Contact Us  Subscribe  COUPONS 
  • Kaimuki, Hawaii
    Event Calendar Item

  • Family Fun At The Waikiki Aquarium - DECEMBER 2023 Events And Programs

  • Type: Family
    Date: DECEMBER 2023
    Time: see notes
    Location:
    2777 Kalakaua Avenue
    Honolulu, HI 96815
    Phone: 808-923-9741
    View Map
    Cost: see notes

Waikiki Aquarium Family Programs - DECEMBER 2023
Back to the top
FEATURED EXHIBIT/ - Amazing Adaptations Exhibit Opens!

Description: The Amazing Adaptations Gallery displays a diverse collection of seahorses, seadragons and pipefishes. These fishes are members of an unusual fish family, known as family Syngnathidae, and share some unusual characteristics. Perhaps most notably, the male fishes in this family carry the eggs and the females show no parental care. Some species even exhibit true male pregnancy and are the only animals known to do so. Other characteristics of these fish include elongated bodies enclosed in bony armor, tubular fused snouts, and the need to eat almost continuously due to the lack of a stomach. There are nearly 200 known pipefish species, 47 known seahorse species, and only two known seadragon species.

Extending over 60 feet of gallery wall and holding over 3,000-gallons of water, the gallery includes nine exhibits that display species ranging from local Hawaiian pipefishes and seahorses to exotic Australian seadragons. Additionally, two seahorse nursery tanks display juvenile seahorses bred at the aquarium and the live food these fish require to survive in captivity.

Back to the top

DECEMBER 2023 SPECIAL EVENTS/OPPORTUNITIES

Elf in the Shell -
EVERY DAY DECEMBER 1ST TO DECEMBER 24TH, 2023 @ 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Find her if you can... the infamous Elf In The Shell is back again! Each day, the elf will be hidden somewhere in the Aquarium sitting in one of 4 seashells. If you spot her, come to the gift shop and let us know where she is to claim your surprise!

Volunteer Led Arts and Crafts
Friday, December 1, 2023 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Unleash your creativity and make your own nature inspired craft. Visit our volunteer-led arts and crafts table from 10AM-12PM!

See more details

Diving Santa in the Hunters on the Reef Exhibit
Tuesday, December 5, 2023 @ 11:30 am - 12:00 pm

Come 
sea Diving Santa at the Waikīkī Aquarium. The holidays have arrived and the Waikīkī Aquarium is celebrating with a special visit from Santa Claus. On Tuesday, December 5 and 12, 2023 at 11:30AM visitors can sea Diving Santa in the Hunters on the Reef exhibit.
See more details

Native Hawaiian Plant Tour

Thursday, December 7, 2023 @ 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
2777 Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu, HI 96815, USA
Join volunteer Alice Roberts for a personal guided tour of the Aquarium’s native Hawaiian plant gardens, where she will be highlighting 16 of the plants. A complete plant guide book is available in the Waikīkī Aquarium’s Volunteer Office, or you can print out your own Hawaiian Plant Guide map for the tour by going to the following link:
http://www.waikikiaquarium.org/experience/plants-seaweeds/hawaiian-plant-guide/
See more details

Volunteer Led Arts and Crafts

Friday, December 8, 2023 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Unleash your creativity and make your own nature inspired craft. Visit our volunteer-led arts and crafts table from 10AM-12PM!

See more details

Hawaii Marine Animal Response (HMAR) Table

Monday, December 11, 2023 @ 11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Hawaii Marine Animal Response (HMAR) is the largest Hawaii-based nonprofit marine species conservation, education, field support, rescue and stranding response organization.

Their mission is to undertake substantial actions that result in the preservation, recovery and stewardship of Hawaii’s marine protected species and the ocean ecosystem we share. Thousands of times each year, our outreach, field response, interventions, rescue and stranding support activities help us move towards our vision of Hawaii’s ocean ecosystem shared in sustainable harmony by humans and marine protected animals such as Hawaiian monk seals, sea turtles, dolphins, whales and seabirds.
Visit HMARʻs table at the Waikiki Aquarium to learn about HMAR, the work they do, and why they do it.
See more details

Diving Santa in the Hunters on the Reef Exhibit

Tuesday, December 12, 2023 @ 11:30 am - 12:00 pm

Come 
sea Diving Santa at the Waikīkī Aquarium. The holidays have arrived and the Waikīkī Aquarium is celebrating with a special visit from Santa Claus. On Tuesday, December 5 and 12, 2023 at 11:30AM visitors can sea Diving Santa in the Hunters on the Reef exhibit.
See more details

Volunteer Led Arts and Crafts

Friday, December 15, 2023 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Unleash your creativity and make your own nature inspired craft. Visit our volunteer-led arts and crafts table from 10AM-12PM!

See more details

Paint For Your Soul - Yellow Tang Canvas

Saturday, December 16, 2023 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Get creative at the Waikīkī Aquarium! On Saturday, December 16th at 1:00 p.m., you’re invited to paint an ocean-inspired canvas! For $40, you will receive the supplies needed to create a masterpiece. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Aquarium. Children under the age of 13 must be accompanied by an adult. Reserve your canvas now by texting or calling (808)379-6811

See more details

Native Plant Garden Tour

Thursday, December 21, 2023 @ 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Waikīkī Aquarium, 2777 Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu, HI 96815, USA
Join volunteer Alice Roberts for a personal guided tour of the Aquarium’s native Hawaiian plant gardens, where she will be highlighting 16 of the plants. A complete plant guide book is available in the Waikīkī Aquarium’s Volunteer Office, or you can print out your own Hawaiian Plant Guide map for the tour by going to the following link:
http://www.waikikiaquarium.org/experience/plants-seaweeds/hawaiian-plant-guide/
See more details

Volunteer Led Arts and Crafts

Friday, December 22, 2023 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Unleash your creativity and make your own nature inspired craft. Visit our volunteer-led arts and crafts table from 10AM-12PM!

See more details

Hawaii Marine Animal Response (HMAR) Table

Monday, December 25, 2023 @ 11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Hawaii Marine Animal Response (HMAR) is the largest Hawaii-based nonprofit marine species conservation, education, field support, rescue and stranding response organization.

Their mission is to undertake substantial actions that result in the preservation, recovery and stewardship of Hawaii’s marine protected species and the ocean ecosystem we share. Thousands of times each year, our outreach, field response, interventions, rescue and stranding support activities help us move towards our vision of Hawaii’s ocean ecosystem shared in sustainable harmony by humans and marine protected animals such as Hawaiian monk seals, sea turtles, dolphins, whales and seabirds.
Visit HMARʻs table at the Waikiki Aquarium to learn about HMAR, the work they do, and why they do it.
See more details

Volunteer Led Arts and Crafts

Friday, December 29, 2023 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Unleash your creativity and make your own nature inspired craft. Visit our volunteer-led arts and crafts table from 10AM-12PM!

See more details





VISIT WAIKIKI AQUARIUM WEBSITE

SUPPORT WAIKIKI AQUARIUM
Friends of the Waikiki Aquarium
Read More

Become a Member
Becoming a Friends of the Waikīkī Aquarium (FOWA) member enables marine life enthusiasts of all ages
Read More






ABOUT WAIKIKI AQUARIUM
Founded in 1904 and administered by the University of Hawai'i at Manoa since 1919, the Waikiki Aquarium is located on the shoreline of Waikiki Beach next to a living reef and across from Kapiolani Park. The Aquarium -- second oldest in the U.S. -- showcases more than 500 marine species, and maintains more than 3,500 marine specimens. Public exhibits, education programs and research focus on the unique aquatic life of Hawai'i and the tropical Pacific.

The Aquarium welcomes more than 320,000 visitors annually, and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. except Honolulu Marathon Sunday and Christmas Day. Admission is $12 for visitors; $8 for local residents and active duty military with ID, $5 for senior citizens and juniors ages four to 12; and free for children three and under and Friends of Waikiki Aquarium (FOWA) members.

MISSION:
To inspire and promote understanding, appreciation
and conservation of Pacific marine life.


DESCRIPTION:

Founded in 1904, the Waikiki Aquarium is the second
oldest public aquarium in the United States. A part of the University of
Hawai`i at Manoa since 1919, it is located next to a living reef on the Waikiki
shoreline. Exhibits, programs, and research focus on the aquatic life of
Hawai`i and the tropical Pacific, with roughly 320,000 people visiting the
Aquarium each year. Over 3,500 organisms are on exhibit representing more than
500 species of aquatic animals and plants.


EXHIBITS:
Waikiki Aquarium exhibits focus on the diversity of
aquatic, shoreline and coral reef habitats and living communities of Hawai`i and
the tropical Pacific. Among the highlights:



  • Corals Are Alive! interactive exhibits
    showcasing corals, their biology and conservation

  • SeaVisions Theatre shows videos that
    illustrate shoreline conservation and how you can be a responsible reef
    visitor

  • South Pacific Marine Communities features
    South Pacific habitats and species, including colorful reef corals and fishes,
    giant clams, groupers and snappers and intriguing partnerships such as
    anemonefishes and their host sea anemones


  • Hawaiian Marine Communities recreates
    Hawaiian habitats from wave-swept surge zone to deep reef slopes, and from young
    to ancient reefs; celebrates distinctive reef life, including the longnose
    butterflyfish

  • Ocean Drifters Gallery features a
    1,000-gallon moon jelly tank and a seasonally changing jelly wall that may
    contain white-spotted jellies, blue blubbers, sea nettles, box jellies and
    ctenophores

  • Hunters on the Reef 35,000-gallon exhibit
    is home to Hawaiian sharks and jacks; shark interpretive panels introduce shark
    biology, research, conservation and safety. New Spyball camera provides up close
    shark encounters in real time on a television screen

  • Edge of the Reef naturalistic shoreline
    exhibit offering opportunities for supervised observation and hands-on
    interactions with selected marine life

  • The Coral Farm exhibit and working research
    facility for propagation of reef corals


  • Giant Clams exhibit and working research
    facility for propagation of clams

  • Hawaiian Monk Seal Habitat features the
    endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal found only in the Hawaiian Islands

  • Aquaculture features moi, a popular food
    fish, whose numbers have declined in the wild

  • Coastal Gardens with native Hawaiian plants
    adapted for life close to the sea

ENDANGERED SPECIES:

Hawaiian monk seals; ‘öhai (endemic
Hawaiian coastal plant)


UNIQUE SPECIES:
Pacific giant clams; Hawaiian stream gobies; rare
deep-reef butterflyfish; bearded armorheads; masked angelfish; and diverse
native coastal plants


CONSERVATION & RESEARCH:
The Waikiki Aquarium is a working research facility,
conducting numerous conservation and research programs, including:




  • Husbandry, nutrition and behavior of aquatic and marine
    aquarium specimens

  • Husbandry and propagation of chambered
    nautilus

  • Spawning behavior, larval rearing, and propagation
    potential of selected reef fishes

  • Identification & treatment of diseases, parasite
    infections and other ailments of aquarium marine life

  • Coral husbandry, propagation and conservation

  • Hawaiian monk seal metabolic and bacteriological
    research

  • Giant clam husbandry and propagation


  • Sea jelly husbandry and propagation

  • Deep reef coral research

  • Coral Ark: archiving and husbandry of rare Hawaiian
    corals

EDUCATION PROGRAMS:
The Waikiki Aquarium offers numerous education programs,
including:



  • Interpretive services: staff or volunteers enrich
    the visitor experience with explanations of the exhibits, demonstrations, and
    hands-on experiences

  • Self-tour opportunities for individuals and
    groups: interpretive graphics & exhibits, handouts are
    available.


  • School Program: presentations and docent-assisted
    tours for school groups, grades K - 6

  • Outreach and special request presentations for
    schools and community groups

  • Community Enrichment Program: year-round natural
    history fieldtrips, classes, and workshops for children, families, and
    adults

  • Information services: staff answer questions from
    visitors & community on marine and aquarium-science related
    topics

OPPORTUNITIES:

The Waikiki Aquarium affords a number of opportunities
to get involved through:



  • Membership: Join the Friends of the
    Waikïkï Aquarium (FOWA) to enjoy the annual benefits of free
    admission, 20% discount at the Natural Selections gift shop, quarterly mailings
    of our beautiful and informative magazine Kilo i’a, free salt water
    pick-up, and facility rental privileges at “Family” and
    “Family Plus” levels. To select the membership level right for you,
    please see the Visitor Services staff or contact Events and Membership Manager
    Raina Fujitani at (808) 440-9008 for more information.


  • Volunteerism: When you donate your time and
    curiosity to the Waikiki Aquarium, you are rewarded with diverse and challenging
    opportunities to help make a difference!

    • Education
      – Docents provide on-site presentations and tours to elementary school
      groups and provide outreach programs for school and community groups.
      Interpreters at the Edge of the Reef exhibit assist visitors and provide
      up-close observations of Hawaiian marine life.

    • Live
      Exhibits
      – Assist with husbandry, tank maintenance and
      feeding.

    • Natural
      Selection Shop
      – Assist with stocking inventory and sales.


    • Membership/Public
      Relations/Special Events
      - Assist with bulk mail outs & communications
      with Aquarium members, public relations surveys, record-keeping and special
      events.

AWARDS:
The Waikiki Aquarium has received several awards for its
research and conservation efforts, including:



  • 2008 Keep It Hawai`i Award

  • 2003 Munson Aquatic Conservation Exhibit (M.A.C.E.) Award
    from the American Zoo & Aquarium Association (AZA) for South Pacific Marine
    Communities exhibit


  • 2003 Edward H. Bean Award from AZA for Long Term Tropical
    Pacific Coral Propagation Program

DIRECTOR: Dr. Andrew
Rossiter


EMPLOYEES: 35 full-time, 36 part-time, 33
affiliate staff


HOURS: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily (except
Honolulu Marathon Sunday and Christmas Day)


ADMISSION: $12 for visitors; $8 for local residents and active duty military with ID, $5 for senior citizens and juniors ages four to 12; and free for children three and under and Friends of Waikiki Aquarium (FOWA) members.


Like Our Facebook


Powered by MBC CalendarMaker
Events subject to change without notice
  • RELATED LINKS
  • Waikiki Aquarium
    Founded in 1904, the Waikiki Aquarium is the second oldest public aquarium in the United States. A part of the University of Hawai`i at Manoa since 1919, it is located next to a living reef on the Waikiki shoreline.
  • Kaimuki Hawaii.Com Home Page
    View our featured events, news, businesses and primary links on our home page.
  • Featured Sponsors Offers
    Great offers from our sponsors who support the Kaimuki Honolulu, Hawaii community. More...
  • Kaimuki Hawaii Directory
    View Kaimuki, Hawaii primary directories. businesses, non profits, public, government and jobs.
  • Calendar
    Check out things to do in Kaimuki on the calendar of events.
  • News
    Keep up with the latest news and happenings in your Kaimuki community.
  • Kaimuki Hawaii Featured Pages
    View our directory of feature pages showcasing all the great things Kaimuki, Honolulu, Hawaii has to offer. Go Green in Kaimuki, restaurants, shopping, WiFi Hot Spots, fitness, health, real estate, home and garden, 80+ more directories... More...

Please send questions about this website to
Copyright© 2005 - 2023 KaimukiHawaii.com. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use / Legal Disclaimer / Privacy Statement
Site Designed and Managed by MacBusiness Consulting