behaved. There was a entrance fee about $18 per person with a few discounts for seniors etc.

At almost $20 per adult ($17 for college and military), I did enjoy walking around the second and third floors. The fourth floor was very hot and humid with a very limited exhibit. I hope the COVID restrictions there are lifted soon because the living exhibit on the first floor could definitely hold more people in that room than what was allowed. The second floor had the best exhibits imo, so definitely plan to spend some time exploring that section!!

Our kids enjoyed the exhibits they could touch and the desert camping interactive area. The museum participates in passport program with members of other museums, which covers admission.

A stunning multi-level collection of stunning specimens. Our 3 year old had an amazing time. There are shows in the day. It definitely takes awhile to see all levels. There's a cafe on the 1st level that offers coffee, tea and other beverages.. and ice cream!

Situated in Balboa park 4 stories museum that has lot of natural history stuffs. Great for children. Wonderful experience.

The cost for an adult ticket is $26. There are several interesting rooms to explore including a live laboratory. Please don't bang on the glass. Some of the rooms are more journal or reading rooms. These are not bad, but if you are tired they are not that interesting.

Amazing selection of variety of things to explore. With the pass, it’s included.

My daughter got tickets to the museum through the public library for completing the summer reading program so we used the tickets for her and I and then bought a ticket for my military husband. Right when we got there a movie was showing so we ran right in and sat down. Great show on the oceans, if a bit long. Really good museum with a lot of hands on exhibits for the kids. As a new resident to San Diego/California, I learned a lot about the animals that are indigenous to this area. We will definitely be back!

100% a must see. It's in Balboa park and only $15 ‐$20 to see depending wether you are military. This place has 4 floors and plenty of interactive displays and history to read,learn and listen about. Some of the collections in here are so amazing. Also has food, gift shop and coffee shop as well! Staffing is super friendly and the place is very clean with some great window views.

Valuable museum to visit while in San Diego. It provides educational information about the bodies, bones, specimens and fossils of old time animals, birds, fishes and other creatures.

Such an a amazing museum! Great for adults and children. They have some really amazing exhibits.

We have been going over the years with our grandkids & kids and this is a great, educational museum for all ages. The museum also has a “live” reptile exhibit which the kids enjoy. We also enjoy the educational 20-30 minute movies that are well done. Today was “free Tuesday” and it was busy with lots of kids.

Amazing!!! Clean environment super fun for the kids and the whole the family. Parking is free and plenty of so much to explore… truly recommend

If you're looking for a unique venue to host your wedding, you can look no further than The Nat. The prices are excellent, the museum is beautiful, and its activities are great for guests of all ages. We held our church wedding at a local parish on 09/30/2023, followed by our reception on the same day at The Nat. Our reception was four hours long, starting with a cocktail hour on the second floor of the museum, and followed by a dinner/dance on the first floor. The museum is very spacious. We held a wedding reception with 160+ guests, with room to expand to 200 and still have space for a dance floor. We also had the advantage of having a scavenger hunt all around the museum (coordinated by The Nat) during cocktail hour, which our guests loved. I highly recommend adding the bar services from The Nat to your event. We got the 3-hour unlimited drinks Paleozoic-Liquor-Beer-Wine-Soda and a 1-hour cashless bar -- to allow people to sober up before leaving the reception. Overall, we are thrilled with how beautiful everything looked and the services provided at The Nat for our wedding reception. However, I recommend people be mindful that The Nat is a museum first and a wedding venue second. Communication was slow during our wedding planning/coordination period but sped up during our wedding month. Please be mindful of this and be patient with The Nat. They did a fantastic job on the day of our wedding, even gifting our catering team free tickets to visit the museum after our event, and I could not be more content with how incredible our reception was the day of our wedding.

(Translated by Google) The investment is worth a lot of hours of fun (Original) Vale muchísimo la inversión horas de mucha diversión

(Translated by Google) A place to take family, children and students. The museum has 4 floors, completely immaculate! A building with excellent maintenance and facilities, all exhibits clean even those that have showcases, carpets and clean floors. Eating areas and bathrooms equally clean. All exhibits very interesting, more than others but very well organized. Each area even if it is inside the same building is painted different color, animated differently or with carpet, this helps to differentiate the areas. They have a 3D movie theater, with a fantastic dinosaur movie. Clean, narrow and spacious areas to eat. Beautiful gardens. 100% recommended (Original) Un lugar para llevar a la familia, niños y alumnos. El museo tiene 4 pisos, completamente impecable!! Un edificio con excelente mantenimiento e instalaciones, todas las exhibiciones limpias incluso las que tienen vitrinas, alfombras y pisos limpios. Áreas de comer y baños igual de limpios. Todas las exhibiciones muy interesantes, más unas que otras pero muy bien organizadas. Cada área aunque esté dentro del mismo edificio está pintada de diferente color, animada diferente o con alfombra, esto ayuda a diferenciar las áreas. Tienen sala de cine en 3D, con una película fantástica de dinosaurios. Áreas limpias, delimitadas y amplias para comer. Jardines hermosos. 100% recomendado

Great museum, but definitely more focused for a younger audience. Adults can still enjoy it, but it is best if you have kids.

Amazing place, great for kids and adults. Loads of active learning and cool stuff.

Big building, not a lot of exhibits or artifacts to view like other natural history museums I've been to.

Great museum and also have a fun play area for small kids which was a god sent for my 2 year old neice!

Dinosaurs. Whales and sharks. Lions, tigers, and bears. Spiders and snakes. Birds and bugs… There certainly is plenty to see and do and learn about at the San Diego Natural History Museum. People of all ages seemed to be having a great time on the day I visited. There were so many and such varied exhibits that I can’t image a visitor not finding at least a few of them interesting. I visited on a day that admission wasn’t charged to San Diego residents, but staff didn’t check residency, and everyone entered for free. It’s an awesome place. Take the kids. Take the grandparents. Enjoy.

Interesting

Awesome visit. The live exhibit on the first floor is awesome I loved learning about the local wildlife and especially enjoyed the information on the local gem mines in the area. Will check back soon to see how they continue to improve the Museum!

Our kids love there! A lot of fun experience for both boys and girls

This museum was really cool. They had lots of exhibits, and it was a great experience. There were lots of signs, which was helpful, since there was lots of stuff everywhere. The only thing was that the food options were missleading. There is supposedly a cafe, but it really only had a couple small things all of them snacks.

Our visit to this museum was such a great experience! As science enthusiasts, we were thrilled with the exhibits and interactive displays that really made us appreciate the wonders of science. It's definitely a great place for families with kids, as there are so many fascinating things to explore and learn. As a science teacher myself, I can definitely see the value in bringing my students here for a fun and educational field trip. We also visited the nearby Museum of Arts, which was equally impressive. San Diego really has a lot to offer and we can't wait to come back and explore more of this amazing city!"

About half the size of the museum in L.A but still quite impressive, loved there artifacts & there movie theater is huuuuuuge.

So nice! We loved all the exibits. Everything was clean and beautifully designed. Favorite place out of all the places we visited in San Diego!

Super cool museum! They managed to fit so much in a relatively small space. It was clean and very well organized and very interactive.

Small-size museum with good selection of displays from the region. The collection isn't very big so this is more of a starter natural history museum experience which is why it's a good spot to visit if you're in Balboa Park for several stops. Large theater for documentaries worth seeing. A live reptile/amphibian room and several interactive displays for kids. Gems and minerals on the top floor. Took about 2 hours to go through the displays. About $20 for an adult ticket.

It’s more geared towards children than than adults. There are some live animals and active research. Some original fossils, taxidermy, and articulated skeletons, and many replicas and artistic renderings.

We just loved the visit and especially my son he was amazed by their displays. They also have theaters where they showcase science movies which repeats in an interval. He loved that too.Also they have a kids area that is bit relaxing for the parents as well👍🏽👍🏽

A great place to bring your children to learn about Natural History

Super fun interactive place my son loved it.

Great atmosphere. Great place to take the whole family. If you enjoy art and exploring historical items... Visit here.

Good museum. Hard to take in everything with one visit, but worth repeated visits if you can; otherwise consider prioritizing exhibits based on interests.

Great knowledge within these walls

A good day of learning and exploring.

Great place, great exhibits

Not much to do....

It was fairly interesting to see. I just wish that maybe the movies were not as long and played more often. In addition, it seems pretty small to spend more than an a couple hours or less.

There is a lot of things to see about nature 👌🏽

Plenty to see and do. Great place to bring kids. They even have a living lab with reptiles.

Fantastic!

It's a very great photo spot. Very artistic from all angles. It's better at night when they all light up. There are three paid museums nearby--better to visit one of them to make the cost of commuting worth it, 'cause you can at most spend 30 minutes taking photos there.

Unfortunately they were not open.

Lots of new interesting facts to learn.. great with kids of all ages.. they have 3 shows running daily which are included in general admission. Has a small cafe inside for a quick grub.

A moderate size facility in beautiful Balboa park, in the hills of San Diego, next to the zoo. Displays are a bit limited, and evolving/rotating. In May 2018, currently emphasizing racial differences and tolerance towards each other. Also displays on egypt, craft beer and monsters.

Very cool. Lots of exibits. Fun for both adults and kids. Fossils! Rocks! Gems! They even have some animals.

A really nice easy walkthrough with the young kids. Not busy at all during the week. If you have a membership at another science centre or museum, check to see if you have reciprocity privileges with this one. We were able to get in for free and had access to a free 2D movie as well.

Unassuming from the outside but chock full of educational exhibits on the inside. The Nat is a really well organized and laid out. The whole family including grandma and kids spent a really fun and fulfilling day here. The terrace on the top floor is a wonderful place to take in views of Balboa Park and to enjoy a beverage to unwind. Be sure to check out a movie at the auditorium; the 3D National Park one is really good (as of current writing early 2019).

Totally awesome! Such a great place for kids and adults. So many great facts and so much to see. Also its 4 floors so get ready to see many cool displays

Really cool, lots of interactive displays. The gems were stunning, the bones were really cool. So many bones I've never seen before. Really cool for kids. The meg was our highlight. Cafe was great, gift shop was reasonably priced.

Just visiting the IMAX exhibit itself is worth the money. From dinosaurs to local area wildlife, this place provides a lot to learn about. Bring the kids; inspire them. We've have to engineer our way out of this mess, you know.

Very educational, and the new living labs exhibit is really neat.

The San Diego Natural History Museum is fantastic and a great place to visit with the family. We enjoyed the beautiful building with all the wonderful displays and also grabbed a bit to eat at the Flying Squirrel Cafe on the first floor. Overall, I definitely recommend the natural history museum to anyone looking for something to do outside of the house or to anyone visiting Balboa Park.

The exhibits and interactive displays

Interesting displays. Walkable size. Geology & crystals spread out on multiple floors. Family enjoyed the live animal display.

The exhibits were very interesting, and also got to watch a cool documentary about dinosaurs in Antarctica. The only downside was that there was a massive school group on a field trip while we were there running around screaming. They were having lots of fun learning but made it hard for everyone else to focus. Almost left right off the bat, but it calmed down eventually.

interesting and informative...all the subjects in the exhibits, including 42 million year old dinosaur fossils and skeletons were found in and around San Diego and the Pacific ocean.

Excellent event venue, for a very geeky wedding!

Definitely impressive. Lots to explore. I wish they would have had a larger bug exhibit. The best part was the 3d Antarctica dinosaur documentary

My kids ages 2 and 6 really loved it here. Lots of if informative stuff for adults too. Plenty of things to touch for those active kids. We spent 5 hours going through all of the sections. They have scavenger hunts in most sections to keep kids busy looking for stuff. There's is also a play area for 5 and under.

The small stools at many of the displays were a wonderful addition to allow for full review/reading of the display

(Translated by Google) Many things to do and learn for children is very interesting because they can see fossils and some figures of dinosaurs and mammoths. Perfect place to learn and enjoy with children. (Original) Muchas cosas que hacer y aprender para los niños es muy interesante por que pueden ver los fósiles y algunas figuras de dinosaurios y mamuts. Lugar perfecto para aprender y disfrutar con niños.

So much to see, I easily spent a few hours here!

Wonderfull place, love it.

A fun museum for children. There are a couple of rooms where they can experience things up-close. Large enough to keep them busy for a couple of hours. Not so large that it exceed their attention span. There are nice exhibitions that teach a lot about animals that lived in western America through the ages.

Beautiful exhibits.Interesting for all ages. I didn't want to leave!

Seems much bigger on the outside than the exhibit space on the inside.

Top Ten Mineral Exhibit

Great place for the entire family with 4 levels of places to explore and learn. Great exhibits with lots of information (take your time). They also have several movies that explore different aspects of the museum and of natural history, so make sure you take in one or more of them. You can explore the exhibits at your own pace which is really nice and even with children, you can have a fantastic time!

Awesome

Great museum about nature and outdoors! Learned a lot! Enjoyed the exhibits, and the movie they have! Saw their newer dinosaurs of Antarctica and it was amazing! Highly recommend..

Nice museum and film at no extra cost.

Way exceeded expectations - tons of fun for me and my kids both. Amazing insect exhibits and the dinosaur/shark section was the favorite for my kids.