Sleepovers at the California Academy of Sciences
I know we all love to sleep under the stars but have you ever slept under fish? Or woken up to a view of the glowing jellyfish while in the comfort of your sleeping bag?
Photo: @sarahmontoya
Penguins and Pajamas Sleepovers are back at the California Academy of Sciences and they are a fantastically unique way of enjoying the museum at night! My kids were overjoyed at the opportunity to observe the behavior of the 40,000 animals that live at the Academy all day and night.
When I first heard about the sleepover I assumed it was fairly simple event where they opened the museum at night and the kids got to sleep on the floor - I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there is programming starting at 6 pm when guests are arrive until 9:30 when guest are allowed to line up to get their sleeping gear.
Photo: @sarahmontoya
We attended science talks, wandered the rainforest, grabbed a snack of cookies and milk, caught a planetarium show, visited the living roof and listened to a bedtime story all before heading down to the aquarium to pick our spot.
I highly recommend picking out 2-3 spots you think you would like before lining up so that you have a plan - although the museum staff strongly discouraged people from lining up early there was a solid line forming by 9:15 and many people were not able to find their first choice. Because I was there as a guest of the museum I had first choice and chose the rainforest tunnel. My back ups were the Philippine Coral Reef or the area just to the right of the coral reef, but there is so much beauty in the aquarium you will find a good spot if you arrive on time.
Photo: @sarahmontoya
Some practical things to consider when finding a spot - there are places in the museum where some light has to stay on overnight for the safety of the animals. The rainforest tunnel and coral reef are one of those spots and it's basically the same as sleeping with a nightlight. If you are sensitive to light I encourage you to bring an eye mask. Also, the aquariums have to keep animals alive, this requires various machines softly humming through the night and you are sleeping in a room of strangers - some of whom snore - you might want ear plugs. I didn’t bring either and I slept fine, and when I wasn’t sleeping I was watching fish swim over me, which is beautifully relaxing in its own way.
Wake up is 6 am - our schedule said 6:15 but we definitely had staff come by at 6:05 gently waking us up and by 6:30 they were reminding us that we had to be fully out of the aquarium by 7. Even with the early start my kids were thrilled to get up and watch the fish while I loaded up our gear.
Photo: @sarahmontoya
What to wear: there isn’t a great place to change clothes so everyone I saw was wearing clothes they could sleep in. I am sure a few parents went into the restrooms to change but I wore sweats and my kids wore PJs. You have to wear shoes or slippers on at all times walking around (no sock feet) easy slip ons are ideal for late night potty runs.
What to bring: don’t be insecure about bringing an air mattress, most people had some kind of blow up mattress and it was easy to find electrical outlets to inflate them. We brought a full size air mattress for the adults and a gymnastics pad for the kids. If you don’t have those just bring something soft to pad you because the floor is hard. Any kind of bedding will do - we had sleeping bags but we saw people with comforters. The temp in the aquarium was comfortably warm but as all events in SF I would bring layers.
Photo: @sarahmontoya
Cost: $129 for nonmembers and $116 for members in 2022 (please check the website to confirm as the price changes from year to year) This includes: admission for the overnight and return admission the following day, overnight parking in the Music Concourse, light snack (cookies, fruit, milk and juice) and a complete sustainably sourced breakfast: pastries, eggs, sausage, bacon, french toast, potatoes, juice, and AndyTown Roasters Coffee.
Age group: my kids are 6, 5 & 5 and it was the perfect age for them now and they loved it so much I think it would still be perfect for them when they are 15. I was honestly shocked by how incredibly happy they were to be in the museum after hours. The event is geared for kids 5-17, no adults without children and all children must have a chaperone 25+
Photo: @sarahmontoya